The Best Friend’s Billionaire Brother
A Caprock Canyon Romance Book One
Bree Livingston
Edited by
Christina Schrunk
The Best Friend’s Billionaire Brother
Copyright © 2019 by Bree Livingston
Edited by Christina Schrunk
https://www.facebook.com/christinaschrunk.editor
Proofread by Krista R. Burdine
https://www.facebook.com/iamgrammaresque
Cover design by Victorine Lieske
http://victorinelieske.com/
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Bree Livingston
https://www.breelivingston.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
The Best Friend’s Billionaire Brother/ Bree Livingston. -- 1st ed.
ISBN: 9781691228638
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Sneak Peek! The Fake Fiancé’s Billionaire Adversary Chapter 1
Sneak Peek! Her Pretend Billionaire Boyfriend Chapter 1
Also by Bree Livingston
About the Author
To my oldest child. Be weird, baby, be weird. Normal never changed the world. One day, you will.
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Chapter 1
Gabby Fredericks waited at one of the cubicles closest to her new editor-in-chief’s office for her end-of-the-day meeting with him. Any minute, she was going to be called back, and she was already practicing how she would accept the promotion from section editor to copy editor. Changes were coming to the Charleston Uptown Gazette, and she wanted to be the first on board with modernizing the newspaper.
“Ms. Fredericks,” Wesley Brown finally called. He’d been the first change the publisher made. The previous editor-in-chief of the paper had wanted to retire, and when they were bought out, he decided it was the best time to leave.
She stood and crossed the newsroom floor, shaking hands with him as she reached his office. “Hi.”
“Come on in.” He stepped aside, allowing her in, and she noticed a woman behind Wesley’s desk.
Instead of being her normally meek self, she walked right over and shook the woman’s hand. “Hi, I’m Gabby Fredericks.”
The woman waved to the chair across from her. “Please, take a seat.”
Gabby complied and set her hands in her lap. “I’m so—”
“Ms. Fredericks, before we get too chummy, I’m here to let you know that Wayne Publishing has decided to go a different direction with producing this paper.”
“Okay,” Gabby said softly, unconsciously rubbing the office key on her wristlet.
“With that said, we’re letting you know that today is your last day.” The woman slid an envelope toward Gabby. “That is a severance package. It should give you time to find another position. We’d appreciate it if you’d clear out your work area before leaving today.”
“Fired?” The word felt foreign in her mouth. She’d been with the paper since her sophomore year in college, working her way from intern to section editor over the past four and a half years. The copy editor job was next…or so she thought. “I thought I’d been a great asset to the paper.”
The woman sighed. “We feel it’s best to have fresh blood going into the new year. I know, it’s Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner, but I’m sure you understand that this works best for everyone.”
Best for everyone? Gabby didn’t know how to respond. What could she say? She was so shell-shocked that she could barely think.
Wesley opened the door, indicating they were done.
“If you’ll go ahead and see yourself out, we have another appointment scheduled.” The woman pointed to the door.
Speechless, Gabby stood and absentmindedly walked to her office. She’d gone from excited about her future with the paper to numb in the span of minutes. Just like that, and her career with the paper was over. She wasn’t even sure how to process the whole thing.
The cell phone she’d tucked in her dress pocket rang, and she fished it out. “Hello?”
“I’m sorry. I know you usually work late,” Carrie Anne West’s chipper voice filtered through the phone.
The sound of her voice was enough to shake Gabby out of her daze. It was Tuesday, and she was flying into Amarillo the next day to spend Thanksgiving with her and Carrie Anne’s families in Caprock Canyon, Texas.
“It’s okay,” Gabby replied.
“You sound off. Is everything all right?”
Of course, Carrie Anne would pick up on Gabby being upset. They’d been best friends, or more like sisters, since they were born. It made sense because their moms had been lifelong best friends too, going so far as to live across the street from each other their entire lives. They were all like family and even spent the holidays together.
Normally, Carrie Anne would be the first person Gabby would want to tell about what had happened, but she didn’t need to spend the holiday with everyone feeling sorry for her.
Gabby swallowed down her disappointment at being fired and responded, “I’m fine. Just tired after working all day.”
Carrie Anne paused a second. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Gabby put as much sunshine and rainbows into the response as she could muster.
“Okay, I have news. I’m getting married!” Carrie Anne squealed.
Gabby gasped. “Israel passed the bar?” Carrie Anne and Israel had been sweethearts in high school and all the way through college.
“Israel proposed last night, and I said yes.” She paused. “I was going to wait until you got here tomorrow, but I couldn’t hold it in. I had to tell you.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Gabby smiled and went in search of a box to pack her things.
