Secret Billionaire

by Leah Torie

  “It’s better for your heart. And my job is pretty stressful. My blood pressure goes through the roof sometimes. I try to listen to my doctor, and he says to avoid meat.”

  “Yikes, I can’t even imagine having a job that made me that stressed.”

  Did he think she was criticizing his career? She didn’t even know what he did! For all she knew, they could have been in the same line of work. It was pretty unlikely he ran a riding school, though. Instead of stumbling through her words and trying to backtrack, Jessie fell silent. The empty space between them grew, until the conversation was deader than an over-watered cactus.

  “I have to get back to my father,” he said suddenly.

  Jessie nodded. “Me too. I mean, my father’s dead. Not recently. It’s my mom who’s here. But I need to go to her.” Good grief, she didn’t seem to be verbose today.

  “See you around.” He held up the sandwich as if he were toasting her. In spite of herself, Jessie smiled at him before she turned and left.

  Anna sat on Mrs. Martin’s bed where the two women were deep in conversation when Jessie returned.

  “And Tigger, the kitten who just moved in with us one day and refused to leave...” Anna was saying.

  “So you fed him fresh tuna that was supposed to be the whole family’s Friday night dinner. I remember. Twenty bucks of tuna became one meal for a cat.”

  They both chuckled and continued. Jessie didn’t want to interrupt, so she perched on the spare chair and ate her sandwich, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

  For the rest of the visit, Anna and Mrs. Martin chattered together while Jessie tried to look like she had other things to do. She re-read old text messages, cleared out all the out-of-focus photos and checked the battery on her phone several times. Finally, the bell rang and it was time to leave.

  “See you tomorrow, Mom,” Jessie said, as Anna stood, slinging her purse over one shoulder.

  “If you like. Anna, are you coming back tomorrow?”

  Anna nodded. “Sure, Mom, whatever you want.”

  “You’re such a good girl, Anna.”

  Jessie knew it was just her mother’s way. She tried to remind herself that her mom was probably just excited to see a new face after all these months. The rejection still hurt.

  “Her dinner’s in the refrigerator. It’s last night’s stew.” Jessie tried to remember what else Anna needed to know.

  “You already told me that.” Anna said. She had responded a little sharply, and when Jessie glanced over in surprise, Anna was biting her lower lip. “Sorry,” she added.

  “Her bedtime is at seven.” Jessie knew she’d already mentioned it. And written it on a note stuck to the pinboard.

  “And that.”

  “Emergency numbers are by the telephone.”

  “And that. Go. Have fun. We’ll be fine.” Anna’s words were supposed to be reassuring but Jessie was on the verge of canceling and staying home. Something wasn’t right with Anna, and Jessie was worried about going out without her daughter, too.

  “I’ve never left Taylor with anyone before,” she confessed.

  “Good thing I’m here then. Out. See people. Do things. Taylor and I will spend some one-on-one time. It’ll be great.”

  Jessie took a deep breath. “Okay. I can do this.”

  “Yes, you can. See you later.”

  Jessie gathered her keys, cell phone and wallet. She dropped them all into her purse then ran her fingers through her hair.

  A moment later, she opened her purse again.

  “Keys. Car keys...” she muttered, feeling foolish that she had just put them in her purse without thinking. As soon as she pulled them out, she left.

  “Jessie! You made it!” Bibbi was dressed up in a wide-necked white top and a pair of jeans above four-inch heels. Her hair bounced around as she waved from the table she’d found. Jessie’s other best friend, Becca, turned around at Bibbi’s delighted shriek. She was dressed more modestly; she had probably come straight from her office.

  “It’s just like old times,” Becca said.

  Old times. Was it really so long since Jessie had been out? It must have been. Taylor was seven, now, after all. Jessie sat with her friends, after putting her coat on the back of the chair and her purse on the floor by her feet.

  “How’s your salon going?” Jessie asked.

  “Oh, y’know, busy, busy, busy,” Bibbi replied. “Y’all should come in, we’re getting a new protein treatment next week and I’d love to try it out. It’s supposed to make your hair dry forty percent faster.”

