Rekindled: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance (Lost Love Book 3)

by Marcella Swann

She smiled. “Good. I’m glad.” She meant it. Even though she’d briefly considered talking him into it, when she still thought Tristan was a white knight trying to save them, now she knew she would never want to see a day that Van Doren didn’t have Cubby Brennan at the helm.

  “Hey, Dad.” Wyatt came up to them. “Phyllis Low wants to see you.”

  Cubby winked at Faith. “She likes me.”

  He shuffled off. Faith had noticed Wyatt hanging out with one of the women gardeners who helped out at the farm stand. She asked, and he admitted he was seeing her.

  “I’m happy for you,” she said.

  “Thanks.”

  With her arms full of apples ready for fall baking and Lucy trotting beside her, Faith headed back to her truck. She picked up the bulldog and set her on the passenger seat, then closed the door. She’d had a great day hanging out at the Brennan Farm, and even Marie had stopped by to bring lunches. The only dark spot on an otherwise sunny day was Tristan. She couldn’t put him out of her mind no matter how she tried.

  Faith paused for a moment, looking over the beautiful, idyllic Brennan farm. It was one of the prettiest places in Chelsea, with its huge white farmhouse, gorgeous red barn, large vegetable gardens, orchards, and pastures. She’d enjoyed being with Cubby, for sure, but maybe it was time for her to move on. She’d never before thought of leaving Van Doren or even Chelsea.

  But the one place she kept thinking about — and couldn’t stop thinking of it — was New York City.

  It shocked her and dazzled her and opened her eyes to a new way of life she’d never dreamed of. There were so many things to do there! So many things to see.

  Yeah. That would be an awesome destination.

  Her time in Chelsea felt like it was coming to a close. She’d miss Cubby and Marie and her friends at the factory. But she was ready to go back to New York City and try out all kinds of new things she never had before.

  When the Van Doren upgrades were done, she’d move on.

  Chapter 15

  Monday morning at Van Doren was as busy as Friday had been. The contractors, plumbers, and electricians were still working on her new office, so Faith dodged them and spent most of her time out on the factory floor with Cubby. She’d been okay on Saturday with Tristan being gone, but found it so hard to get to sleep and had been really melancholy and tearful ever since. Being back at Van Doren only made it worse, since she just expected him to pull up in that shiny blue van of his, flashing that shit-eating grin, and start sparring with her. Even Lucy seemed a bit down in the dumps without her buddy.

  Last night Faith hadn’t been able to get to sleep, so she’d checked the New York newspapers online. She found something that she brought to Cubby’s attention.

  “Look at this.” She showed him her smartphone screen. “See what he did with Eastman Foods? Oh, and then look at these scathing articles Rebecca Eastman wrote about how they treated her. We dodged a real bullet, Cubby.”

  “Yep. He would’ve run Van Doren into the ground.”

  “How much time do we have?”

  “Actually,” the old farmer told her, “what he’s done by upgrading all of our equipment, is boost our profits. We didn’t have to put in any of the costs, and our output is already up fifteen percent. He helped us more than he’s hurt us, Faith.”

  “I don’t know. I’m still not sure he won’t come back to try and take it.”

  “If he does, he’ll have to go through me.”

  Faith chuckled. “Also, I did want to talk to you. I’m thinking of taking some extended time off. At least until the holidays. I called up my old friend Shawna, and she’s going to house-sit for the rest of the year.”

  “Oh?” His bushy eyebrows raised. “Where are you going?”

  “Well last week, Tristan took me to New York City. It was just beautiful and magical. I’d like to go back and see more. I had such a wonderful time.”

  “Sounds like it. Well, I’m sad to see you go, but we’ll do just fine here. Phyllis can come in and cover if we need to. If you need me, I’ll still be at my farm.”

  Faith smiled. Then she surprised the old man and the other workers on the factory floor by giving him a hug.

  “Thanks, Cubby. You’ve been the best boss I could ever have.”

  She definitely made him blush.

