Page 22 of A Montana Childhood Promise (Sagebrush Ranch Sweethearts #3)
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jane fumed when she read the email she’d received last night. It had been two weeks of back and forth with the representative of The Wounded Heroes Project. Two weeks of her trying to express how it would be in their best interest to have the whole board present—including the CEO.
Two weeks of not only pleading for them to reconsider, but also using logic. News had spread throughout the invitees that the CEO would not in fact be unveiling himself. And she had lost track of how many times she’d received emails demanding that she change things.
This wasn’t up to her. She wanted to scream at the computer—at the entitled people who thought they could just threaten her so she would bend to their will.
If this experience had taught her anything, it was that the entitlement of this demographic of people was far above and beyond what she’d given them credit for.
Not only were the guests making demands, but the one person they wanted to see refused to come out of hiding.
She glared at her computer. They weren’t going to change their minds. They have policies in place that prevented the CEO from attending—whatever that meant.
“You okay?”
Jane’s head snapped up from where she sat at her official desk. The Wounded Heroes Project had finally given her space to do her work. It wasn’t the biggest space. In fact, it was more like a closet than anything else, but it did have some natural light from the rectangular windows overhead.
Noah was leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded and looking just as handsome as ever. Her heart did a little flutter at the look he was giving her—like he wanted to kiss her until her legs buckled and she couldn’t hold herself upright anymore.
The only sign that he was concerned was in the crease between his eyes. Everything else about him screamed just how much he adored her. When she shook her head, that smirk on his lips faded, and he strode into the office. “What’s going on? It’s not the event, is it?”
“What else could it be?” she huffed. “They’re not listening to me.”
“What do you mean?” His voice took on a more guarded quality. It was uncharacteristic, and she paused to stare at him with confusion. Was he dealing with something, too?
Jane shook off that thought. Noah had a protective streak in him.
Whenever she was upset, he’d come to her aid and do what he could to comfort her.
When she’d first found out that the CEO wasn’t attending, he’d tried to make her feel better.
But the longer this dragged out, the more irritated he seemed to become.
She could understand that irritation. She felt it, too.
Jane snapped her laptop closed and huffed out a breath.
“This Thomas Dalton, whoever he is, told me that I need to stop reaching out about this issue. The decision has been made. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell them that the guests they depend on for donations are upset. They won’t give in to my request.”
The frown on Noah’s face deepened. “I thought you weren’t going to try anymore. That’s what you said a couple days ago.”
“I know you think it’s a lost cause, but you’re not the one getting the emails from the people coming to the event. They’re all really upset.”
“Well, they can deal with it.”
Her head snapped up, and she stared at him for a minute. “You don’t think the guy should come?”
Noah dragged a hand down his face and sighed. His voice softened as he spoke, but he didn’t look right at her when he did. “This isn’t your decision. It’s not your responsibility. You’re just the one planning the event. If they’re so upset, then they can take it up with the board themselves.”
She snorted. “I doubt the board would even care if they got a million emails about this.” Noah was being sweet. He wanted to protect her from the people who were badgering her. But that was her fault, too. She’d jumped the gun on announcing her news.
“Regardless, they have to understand that it’s not your decision. You’re just an employee like everyone else.”
“And if this event turns out to be a bomb because the guy won’t show his face for five minutes and take some pictures for posterity?” she asked.
He paused to consider that.
“I could lose my job, Noah. That’s what this is really about. I was supposed to plan an event that would get people in the door and money in the bank. I can’t do that if everyone is upset about what they thought they’d be getting.”
“But this event isn’t going to be any different from the others.”
She didn’t like the way those words stung. She’d put so much effort into making this gala enticing. She didn’t want it to be just one out of the hundreds they’d hosted. She wanted it to be special.
“Hey,” he murmured softly. “It’s going to be great. What I meant to say was that the people attending aren’t going to change. The guests are just going to have to accept that it’s going to have the same sort of attendance as every other event.”
She nodded, but his words didn’t do much to help her. Especially considering what she’d been researching. “Did you know that there are no clues as to the identity of the CEO?”
Noah stilled, and she risked a glance at him. His features were unreadable. He didn’t say a word, so she continued.
“I’ve been doing some research. The Wounded Heroes Project started out small only a couple of years ago.
It grew like a cancer. But the whole time, the public never knew the identity of the person who started it.
Whoever it was hid behind a trust. Then they got a board of directors, and those people are plastered all over the website. ”
“Maybe one of the board members is the head person,” Noah said quietly.
She shook her head. “That wouldn’t make sense. Honestly, none of this makes sense. It’s not normal for someone to want to hide this much unless they’re really hiding something big.”
“What do you mean by that?” Noah whispered.
Jane closed her eyes, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
She couldn’t even believe she was thinking this way about the people who had given her paychecks for the last year or so.
At least she wasn’t discussing her findings with the people who ran the program.
She could get fired if they knew what she was thinking.
She peeked at him and sighed again. “It makes me wonder if there is something illegal going on.”
Noah sucked in a breath.
“I know what you’re thinking. There’s nothing to substantiate my claims. There are public records, and most of them are easy to access.
The ones that aren’t are available through work.
But you and I both know that people can hide criminal activity easier than we want to give them credit for.
Criminals have means to do that sort of thing.
” She glanced toward the door then jerked her chin. “Will you close that?”
Noah glanced behind him then shut the door like he was asked before coming back to her side.
She lowered her voice. “What if this is a money laundering front?”
He didn’t move. He just stared at her. Did that mean he thought she was on to something? Or that she was crazy?
“Say something,” Jane whispered. “Do you think it’s possible that there’s illegal activity going on?”
For a moment, she thought he wouldn’t answer her.
But then he gave a sharp shake of his head and straightened as he folded his arms. “Nope. I think you’re exhausted, and you’re searching for reasons as to why a person who wants to keep their personal life private doesn’t want to show up at an event where they’d have to talk to hundreds of people.
Not to mention, the news reporters who would likely show up. ”
Jane couldn’t keep her mouth from falling open at his statement. “I’m not tired.”
He arched a brow. “You haven’t been sleeping well. You’re coming in early then staying late at the ranch. You can’t tell me you’re not worn down, Jane.”
Shoot. Noah had a point with that one.
Still, she wouldn’t blame her assumptions on something so trivial.
She tapped her finger on the computer. “Something isn’t adding up.
You can’t tell me that this is normal. Think about every other business out there.
Every charity, even. We know who supports and runs those entities.
But this one? Why is it so secretive? They can’t just rise to fame and not get scrutinized. ”
This felt a heck of a lot like she was trying to defend herself against him. Noah was her boyfriend. He was supposed to support her, not make her feel like she’d gone crazy.
“Whoever that person is, they should be at the event. And I think they know it.”
Noah’s expression gave nothing away. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t concerned. He didn’t even look like he pitied her. Blank. That was how he looked.
Irritation shifted into anger. “This is important to me, Noah. At first it was about getting the CEO to come because it would benefit the charity. Now it’s got more to do with knowing I’m not working for the mafia.”
Noah snorted. “That’s what you think this is? The mafia? Come on, even you have to say that’s a little farfetched.”
“Actually, I can’t say that for certain. There is too much going on under the cover of darkness.”
He snorted again, and it only made her blood boil that much more.