  “That sounds lovely,” Becca said with a smile. Jessie nodded emphatically.

  “Are y’all ready to order?” A waitress in a red tunic stood by the table with a pencil poised on a small notepad. Jessie glanced at the menu while Bibbi and Becca placed their orders.

  “A latte, please.” She put down the menu and looked between her friends. “Go on. Spill.”

  “I have a first date...” Becca’s cheeks flushed and she looked away. Jessie caught Bibbi’s eyes and they both grinned.

  “That’s fantastic!” Jessie squealed. “Why do I feel like there’s a but?”

  “There’s definitely a but,” Bibbi said.

  Becca sighed and nodded.

  “He has a twin brother, and they had an agreement that neither of them will get married until the other one did. To the point that they will only go on double dates.”

  A weight settled into Jessie’s stomach as she guessed at where this was going.

  “He’s really nice, Jess,” Becca said. “I’m sure his brother must be lovely, too.”

  “Wait. You want me to go on a blind double date with someone you’ve never even met?” Jessie looked at Bibbi, hoping she would tell Becca how ridiculous this was.

  Bibbi just shrugged and looked at her nails. “They’re twins. How different can they be?”

  “I haven’t been on a date since college,” Becca added. “We hit it off right away.”

  Jessie capitulated. After all, it wasn’t like anyone would go for a second date with her, so she didn’t need to worry about whether he was nice or not.

  “Fine. I’ll be your double. Just this once. Now, tell me about this guy you have a date with. He must be something special if you’re going to all this trouble.”

  Becca smiled shyly and nodded. “He’s tall, and broad-shouldered, and...”

  Jessie interrupted her with a giggle and an eye-roll. “No! What’s he like? As a person? I’ll see what he looks like when we go for this double date!”

  Becca laughed. “He works at the hospital with me. He’s kind and caring.”

  “Is he a doctor?” Bibbi asked.

  Becca paused for a moment, and a brief flicker of uncertainty crossed her features. “No. Not a doctor.”

  “Then what?” Jessie wondered.

  Becca took a deep breath and bit both her lips at the same time, rolling them between her teeth. Jessie knew that expression. Becca only did that when she was nervous about sharing something. More nervous than telling them about the twin thing.

  “He’s a nurse.”

  Bibbi and Jessie were silent for a couple of seconds, both looking at Becca. Bibbi then burst out laughing. Jessie frowned, wishing she could somehow silently tell Bibbi to have some tact.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Jessie wanted Becca to know she would support her choice.

  “I have to go to the bathroom,” Becca mumbled, then got up too quickly and half-tripped over her chair in her haste to leave the table. When she righted herself, she hurried away, and Jessie thought she heard a sniffle.

  When they were alone at the table, Jessie made a face at Bibbi.

  “That was harsh.”

  “C’mon, Jessie! Where to begin? He’s a man in a woman’s job. He wasn’t smart enough to be a doctor. He earns less than Becca.”

  “You’re not smart enough to be a doctor. You earn less than Becca. If we tak
e my family money out of the equation, so do I. The riding school barely breaks even. Does that mean we shouldn’t be friends with her?”

  Bibbi clearly looked uncomfortable. “That’s not what I meant. He’s a man. He should provide for their family.”

  “Because...?”

  Bibbi sighed and shook her head. “Don’t tell me you believe all that nonsense about men being house husbands? It’s not right. Not biblical!”

  Jessie held her hands up.

  “Whoa. That’s a bit of a leap! Just because he earns less than her doesn’t mean that she’ll be out working while he stays at home. C’mon. Plenty of people live on a nurse’s salary. Just because Becca is a doctor, that doesn’t mean she needs a big income to be happy. You know her. That sort of thing doesn’t matter to her!”

  Bibbi deflated a little. In the ensuing silence, the waitress brought the drinks and put them on the table.

  “Thank you,” Jessie said, trying to smooth over the atmosphere left by the heated discussion.

