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As she ran up the stairs and he called after her. “Bring a hat too.”
Looking over her shoulder at him, that frown was back. “Got it.”
“Come have a seat while you wait.” The Governor waved him toward an empty chair. Like good little soldiers, the puppies followed behind.
“Thank you.” Jared sat and studied the faces of the men doing the same with him.
Chase was the first to speak up. “I understand y’all upgraded your rain system last year.”
“That’s right.” He nodded. Thankful there were no questions about Eve. “In the knick of time too. We have quite a bit of captured water for filling the drinking troughs. The expense was high, but we’d be selling off cattle prematurely about now if not for the rainwater capture system.”
“We’ve been thinking about doing that here.” Mitch, the Senator, was the only person not looking at him as if he were a fox in the hen house. “If we don’t get some rain soon, we’re going to be selling off quite a chunk of the herd.”
“If it’ll help, I might be able to spare one of the tanks.”
Mitch smiled. “Thanks. I’ll let you know if it comes down to that.”
Jared knew the Barons had used a rain water capture system for decades to fill the property ponds, but it wasn’t quite as efficient as the new system he’d installed last year. “Any time.”
The sound of boot heels clicking down wooden steps had him turning to see Eve hop off the last step and stand smiling at the bottom of the stairs. “Ready.”
Pushing to his feet, he nodded at the Governor. “See you soon, sir.”
A few heads nodded in return, a hand or two waved. One of the granddaughters, whose name he didn’t remember, smiled at him. A nice smile. He could see the family resemblance, but it didn’t have near the wattage that Eve’s grin held.
Leading the way out the door, Eve trotted down the front steps. “So what’s this all about?”
Jared held the car door open for her. “Working on the house yesterday got me thinking.”
“Doesn’t it always.” She clicked her seat belt in place.
“Yeah. I can see that. Anyhow,” he shifted into gear and headed for his place, “I think there’s more that needs to be done than simply cutting a check.”
“Agreed.”
“I don’t have any spare time, but nonetheless, I want to help.”
She didn’t say a word, but her smile grew a little wider.
“Obviously, there are a lot of veterans who need help with affordable housing. Especially special needs housing.”
“I know. That’s why I risk letting some crazy rich person name a major perfume something totally inappropriate. The egos of the very wealthy can be conducive to huge payouts for naming rights.”
“Same for companies. I miss the old days when a ballpark was named for something that mattered to the town, not for the highest corporate bidder.”
“I know what you mean. Makes me like Boston a little more than this Texas fan should.”
That made him laugh. So the lady knew business, charity, cars, and now baseball. No one could be that perfect. There had to be something wrong with her.
“Earth to Jared.”
“Oh, sorry. My mind wandered.”
“I noticed.” Thankfully, she was still smiling at him.
“One of the foremen at the construction site mentioned the high number of veterans applying for housing that they can’t help. For many of the veterans, their biggest challenge to an ordinary life is dealing with PTSD.”
Eve nodded. “It’s crazy how we send off sweet, happy young men, and bring back too many broken and bent men with no hope for help.”
