Melody Anne's Billionaire Universe: Against the Billionaire's Will (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Love Against Odds Book 3) by Mandy Harbin Page B

her thumb in Dawson’s direction.
    He cracked a smile as he looked at her. “Sounds like you’re going to lose the ranch.”
    “I advise you follow Dawson’s recommendations. It was Mr. Winthrop’s wishes.” Her gaze narrowed, but then she gave a quick nod.
    “I have a question,” Dawson said. “Is my father aware of this provision? I’m going to have to rearrange my schedule pretty quickly to make plans to be away. I don’t want any surprise loopholes to develop after I’ve served these thirty days.”
    “It’s not a prison sentence,” Brindle muttered.
    “Time is money. My grandfather taught me that.”
    “This document is air tight. There could be some issues left up to me to determine, but for the most part, there is no way around it. You provide the requested assistance to Ms. Attree, and your stake in your grandfather’s businesses will be increased. I will also note that breeding race horses was a hobby of Mr. Winthrop’s. He wasn’t in it for the money, but this venture created many jobs. If the company has to be sold, those people could be out of work, and that won’t look good.”
    “You’ve made it perfectly clear I have no choice in the matter,” Dawson said as he crossed his arms.
    “Oh, you have a choice, son. A multi-billion-dollar choice.”
    Dawson didn’t get to where he was by making bad business decisions. Even taking away the personal element of this being one of his grandfather’s dying requests, he knew exactly what was at stake.
    “Right,” Dawson said. “Like I said. I have no choice.”
    He glanced at the blonde woman he would be working beside and stifled a groan. She wasn’t even paying attention. Her gaze remained unfocused as she stared at nothing. Great. Was this what he had to look forward to? Thirty days of his life, teaching an easily distracted woman what he learned over six years matriculating at Harvard?
    Impossible. But in thirty days he could put this silliness behind him.
    Buckley, Washington. With a name like that, he wouldn’t be surprised if Google didn’t even know where it was.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Brindle Attree had to be dreaming. Or she was being cruelly punked.
    When she’d received the certified letter to this meeting, she expected the worst. She hadn’t even dressed up, choosing to wear an old pair of jeans and her favorite pair of Justin boots instead.
    When she’d heard the news of Mr. Winthrop’s passing she’d been devastated. The nice old man had come to the ranch once a month for the last few years and each time he’d taken her to lunch and talked about her visions for the ranch. She knew he was a wealthy businessman and had assumed this meeting was going to be about selling the asset that was her livelihood. She’d been ready to go back to waiting tables until she could secure a job at a neighboring ranch or find a place to live since she’d been staying at the main house on the ranch at the owner’s insistence.
    Now she wouldn’t have to. The ranch was hers.
    Almost
    Oh my god, the ranch is going to be mine. She’d seen the books when Mr. Winthrop had shown them to her on his visits. She knew its value and the amount of money it brought in. She couldn’t wrap her head around that kind of money.
    She still couldn’t.
    Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. She chanted to herself. All she ever wanted was to spend her life taking care of horses. With her dad’s shady past and his penchant for always being out for a quick buck, he’d forever tarnished the Attree name. The only jobs she could get were cleaning stalls. Until she’d come in for an interview on a day Mr. Winthrop just happened to stop by the ranch unannounced to check on things. He’d hired her on the spot, though she’d seen the distain in his equine manager’s eyes. Within two years she’d been promoted to that job. A couple of years later, she’d become the ranch manager.
    Everything she had, she owed to Mr. Winthrop.
    “Ms. Attree?” the man next to