Small Town Billionaire

by Cheryl Michaels

  Shay smiled as she curled her hand around the back of his neck. “I don’t either.”

  Nick pulled the blankets up to his chin when his girlfriend finally picked up the phone after his fourth failed attempt to call her.

  “Hey, how’d it go tonight?” she asked.

  “Where’d you go after the game?” She’d slipped out before he could find her and hadn’t texted to let him know where she’d be. That wasn’t like Maggie.

  “Just out for a burger with everybody. I thought I’d see you there. Didn’t you say Chase wanted to—”

  “We went for a steak instead.”

  “I guess with his money he can eat like a king, huh?” She giggled. “So, what was Daddy Warbucks like anyhow?”

  Nick hadn’t thought twice about Chase’s money. He’d been more interested in getting to know him as a person. “He was cool. So was Shay. I liked them.”

  He didn’t think of himself as one of those adopted kids with a chip on his shoulder because his parents didn’t want him. He was just grateful to have found a family who did want him. Even if it sometimes seemed they no longer did.

  “So you’re gonna see them again?”

  “Yeah, I think so. In fact, they invited me to Landon. Maybe I’ll go next weekend.”

  “You think they’ll take you in this summer so you don’t have to move up to God’s country with your mom?”

  Nick knew it was too soon to ask Shay or Chase to take him in for the whole summer, but he hoped to work his way up to it. He knew his mother would never let him stay home alone for the whole summer and staying with his over-protective grandparents would be even worse than being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cell service or w-fi for two months.

  “Even if they do, it’s still an hour away,” he reminded her. “It wouldn’t be easy for us to see each other.”

  “Chase is rich. He could have his chauffeur drive you back here every weekend.”

  Even though Nick barely knew his birth father, he didn’t appreciate Maggie making assumptions about him before she’d even met him. “Chase isn’t like that. In fact, he drives a pick-up truck.”

  “Ugh. Why when he could drive some hot sports car?”

  “I asked him that too. Turns out he’s not into that stuff.” And that made Nick respect him even more. He liked that the Chase he’d seen in his company’s promo videos was the same guy he met tonight. He didn’t pretend to be someone he wasn’t for the sake of his public image.

  “I thought growing up in that crappy little town would have made him want the best of everything.”

  Maggie’s parents lived paycheck to paycheck and she swore that would never happen to her. She wasn’t interested in small town life. First chance she got she wanted to get lost in a big city. Nick didn’t happen to agree, but he knew it was her decision to make.

  “I guess somewhere along the way he realized money doesn’t make him happy.”

  “Easy for him to say. He’s got more than he’ll ever spend. Tell him to send some of it this way.”

  Maggie always seemed to have her hand out, rather than trying to pay her own way. That was one of the things that bugged Nick about her. Even though she had a part-time job at the local convenient store, she was always the last one to reach into her wallet when they went out with friends.

  “Chase has worked his butt off for everything’s he’s got.”

  “How do you know? You barely know the guy.”

  As soon as Nick found out Chase was his birth father he did his homework, watching every video and reading every article he could find about him online. By now he could probably write his biography without any input from the man himself.

  “I know what kind of guy he is.”

  “You haven’t said much about Shay. What’s she like?”

  He thought of the book she’d written. The story she’d told… about her feelings for him. “She and Chase seem like a real couple. It’s hard to believe they’re not.”

  “How do you know? Just because they’re not married doesn’t mean they’re not messing around.”

  “I guess.” It would certainly explain the chemistry between them. “Doesn’t matter anyhow. The only thing that matters is they seem stoked about getting to know me and I feel the same way.”

  “I would too if I were you.” She snorted. “Think about it. Can you imagine the kind of wheels that guy would buy you when you get your license? Especially with all the guilt he must feel about bailing on you.”

  “He didn’t bail on me.” Even Nick knew there was a big difference between making the difficult decision to put a baby up for adoption when you were a teen and being a deadbeat dad who didn’t even try to live up to his responsibilities.

  He couldn’t pretend he hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about why Shay and Chase hadn’t reached out to him before, but he hoped to be able to ask them that question someday.

  “Call it what you want,” she said, sighing. “He probably feels guilty for splitting, and I say milk it.”

  “I gotta go.” This conversation was leaving a bitter taste in Nick’s mouth. “I’m tired.”

  “Yeah, sure. Will I see tomorrow?”

  “Probably not ‘til tomorrow night. Text me in the morning.”

  “Ok, love you.”

  For the first time Nick found it difficult to mimic the sentiment. “You too. ‘Night.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Okay, tell me everything,” Ainsley said, depositing two take-out coffees on Shay’s desk along with an aromatic paper bag.

  Shay dove into the bag, inhaling the chocolate like she’d been on a hunger strike. “Oh that smells so good. I haven’t had one of these in weeks.”

  Ainsley peeled the lid back on her coffee. “Enough about the pastry. Tell me about Nick. And Chase. I know there were things you couldn’t say last night, with him being right there and all.”

  When they’d been dating Shay rarely held back with Chase. She told him everything she told Ainsley. “Like I said, Nick’s a great kid. And he seems open to getting to know us better, which is a huge relief. I was afraid maybe he was just luring us out there to tell us he hated us for giving him up.”

