“I’ll have him pull the value and all the specs to see if it’s a good investment,” Cara said.
Good investment? That hadn’t been in his thoughts at all. It didn’t matter if it was a good investment. It wasn’t for him. It was for the dream that Hailey had shared with him about the house. “I don’t need the specs. I’ve seen the house. I just want to know what the realtor thinks, then put an offer in.” He’d surprise Hailey with the house once he turned it into a place where families could stay close to the hospital. His Christmas present to her. A wave of excitement shot through him as he imagined how she’d respond to the gift.
“You’ve got it. Put an offer in on a house, regardless of the property value, and book up to two events as Santa if Hailey calls.”
“That’s right,” he said.
“You’re going to a lot of trouble for her,” Cara said.
“I know. She’s worth it.”
* * *
At the end of the week Troy checked in with Kyle and Kandice. Kandice especially found the whole interchange with Hailey in the Santa suit interesting.
“It was like I was a different person,” he said. It had been really fun. He’d been able to give the young girl more than just a promise of a gift, but hope. He hadn’t realized at the time just how deeply it had affected him.
“And you paid for the suit using some of your donation to the foundation?”
“Not exactly,” Troy said. “I’ve decided that I’m going to play Santa at my company’s Christmas party, so I bought the suit for the company, not for the foundation.”
Kyle coughed. “That’s fudging the rules,” he said.
“I’m not sure it is,” Kandice said. “If the primary purpose for him getting the outfit was for his party, or say he already had a Santa suit, we wouldn’t dock that against him.”
“His work party wasn’t the primary reason, only the excuse,” Kyle countered.
“Let’s hear it from you,” Kandice said. “How does this fit in?”
Troy blew out a breath, wondering if the entire challenge was blown because he’d bought an expensive Santa suit. “I probably wouldn’t have wanted to dress up for my Christmas party without the push of the foundation. Money is tight for them. They could hire another Santa who already had a suit, or they could reimburse me for the cost of the suit, but when it comes right down to it, after interacting with Kenzie, I don’t know. I want to be Santa at my Christmas party. Yes, the foundation was the push for it, but you should have seen this little girl and her parents. The way Hailey talked about it after … well, let’s just say I’m excited to play Santa and help.”
“You’re not out of the competition over this, but make sure that your choices for this stay within that $10,000. Buying a suit that you’ll wear again is probably not a big deal for our purposes,” Kandice said.
“You’re too easy on him,” Kyle said.
“Maybe, but after the praise of his performance his first time as Santa, I’m hoping I can get him to come to Texas for Christmas, so we can see him in person.”
Troy laughed. “I’m sure the praise was exaggerated.”
Kyle laughed. “Sounds like you guys are doing well on your project. Is there anything Kandice or I can help you with?”
Troy tried to think of anything, but he couldn’t, and soon they said their goodbyes. He was excited for another week ahead of him, and for how well everything was going.
* * *
“How is the Forest Festival going?” Cara asked. “I’m really excited to come and see it.”
“It’s coming along,” Troy said. “We’re still working on getting enough trees, but we’re getting there.” He’d had the thought to ask Hailey about the extra trees they’d cleaned out of the storage closet that had belonged to her aunt. He wondered if those would be possibilities, or if she had other ideas for how to use them. “But I think I might have stumbled onto an idea for a few more trees,” he said.
“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” she asked.
“More than I’d expected to,” he admitted.
“That’s great,” she said.
Speaking of trees, he wondered about their company trees and the status of each of them. “How do our trees look for the office?” he asked.
She laughed. “Are you looking for more donations?”
“We could always use a few more trees.”
“Come to think of it, I was planning to replace the trees in our front lobby. There’s four of them, maybe you could donate those somewhere?” Cara’s voice was excited.
“Yes, that’s good,” Troy said.
“No. No, Troy. That’s not good. That’s outside the scope.”
“You came up with the idea, I was just agreeing with you,” he said.
She laughed. “I think you’re missing the point of helping here. It’s more about the service I think, than it is about the donations.”
“I don’t think I’m missing the point. I think for the first time I’m finally getting the point.”
“If you donate more than your $10,000, you’ll be at risk of losing your million, and then you won’t earn the three million for the competition. You’ll be able to help them out much better by winning the competition,” she reminded him.
He knew that everything she said was logical. It didn’t make sense to throw away the three million and lose the million he’d put in just because he wanted to help right now. But helping now felt more important than helping later. “I don’t care about the competition anymore.”
Cara made a choking sound. “I’m sorry, what was that? I think our connection went bad for a minute. It sounded like you said that you don’t care about the competition. You always care about winning.”
Troy ran his hand through his hair. What was he saying? What was he thinking? “I care about helping Hailey and about the Forest Festival. That’s more important than winning the bet.”
“But three million dollars—it’s worth that?”
“So I lose the bet? It’s only three million dollars.”
“Don’t do it.”
Troy sighed. “You’re right, I won’t.”