  Tristan could hear the booming bass thumping in his chest, even out here on his rooftop balcony. Ricky had thrown a swanky shindig party to not just celebrate taking over the Aspen Boot Company, but also the end of his own Manhattan loft renovations. Now he didn’t have to live with Tristan anymore! Woo hoo! Tristan let him have the party at his own apartment, though he didn’t do anything about it except grump about the food, wine, people, decorations, guest list, music choice, and everything else about it.

  For the first time in his life, Tristan Booker was looking at his life. All these thoughts and feelings kept bubbling up inside of him that he’d never had before. He didn’t want to take over the boot company. He’d deleted all those texts from Janna the photographer. He’d wandered around his penthouse for two days hating every inch of the place. He’d passed by the restaurant he’d dined at with Faith and it felt like his heart was constricting in his chest. He was a grown man and a billionaire and he’d almost cried in the street. That’s when he was happiest. With her. He was happy with her both in Chelsea and in Manhattan. He’d be happy with her anywhere. Everything she said about him was true. He’d worked hard to gain her trust, and now he’d lost it again. She thought he was heartless and soulless and would never want to see him.

  After trying half-heartedly to down one of the caviar appetizers, he gave up and was now on the balcony. He just needed time to think. Get back in the game.

  Even if it wasn’t a game that appealed to him anymore…

  No matter if he couldn’t be with Faith anymore, he still just couldn’t keep doing business the way he had at the Booker Firm. Things needed to change.

  “Hey man, look who I just met!”

  Tristan reluctantly turned around. Ricky had stumbled onto the balcony, and he’d brought a woman Tristan recognized immediately: Janna, the photographer. Her stunning beauty barely caught his eye. Waving his glass of expensive champagne around, Ricky started trying to hook the two of them up.

  “This is Tristan’s place. You remember him.”

  “Ricky, stop.”

  “He’s the Booker Firm bad boy. That’s what the press dubbed him.”

  “Ricky. That’s enough.”

  “See? He’s such a bad boy.”

  Tristan rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Janna. Can you excuse us?”

  She glanced at both of them and then left. As soon as the balcony door shut, Ricky confronted him.

  “You turned that girl down, Tris! You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “I’m not interested in her,” Tristan said through gritted teeth. “I am interested in making changes at the firm. If you’re not on board, I want you to leave.”

  Ricky swayed a little drunkenly. “What changes?”

  “For starters, financial changes. We won’t be pulling down the big profits like we have been.”

  “Well, that’s fucking stupid.”

  “It’s my choice. And my firm.”

  “I helped you build this firm.” Ricky gulped the rest of his champagne, then pointed a finger right at him. “This is all because of that hot farm girl. Huh? You got a little piece of ass, and now you don’t care about New York anymore?”

  “You watch what you say about her.”

  “It’s true. I knew it that day I caught you kissing her. She’s made you weak, man. You just can’t compete in New York anymore!”

  Tristan shook his head. “If I keep doing what I’m doing, I’ll turn into an asshole like you. That’s weak.”

  “Oh, shut up. You’re already an asshole. You were the day I met you, and you are now. At least I came from money. You came from Hicksville Chelsea. You’ll always be a hick.”

  Ricky
tossed his empty champagne glass over the side of the penthouse apartment. Tristan had enough. This had just gone too far. He yanked open the balcony door and staggered back into the apartment. Tristan followed him, then went up to the DJ and quickly stopped the music. Voices arose in confusion.

  “Attention!” Tristan barked. “Attention please. I’m Tristan Booker, and this is my pad. As of now, I want all of you off the premises. Get out!”

  The party guests didn’t really know what to do, and froze into silence. Ricky sneered at his friend.

  “Yep, that’s Tristan. Don’t trust him, because all he ever does is manipulate people!”

  “No, Ricky. That’s you.” Tristan calmly walked towards his drunk friend. “You taught me to step over people and climb on my way to the top. You taught me to treat regular people like dirt. I’m done with you. The Booker Firm is over.”