Carrie giggled. “Yeah, the letter came yesterday. I knew he’d taken it, but it was a huge surprise when he asked me. He set up a huge celebration with the whole family. Well, as whole as we could get it. He’d promised to ask me as soon as he passed, and he said he wanted to keep his promise.”
“I’m sorry I was working late.” If she’d known last night that she was getting fired, she wouldn’t have silenced her phone and missed her best friend’s engagement.
“It’s okay. I understand.”
Gabby peeked inside the office two doors down from her. A small box filled with reams of paper sat in the corner. She pulled the pape
r out, figuring if they didn’t want her swiping a box, they shouldn’t have fired her. “I’m deliriously happy for you.”
“We want to get married New Year’s Eve.”
New Year’s Eve? Gabby stopped at her desk. “That fast? Holy cow. You’ve always wanted a huge wedding. You can’t—” Gabby stopped short. Yeah, they could because money talked, and they had enough Benjamin Franklins to make up an entire choir. “Well, I guess you can now.”
A year ago, the West siblings had won the lottery, and now they were billionaires. The whole thing was still unreal to Gabby, but that was mostly because they didn’t act any different. They were good people, sweet and hard-working. If anyone deserved to win that kind of money, they did.
Laughing, Carrie said, “Things have changed quite a bit since then. Wyatt—”
“Nope. Don’t want to hear it.”
“But I need—”
“No, Carrie Anne. I left Caprock Canyon to get away from him, and I don’t want to know anything about him. I know he’s your brother, but I can’t. The only reason I’m coming to Thanksgiving this year is because you told me he wasn’t going to be there.” Gabby shook her head as she crammed almost five years’ worth of accumulated junk into the box. “We talked about this, remember?”
For a second, Gabby thought Carrie Anne would fight her, but instead, she replied, “Yes, I remember.”
The very reason she’d stayed close to Caprock Canyon and pursued her journalism degree at Texas Tech after graduating high school was the hope that Wyatt would finally notice her.
It was a crush she wished she’d never had. Pining for a man that would never see her as more than his little sister’s best friend was stupid. A reality that hit her when Wyatt proposed to Lori Edwards—his on-again, off-again girlfriend he’d met on a rodeo tour. Instead of noticing Gabby, one night while she was home on fall break, their families were eating together and the next thing she knew, Wyatt was getting on one knee.
Her heart had shattered that night five years ago, watching him pull out a ring and ask someone else to marry him. It had been Gabby’s wake-up call, a nail in the coffin for her. So, she’d returned to her sophomore year of college and applied for a transfer to the College of Charleston, along with an internship at the Charleston Uptown Gazette. She’d been talking about doing it since she couldn’t handle watching Wyatt and Lori together, but after the proposal, she didn’t hesitate.
Finding out she was accepted to both the college and internship was her sign that she’d made the right call. That spring, she’d packed up, leaving her heartbreak and everything she knew behind.
Her parents and sister had wondered why she had the sudden urge to get out of Texas, and she’d told them that Charleston had a better program for journalism. They hadn’t seemed very convinced but let it be.
“Gabby…” Carrie Anne sighed. “Okay, I won’t say anything more. I’m sorry. I know how you feel about him.”
“Felt. It’s over. Crush, then crushed, and I’ve moved on.” Gabby’s meddling radar blared. Carrie Anne had given up way too easily. “You did tell me Wyatt was going to be out of town while I’m there, right?” She didn’t want to chance running into him at the Thanksgiving dinner. She’d successfully avoided all chances of seeing him since she’d left home, including all holidays.
“If you’re over him, then it shouldn’t matter.”
“So, Wyatt is going to be home.”
Carrie Anne groaned. “As far as I know, he isn’t. I’m just saying if you were really over him, Wyatt being here wouldn’t be a big deal.”
Gabby paused as she picked up a picture of her and Carrie Anne. “I am over him.” She put the picture in the box. It was no secret Carrie Anne wanted Gabby to be an official member of their family, so to thwart her best friend meddling, she added, “In fact, I’m dating someone.”
A small gasp answered. “You are? Why didn’t you tell me? Who is it?”
“Yep, it just started, and he’s a coworker.” Wow, a double lie in one sentence. There was no dating, and she was no longer employed. It would take a while for the second part of that thought to sink in.
“What’s his name?”
A name? Shoot. She should have thought this through a little better before opening her big fat trap. “Tim Redmane. He’s a great guy, but like I said, it’s still early.”
