by Chant, Zoe
In a little while they were back at the library, reading through company files that hid, obscured, and obfuscated ownership and controlling interests, until Matthew thought his brain was going to melt. After a couple of hours, he said, "Nope. Nada mas, I can't do it anymore. I'll sit here and admire you until the end of time if you want to keep going, but my eyes are crossing."
Sarah pushed her computer away and stretched over the back of the chair, arching her back in the most incredibly enticing manner. Matthew swallowed. "Maybe I could find a way to make your eyes cross."
Sarah looked both genuinely scandalized and somewhat thrilled. "In the library?"
"You have the keys," Matthew murmured. "We're locked in. The lights are off. Nobody else is here. How many chances like this are we going to get?"
"Well, I mean, I do have the keys," Sarah said, suddenly pragmatic. Matthew took his glasses off and gave her what he hoped was a devastating look through his lashes. She said, "Oh," in a very small voice, so he thought it had worked.
"C'mere." He stood and took her hand, then led her through the dark library to the romance section, where he bent to kiss her throat, then murmur, "Pick your favorite romance novel and let's see how many sex scenes we can reenact in one night."
It turned out, in the end, that the answer was 'quite a lot.'
* * *
They were not, technically, still in the library when Sarah said, "Oh!" over an archival page the next morning. Not technically. They'd left long enough to get food, a shower, and new clothes before the library was supposed to open. Matthew was pretty sure that counted as not actually staying the whole night in the library.
He was also pretty sure he was lying to himself, but he was okay with that.
Sarah had been stealing time from the front of the library since they'd come back, helping Matt go through the archives when she could. Now she turned her computer toward him, displaying what she'd been reading. "Look who has a founding interest in the..." She paused, peering at the page again. "There are about five corporations nested there and I don't know what you call that. Is it a great-great-great-grandparent company, or do they have a different way of referring to that kind of structure? Anyway, the point is, look who ultimately has an interest in Upstate Resorts."
"David Whelan," Matthew said aloud, and met Sarah's eyes. "Related to Michelle?"
"Her father. He must be..." She paused, thinking. "He's probably Tom Barlow's age, now that I think about it? Michelle is about eight years older than I am, so David's probably in his sixties, like Tom. He's..." She frowned, which made a cute wrinkle around her eyebrows.
"I said the Whelans mixed more than the other old families, right? David Whelan used to go to the football games and stuff with his kids, and he'd get involved in some of the community projects. I remember him being really disappointed when the bar on Main Street closed, because he used to go there with friends for Monday night football. And I remember people asking why the Whelans didn't save it, if it was that important to him, but he said one family couldn't support a whole bar, or a whole town. He thought we all had to be in together, and if we weren't, we'd reap the consequences."
"Do you think this is the consequence? Developments to bring in new money and people, if the locals couldn't keep the economy going on its own?"
Sarah shook her head. "Maybe? It doesn't seem like his style, but on the other hand, my knowledge of his style is limited to my memory of my sixteen year old self's impression of who he was, so probably shouldn't be taken as gospel."
"Seems to me like we should go talk to him," Matthew said, and Sarah nodded thoughtfully.
"But to say what? 'Why are you allowing a company you hold interest in to destroy Virtue?' I suppose if somebody calls him on it, he might back off, though. I'll call them after lunch and see if we can go out tonight." She gave Matthew a lazy grin. "Because going and calling rich people out on their bad behavior with almost no sleep under my belt is sure to end well."
Matthew, genuinely meaning it, said, "We could wait until tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is the bachelorette party! It's now or never! Or at least, now or next week, and I'd rather figure out what's going on sooner rather than later. Next week there's so much wedding stuff to do."
"But the wedding isn't for two weeks," Matthew said uncertainly. "Why is next week so busy?"
"I don't know. Everything seems to pile up. I think if I ever get married, I'll elope. This is all crazy." Sarah stole a kiss, then went back to work, leaving Matthew to wonder if he wanted a wedding himself, or if eloping would do. Eloping would be easier, but the idea of Sarah in a wedding dress...