  “I just want the best for her,” Bibbi said.

  “Don’t you think your idea of what’s best is a little... uh...” Jessie trailed off, realizing that she hadn’t chosen her words very carefully and now couldn’t think of a tactful way to finish the sentence.

  “A little what?” Bibbi’s expression became fixed.

  Jessie sighed. She knew it wasn’t the best way to say it but she just didn’t know how to be nice about this.

  “Shallow.” She couldn’t meet Bibbi’s gaze so she stared at the bubbles on her latte.

  “Shallow? Because I’m a vain airheaded cosmetologist with no thoughts of my own and I think we all need to marry rich to be happy?”

  “No! You’re putting words in my mouth.”

  “Actually, I just remembered, I have to do a stock check tonight. At my business. Which is doing a whole lot better than yours, last time I checked.”

  Jessie felt like she’d been slapped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “For a start, I have customers!” Bibbi got up and walked out. Her volcanic temper had clearly boiled over and Jessie knew it would be a while before Bibbi calmed down enough to be reasonable.

  Jessie caught the waitress’s eye, and she hurried over.

  “Is everything okay, ma’am?”

  “Dandy. I just wanted to let you know we’re not running out on the bill, but I gotta go and find my friend.”

  “Sure.”

  Jessie went to the restroom. It was tiled from ceiling to floor, with fluorescent strip lighting, and the ambiance in here was in direct contrast with the dining area. Where that was cozy, this space was a bleak afterthought, like someone had forgotten that people used the bathroom.

  “Becca?” Jessie called tentatively.

  “I’ll be out in a minute.” Becca’s voice wavered as she tried to put on a false veneer.

  “C’mon, Becca, I’ve known you since Kindergarten. Bibbi’s left. I called her out on what she said. She was way out of line.”

  “I didn’t want there to be any unpleasantness.”

  “I know, hon. Let’s go back to the table and finish this conversation over our warm drinks. This restroom is a little gloomy.”

  The lock clicked, and the door to the stall swung open. Becca stepped out. Maybe it was because she was a doctor and had seen so many difficult things at work, but she had this amazing ability to look like she hadn’t been crying, even when she had.

  Back at the table, the mood was subdued.

  “Is Bibbi very mad with me?” Becca asked.

  Jessie shook her head. “I don’t think she’s really mad with you at all. Although it’ll be a while before she forgives me for saying a few things to her.”

  “Like what?”

  Jessie bit her lip. “I... may have called her shallow.”

  Becca covered her mouth with her hand. “You don’t think she’s right, then?”

  “If you want to date a nurse, date a nurse. Men are people beyond their earning potential. If your husband can’t inspire your respect, if you can’t love, honor and obey him, is any amount of money or fancy job titles really going to fix that?”

  Becca nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. So why does Bibbi think I’m crazy to even think of dating a nurse?”

  Anger welled up in Jessie’s chest. She hadn’t known Bibbi as long as Becca. All three of them had been friends since their first day of senior year at high school, when Bibbi had transferred to Oakdale High. They’d had their ups and downs, like any friendship of that duration. But there was one thing Jessie knew about Bibbi, something which had always sat beneath the surface of their friendship.

  “I meant what I said to her, because it’s true. She’s shallow.”

  “Not on purpose,” Becca said.

  “I know. But she needs a reality check. I hate fighting with her, but she’s wrong.”

  When Jessie got home, she felt out of sorts. She knew she was hot-headed and quick to tell people what she thought of them, and she felt like she had let herself down by confronting Bibbi, but try as she might, she couldn’t figure out a better way to handle the situation.

  Chapter 5

  Jessie wished people got a fresh start with every new day. The sky was made new every morning, so why couldn’t disagreements be like that? By breakfast, she had thought of six different things to message Bibbi about. There had been a funny cat picture on Instagram, a couple of news articles, a new nail polish shade from Bibbi’s favorite cosmetic brand and a really nice inspirational quote.