“Ohhh! I’m so happy for you. If that Tim guy is smart, he’ll sweep you off your feet, and before you know it, you’ll be married too.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you hopeless romantic.”
Sighing heavily, Carrie Anne said, “Fine. At least I get to see you tomorrow. Are you bringing Tim home?”
“No way. It’s too early in the relationship.” Even more so for a non-existent one.
“Well, I get to meet him before it’s too serious. Maybe I can even convince him to get you to move back home.”
Laughing, Gabby rolled her eyes. “Carrie Anne, you are a mess, but I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“You’re picking me up at the airport, right?”
Carrie Anne waited a beat and replied, “Uh…actually, I can’t. The wedding planner I wanted just had a cancellation and that’s the only time she has available to meet, but you will have a ride, I promise. I can’t wait to see you after the appointment.”
Gabby was a little disappointed that Carrie Anne wouldn’t be there to greet her at the airport, but she understood with the wedding being so soon.
“Late night with popcorn and A Knight’s Tale?” Gabby smiled.
“It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without that.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
They said their goodbyes, and Gabby ended the call.
Every time she thought about going home, anxiety would nearly cripple her. She’d stayed away from her home and family—her mom, dad, and sister—because of Wyatt. Always coming up with excuses as to why they should visit her. She’d played it off as being swamped at the paper, and to a degree, she was. As an intern, she’d been given all the crummy grunt work and bad hours, including weekends and every federally observed holiday, plus a few the newspaper made up.
Of course, Gabby’s family visited her on occasion, but it wasn’t the same. Walking the streets of Charleston didn’t have the same effect as Caprock Canyon. Heartache wasn’t waiting for her around every corner as it did at home. In Charleston, they were just streets, not memories.
Those years she’d worked as an intern had taught her that if she fought hard enough, she could get through anything. Which meant she’d get through going home. Now that she thought about it, five years was a really long time. How much had things changed? How much had she changed? Well, she’d soon find out.
She finished packing up her office, took the office key off her keyring, and with a sigh, she looked around. This was where she’d done most of her growing up. Where she’d learned how to take criticism, meet demands, and stand on her own two feet. It was where she pushed down homesickness…and shed more than a few tears when things were hard. Now what was she going to do?
Setting her wristlet on top, she picked up the box and walked to the door. Giving it one more glance over, she inwardly said goodbye and flicked the light off. At least this was coming at a time when she was headed back to her hometown. With Wyatt not being there this time, she’d be able to get her legs under her. She’d lick her wounds and then come back with an updated resume and the determination to start over.
At least Wyatt’s absence would give her the chance to face memories without an audience. She was different, the town was different, and she could tackle things now that she couldn’t when she’d left. Still, the first step was always the hardest. With a little gumption, she’d get through it.
Chapter 2
Standing on the front porch of his brother’s ranch house, Wyatt West knocked on the door as he set down his duffle bag full of clothes. While he waited for Bear to answer, he turned and swept his gaze acro
ss the endless fields in front of him. Man, things sure had changed since he’d left.
All those years of playing the lottery with his brothers, never expecting anything, had turned into a winning jackpot ticket for an astronomical amount the previous year. It was meant to be a way for him and his brothers, Bear, Josiah, and Hunter, to keep in touch after each of them had moved away from home. An excuse to FaceTime and shoot the breeze while they waited for the numbers to be drawn. The last number had flashed on the screen, and almost over night, they’d become billionaires, along with their baby sister, Carrie Anne, of course. They weren’t going to leave her out.
The door swung open, and Wyatt turned, smiling. “Hey, man.” It had been a while since he’d seen his oldest brother in person. Touring with the rodeo kept him on the road and away from home.
Bear shook his hand. “Hey, what do you think?”
“I can’t even believe this is the same house.” Wyatt still struggled to think of himself or his family as billionaires. Mostly because he hadn’t touched his share yet.
Bear stepped aside to let him in, and Wyatt’s mouth dropped open. “Wow. You’ve done quite a bit with the place.” The home had been nearly falling down the last time he’d seen it a year ago, right after being cleared to ride again after his accident.
Caprock Canyon Ranch had closed ten years ago. Several seasons of bad weather and a horrible drought took their toll on the place, and the owners were left with no choice. At the time, Wyatt was fifteen. He’d been plenty old enough to see the effect of a town’s primary source of income drying up. He keenly felt the way the loss affected the town of Caprock Canyon and its people. Each year since, more and more businesses closed up and moved. These days, it was mostly a few families left, a mom-and-pop grocery store carrying a few essential items, and a gas station for tourists who got lost.
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