between me and Clint with his gifts. If there was any truth to the note, Samuel had not given anything away. He either intended me to find out on my own or he was waiting for the right moment to tell me himself, but at this point, I didn’t have time to wonder what Samuel’s plans were, I needed answers now. Things were getting more and more complicated; with everyone. The doubt I had about Clint because of the note, only intensified other feelings I should not be having.
“What do you suggest?” I asked Josh, hoping he had some kind of idea that might help ease my suspicions.
Josh ran his fingers through his hair like he did when he was thinking hard about something. When he finally brought his hands back to his lap, he looked at me and shrugged. “Well, we have a Lappell meeting tomorrow night at Club Seil. Why don’t you show up unannounced and surprise him?”
Hmmm, surprise Clint. Could that really lead me to the answers I was looking for?
I thought about Josh’s suggestion, wondering if it was a way that could help. “But Clint invites me to all the mixers and meetings,” I noted. “It’s not like he is hiding anything if he has already invited me.”
Josh shrugged again. “Yeah, but if he thinks you won’t be there, perhaps you will get some kind of insight into this note. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s all I’ve got.”
What were the odds I would catch Clint doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing on the one night I went out and surprised him?
“Is that your only suggestion?” I asked, looking to Josh for something better. I needed more than a random surprise. There had to be something else I could do.
“Well you could hire an investigator to follow him, but do you really want to be that girl?” The idea went through my mind, but I quickly shook my head.
“No, definitely not.”
“Well if you are not going to do the logical thing and ask him, then you are going have to try the element of surprise. As your best friend Norah, that’s all the advice I’ve got.” Josh sighed and leaned back against the couch again. I looked at Josh, whose face was tense and his mind was obviously now drifting somewhere else. I could tell he was struggling with all these new developments and was doing his best to be supportive and helpful, but it was hurting him to do so.
“Your suggestion is good Josh. I know it would be more reasonable if I just asked him, but things between us are kind of...”
Josh’s eyes brightened, waiting for my response. My uncertainty seemed to give Josh hope, and perhaps subconsciously I wanted to show that, but at present, I had to stay on course with the task at hand of trying to find out what the note could mean without having to ask Clint.
“Look, I will just try surprising him and see what happens. And if I don’t find anything, I’m just going to throw this note away. It was trouble to begin with and it’s trouble now.”
“And this?” Josh tossed me the little black box and I caught it. I looked at him as he waited for me to give him an answer.
“Well, I’m certainly not ready to say yes. Yet.”
Josh got up off the sofa and began pacing. He went over to the window on the other side of the room, but stopped because he kicked something on the floor. He leant down and picked up the object.
“More rings?” I saw that Josh was holding the box that Clint tossed across the room earlier that morning. I had forgotten about the earrings Samuel had sent me that had started this whole chain reaction of emotions and events. I quickly retrieved the box from Josh’s hands, but he noticed the pained look on my face.
“What is it Norah? Please don’t tell me there is more.” Josh crossed his hands over his chest, now seeing that my problems were more in depth than just a note and Clint’s hidden engagement ring. It was so many different things happening all at once.
“Well Samuel has been sending me gifts too. This is a pair of diamond earrings that arrived this morning.”
Josh eyes went wide. Yes, this was an awful lot of information to be taking in all at once, especially after the morning we had.
“Wait, Samuel has been sending you gifts too? How many?”