well have been the dead of night.
“Damn,” Adam muttered under his breath.
The word was nearly lost in the wind that rushed into the room and lashed at them. Ed clearly heard it just the same, grunting in response. “Yep.”
“What do you recommend?” Adam asked, fully prepared to rely on the man’s expertise.
Ed eyed the tree solemnly, his cheek working as he considered the problem. “It’s too big and too heavy to push out. I already tried that. We’ll probably have to take a look from outside, cut it out there so we can push it out. Maybe break off as many of the branches in here as we can so it’ll be easier to move, too.”
“Then it’s just a matter of the window and the wall.”
Ed waved off the comment. “I can handle that. Getting this thing out of here is my main concern.”
The sound of feet pounding down the hall reached them. Adam glanced back just as Ray and Zack appeared in the doorway.
The two men came to an abrupt stop just inside the room, staring in disbelief at the sight that met their eyes. Zack swore lightly.
“As you can see, we have quite a job to deal with,” Adam told them. “I hate to ask it of you, but I think I’m going to need you outside on this.” He quickly explained the plan Ed had outlined. “If we work together both inside and out, we should be able to get the tree out of here.”
“Makes sense,” Ray said simply, with no trace of rancor. “And taking care of the trees is my job.”
“Good,” Adam said. “I’ll come with you. With the three of us working, we should be able to get the tree cut and possibly pulled out. Ed will stay here to break off the branches and prepare to deal with the window as soon as the tree’s out.” He paused, a thought occurring to him. “We’ll need to keep in contact on both ends. Do you all have phones on you?”
“I do,” Zack said.
Ed and Ray shook their heads.
“Mine’s in my office,” Adam told Ed. “I’ll bring it back up here for you and we’ll call you from Zack’s phone so we can communicate what’s happening.” He just had to hope they’d be able to get a workable cell signal in this weather. If not, they’d have to figure out another system, with someone probably running back and forth, which would take far more time.
“Sounds good,” Ed acknowledged.
“Great. Let’s do it.”
Leaving Ed behind, Adam broke for the door with the other two. He didn’t exactly relish the idea of heading out into the storm, but he didn’t have a choice. It was a big job, one that would require as many hands as possible. Sutton Hall was his responsibility. He couldn’t sit by and leave its welfare in the hands of others when his help was needed. Even if it meant venturing out into the wind and rain.
Even if it meant being unable to watch out for Jillian while he was out there.
She’s fine, he told himself. She’s with Meredith. They’re both fine.
But telling himself that didn’t do anything to ease the dread he could feel pooling in his belly at the thought.
* * *
“WHAT ABOUT SOMETHING like this?”
Seated on a sofa across from Meredith, Jillian looked up to find the other woman holding up a magazine for her to see. “Oh, that’s nice,” she said. “Let’s keep that one in mind.”
Smiling, Meredith marked the page and turned it to the next.
Jillian returned her attention to the magazine in her own lap, not absorbing it any more than whatever Meredith had just shown her. She did her best to look as if she was perusing it for wedding ideas the way she was supposed to, trying not to let her restlessness show.
Outside, the wind seemed to have picked up, the frenzied howling matching the churning in her gut. She’d meant what she’d told Adam. She believed they could figure this out. She just needed to figure out how.
Perhaps his investigator would find something. In the meantime, she had to try to get the staff to open up to her more, as unlikely as that seemed. Unfortunately, with everyone busy dealing with the storm, she’d probably have to wait until it was over to find out for sure. Which left her biding her time, sitting here when all she wanted was to be doing something, anything at all.
“Excuse me.”
Jillian raised her head at the sound of