Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,44
was at the party, but working undercover.
The thought of it made Jade laugh. “I think it’d be hard for him to blend in. He’s really tall.”
“Is that right?” Tiffany said. “Is he cute, too?”
“Decide for yourself,” Jade said with a smile, motioning towards the door. Matthew had just walked in.
Tiffany turned around. “Oh. Oh! And that’s the girlfriend?”
Jade nodded.
“What’s she like?”
“I don’t really know. I’ve only met her a handful of times. But she seems nice.”
Jade was about to wave them over when someone stepped into her line of sight – Eric Burke.
“Jane, how nice to see you!”
She considered correcting him but didn’t know how without sounding like a jerk. “Hi Eric, nice to see you too. You’ve thrown another lovely party.”
He made a slight bow. “Thank you, thank you. I had some help this time.”
Jade motioned to her right. “This is my sister Tiffany. Tiffany, this is Eric. He’s the one in charge of – well, all of this.”
Tiffany flashed a brief smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hang on a second.” Eric clapped his hands together. “You know, my operation’s a family affair too.”
Eric raised his arms, trying to wave someone to come over. Jade turned to see where he was motioning. Across the room was a sharply dressed man in a grey suit. He saw Eric and seemed to ignore him at first, but the waving grew wild and he had no choice but to come over.
“Ah, there he is! Sidney, this is Tiffany and Jane. And ladies, this is my cousin Sidney.”
Sidney nodded, the dark features of his face remaining unchanged. “How do you do?”
“This is the woman I was telling you about – the activist! My competition!”
Sidney focused his eyes on Jade. She had to remind herself not to shrink down – despite how uncomfortable his gaze made her. He had intense, dark brown eyes and he lacked the good humor of his cousin. “It was nice of you to come. Please excuse me.”
He walked off, and Eric laughed. “Sorry about him, he’s always been really serious. Even when we were kids.”
“Do you find it difficult working with family?” asked Tiffany.
“Oh, no I wouldn’t say that. He’s extremely focused, which is great. I mean, I’m focused on getting this project done too. Only a few weeks until the vote!”
Jade cleared her throat. “Yeah, two weeks.”
“Two? Oh, I must’ve lost track of the time. To be honest, Sidney is more of the details person. I’m the guy with the big ideas.”
Jade smiled. Even if he couldn’t get her name right, his excitement was contagious – almost child like. His lack of attention to detail might explain the tropical themed videos, too…
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I wanted to say hello.” Matthew cautiously stepped into their circle.
“Hello!” Eric clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not interrupting, we’re just catching up.”
Laura smiled and extended a hand. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Matthew’s girlfriend Laura.”
“Great to meet you – oh, that’s right! I saw Matthew on the news. Amazing work with that fire – and wow, I’m really forgetting myself. So sorry to hear about what happened, Jane.”
Matthew smiled at Jade but said nothing.
“Thank you,” Jade said. “But luckily, I’m completely fine. Matthew was…well, he really is the hero.”
Laura beamed. “I’m so proud of him. He’s so brave. You know there’s a reporter here who wants to interview him?”
“Yeah…” Matthew shook his head. “He was very hard to shake when we came in.”
“Of course, you’re a local hero!” said Laura.
Matthew cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind, Eric, I actually wanted to have a word with you.”
“Not at all.”
They stepped aside and Tiffany stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Jade’s sister, Tiffany. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“And you as well! I love your dress. And yours too Jade!”
Jade absentmindedly looked down at herself. She almost forgot what she was wearing – it did look really nice. Despite her left foot being slightly numb, she was once again glad that she wasn’t in the frumpy outfit. “Thanks!”
“Is that a Fritz Brique?” Laura asked, reaching out to touch the fabric of Jade’s dress.
Tiffany nodded. “Yep.”
Laura gasped. “It’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen one in person before.”
Jade shot Tiffany a look and mouthed “Fritz Brique?” But Tiffany was determined to ignore her and keep smiling.
“I think I’m going to hunt down another glass of champagne,” Tiffany announced. “Be back in a second.”
“Good luck,” Laura said with a laugh.
Jade felt a sudden panic for being left alone with Laura.