That's more like it, his bear said firmly, and Matthew tried to stuff the whole idea, and the bear, down into a pocket where he didn't have to think about them right now. The bear said, hnf, but went quiet, and Matthew turned his attention back to his work.
* * *
David Whelan actually came in to town to meet them for a walk around the commons, with a cheery, "I haven't been out much since treatments," when Sarah expressed surprise about that, after introducing Matthew. To Matt, Whelan said, "I was sick a few years back. It was a hell of a ride getting through it. You know how hard it is to find doctors we can trust, and when it's something big to deal with, mmf." He shook his head and struck off around the commons like a man who'd never been sick in his life.
He was slender like his daughter, but had a more open and less polished air about him. He noticed Sarah was almost trotting to keep up and slowed with an apologetic laugh. "Sorry, I'm excited about being out. Michelle worries too much. You said you had some questions about my investments, which, I have to say, would be better off put to my portfolio adviser. I'm not good at money management. You're new," he added to Matt, who shot a glance at Sarah, not sure if they should be drawn off-topic.
At her faint motion of approval, though, he said, "I am," to David. "I just came to Virtue a couple of weeks ago. Sarah's been showing me around."
"Sarah's a rock," Whelan said pleasantly. "Half the town depends on her, and yes, Ms. Ekstrom, even I know it. Which is why I'm here to talk to you. You wouldn't make a fuss over nothing."
"It's just that we wonder why you'd let Upstate Resorts Developers move into Virtue, if the whole point of this settlement originally was to keep, uh, people like you and Matt, safe."
Whelan's gaze skittered around the commons. No one was near enough to hear. "'People like us,' huh? You mean shifters."
Sarah took a deep breath. "Yes, sir."
"For heaven's sake, call me David, not sir. You're not a child anymore, and I hate being reminded I'm getting old. Glad to hear you know about Virtue's secret history, young lady. People like you, who love this town, should. I assume he told you." He tilted his head at Matthew.
"Yes," Sarah said nervously. "Is that okay?"
"Of course it is. We don't keep those kinds of secrets from our mates. But tell me, why would I have anything to do with that development?"
Sarah and Matt exchanged a glance. "The Whelans own Upstate Resort's parent company. Or part of it, at least. You could obviously stop them, and since you didn't, we thought you must want them here."
David stopped, clearly surprised. "We what?"
"We were trying to figure out if any of the old families in Virtue, all of whom could stop development, might have any connections to the company that's been trying to move in," Matthew explained when Sarah, as surprised as David, looked at a loss for words. "The Whelans were the family that came up."
"Well, I certainly don't..." David Whelan's expression darkened. "I haven't been in charge of the business side of the family for years. Not since I got sick. That's...dammit."
"Sir? I mean, Mr. Whe—I mean, David?"
"That's Michelle's department these days," David said slowly. "And she's always had some...grim thoughts about the future of people of our nature. She resents being a shifter," he explained. "She thinks we're not suited for the modern world, and because of that, she's nev
er accepted that Virtue's purpose is to be a haven. She thinks it's holding us back. That we'd be better off moving away from our shifter heritage. I can't imagine she would actively try to..."
He trailed off and sighed deeply. "Now that I'm saying it aloud, of course I can imagine that she might try to bring in outside developers or try to force Virtue toward the future. I just hadn't imagined it." He fell silent a grim moment, then said, " I suppose it's about time I got more involved in the family business again. I'm sure Tom Barlow will have some ideas on how to...redirect the family interests."
Relief swept Matthew, and Sarah's beautiful smile brightened her face. "Thank you. That's wonderful. I don't want anything to happen to Virtue."
"Believe me, Miss Ekstrom, neither do I." David Whelan seemed to be leaning on the formality of titles and surnames, maybe to give himself a buffer against the revelation they'd brought to his attention.
