“Yes.” He suspected his friends had all been awake late into the night trying to piece together that particular puzzle, but Gage felt confident the child didn’t belong to Alonzo. DNA testing would prove it soon enough. “And we will continue to investigate that. But since the funds were also financing Alonzo’s humanitarian efforts, we wanted to announce that. We hoped a concrete response to the public interest in the story would put an end to the speculation.”

“And you’re comfortable with only providing half a story?” she asked, crossing her legs in a way that drew his eye to the hem of her black pencil skirt where it grazed her knee.

“I don’t think any of us feel compelled to account for every nickel of the guy’s money.” Gage lifted his attention from her legs, wishing they could have spent this flight in the sleeping suite through the door in the back of the plane. “But I thought I’d give you the right of first refusal for the piece to see if you want to pedal it to whatever outlet you planned to approach when you first came to Montana to explore the issue.”

How damned ironic that he’d brought her to Tahoe in the hope of making her lose interest in the Salazar story. Now, he needed a way to entice her to stay in Montana long enough to figure out how to keep her in his life.

She nibbled her lip, a hint of pink gloss disappearing as she did so. “It’s not like I’m writing for a venue winning journalism awards,” she admitted drily. “I’ll do it, but with the understanding that I’ll donate my payment to one of Alonzo’s humanitarian organizations.”

“You would do that?” He hadn’t anticipated her generosity, especially when she would need financing to start her next business.

He knew she’d arrived in Mesa Falls with precious little to her name, although perhaps his retrieval of her personal effects from her former home would make things easier for her.

“I won’t allow any of your friends to think I was trying to make a buck off a—” her eyes lowered for a moment “—from the hard times you’ve all been through.”

The reminder of Zach always nudged a dark, painful place inside him. Yet somehow, sharing the story with Elena and having her understanding eased a layer of the pain this time.

“Very well. You have my thanks. Our thinking was to offer you the scoop a few hours before we share the details publicly at a party similar to the one that brought you into my home in the first place.” He had already sent a memo to the ranch’s public relations director. Plans were in place to drop hints that an announcement was forthcoming, ensuring the event was well covered in the media. “We’re coordinating a party for next Saturday.”