“I do have a donation for you,” Cara said.
“Okay, what is it?”
“I’m bringing a tree.”
“Cara, we just went over this. I can’t have others help me.”
“I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for Red Oaks, and I want to see this Hailey that you’re crushing on.”
“You’re really going to donate a tree?”
“If that’s okay with you,” she said quietly.
“I think that sounds like a great idea. Thanks, Cara.”
“I just need permission to take a few days off work. Do you think you could help me with that part? I’d like to come and volunteer during the Forest Festival too. And no, I won’t let anyone know you’re my boss.”
He laughed. “Fair enough. I know Hailey will be more than happy to have the extra help.”
“Would you like me to label the tree from you as well, or are you doing your own tree?”
It hadn’t crossed Troy’s mind that names would label the trees, but it made sense. “Not from me. It’s your tree, not mine. I’m not trying to take the spotlight here.” If anything, he wanted to hang in the background, helping Hailey without needing the praise. He wasn’t actually undercover. He’d used his real name, but he didn’t make it a point to flaunt his donations. After seeing the way her ex threw around money and boasted about it, he didn’t not want to be anywhere in the realm of that.
Chapter 18
Hailey had balanced her time between work on the Forest Festival with Troy, and just spending time with Troy for the last four weeks. They’d spent the last two days picking up all of the donations and transporting them to the events center. The 150 pounds of chocolates and candy canes, both to sell and give away, was the final pick up last night. Everything was going well.
Christmas music played as volunteers set up
trees, turning the events center into a literal forest of decorated evergreens.
Hailey watched in awe as Emily walked around the room with a clipboard. Emily had received Edna’s approval to take over the volunteer schedule for all of the volunteers from the foundation and from Red Oaks. It was remarkable. Hailey had to admit that she appreciated having that task delegated, though she was used to doing it with her business. It was nice to see that Emily was capable of keeping everyone on task.
Where was Troy? They were going to set up her aunt’s trees together and decorate them.
Paul came up to her. “Hi,” he said.
Hailey looked around, wishing Troy was close by. “Paul. What are you doing here?”
Paul pursed his lips. “Emily reached out to me and asked about volunteering, so here I am.”
“I thought you weren’t happy about volunteering if you couldn’t be Santa,” she countered.
Paul shrugged, not giving away any emotions. “It’s for the kids, right? So, of course I’ll help.”
Hailey nodded. “Thanks.”
“Anything for the kids,” he said.
She quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was really just doing it for her, or if he cared about the kids. It didn’t matter. Emily had organized the volunteers, and so she could step away from having to work directly with him. “Emily is really the person you’ll want to see for your assignment.”
“I’m still willing to donate,” he said.
She shook her head. “I’m seeing someone, and he doesn’t donate with strings attached.”
He snorted. “Just because you don’t see the strings, doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Why would a billionaire work on this project anyway? It makes no sense.” A challenge flashed in his eyes.
Hailey tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”
He studied her. “You think it’s hard to figure out? A simple Google search led me right to the info. If you want to pretend you don’t care about the money, that’s fine with me. But don’t act like there’s not a reason your boyfriend is giving to this foundation. His $10,000 is hardly a drop in the bucket to the billions he has.”
Hailey shifted. Was Troy a billionaire? And what did it matter? “We don’t spend our time together talking about bank accounts,” she said, trying to sound confident.
“You didn’t even know? Wow, Hailey.” He shook his head. “Maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought you did.”
Hailey rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to help volunteer here, then go get an assignment from Emily. If all you’re going to do is put people down, you can leave.”
He backed away, palms in the air. “Just something to think about. Why is a billionaire trying so hard to get others’ business for this small-town charity, when he could easily fund the whole thing himself?”
Hailey walked away from Paul, unwilling to answer. Thoughts ran around her as she walked toward the far end of the room, as far as she could get away from Paul. She headed toward the large present decorations—empty moving boxes that had been painted or wrapped with colorful butcher paper. In the back of her mind Paul’s accusation of Troy ate at her.
Troy came around the corner, a stack of empty boxes wrapped as presents in his arms. He looked like the little mouse in her favorite princess movie, carrying cheese, and trying to keep all of them stacked together.
“Here, let me help,” she said.
“Thanks,” Troy said. He placed a few of the boxes around the large evergreen tree, and stood back. He frowned. “I’m not really good at placing these presents.”
Hailey waved a hand in the air. “That’s okay.” She began stacking them, varying the color and sizes. She tipped one on its side, and angled another one, propping it up on one corner artistically. She stepped back next to Troy to take a look at the full picture.
“How do you do that?” he asked. “It looks like what Christmas morning feels like.”
She smiled. “We all have our talents—and our secrets.”
He tilted his head.
She continued, wondering if she could ask him about what Paul had said. “My talent is arranging displays to make them look good.”
“And what about your secret?” He grinned at her.