  Every time Jessie picked up her phone to text Bibbi, she caught herself and put it back down. She didn’t know what to say, and pretending like everything was fine between them seemed insensitive to the rift that had appeared at coffee the night before.

  When she took Freddie for a walk, Jessie took a different route, holding onto him with all her strength and keeping him away from the beauty salon, even though it meant diverting around a corner and going in a boring direction for three blocks of gray offices.

  They’d fought before, but Jessie had always been careful not to say anything to Bibbi that she might take deeply personally. She had spent years overlooking Bibbi’s flaws and smoothing over the things she had said or done to other people. And she didn’t want to, this time.

  “Good walk?” Anna asked when Jessie got home. Anna’s eyes looked puffy and Jessie thought she saw tear tracks down Anna’s cheeks. Jessie decided to keep that to herself, but she wondered if it had anything to do with the fact Anna was here, alone, for far longer than she’d needed to stay for Martha’s wedding.

  “It was okay.” She let Freddie off his leash and went upstairs to shower. The summer sun was far too intense, even at barely nine o’clock. Jessie was thankful for many things in life, but right then, air conditioning topped the list.

  “Becca called. She said she’d arranged a date tonight. At eight. Carluccio’s, I think she said.”

  “Carluccio’s...” Jessie tried to remember where that was. “I’ll check my phone for the address. Did she say anything about... the guy?” Like, his name?

  “No. Wait. You are going on a date?” Anna’s eyes widened along with her grin.

  Jessie shook her head and held up her hands. “Only to help out Becca.” She explained the twin thing and Anna laughed.

  “I see. Well, you might have a great time.”

  “Hope so. Hey, Anna, would you date a guy with less money than you?”

  “What? Of course! There wouldn’t be many people in the dating pool if you and I limited ourselves like that. Is that why you haven’t dated?”

  “Huh? No! It’s my friend Bibbi. She didn’t think Becca should date a nurse.”

  “Because Becca’s a doctor?”

  “Right.”

  “But if they hit it off and share the same values, isn’t that more important than a man’s money or status?”

  Jessie nodded, feeling vindicated. “That’s what I said. I mean, in less pretty words, but stil
l.”

  “Did you have a falling-out?” Anna’s tone made it clear Jessie was known for this sort of thing. That did nothing to make Jessie’s conscience stop bothering her.

  “I may have said some things to her,” Jessie admitted.

  “Oh, Jessie. You and Bibbi have been friends for as long as I can remember!”

  “I know. And lately, she’s gotten too big for her boots. She thinks she’s better than me because her salon is busier than my riding school.”

  “And she doesn’t think Becca should date a nurse. You and Bibbi don’t see eye to eye on some things. You should look for what you have in common instead of your differences.”

  “And is that what you and your husband need to do?”

  Anna frowned. “No. That’s different.”

  Jessie held up her hands and took a step back.

  “I’m sorry. I’m overstepping, aren’t I?”

  Anna’s face softened. “I didn’t mean to snap. Especially since we were having such an honest conversation about Bibbi.”

  Although they had made up, the remains of the disagreement sat like residue in a coffee cup, and Anna soon made an excuse to go out. Jessie cleaned the bathroom while Taylor played quietly in her room.

  Jessie didn’t want there to be any disagreement between Anna and herself. She wiped down the tiles as she wondered what she could do to help her sister feel better. It was obvious to Jessie that Anna was deeply hurting. Jessie kept seeing flashes of sorrow when Anna thought no one was looking. Jessie was sure it was something to do with Anna’s marriage. She was usually so bright and cheery, the change in her was hard to see.

  Using the shower hose, Jessie sprayed water over the tiles then she got the squeegee and wiped away the water. While she wasn’t the cause of Anna’s problems, Jessie saw that she had definitely made things worse by comparing her trouble with Bibbi with Anna’s issues. Instead of sidestepping an obviously sensitive topic, Jessie had allowed her curiosity to control her.

  Just like Lot’s wife, she realized. Only, instead of being turned into a pillar of salt, Jessie had accidentally made things frosty between her and Anna.