Falling for the Millionaire(19)

"Your prayer touched me. It's been an emotional morning for me." She  tried to smile while she wiped at her eyes. "This whole thing with  Carter reminded me of losing my fiancé, Christopher, and losing my  brother and dad. I'm so glad Carter's going to be okay."

"I don't want you to be sad." He reached across the desk and touched her  arm. "I know it must have been hard to lose your fiancé in such a  horrific manner. The wars in that area of the world have brought sorrow  to the military and civilians alike. I appreciate your sharing with me.  Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes." She tried to smile but wound up pressing her lips together  obviously trying to ward off more tears. "It's been hard to talk about  Christopher, but things get better every year. Thoughts of him still pop  into my mind unexpectedly. Carter's accident was a trigger for those  sad memories." She picked up her sandwich and took a bite as if to  signal the end of the conversation.

For a few moments they ate in silence while Hudson let her admission  roll through his mind. He didn't want to press her for details. This was  the first time she'd ever mentioned Christopher in his presence. Was it  a good sign that she could talk about the loss of the man she had  loved? Melody's reference to this tragedy made Hudson see more clearly  her reasons for not wanting to date him.

Maybe he did take chances when he raced cars or jumped from planes, but  he wasn't ready to give up those things. Wasn't life itself one big  chance? A person never knew what the day would hold.

He wished he could convince Melody that her worries were unfounded. He  wasn't going into a war zone when he participated in the activities he  enjoyed. Could he insinuate himself into her life until those things  didn't matter to her anymore? He didn't want to cause her more hurt, so  talking about something else was the wise thing to do.

"How'd your meeting go?" Hudson took a bite of his sandwich as he  listened to Melody talk about her work. Her enthusiasm touched him deep  inside. Everything about her touched him. While they ate, they also  talked about the Valentine banquet and discovered that Ian had them  working together in the kitchen. Hudson wondered whether she recognized  the matchmaking efforts behind their assignments.

Their food gone, Melody brought up the information about road rallies on  her computer. "I've read this, and I agree that it sounds like a good  idea. Who will determine the route and the time?"

Hudson pointed first to her and then at himself. "We will."

"Us?" Melody's mouth formed a grim line.

"Yes. Adam gave me the go-ahead to help you plan this."         

     



 

A flicker of annoyance crossed Melody's face. "I wish Adam had consulted me, too. How do we do this?"

"We plan out the route, then we drive it and generate the clues and  instructions. After we've determined that, we drive it again and time  ourselves. That'll be the official time that someone has to match or  come closest to in order to win. We'll also have prizes for gathering  certain items along the route-all donated, of course."

"Are you going to solicit them?"

Hudson nodded. "I will."

"Great. When do you plan to drive the route?"

Hudson took a deep breath. "When we have a day off. Maybe this coming Saturday."

She leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed, but she didn't look happy. "There's no racing involved, correct?"

"Correct. We'll drive the speed limit. Variables will be traffic lights  and the time it takes each team to interpret the clues, collect any  items listed and perform any requested tasks." Hudson raised his  eyebrows as he looked at her. "So is this Saturday good?"

"I guess it'll have to be." She let out a long sigh. "When will we hold the event?"

"Sometime in late March or early April. We should allow enough time to get the word out and have people sign up."

"We need to run the dates by Adam, so he can coordinate the calendar and  get it in the newsletter and out to area churches and civic groups."

"That sounds like a good strategy." He wasn't going to make a comment on  her less-than-enthusiastic acceptance of the plan. He would be thankful  that she had agreed. This was as close to a date as he could get  without actually asking her to go out with him. Would this time together  do anything to cut through the barrier she'd erected to shut him out  and put to rest any of his own doubts?

* * *

Ferraris sat in Melody's driveway. The car and the man. She stared out  the window as Hudson came up her front walk. She was going to spend the  day with him in the close confines of that car. Could her resolve not to  let him into her heart survive this scenario?

As soon as Hudson stepped onto her porch, she opened the door. "I'm ready. Got my map and a notebook."

"Let's get started."

He opened the passenger door for her and, as she slid onto the seat, the  feel and the smell of leather reminded her of their date. Sitting in  this fancy vehicle with its low-slung bucket seats made her heart race.  He said they would travel at the speed limit. She clung to that promise.

Hudson folded his lanky frame into the driver's seat. She buckled her  seat belt, almost expecting the car to launch itself from the driveway.  When the engine thundered, her heart did, too. She shouldn't be afraid  to live a little.

He looked her way as he pulled out of her neighborhood onto the main  road. "Since we've got the route highlighted on your map, we need to  notice landmarks, parks or places of interest where we can ask the  participants to collect an item or take a photo of something to bring  back. We also want to give some of the route instructions in clue form."

Melody wrinkled her brow. "Are you good at that kind of thing?"

He laughed. "You have to ask?"

She held up her hands in surrender. "The job's yours."

"Of course, I need your final approval."

"Of course." She couldn't hold back her laughter. "I doubt there are too many times when you have to ask for that."

"Then, you've never met my dad." Hudson shook his head. "I call him the  lovable tyrant. I do love him even though he insists on having his way."

Melody wondered about their relationship. Judging from these comments,  it sounded somewhat troubled. "Thankfully, we don't need to get his  okay."

Hudson let out a belly laugh. "I think he'd like you."

Melody wasn't sure what to make of that statement as a follow-up to his previous one. "I hope so, if I ever meet him."

"There's no doubt you would charm him."

"Thank you. I guess."

"I mean it." Hudson gave her a quick look before focusing on the road.  "Let's concentrate on the task at hand. I've contacted some local  businesses on the route, and they're willing to provide clues."

"Wonderful!"

Hudson turned onto a less-traveled road running through a wooded area.  "I talked with Jordan Montgomery earlier this week. He said we could use  their church parking lot for our starting and ending point. We should  limit the entries to one hundred cars. What do you think?"

Melody took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Jordan said the church is willing to provide a meal at the end of the rally."

She looked over at him with a smile. "You've been busy. When did you have time to do this and your other work, too?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm amazing."

Melody was beginning to think he was. How long could she continue to  hold him at arm's length? The question bombarded her mind more and more  frequently. "Since you're so amazing, have you come up with some  fabulous prizes?"         

     



 

"Of course. When you're as amazing as I am, what can you expect?"

"Okay, amazing man, tell me what you've got." Melody knew he was joking,  but every time he said it she found herself thinking that very thing.

She couldn't deny that he was a remarkable man. The work on the women's  shelter was humming right along despite Carter's absence. Hudson charmed  the older ladies at the senior center whenever he ate lunch there. Even  though the thought of it curdled her stomach, she had to smile when he  told them he'd take them on a tandem jump when the weather got warmer.  Melody could almost see some of them taking him up on the offer.

"I don't remember everything. Lots of gift certificates. The big one is a  free tandem jump from the place where I work as a part-time  instructor."

"You mean as in skydiving?" Melody couldn't keep the frown out of her voice. "Not everyone thinks that's a fabulous prize."

"I know, so I got some for the less adventuresome folks. How about a day at a spa?"

"Now, that sounds like something I'd like to win."

"I figured as much." He flashed a grin. "Don't worry. There are prizes to suit every age and every taste."

"How will you determine who gets what prize?"