  The party guests gasped. Ricky wanted to swing a punch, but he didn’t have it in him. Tristan sniffed. He was just a trust fund baby with too much money who’d tried to turn Tristan into someone as shallow and greedy as he was. The two men locked eyes and stared at each other.

  Finally, Ricky turned on his heel, grabbed Janna, and marched out of the apartment. All the other girls and guests went with him. In seconds, the penthouse was quiet, and Tristan was alone.

  He smiled to himself. Yeah, that was messy.

  But it was the right thing to do.

  Chapter 16

  “Come on, big girl. Up you go. I even got you a special blanket.”

  Faith helped her funny fat bulldog up into the passenger seat and got her situated. Lucy snuggled in her new blanket and started snoring. Faith shut the truck door. Two Fridays ago, she was celebrating her birthday at her sister’s house. Tonight, she’d be attending a different celebration, this time at the Brennan Farm. It was her going away party.

  So much had happened since her birthday! She’d already handed Shawna her house keys. She’d traded in her dear old Betsy for a brand new Ford in sleek hunter green. It was a nice present to herself. She’d stopped at the local bank and found out just how much she had saved up, which was quite a bit. She could take off two years if she wanted. That was a nice surprise. So, she’d spent last night happily bookingseveral hotel rooms on her road trip planned between Michigan and New York City. There was plenty to do along the way.

  But once she got to New York? She had no clue. Besides booking her hotel room, she had no plans whatsoever. After living by a routine every week for over a decade, she was ready to see where the wind took her.

  Everybody had showed up at the Brennan Farm to wish her a happy road trip and hope that she enjoyed her extended vacation. She hugged her nephews and niece, greeted all the factory workers, and thanked Cubby again for all he’d done. The workers and their families were excited for the pumpkin picking, navigating the corn maze, playing horseshoes at the horseshoe pit, and digging in to the autumn feast Wyatt and his farm staff had prepared.

  Faith got Marie a chair so her pregnant sister could sit down and enjoy herself. The two women sipped on hot cider and watched the Paulson kids run about. Faith had already told Marie what Tristan did, but Marie was curious as to what had happened to him since he left Chelsea on Saturday.

  Faith shrugged. “Oh, I read he took over a boot making business in Colorado that had been around for well over a hundred years. He’d told me that before he left.” “Ugh.” Marie made a face.

  “I know. I haven’t heard from him, obviously. But that doesn’t mean I don’t expect him to come back and buy Van Doren off of Cubby.”

  Suddenly, a male voice said, “Faith, you know you’re really smart. But you’re also really wrong.”

  Faith gasped, spilling some of her cider. Her heart immediately dropped into her knees at the same time that she stood up from her chair.

  It was Tristan. He was back — and he’d shown up here.

  She had no idea what to think. But God, he looked hot. He wore a tight black t-shirt under a soft flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. Sexy jeans showed off his legs, and he had on a pair of nice leather boots. With his designer suits and sunglasses gone, he looked relaxed, casual, and completely drop dead handsome.

  “Hey!” Wyatt said. “You’ve got to leave, Tristan. You’re not welcome here.”

  “Yeah, Mr. Booker,” Cubby agreed. “I think it best you vacate this farm immediately.”

  “What do you want?” Jack Paulson asked angrily.

  “Get him out of here!” one of the other factory workers shouted.

  Tristan put up his hands, looking genuinely chagrined.

  “Please, everyone,” he said. “I just want to talk. To all of you.”

  Marie crossed her arms. “Well, what if we don’t want to hear it?”

  Tristan looked to Faith, silent. What did she make of this? She had no idea. Just his presence alone was enough to shock her to silence. The way he was acting seemed sincere, but that’s all it was — an act. How could she believe another word out of his mouth?

  “I see your distrust on your face,” he said softly. “I see it on all of you, and it’s my fault. I grew up here, but when I went away, I forgot about Chelsea. I chose to forget you, Faith. It hurt, but I pushed that down. I didn’t come back here with the best of intentions. In fact, I came here so full of myself that the Brennan barn has less crap!”

