Downtown Billionaire

by Hannah Jo Abbott

  “Oh, I went to Georgia.”

  “Out of state? Really? I didn’t know that.”

  Andrew shrugged. “I wanted to try somewhere different. I always knew I would come back here after I graduated, but it was nice to have the experience.”

  “Why did you know you would come back?”

  “My family. Everyone is here, well, was here I guess. My parents, my grandparents, my sister was here, until she moved away when her husband got a job out of state. But this has always been home, and I don’t know, I guess I just always hoped it would be.”

  “That’s nice,” Lacey’s voice was low.

  “Is that why you came back?”

  “Oh, no, not really.”

  “Oh,” Andrew could tell by the look on her face that he had pushed a button. He didn’t want to force her to talk about that. “Well Pine Haven is a nice place, so whatever the reason, I’m glad you decided to come back.”

  Lacey’s face flushed the slightest shade of pink, and it washed away the look of frustration. The tiny smile she gave him built Andrew’s confidence to a new level. As they ate and talked, he was feeling more and more comfortable with her every minute. And by the time they ordered dessert, he was so happy he pointed to the first item on the dessert menu and made a decision. Not because he had suddenly become a master decision-maker, but because with the woman across him looking beautiful as she told a story about moving into her apartment, he just didn’t care that much which dessert showed up.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “I don’t even know how to describe it. Last week he could barely talk to me, and then last night we just talked and talked.” Lacey told Mallory the details of the date over the phone. “Okay, okay, maybe I just talked and talked. But he asked some good questions, and honestly I don’t think anybody has ever listened to me with so much interest.”

  Mallory gave a dreamy sigh. “Lacey, that’s amazing.”

  “I know! He never rushed me to finish talking, or acted like he was just waiting for me to stop so he could try to top my story with his own. He just listened.”

  “Sounds like you’ve met the perfect guy. Someone who will just let you talk.”

  “Pretend I just punched you in the arm and stuck my tongue out at you.”

  “That’s the Lacey I know and love.”

  “You know, you’re right though. I mean, I want somebody who will talk too, and he did talk more than I’ve heard him before now. But it was nice to feel like it wasn’t a competition.”

  “That’s what relationships are about, balance, give and take. You know, all that working together stuff.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that. But I wouldn’t say we’re in a relationship. We’ve been on one date.”

  “And when are you going on a second date?”

  Lacey could hear her friend’s excitement through the phone, but she wanted to leave her hanging. “Oh, I don’t know. We’re not serious or anything.”

  “Come on, tell me. You’re seeing him again, aren’t you?”

  Lacey laughed. “Alright, yes, but it’s not a date.”

  “What are you doing on this ‘not-a-date’?”

  “That’s for me to know.”

  “Oh come on, give me some details.”

  “Isn’t Pete there to entertain you?”

  “Not now, he’s at work. He’ll be home at six.”

  “Look at you, being all domestic and waiting for your hubby to come home. Isn’t that nice?”

  “Well it’s not exactly how I pictured it. I thought my ‘hubby’ as you say, would be coming to a house in a little neighborhood, where I cooked a meal for him. But tonight he’s coming home to our New York apartment where I’ve ordered takeout.”

  “Takeout sounds good to me.”

  “Me too.”

  “I know it’s not how you pictured it. But Mallory, you sound happy.”

  “I am happy.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Lacey, I want you to be happy too. I mean I know you like being single and taking care of yourself. But I have high hopes for you and Andrew.”

  “Aww, thank Mal.”

  “So tell me what your not-a-date is.”

  Lacey laughed. “You almost got me. Nope. I gotta run. Say hi to hubby and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She hung up to the sound of Mallory’s protests.

  Thirty minutes later, she was dressed in denim shorts and an old college t-shirt. Her short ponytail bobbed as she walked with a bounce in her step to open the door. “Hey!” She smiled as she greeted Andrew. She let her eyes fall across his broad chest as she read the words “University of Georgia” printed across his t-shirt.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “Always.” She skipped out the door and pulled it closed behind her. Instead of his four-door car, Andrew had brought a pickup truck.

  “Woah, this is different.”

  “It’s my dad’s old work truck for around the property. I thought it was fitting.”

  “Sure,” Lacey nodded. What was it like to have an extra vehicle just sitting around your house? “Are you excited?”

  “Yeah, kind of. Also a little nervous.”

  “Why? It’s a big day!”

  “I know, I’m just not really sure what to expect.”

  “Well, you know, it’s an important decision. You’re making a choice that will affect the rest of your life. It’s a big commitment.”

  “Oh, I know. That’s why I’m a little nervous.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll help you through it.”

  He grinned at her as he slid behind the wheel. “That’s exactly what I was hoping.”

  They drove through town, passing the shops on Main Street, the church they both attended, and the municipal building before heading out of town.

  Lacey made small talk, and Andrew listened. But she was kind enough to give him some quiet time as well. He responded with good questions, and attentive answers on their hour-long drive. When Andrew’s phone gave them the instruction, he turned down a dirt road and they pulled up alongside an old barn. They climbed out and walked together to the front door of the barn. A bell hung on the side of the building with a sign that read, “Please ring the bell, we’ll be right out!”

