Chapter 10

Stryder

 

Stryder hadn’t been that nervous in years. He’d had everything flown in for that night to the point he’d just bought the airstrip on the north side of Two Rides for easier access and less necessity to clear anything with other people. They all worked for him now, which meant he didn’t need permission. He didn’t like getting permission from anyone for anything.

He rubbed his damp palms down the tops of his thighs and stared across the table at Melody. A soft gray smudge on her nose made him want to reach across and softly wipe it from her skin.

Melody cleared her throat, reaching with shaking fingers for her crystal glass of ice water. She looked around, her eyes wide as she took in the real table and chairs and the presence of china dishes and real cutlery. “You’ve been busy. What did the town’s billionaire do today?”

Her trembling fingers gave him pause. She was as nervous as he was. That fact assuaged some of his anxiety and he smiled at her question. “You probably wouldn’t believe me.”

Melody smirked. “Try me.” She set her drink down and folded her hands in her lap, putting on her listening face that he’d missed so long.

Challenge accepted. “Okay, well, to be blunt, the internet access out here is… shall we say less than stellar? I need a much stronger connection so I can work from my home office, so I spent the better part of the morning buying the local cable company and then paying for a town-wide upgrade. It’s going to be a good chunk of change, but if everything goes according to my business model, it will have paid for itself within three months.” He glanced out of the tent, motioning toward Javier, who he’d flown in to serve them that night.

Melody stared in disbelief, her lips parted and she blinked. “Your business model? What exactly is it you do? I mean, I know you’re rich and all that, but how… I mean, how did you get that way?” She laughed and then glanced up as Javier carefully placed a new china plate in front of her with coconut prawns and huckleberry sauce. He placed a plate in front of Stryder and bowed his way out of the tent. Melody glanced back at Stryder. “You weren’t born with money, is what I mean.”

“I know what you mean. And you’re right. What I’ve done is taken a standard takeover model that many business people us – buy out everything, demolish it, and start over – and I’ve turned it on its head.” Stryder warmed to his subject, ignoring the seed of embarrassment that blossomed at talking about what he did. It was business. His best-friend, Trevor, was constantly telling him it was okay to explain what he did. “So, instead of going into a small town and buying everything up and ghosting it to be used for something later, I buy up businesses in a town and increase the pay and benefits substantially.”

“Why? How does that make you money? You’re spending more.” Melody glanced at her plate but kept her hands in her lap. She chewed her bottom lip and reached for her water again.

Stryder motioned toward the prawns. “Please, go ahead and eat. I’ll see if I can explain it.” He cocked his head to the side as she picked up a prawn and ate it. “It’s the idea that if I own most of the businesses and people have money to spend, I’ll be able to profit. But it’s more than that. I had to experiment on a few towns before coming to Two Rides to enact the model, but if I pick carefully – like choose a company that has been previously successful, I can reenact that success by focusing on the traits that built the community and fixing what ‘broke’ it, for lack of a better term.”

Melody nodded in understanding. “You make money by being helpful. That’s rare.” Her tone didn’t hide being impressed which warmed Stryder’s chest.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” He ate with her, falling into silence as they enjoyed the first course. He wanted to show her all the fine things she’d missed by choosing to stay there and not go with him, but he also wanted to make her feel like she could eat the things he’d learned to love. Caviar wasn’t an option. They’d only heard of that there in Two Rides and it might gross Melody out.

“That was delicious, thank you.” Melody placed her napkin beside her plate and moved to stand, pausing at the hand Stryder held up.

“I’m sorry, that was just the first course. If you’re still hungry, there’s plenty more.” Javier removed their plates, suddenly there like an apparition and then placed in front of them each a sixteen-ounce prime rib with a potato and salad on the side. The meal was Stryder’s favorite and Melody had always loved a good steak.

Melody sank slowly to the chair and stared at her plate. “No, this is too much.”

“Why? I was going to eat anyway. We’re just friends, Melody.” His heart hurt every time he said it, but he’d say whatever she needed to hear to keep her there.

Melody didn’t drag her gaze from the meat on her plate. “You can’t buy me, Stryder.” She finally glanced up. “I know you’re with Candy. Go back to her. She’s probably fine without all the extra hoopla.”

As if caught in the act of stealing a prized bull, Stryder stilled. “How did you know about Candy?” He wasn’t even sure what he knew about Candy, except they’d been out a couple times as a favor to one of his friends and she’d turned into a slight stalker. Now, he couldn’t seem to shake her and she somehow acted like they were together or getting married or something.