  “How was he with Chase?” Ainsley asked, taking a sip of her coffee. “They hit it off?”

  “To tell you the truth, I think there was a bit of hero worship going on there.” Shay had caught Nick hanging on Chase’s every word and knew Chase must have sensed it too, though he didn’t mention it.

  “Can you blame him?” Ainsley asked. “Any kid would be proud to have a dad like that. Small town boy makes it big. It’s a great story.”

  “Chase wasn’t the only small town boy who made it big.” They hadn’t talked much about Bryce since he returned and Shay wanted to know how her friend really felt about her ex living a stone’s throw away from her.

  “No, he wasn’t,” Ainsley said, taking her croissant out of the bag and setting it on a paper napkin before popping a bite into her mouth. “And I’m really proud of Bryce too. I think what they’ve accomplished is fantastic. And coming back here to help the people in Landon who’ve been having a tough time by employing all those people…” She smiled. “It’s like Christmas came early for those folks.”

  “Yeah, your real-life hero,” Shay teased.

  “Shut up,” Ainsley said, rolling her eyes. “You can’t tell me you’re not impressed they uprooted their lives and business to bring it back to Landon.”

  “I think it’s awesome they did that.” But Shay suspected they had reasons aside from bolstering the local economy. “But you know how much Chase’s family has always meant to him. The fact that his dad’s gone now…”

  “I know. Hey, that reminds me, have you heard whether Bryce’s seen his dad since he came back to town?”

  They both knew Bryce’s father had been a tyrant when he’d been growing up, often getting physical when he was ten minutes late for curfew. “No, though I can’t imagine why he’d want to. I know if it was
me I’d stay as far away from him as I could get.”

  “Speaking of nasty parents, how’re yours?” Ainsley asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are they still giving you a hard time?”

  “I haven’t spoken to them since the blow-up at dinner and I’m not going to be the one to reach out. I said my peace. If they want to talk, they can call me.”

  “Good for you.” Ainsley polished off her croissant before she said, “We should play hooky and go to the lake for a picnic today. Catch a few rays, relax a little. What do you say?”

  “Hmmm, we haven’t done that in ages.”

  “I know, right?” Ainsley laughed. “Remember when we were in high school and the four of us would spend the day there. We’d have the tunes blaring all day and get fried, while the guys caught our dinner and fried up the fish over the fire they’d built.”

  Shay smiled at the sweet memory. “Fish fry never tasted so good.”

  “You said it, sister. So finish up what you have to do here,” Ainsley said, collecting the garbage and tossing it in her wastebasket. “I’ll pass by my house and pick up the swimsuit you left there and you can borrow a pair of shorts and flip-flops from me. I’ll be back around 11:30. Does that work?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Chase walked through the lobby of his brother’s quaint little inn. It wasn’t the same place Chase remembered growing up. Brady was a master carpenter and had hammered every nail and stripped every wood surface himself, to slowly bring this place back to life.

  “Bout time you dragged your butt down here,” Brady said, pulling Chase into a half-hug as they clasped hands. “So, what do you think? I’ve still got a few more projects I need to tackle, like the roof and the wrap-around deck, but—”

  “Man, it looks great. Seriously.” Chase tossed him the keys to his old truck, which was part of the reason for his visit.

  “What’s this?” Brady asked, holding up the pewter keyring with the Backwoods Outdoors logo.

  “The keys to my old truck. I bought a new one, so I thought you might have a use for this one.”

  “Seriously? That’s awesome, but why didn’t you just trade it in?”

  Chase shrugged. His brother was too proud to accept a hand-out and he knew he wouldn’t take the truck if it felt like charity. “It’s no big deal, little brother. Just say thank you and shut up about it.” He curled his arm around Brady’s neck, leading him into the small office.

  “Well, thank you,” Brady said, tossing the keys on the old pine desk he’d made with salvaged wood. “You picked the right day to stop by.” Brady pointed out the window to the lake. “I hear the fish are biting. Feel like wetting a line?”

  “You know I’ll never turn down an offer like that.”

  “Cool. Why don’t you text Bryce too? It’ll be just like the old days when I used to tag along, hoping to learn something from you two boneheads.”

  Chase laughed as he fired off a quick text to Bryce, telling him to get his butt down to the inn.

  “So, what’s this mama tells me about you re-connecting with your boy?” Brady said, leaning back in the squeaky swivel chair, lacing his hands over his flat stomach. “When were you gonna tell me about that?”

  Chase and Brady had always been close, so it’s not like he was trying to keep secrets from him. He just wanted to meet Nick before he jinxed it. “As a matter of fact me and Shay went up to Brockville to meet him last night. It went well, real well. He’s a great kid. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be coming here next weekend, so you can meet him yourself.”

  “You need to bring him by the inn,” Brady said. “I’ve got a new cook. She’s great.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Chase hesitated to bring it up, but knew he had to. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d gone out with Shay? I had to hear from Rusty that you two had been in there together.”

  Raking a hand through his black hair before stroking the stubble on his chin, Brady said, “You heard about that, huh?”