  “Do you want to do the honors?”

  “Of course!” Lacey shouted and rang the bell with vigor.

  The sound of a screen door creaking open caused them to turn to the house across the way. “Hey y’all!” An older woman waved as she practically waddled across the yard.

  “Hi Ma’am, I’m Andrew Hartley, we spoke on the phone earlier.”

  “Oh yes, I’m Mrs. Johnson, glad to meet ya. And who is this lovely lady?”

  Andrew smiled as he repeated the woman’s sentiment, “This lovely lady is Lacey.”

  “Lovely Lady Lacey, how do you like that?”

  “I like it a lot,” Andrew grinned.

  “Oh no, no nicknames, thank you very much.” She turned to the woman and reached out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Johnson.”

  “So are you two ready for the big moment?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Alrighty, step right this way.” She pulled the heavy door to the barn open with surprising strength and Andrew and Lacey followed her in.

  At the back of the barn she pushed open a stall and waited for them to walk in in front of her. Lacey squealed, “Puppies!” She took several steps in and didn’t waste any time sitting down and picking up a ball of pale yellow fur.

  “Purebred, one hundred percent golden retrievers. We’ve passed down their bloodline from their great-great grandparents who were from a champion bloodline.”

  “They’re adorable!” Lacey’s voice was so high-pitched she hoped humans could hear it as well as dogs. “Come down here and see them.” She pulled Andrew’s arm until he sat beside her with a puppy in his lap.

  “They look like fantastic dogs. You came highly recommended.”

  “Well thank ya, we pride ourselves on
our pups.”

  “But Andrew, aren’t they just the cutest?”

  “Yes, they are pretty cute.”

  “This one likes me.”

  Andrew laughed. “I think any of them you pick up and snuggle are going to like you.”

  “Well, which one do you think likes you?”

  Lacey followed Andrew’s gaze as he glanced around. There were a few puppies sticking close to their mother, at least three others were vying for Lacey’s attention. But he looked down to see one puppy who had quietly come up and laid his head on Andrew’s lap. “Hi there, little guy. How are you?” He picked him up by the scruff on his back and then cradled him in his arms. The puppy settled down and closed his eyes.

  “That one might be your style. Comfortable and quiet.”

  “Is that how you would describe me?”

  Lacey tilted her head at him. “Well I’m still figuring it out. But yes, today I would say comfortable and quiet.”

  “I like that. It sounds a lot better than awkward and shy.”

  Lacey locked eyes with him and all the words she could think of melted away. She could see the loneliness in his eyes and knew he had really seen himself that way all his life. She wanted to reach out and cup his face and tell him he was just fine the way he was. But no words came. It felt like the minutes were ticking by in slow motion as she searched his eyes.

  “Thank you,” Andrew whispered.

  “I didn’t say anything,” Lacey swallowed the lump in her throat.

  “Somehow, I think I know what you meant.”

  Lacey couldn’t explain it, but she knew he was right. She could feel a connection with him and it warmed her from the inside out. She wasn’t known for having nothing to say, but the message between them felt deeper than words. Andrew reached out and gently squeezed her hand.

  “So which one should we get?”

  “We?” Lacey asked.

  “Me. I. Which one should I get?”

  “This one,” Lacey snuggled a puppy up close under her chin. “Or the one you’re holding.” She picked up another one that was climbing up in her lap. “Or this one here.”

  Andrew laughed. “So we’ve narrowed it down to all of them?”

  “Exactly!” Lacey laughed as one of the puppies licked her face. Lacey realized then that Mrs. Jones had walked away. She had been so taken in with the puppies she hadn’t noticed. Or maybe it was the handsome guy next to her who was nice and fun and kind. And who, just maybe, was making her see things in a new light.

  * * *

  Andrew barely got the door open and left his keys in the door as he carried his new puppy in the house. The female was wiggling in his arms trying to get down. Andrew set her on the floor and watched as she began running around the house and sniffing everything. He turned to retrieve his keys from the door, and pushed it open wider as Lacey walked through the door, a sleeping puppy in her arms.

  “Shhh,” she held up a finger to her lips, drawing Andrew’s eyes. He let them linger there and watched as her mouth turned up into a smile. “Isn’t this adorable?” She asked quietly. Andrew couldn’t process the words, he only wondered what her lips would taste like.

  “What?” He said, forcing himself to look at the puppy.

  “I said, isn’t this adorable?”

  “Oh yes. He’s pretty cute, just sleeping there like that. Not like his sister.” Andrew pointed at the other puppy running circles around his couch.

  Lacey laughed. “They’re a good match. You know what they say, opposites and everything.”

  “Do you think opposites can really work together?”

  Lacey met his eyes then, and he watched as she swallowed and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think so.”

  Andrew took a few steps closer to her, he wanted to reach out and take her in his arms. Find out for sure what her lips tasted like. But his arms wouldn’t move from beside his body. As he drew close, the puppy in her arms opened his eyes and yawned as he stretched.

  “Come on boy, wake up. You’re gonna miss all the fun.” Lacey spoke gently to the dog, but Andrew couldn’t help but feel it was a message for him too.

