Chapter 104

Elena paused with her fork halfway to her mouth.

"Um... sorry. Have we met before? At a competition, maybe? Or one of my performances?"

She searched her memory and came up completely blank.

"Neither."

The young man rubbed his forehead.

"I'm Ethan. We both go to Westbridge. I'm in the natural sciences program."

He stared at her for a second, clearly waiting for some sign of recognition.

There was none.

"I got your profile from a friend in the arts program a while back and added you. Then I sent you this embarrassingly long message confessing my feelings, attached several extremely flattering photos of myself, and told you to hurry up and dump Adrian because he was an insufferable idiot."

Ethan looked genuinely wounded.

"None of that rings a bell?"

"Cough—"

Elena nearly choked.

There had been plenty of men like that in the original Elena's messages. Most had either been ignored or politely rejected, depending largely on how respectful they had been.

"Ah... sorry. My memory isn't great."

She touched her nose awkwardly.

"But Adrian really is an idiot, so you weren't wrong about that."

Ethan immediately came alive.

"Right?"

He dropped into the empty seat across from her as though they had just discovered a profound philosophical truth.

"That guy gets good grades and suddenly thinks his field is superior to everyone else's. We all got into Westbridge. Who here wasn't at the top of their class?"

His expression twisted with genuine disgust.

"I could never stand him."

Elena found herself increasingly entertained.

Ethan leaned forward.

"So how have you been?"

"I broke up with him."

"Good."

"But I have a boyfriend now. We're very happy."

Ethan didn't look particularly disappointed.

If anything, he seemed interested.

"I figured. So what's the new boyfriend like? He has to be better than Adrian, right?"

Elena had no idea why he sounded so excited about this question, but she didn't hesitate.

"Obviously."

The smile appeared before she could stop it.

"Comparing Adrian to him would already be giving Adrian far too much credit."

"Oh?"

Elena considered how to explain Richard.

"As for money, let's just say there aren't many people richer than him."

Ethan blinked.

"And everything else..."

She thought about it.

"He could probably punch Adrian into a wall hard enough that you'd need construction equipment to get him back out."

Ethan stared at her for several seconds.

Then he slapped his thigh.

"Exactly!"

Elena jumped.

"That's what I'm talking about. That's the kind of man you should be dating. You look like that, and Adrian somehow thought he was too good for everyone else?"

What followed was an impressively creative sequence of insults directed at Adrian.

Elena listened with considerable enjoyment.

"All right." Ethan finally seemed satisfied. "If your boyfriend's that great, then I've got nothing to complain about."

His attention returned to the window.

"Anyway, since you're eating alone, I might as well tell you about the birds."

Apparently, Ethan was a genuine natural-science fanatic.

The moment the conversation returned to wildlife, whatever remained of his failed romantic ambitions seemed to disappear completely. He launched enthusiastically into an explanation while Elena ate her steak and listened.

"See that one?"

Ethan pointed toward another branch beyond the window.

A gray-brown bird was hopping through the bare branches.

"That's a hermit thrush. They're usually pretty cautious, but the ones around the club have gotten used to people."

Elena nodded.

"Oh, I think I've seen those before."

Another small bird fluttered onto a branch closer to the window.

Its blue back immediately caught the eye against the muted winter landscape.

Ethan lowered his voice.

"Eastern bluebird. Male."

Elena leaned slightly toward the glass.

"See the blue on his wings and back? Pretty, right?"

"It is."

The bird pecked at a berry, paused, then lifted its head to survey its surroundings.

"What do they eat?" Elena asked. "Just berries?"

"In winter, mostly fruit and whatever insects they can still find. The club keeps feeders around the wetlands too, so they have it pretty good here."

He pointed toward a feeding station partly hidden among the landscaping.

Elena followed his finger.

"You really like birds."

"I like almost anything that moves and isn't human."

Elena laughed.

Ethan considered that.

"That sounded worse than I intended."

"It really did."

He grinned and pointed farther away, toward several dark birds gathered in the bare branches of a tall tree.

"American robins. They look miserable right now, but wait until spring. They'll be making noise before you even want to be awake."

Elena squinted at the birds.

Huddled together with their necks drawn in, they looked like several abandoned balls of yarn someone had forgotten in a tree.

She laughed again.

"If you come here for breakfast in spring," Ethan said, "you'll get a free concert."

The restaurant remained peaceful.

For the moment.

Richard came down the curved staircase not long afterward.

The dinner had ended earlier than expected. His French partners were still dealing with jet lag, and once the important points had been covered, no one had been interested in dragging the evening out.

Richard entered the restaurant.

His gaze moved across the room.

Then stopped.

By the enormous windows, Elena sat in the secluded booth with one hand supporting her chin, amusement bright in her eyes as she looked outside.

Across from her sat a young man roughly her age.

He was talking animatedly, gesturing toward the wetlands every few seconds.

Elena was listening.

And smiling.

Richard's expression changed almost imperceptibly.

In the fading winter light, they looked close in age, equally young and at ease as they sat together watching the birds beyond the glass.

It was a remarkably natural picture.

How lovely.

Outside, a sudden burst of movement disturbed the quiet scene.

Two male pine grosbeaks shot out from the landscaping and collided in a flurry of wings.

Feathers scattered.

The birds chased each other between branches, darting and diving with sharp warning calls, neither apparently willing to surrender whatever had caused the dispute.

Richard stopped walking.

He watched them through the glass.

It wasn't mating season.

They were probably fighting over food or a favored perch.

Richard knew that.

It made absolutely no difference.

He looked at the two males attacking each other with unreasonable determination.

Then at Elena.

Then at the young man sitting across from her.

For some inexplicable reason, he understood the birds perfectly.

He, too, was beginning to feel remarkably unreasonable.

Richard looked away, expressionless.

He reached up, loosened his tie slightly, and started toward the booth.

Ethan stopped in the middle of a sentence.

Something made the back of his neck prickle.

He turned.

A very tall man was walking directly toward them.

Ethan froze.

The man's expression was calm. That somehow made it worse.

Then recognition hit.

Oh, shit.

Richard Sterling.

Chairman of Sterling Consortium.

There were very few people from families like Ethan's who wouldn't recognize that face.

Ethan shot out of his chair so quickly he nearly knocked it backward.

"Mr. Sterling!"

Elena slowly lowered her fork.

Her eyes moved to Ethan.

Then to Richard.

Then back to Ethan.

Why did he suddenly look like he'd been caught doing something illegal?

Richard stopped beside the table.

His gaze rested briefly on Ethan before shifting to Elena.

Elena looked up at him innocently.

"Finished already?"

Richard looked at her.

Then at Ethan.

"Yes."

A beat passed.

Ethan suddenly had the distinct feeling that he should probably explain why he was sitting here.

The problem was—

he had absolutely no idea why.