  “What I want to know is why you didn’t tell me.”

  “I felt weird even asking her,” he admitted. “Ten minutes into the date I think we both knew it was a huge mistake. As soon as we acknowledged that we were able to relax and have fun, just as friends. We spent a lot of time reminiscing, talking about you, in fact.”

  “Is that so?” Chase wanted to press for details, but he didn’t want to come off as desperate.

  Brady laughed, pointing at him. “You can’t fool me, man. I know you’re dyin’ to know what she said.”

  “Okay,” Chase said, mock-scowling at him. “What did she say?”

  “That she really screwed up with you. She said she loved you and never should have let her parents convince her that y’all were too young to know what real love was.”

  Chase was relieved to hear she’d realized that a long time ago, not just when he’d come back to town. “She wasn’t the only one to blame. I let her old man intimidate me. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Water under the bridge, right?” Brady asked. “You were both kids back then, still trying to figure things out.”

  “True.”

  “And now?”

  Chase laughed, wishing he had a better answer. “We’re still trying to figure things out. Just taking it one day at a time.”

  “What does that mean?” Brady asked, frowning. “Don’t tell me you’re still in denial. Anyone can see that you two belong together, man. You always have. Isn’t that what dad told you before he died? That you needed to man up and set things right with Shay and your son?”

  “And that’s what I’m trying to do,” Chase said, re-playing in his mind the last conversation he had with their dad when he was lying in that hospital bed talking about his few regrets.

  “But I’m trying to re-build my friendship with Shay first. That has to be the foundation. And we need to figure out how Nick fits into our lives. We want him to be a part of it, but it’s up to him what that looks like.”

  “I have an idea,” Brady said, snapping his fingers. “Why don’t you invite Shay over today? No better way to move your relationship along than reminding her how much fun you used to have together, am I right?”

  After the intense day they’d had yesterday, maybe a little fun in the sun was exactly what they needed. “Sure, I’ll ask.”

  By the time Bryce strolled through the door a few minutes later, he had to tell him that a couple of other people would be joining their party and he wasn’t sure how his friend would take that bit of news.

  “I’m going to head into the kitchen, see what Elsie’s got planned for lunch,” Brady said, standing. “I’m sure I can get her to throw something together for us.”

  Bryce slapped Brady on the back before he left the room. “You ready to be humiliated again today?” Bryce asked, grinning.

  “Why does everything have to be a competition with you?” Chase joked. Friendly competition had always been the life-blood of their relationship. “Gotta have something to do with the fact I threaten your masculinity. You know, bein’ that I’m good-looking, rugged, and a jock.”

  Bryce doubled over laughing after setting the cooler he’d brought on the ground. “That was a good one. Thanks, man,” he said, smacking Chase upside the head before he sat down. “I needed that. Now tell me what happened with your boy last night. I was waiting to hear from you. Why didn’t you call?”

  “I passed by the office before I came here,” Chase said. “Thought you’d be there.”

  “Stopped by to see the old man.”

  Chase sucked in a breath, rubbing the stubble on his jaw. “I’m not even sure I should ask.”

  “I’ll tell you about that later. I want to hear what went down with Nick first.” He wiggled his eyebrows comically. “And Shay. You two didn’t have a chaperone all night, am I right?”

  Chase smiled, thinking the evening couldn’t have gone any better if he’d scripted it. “Nick is a great kid. Felt like I’d known him forever. Given the chance I think
we could be tight. Real tight.”

  “Man, that’s great,” Bryce said, leaning forward to slap his buddy on the back. “You’re getting everything you came here for, huh? You’re getting back with Shay.” He circled a finger around Brady’s messy office. “Re-connecting with your family. Even getting to know your son.”

  Chase knew Bryce well enough to hear all the things he wasn’t saying. He knew he only wanted the best for him, but it had to be hard to watch things coming together for him while Bryce’s life seemed to be stuck in neutral.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Shay and Ainsley to hang out with us today. They should be here in a few.”

  Bryce grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. “Bound to bring back a lot of memories, don’t you think?”

  “How many times have you told me those were some of the best times of your life?” Chase knew that Bryce sometimes needed a nudge in the right direction and he’d always been the man for the job. “You shouldn’t mind taking a trip back.”

  Bryce blew out a long, slow breath. “That girl still does it for me, I’m not gonna lie.”

  Chase grinned, happy that Bryce was finally admitting the truth to himself. “So, what’re you gonna do about it?”

  “What can I do about it?” He clasped his hands as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The thing that always scared me about Ainsley was that I looked at her and saw forever. I still do. I know if we hooked up again it wouldn’t be some casual thing. I can’t even touch her ‘til I feel like I’m ready to go all in.”

  “Just know that you can’t expect her to wait around while you get it together. She went out with some dude last night.” When Bryce scowled, Chase raised his hand. “It didn’t go well, but it means that she’s ready to put herself out there again. You know as well as I do there were guys lined up in high school to take Ainsley away from you. I’m sure that hasn’t changed.”

  Bryce jumped up when they heard female laughter in the hall. “I hear ya. I just need a little more time to figure out whether I can really do this.”