season.
“Did you come to an agreement about Tappee?” she asked as they approached the red-gated pen.
Jared shook his head, increasing his pace to unlatch the gate in front of the horse. “Stephanie voted with me, but Otto sided with Anthony.”
“Otto?”
“Otto Durand.”
Her forehead furrowed as she cautiously led Tango through the gate. “I don’t understand.”
Jared pulled it shut and flipped the latch. “There’s a clip under his chin. Release the lead rope.”
She reached cautiously under the horse’s head. But she found the clip and clicked it free.
Tango instantly reacted to the familiar sound. Knowing he was free, he bolted, spraying clods of dirt at Melissa.
It was all Jared could do not to laugh at the horrified expression on her face.
She sputtered out the dirt while the horse rolled onto his back, relieved to be free of the saddle.
“What don’t you understand?” he asked, instead.
She brushed away her hair and rubbed the back of her hand over her face. “I don’t understand why you had to vote. Aren’t you CEO of Ryder International?”
“This isn’t a Ryder International project.”
“Oh. I thought …”
Jared cracked the gate open to man-size so they could exit the pen. “It’s the Genevieve Fund.”
Melissa raised her brow in a question.
“The Genevieve Ryder Memorial Fund,” Jared explained. “It’s a charitable trust named after my mother.”
“Is your mother …?”
He nodded. “She was killed twenty years ago.”
Her forehead creased. “I’m sorry.”
Jared shrugged, brushing past the sharp stab of conflicting emotions that tightened his chest. “It’s been twenty years.”
Melissa’s green eyes were round and soft. Her voice dropped to a husky level that somehow hit him in the solar plexus. “I’m still sorry.”
They stared at each other in silence, and once again he was struck by the intelligence in her eyes. Only this time, it was laced with compassion. There was something he didn’t understand about this woman, something lurking just beyond his comprehension.
“There are five members of the Genevieve Fund board,” he told her, leaning an arm on a fence rail, forcing the frustrating dilemma from his head.
“Who’s the fifth?” She mirrored his posture.
“My brother, Royce.”
“I take it he gets to break the tie?”
“He’ll be here on Saturday.”
“Does he work on the ranch or with the construction company?”
“Neither. He works for Ryder International, but he’s involved in acquisitions, not in the day-to-day business.”
“So he was the one who found Saxena Electronics?”
And there it was again. “How do you know about Saxena?”
“I told you, Jared.” She smoothed her mussed hair back from her forehead. “I read the newspapers.”
“And you remember obscure facts like that?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes it’s a blessing. Sometimes it’s a curse.”
“Ever heard of Bosoniga?”
“Little country in West Africa.” She grinned, revealing flashing white teeth. “Is this a quiz?”
“We’re building a school there.”
Her head bobbed up and down. “Good choice. The monarchy is stable, so poverty and infrastructure will be your only problems.”
He lifted his hand, then brought it down again on the rough wood of the fence, struggling to make Melissa’s lifestyle add up in his head. “Why don’t you have a real job?”
“Define a real job.”
“An office, where’d you put that brain of yours to work from nine to five.”
“I don’t think they’d let me wander across the country.”
“How long have you been wandering across the country?”
Her mouth tightened imperceptibly, and something flashed in the depths of her eyes. Fear? Pain? He was reminded once again that she could be running from something or someone.
But then the look was gone.
“Not long,” she answered. “Do you think Royce will side with his family or with Anthony and Otto?”
“Anthony is our cousin.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Royce is a risk taker. He’ll offer to fly down to Tappee himself.”
“He’s a pilot?”
Jared choked out a laugh. “He’s definitely a pilot. I think he likes flying around the world more than he likes investigating companies.”
“Can I meet him when he gets here?”
Jared tensed. A chill hit his body, and a warning sparked in his brain. “Why?”
She drew back, obviously reacting to his expression.
“You planning to flirt with him?” Jarred pressed. He shouldn’t have let his guard down. He didn’t know anything about this woman.
She emphatically shook her head. “He likes to travel. I like to travel.” Her words came faster. “I was thinking you could be right. Maybe I should find a real job and save up some money. I mean, seeing America is fun and all, but it might be fun to see some of the rest of the world—”
“In my brother’s jet?”
“No. No.” She smoothed her hair back again. “I’m not going to flirt with your brother. I just thought …”
Jared waited. He truly did want to know what she thought.
She let go of the fence rail and took a step forward. “I thought he might be a lot like you. Smart and interesting.”
He stared down as she moved closer. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.” But what he really couldn’t believe was that it was working.