"No," Sarah said warmly, "I know you don't. I remember you from when I was a kid. You were always around helping out. But, um, one more question? Do you have any idea why Wallace Evans would help her? He warned us off trying to stop the development."
A flash of sorrow crossed David's face. "Michelle's his granddaughter. He didn't find his mate until late in life, and then she and their daughter, Michelle's mother, both died quite young. Michelle is all that's left of his bloodline. The old man might do anything for her, even if it means selling Virtue out."
"Oh." Sarah's face crumpled. "Oh, I didn't know. I'm so sorry. For you and for him."
"I'll talk to him," David said wearily. "After I'm done dealing with the rest of this mess."
"If you need anything," Sarah offered. Matthew slid his arm around her waist, wanting to show support.
Whelan smiled briefly. "I can call on you. Thank you. I think I'd better get back home now, although I might stop and visit Tom on the way."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Whelan." Matthew shook his hand again, and they both watched the older man cross the green, less spring in his step than when he'd approached them half an hour earlier.
"Well," Sarah said after a grim moment or two. "That was pretty horrible. Nothing like giving somebody heartbreaking news on a June afternoon."
"If Michelle really was working with the development company, at least it didn't work," Matt said, trying to find the bright side. "And now someone's there to stop her."
"Yeah." Sarah still sounded sad. "It's still hard." She pressed herself against Matt's side, and he felt an ache of protective worry rise in him. She murmured, "Let's go home," and Matthew smiled gently against her hair.
"Okay. I have some ideas to cheer you up."
A little laugh shook her. "I think I need some sleep, papa bear."
Matthew pressed his hand over his heart, mock-offended. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was going to cook for you."
"Oh my goodness. You cook?" Sarah's mood lightened and she smiled up at him. "Why didn't you tell me? What other secrets are you keeping?"
"So many," Matthew promised. "So many, and they're all good. You'll just have to ferret them out of me."
"But you're a bear!"
"Then I suppose I'll just have to grin and bear it."
Sarah groaned, and then went home laughing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The weekend passed in a blur of absolutely not thinking about Virtue's secrets at all. To Matthew's great surprise, but not at all to Sarah's, Jake Rowly invited him out to his bachelor party while Sarah took Mabs and the girls out for her bachelorette party. Virtue was small enough that they crossed paths half a dozen times going from one house and planned surprise to another.
Every time they did, though, the women all threw themselves into a circle around Mabs, pretending to make her invisible, and the men raised their arms to block Jake, like there was nothing to see there. After the third time that happened, everyone was laughing so hard they could barely stand as they staggered off—in the women's case—to Kate's cafe, which was open late that evening just for them.
By the time Sarah got home at about four in the morning, she was so tired she fell asleep on the couch, and woke up with both a blanket and Doc McStuffins snuggled over her. Bleary but happy, she went and crawled into bed with Matthew, where they stayed until the need for food overwhelmed everything else. By Monday morning, Sarah thought she had never in her whole life had a more wonderful weekend, even if the best—Mabs's wedding—was yet to come.
"The only thing bothering me," she told Matt a few nights later, "is what happened to the original charter. The secret one, I mean. Do you think it even still exists?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Hazel has it," he said ruefully. "But I don't think she was planning to give it to us, so we might just have to live without knowing."
"That's a terrible idea!"
"It's a modestly bad one," he countered, and laughed when she gave him a firm, somehow scolding, kiss. "All right, you convinced me. If you wish to tear up the entire town of Virtue to find the secret charter while also finishing the last touches on Mabs's wedding, you need only command me and I shall do your bidding."
Sarah eyed him suspiciously. "Does that mean you think I couldn't pull it all off?"
Matthew raised his hands as if in surrender. "I have no doubt at all that you could. Just tell me what you need me to do to help."
Her heart hiccuped with happiness at that offer. She couldn't imagine anyone else saying that to her, or that she'd believe them when they did, but she believed Matthew would do whatever he could to help her.