“I guess the secret is I learned it in high school, when I was in charge of window displays at the small department store. I had to be very creative in small spaces—give things a 3-D effect in a very narrow space. I don’t even think about it now. It just comes naturally. I feel that the look is right, more than I know why I actually place things where they go.”
“That’s quite amazing,” he said, admiration shining in his eyes. “So in all of this decorating my talent is—what? Moving large boxes that look heavy?”
She shrugged. “That’s a needed talent.”
“I don’t have a story that goes along with moving boxes. So I guess I don’t have a secret,” he said confidently.
“I’m sure you have lots of secrets,” she said, biting the inside of her bottom lip to keep her from saying more. She needed to think more about Paul’s conversation before she accused Troy of anything … What would she even say? If he was a billionaire, and he was doing something nice to help the Forest Festival, why was it any of her concern? It shouldn’t change anything between them, right? But the thought that he was keeping it a secret from her wormed its way into her consciousness. She’d thought that they’d been open with each other through all of the weeks that they’d worked on the Festival together.
“Maybe.” He snapped his fingers. “I did have a surprise to tell you about though,” he said. “A delivery truck should be here tomorrow, from New York City. Seven trees with decorations will be set up for the silent auction. That’s almost how many we wanted to fill our quota.”
She hugged him. “That’s great news. Wow. Another donation from New York City. You’re well connected,” she observed. She watched him closely, wondering if he would share any insights.
He shrugged. “It is where I live and work, so maybe it’s just easier for me to connect with people there,” he said.
“I don’t know about that. You seem to connect with everyone you meet on a personal level.”
“Maybe it’s just a skill.”
“Or a talent.”
He nodded. “Sure. One of those. I do a lot of … business … with people and networking is part of the job. Probably not unlike what you do in your business, relying on word of mouth, and other people helping you network to your next event.”
She conceded that that was true. She wanted to pull up her phone and run an internet search on his name. What would pop up? “With my aunt’s trees from the foundation closet, we’re only a tree or two short of what I was hoping for. Did you still want to go and pick out trees to donate together? You mentioned there was that beautiful shop in the City that had unique handcrafted ornaments we could use to accent with.” Would the timing work? They were in a rush to get ready for the Forest Festival, and she wanted to take a road trip for the final details. They were tight on time, but she wanted to see the City with him, through his eyes.
He nodded, but the look in his eyes betrayed him. Something was wrong. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his features were pinched.
“I really want to. But the thing is, I’m out of money.” He cringed as he said the words. “I was hoping there would be some of the $10,000 left after we paid for the equipment and the trucks for delivery, but I looked at the books this morning. The reality is, we might be a little short on our donations. We’re trying to keep as much as we can so that all of the proceeds go directly to the hospital. We could try charging a delivery fee for each tree bought, but I thought we’d decided against that.”
“That was what we decided,” she said, not wanting to add the extra charge when people would already be paying a lot of money for the trees.
“I can try and get more sponsors. Last week I got another $500 donation.” He blew out a breath, rubbing the b
ack of his neck. “Next year all of this will be so much easier.”
Paul’s words about Troy rang through Hailey’s ears. She couldn’t wait until she looked him up on the internet. She had to know now. “Can I ask you something?”
His reply was immediate. “Anything.”
She straightened one of the presents, moving it a quarter of an inch on top of a larger present, then looked him in the eye. “Why are you excited about a $500 donation?”
“Every little bit helps,” he said.
She took the plunge. “Paul googled you. I guess I have a lot of questions.”
“Okay,” he said, his voice staying level, but his jaw muscle flexed.
“You’re more than doing well in your business.” She kept her eyes on him, waiting for the slightest hint of something.
He nodded. “I am. Does that make a difference?”
“I don’t know. That’s a lot to process. I mean, I knew you were rich, from the car, and staying in the hotel for weeks, but …” She drew in a long breath. “Paul said you were a billionaire.” She emphasized the last word.
He looked around the room, then led her through the nearest exit. They walked along a small hallway, before they went through a door that led outside. He looked at her in the eyes. “I am,” he admitted.
“But you’ve run out of money for the Forest Festival? You’ve spent all of your time getting sponsors, and yet, you could have just funded everything without the work.”
He winced. “It’s complicated. On so many levels.”
She nodded like she understood, though she didn’t. Then she shook her head. “I feel like I should have known this about you,” she said quietly.
“Things with Paul made me unsure with how you felt about the money.” He stuffed his hands into his jeans’ pockets.
“My issue was with Paul and how he acted, not the fact that he has money.”
“When you were vocal about his wealth, I was interested in you. I still am.” His eyes searched her. “I wanted you to get to know me for me, and not lump me into the same category as your ex.”
“I would never have thought of you as the same type of person as Paul. My issue wasn’t with Paul’s wealth. It was how that wealth changed him as a person. It was the putting on airs, and thinking he could do whatever he wanted because he was rich and all of a sudden a big shot about it. He threw money around to impress people.”
The Billionaire’s Christmas Miracle: The Billionaires’ Christmas Gifts Romance Page 14