Melody shrugged. “Mrs. Singhe at the laundromat and florist prides herself on knowing everything about you.” Melody reached cautiously for her fork and knife, as if waiting for him to take it away. “Is Candy excited to move here?”

A warm flush crept up Stryder’s skin. “It’s not like that.” Just where had Mrs. Singhe gotten her information?

“Sure, it is. You didn’t have to wait for me, or pretend there’s anything between us, Stryder. That all died a long time ago.” She scoffed, cutting carefully into the steak. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“You mean, I killed it, right? When I left?” He studied her, leaning back in his seat. Self-righteous anger began to rise inside him. He hadn’t wanted to address what had happened, not yet. And there she was pushing things aside as if they were already figured out and done. That irritated him, not to mention she got a lot wrong. Nothing was dead for him. It stung that she considered it over between them. “And you, what about you? Have you been waiting for me all this time?”

Melody took a bite of steak and ignored both questions. Her long hair hung past her shoulders and Stryder caught a glimpse of a collarbone beneath the collar of her t-shirt as she leaned forward. She’d always been able to make rags look more elegant than a ballgown. Stryder had always admired that about her.

He couldn’t let it go. She’d opened the bag and her silence just further infuriated him. “What do you think happened?” If she had waited for him, he would have come back, but Clint assured him, repeatedly that Melody had moved on. Stryder hadn’t killed anything. He’d been out trying to revive it all this time. How much did he have to prove he loved Melody? More than a billion? How about two?

Melody finished chewing, then swallowed, pointing toward him with the tines of her fork. “You had a better offer. You left. It doesn’t have to be complicated.” She poked her fork at her plate. “This is delicious. Thank you.”

Stryder studied her, furrowing his brow as he tried to put the pieces together. She was constantly surprising him and he hadn’t been that out of his depth since walking into his first MBA class. “What do you mean it doesn’t have to be complicated? Everything about us is complex and worth a little more thought than just shoving us under the rug.” He ran his hand through his hair, sighing as he tried not getting upset.

Melody didn’t speak for a minute as she ate a couple more bites of her steak. She finally set her fork and knife down and leaned her forearms against the edge of the table. “Stryder… I’m not mad anymore. I used to be… so mad… and hurt.” Her face softened and she offered a slight smile. “But it’s like when my mom left, you know? I can’t control her. I can’t make her love me. Just like I can’t make you love me. There’s so much more out there than Two Rides and me. I get it.” She shrugged her graceful shoulder. “I just wish I’d known you’d moved on before I wasted so much time waiting.”

The proverbial stallion had returned and Stryder tried not to grunt as if a real horse had kicked him again. Being around Melody was dangerous – she had more surprises she revealed slowly. He wasn’t prepared for them. Clenching his fist, he pressed his knuckles into the ridges of his abs and took a deep breath. “Clint… Your dad never told you what happened? Or what… He didn’t tell you.” The latter wasn’t a question. The truth was coming out and he had no way to tell her without sounding desperate like he was making things up.

She laughed, tilting her head to the side. “Tell me what? Did you send him a secret letter? Maybe he hid a bunch of letters from me.” She shook her head, her laughter more derisive than humorous. “No, let’s just be honest here. I wasted a lot of time on what I thought we had. You moved on and got rich while I stayed here and…” She laughed uncomfortably, tucking her hair back behind her shoulder. “Obviously didn’t.”

“I see.” Stryder had never felt more helpless as he studied her graceful features and the sadness she hid behind her blunt bravado.

He pushed a piece of meat through the creamy horseradish on his plate and avoided looking at her for a moment. He didn’t want to see the truth in her eyes – that they were lost and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t take failure well and he had to admit, the blow she’d dealt didn’t do much but assert that he’d lost her and there was nothing he could do about it.

The sound of a diesel thundering up the road and getting closer pulled Stryder’s attention from his plate.

Headlights turned up the small dirt path Stryder had used to bring everything for his surprise for Melody. The evening was turning out worse than he’d ever thought possible. How he longed to be able to go back in time and… do what? Now he had to deal with a newcomer and Stryder wasn’t sure what to expect.

The truck stopped on the other side of the van Javier cooked from.

The red paint reflected the lights from the gazebo and Stryder leaned back to watch the driver get out and storm toward them.

Wide shoulders and a stocky build flooded Stryder back to when he’d returned to Two Rides for Melody and she’d found her at the Two Rides rodeo park. The same man had stood beside her and even wrapped his arm around her. She hadn’t shrugged him off.

Melody glanced toward the newcomer and looked back at her plate, shaking her head.

Stryder studied her as Brock got closer. That wasn’t happiness to see the man she’d replaced Stryder with.

What did Brock want and how far was Stryder going to let him go after it?