  “Do you want to stay for dinner? We could order pizza, or whatever you want. Maybe watch a movie.”

  “Sure, sounds good. But why don’t we order whatever you want?”

  Andrew smiled and felt a boldness come over him. For once he knew without thinking what to say. “What I want is to be here with you.”

  Lacey blushed. “That sounds good too.”

  They agreed on pizza and Andrew called in the order. Then they both settled on the couch as they watched the puppies play on the floor. “Did you decide on names yet?” Lacey asked.

  “I’m still mulling it over. But I was thinking, you can name one.”

  “Really?” Lacey didn’t hide her surprise.

  “Sure.”

  She stared at the two puppies. “I’ve never named a pet before.”

  “You didn’t get to name any pets?”

  “No, I never had any pets.”

  “Oh.” Andrew wasn’t sure if he should ask, but their day was going so well he decided now was a good time. “Any reason?”

  Lacey shook her head. “Not a real reason. My mom just never let us have any. It was just as well, I guess.”

  Andrew swallowed hard. “Tell me about your family.”

  He could hear her take in a deep breath and then let it out. “It’s not a good story.”

  “That’s all right. I would like to know, if you’re comfortable telling me.”

  She looked over at him as if she was considering this. She nodded. “I think I am.”

  Andrew settled back on the couch and gave her his full attention.

  “I don’t remember much about my dad. He was around when I was a baby, he was a factory worker. But when I was two, I think, he broke his hand on a machine. He lost his job and that sent him on a downward spiral. I don’t think he was a bad guy, but he just couldn’t handle being out of work. He drank a lot, and one night he didn’t come home. My mom found out from the cops the next day that he had died in a car accident. I don’t remember anything about it, but my siblings do. I’m the youngest of four, one sister and two brothers.” She paused before continuing. “I don’t remember what my mom was like before he died, but afterward my sister says she went off the deep end. My brother and sister remember her lying in bed for weeks, and being sad or angry most of the time. She worked odd jobs when I was little, but mostly we lived off the workers comp settlement from my dad’s broken hand. By the time I was in elementary school, she was working as a waitress at night. She would leave at dinner time and come home after we were in bed.”

  Andrew couldn’t help the horrified look on his face. “Who took care of you?”

  Lacey shrugged. “We had a neighbor that looked in on us some. But my oldest brother and sister took charge for the most part.”

  “How old were they?”

  “Ten and eight.”

  Andrew was silent for several beats before he said, “Wow.”

  “Yep. Now I look back and think how crazy that was. But at the time I didn’t know any different.”

  “Lacey, I’m…” Andrew stopped. He knew words weren’t enough. Instead he slowly reached over and took her hand in his and squeezed it. “I’m sorry.”

  She gave him a weak smile as tears brimmed her eyes. “Thanks,” she said as a nervous laugh escaped her lips. “I don’t know why I’m emotional, I’ve worked through all this. I’m good now. It wasn’t a great childhood, but it had good moments too. You know, when my mom was home in the mornings she would yell at us before we left for school, and she would yell when we got home. But at school I was happy, and after school I went to…” She stopped abruptly.

  “To where?” He asked, but even as he said it he knew.

  “The library,” they spoke in unison.

  “Yes,” Lacey said. “I went almost every afternoon. I would sit and read books or talk to the librarian.
She even kept snacks in the back for me.” Lacey sighed. “I didn’t even know how much it meant to me then. But I do now. It was my happy place. I was safe there.”

  Andrew squeezed her hand again. “I didn’t know.”

  “Of course.” Lacey squeezed his hand back. “How could you have known?”

  “I’m sorry, all the times I’ve talked about tearing down the building. I just thought of it as a building. Nothing more.”

  “I’m sorry, too. I was harsh with a lot of the things I said. And without explanation I’m sure I seemed…”

  “Hard-headed.”

  She pulled her hand from his to punch him in the arm. “No. I was thinking determined.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Andrew laughed.

  “Okay, maybe hard-headed is right. But I had my reasons.”

  “I can see that now. But you know, even if the building is gone, that doesn’t take away the memories you have there.”

  “I know,” Lacey said. “But I still don’t want it gone.”

  “I understand that. But what I’m wanting to do is build it bigger and better. How many people come into the library while you’re at work?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe three or four?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Alright, two, on a good day.”

  “Exactly. So what you remember as a wonderful place because of the people and the resources, isn’t there anymore. A bigger library would be filled with people every day, kids reading books and learning, maybe even attending events and finding their own happy place.”

  Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes at him. “Did you practice that line?”

  “Not even a little.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lacey couldn’t help the smile on her face as she drove to her apartment after work on Thursday afternoon. She hadn’t seen Andrew in a couple of days, but they had texted practically non-stop. She had never been much for texting deep conversations, but with him it seemed to give him the freedom to think about what he wanted to say and type it out. And maybe it made her slow down just a little and not blurt out the first thing that came to her mind. She parked and got out of her car, and a giggle bubbled up in her throat before bursting out of her mouth. She didn’t even know why, but she didn’t care. This was all so unexpected. And so wonderful.