Even come up from the city on weekends to 'work on the archives', which was how they'd begun referring to his planned visits, as a kind of shared code. The truth was, Sarah didn't care so much about the archives anymore. They hadn't made as much progress as she'd hoped, but on the other hand, they'd had far more adventure than she'd expected. Sarah smiled and snuggled closer to Matthew. "This has been a crazy month."
"Three weeks," he said, amused. "Not even a month. No, you're right. We need to find the secret charter just to wrap it all up with a bow."
"Maybe I'll call Tom Barlow again," she murmured. "Maybe he's found something in his grandma's stuff. Maybe if I tell him I know he's a shifter he'll be less growly."
"You can't tell him that on the phone," Matthew pointed out.
Sarah rolled her eyes expressively and put on a conspiratorial voice. "'Well, Mr. Barlow, I've learned a great deal more about Virtue's secret history, if you know what I mean, nudge nudge wink wink, so if you want to give me your grandma's papers to go through I won't shout 300-year-old spoilers to the world.' How would that be?"
"I want to be there listening when you make that call," Matthew replied, wide-eyed. "That would be very interesting."
"Muy interesante," Sarah said cheerfully. "See, I'm remembering my Spanish."
"Muy bueno," Matt said, amused. "Are we going to have bilingual—dates from now on?" He tripped so hard over the word that Sarah was absolutely sure he'd been about to say 'kids' instead.
Heat rushed through her. Kids was a step farther than she'd gotten in her own imagination, but only, she might privately admit, because she'd been trying really hard not to think about the future too much at all. She said, "That sounds great?" in almost as strained a voice as Matthew had used. For a few seconds they stared at one another, as if they were both hearing the conversation they weren't having, instead of the one they were.
Then Matthew pulled her close with a gentle, almost inquiring, kiss, and if the next little while wasn't exactly spent discussing the things they hadn't said out loud...Sarah thought it wasn't exactly not, either. It was as if they'd found another level to connect on, but were only touching it lightly, both of them aware they weren't quite ready for it yet.
Sarah had never met a man she could communicate with like that, without words. It made her feel strangely secure, and she slept in Matt's arms without a care in the world.
* * *
To her surprise, Tom Barlow
came by the library the next day, his white eyebrows drawn down in a deep scowl. "I know you're working, but do you have a minute?"
"Of course." Sarah excused herself from the front desk and brought him back to the archival room, where Matthew was already on his feet with a slightly wary expression. Barlow's scent, Sarah supposed, had warned Matt of the other shifter's approach.
"I've spoken with Dave Whelan," Barlow said as preamble. "Obviously Mr. Rojas here knows more about Virtue than what's visible on the surface, but I'm given to understand you also do, Ms. Ekstrom. I hadn't been aware of that when we last spoke."
"Neither had I been," Sarah said wryly. "It's been a busy few weeks. What can we do for you?"
Matthew shot her a pleased look at being included with the 'we', and she slipped her hand into his as Barlow took several things out of a briefcase. One was obviously the missing charter book, and Sarah squeaked before reining in her excitement. There were other small, hand-bound books, and stacks of letters carefully folded, fragile with age, and wrapped with ribbons to stay in order. "These all have information about Virtue's settlers," Barlow said. "I can't let you keep them in a public archive, you understand."
"No," Sarah whispered, almost reverently. "Of course not. But if we could look through them...?"
"You might find out something about what happened to the original charter. I haven't read them—my eyesight's not what it used to be, and it wasn't good then—but as far as I know, the original charter left my ancestors' hands before the Revolutionary War, and none of us know what happened to it afterward."
"Have you asked Hazel?" Sarah asked, knowing she sounded abrupt.
"Haz—" Barlow looked momentarily confused, then chuckled, a deep edged sound. "Ah. The...no. I don't think anyone in my family has seen that woman in a generation or more."