  Faith pressed her lips together, feeling overwhelmed.

  He went on. “I wanted to buy Van Doren. When I couldn’t do that, I quickly made a plan to upgrade it, with the intention of gaining everyone’s trust just so I could exploit it later. I did that because I saw profits, not people. I saw numbers and I was greedy. And the one person I hurt the most was Faith.”

  She took a deep breath, her arms crossed, just looking across at him.

  “You did,” she said. “You manipulated me.”

  “I’m sorry. I had a personal vendetta against Van Doren. My dad died of a heart attack, as you know. But you don’t know that I blamed Van Doren for working him too hard. You got caught up in my scheme, and you didn’t deserve it. I really am sorry.”

  She looked him in the eyes for a long moment. And she didn’t see the same Tristan who came to Chelsea just two weeks ago, bombing in on his private jet, waltzing into her office, and not caring about anybody or anything other than winning what he wanted. She also didn’t see the same Tristan she dated in high school, a smart but inexperienced guy who still dealt with family problems and couldn’t wait to leave his home town.

  She saw a new version of both of those two men inside of him. She saw his experience and wisdom gained from reconnecting with his roots, his Chelsea roots. She saw that he had changed.

  “The first thing I want to do is meet with you, Cubby,” Tristan continued.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I want to pay off Van Doren’s mortgage.”

  Cubby was surprised. “You do, huh? That would certainly help keep the company solvent.”

  “You let me know what you need, and it’s yours. I also want to help upgrade the Brennan Farm here with new fences and repairs, as well as the Paulson farm, too. Consider your mortgages paid off, too.”

  Now Wyatt, Marie, and Jack were shocked. Jack being the nice guy that he was, stepped forward to shake Tristan’s hand and thank him.

  This whole time, Faith had been silent. She’d been watching Tristan talk to everyone and listen to their financial needs and concerns. She appreciated that he paid off Van Doren’s mortgage, but they weren’t the only ones affected by his selfishness.

  “Tristan?” she suddenly asked.

  His eyes went right to her. “Yes, Faith?”

  “What about that company in Colorado? You put that guy out of business.”

  He slowly walked up to her. “I want you to meet Jack Lawton sometime. He’s the owner of the Aspen Boot Company, he loves to hike the tallest mountains, and he’s one of my new business partners.”

  “What?” she
asked, confused.

  “I didn’t buy out his boot company. We’re partners together. I’m helping his business succeed. Take a look.” He showed her the gorgeous leather boots he was wearing. “He’s not only kept his company, he’s expanding. Two hundred new jobs for Colorado.”

  She stared at him. He gave a small smile.

  “Yeah. That’s what I’m doing from now on, Faith. I won’t be taking over anybody. I want to help small businesses who make amazing products or offer incredible services. I'll keep them stay afloat, help them keep their employees, and help them stay in their communities.”

  Faith put a hand to her mouth, she was so shocked.

  “You were right all along,” he said. “It’s about people. And so, I’ve put my Manhattan penthouse up for sale. My firm has undergone some major changes with Ricky gone, and I’ve simplified everything so I can run most of it from my iPad. I’m also thinking of making Chelsea the new operations for the Booker Firm. What do you think?"

  Faith was thrilled that he’d made all these changes. After asking him some more questions and learning more about what happened between him and Ricky, she was finally convinced that he’d showed her he was ready to do this.

  “Well,” she said, “I myself have decided to take a bit of a vacation. I want to head out and see the world a little bit.”

  That’s when she showed him her truck, all packed with her suitcase and ready to head out in the morning.

  He smiled at her. “A road trip, hmm? Would it be all right if I could join you?”

  “Lucy’s coming.”

  He laughed. “All the more reason to have me along. We’ll take her on nice long walks.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah, Faith. That’s always how it should have been. Us together.”

  Together.

  She liked the sound of that.

  The next day, Tristan joined both Faith and Lucy in her truck. She took the wheel of her brand-new ride and they left Chelsea, driving out of Michigan and towards New York City.