When the sparkle vanished from her eyes, he told himself it was for the best.

“We make money,” she asserted.

“A drop in the bucket compared to what you spend.” Sure, they sold a few horses, boarded a few horses and took in tuition from students. And Stephanie had won some cash prizes in jumping competitions over the years. But the income didn’t begin to compare with the massive expenditures necessary to run this kind of operation.

She gestured to the magazine cover. “And there’s that.”

“Nobody’s disputing that you win.”

“I mean the marketing value. That’s the front cover of Equine Earth. It was a four page article. Check out the value of that on the open market.”

“And how many potential lessees of Chicago office tower space do you suppose read Equine Earth magazine?”

“Plenty. Horse jumping is a sport of the rich and famous.”

“Have you done an analysis of the demographics of the Equine Earth readership?”

Her lips compressed, and she set her coffee mug down on a table.

Alec regretted that she’d stopped smiling, but he forced himself to carry on. “I have no objection to assigning a value to marketing efforts-”

“Well thank you so much, oh guru of the framework for overseas economic regions.”

“Hey, I’m trying to have a professional-”

The front door cracked sharply as it opened, and Alec instantly clamped his mouth shut. He turned to see Royce appear in the doorway, realizing how loud his and Stephanie’s voices had risen.

But Royce’s smile was easy, his nod friendly. Obviously they hadn’t been overheard.

“Hey, Royce.” Stephanie went to her brother, voice tone down, smile back in place.

Royce gave her a quick hug, then he turned his attention to Alec. “Am I interrupting something?”

“We were talking about my career,” Stephanie chirped. “The publicity Ryder Equestrian Center brings to the entire corporation.” She looked to Alec for confirmation.