Downtown Billionaire

by Hannah Jo Abbott

“I don’t know, but I spoke with them personally and they are going to do their best.”

  Lacey sat back up and looked at him. “Thanks, Andrew. You really didn’t have to do that. It was very kind of you.”

  “Well, I didn’t do it for her.”

  Lacey swallowed. “Oh?”

  “You have to know that.”

  Lacey’s heart pounded when she looked in his eyes. She was working hard to keep her guard up. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  “That’s not what I came here to tell you.”

  “It’s not?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking. Thinking about you, about what I did wrong and how I could fix it. But I see now, that it’s time to stop thinking, and put actions to what I want.” He gently reached over and took her hand in his. “Lacey, when I told you I love you, I meant it.”

  Lacey’s heart fluttered with a tiny bit of hope.

  “I love how you go after what you want and you’re not afraid to stick with it and not back down.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’ve always worried too much about what people think. Sometimes it’s been because I don’t want to upset anyone or hurt their feelings, but a lot of the time I’m just worried they will think badly of me. But I’ve spent too much time worrying about that. I know what I want, and I’m here to say it.”

  Lacey stared for a moment at his hand over hers and took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  “Lacey, I want you. I’ve liked you from a distance for a long time because I was too shy to say anything. And when I finally got the chance to talk to you, we were at odds over the library.”

  Lacey bristled away at the mention of the building.

  “I know we’re still at odds over that, but can we put that aside for just a minute? I know, I should have talked to you and told you my plans. I was scared to tell you the truth, and so I put it off. That was cowardly and wrong, and I’m sorry.”

  “I just wish you had been honest with me. I can deal with honesty, I can’t deal with what you don’t say to me.”

  “I know,” he rubbed the back of her hand. “I know that now, and I’m truly sorry. I want to tell you everything from now on.”

  “But you didn’t trust me.”

  Andrew sighed. “I know. I wanted to tell you about the money. I just didn’t know how. How would you have reacted if I told you I had inherited a few billion dollars?”

  Lacey sat and thought about that for a minute. She shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, could we try again?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “As long as it’s not a no, I’m going for it.” He sat up straight and cleared his throat. “Lacey, I need to tell you something. I haven’t really told anyone, because I just don’t want it to define who I am, and it’s still kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around. But I really care about you, and I hope you’ll be a part of my life for a very long time. So I want you to know. My grandparents left their estate to me. They owned a lot of properties, but they left me money too. I didn’t even know how much money they had. But they left me one point six billion dollars.”

  Lacey played along and her mouth dropped open wide. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  Lacey jumped up and looked around the room. “No, really,” she laughed. “Where are the cameras?”

  “Come on, Lacey.”

  “What?” She sat back down on the couch. “You wanted me to react like I would have if you had told me before.” She shrugged. “I’m pretty sure this is what I would have done.”

  He reached out and took her hand again. “So? Do you have anything to say?”

  Lacey took a deep breath. “I don’t really know what to say. This is…surprising, and different. I’m just…speechless.”

  “I know, it’s a lot. I mean a lot of money, yes, but it’s a lot to take in. I’ve had some time to process it, so I understand if you need to think. But I want you to know, I’m the same person I was before I found out. And I’m the same person you knew before I told you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “And you weren’t keeping it from me just so I wouldn’t be after you for your money?”

  “What?” The surprise showed on Andrew’s face. “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

  “Well, you met my mom. You know what she’s like. I thought maybe you were afraid if I knew about your money I would try to use you to get it.”

  “Lacey,” his voice was full of tenderness. He pulled her into an embrace. He stroked her hair as he spoke again. “Your past…your mom doesn’t define who you are any more than the money in my bank account defines me. I wasn’t keeping it from you to protect my money.” He pushed back to look at her and laughed. “But if I was, knowing you liked me better before you knew I had money helps.”

  Lacey laughed too. “I don’t like you less. I just wasn’t sure if you were who I really liked.”

  “And now?”

  “Now…” her voice drifted off. “Before you got here, when I thought my mom was moving to town, I was ready to pack up and move out of state. She might follow me eventually, but I didn’t think you would.”

  He grasped both of her hands now. “Lacey, if you want to move out of state, I understand. If you want to go somewhere and change your name and hope Miranda never finds you, I understand that too. But I don’t have to think for one second to tell you this. If you go anywhere, I’m going with you. And if you change your name, I want it to match mine.”

  Lacey tried to breathe in and out, but all she felt was her heart pounding against her ribs as Andrew leaned forward and slowly pressed his lips to hers.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Andrew thought he should feel nervous, but now that Lacey had given him another chance, he felt like nothing could shake his confidence. Because nothing else matters now. He had asked her to meet him outside one of their rental properties on Main Street. He glanced at his watch, expecting her any minute. He watched for her car.

  “Boo!” Her voice came from behind him as she grabbed him around the waist. He reached up and took her hands in his with one hand and spun around to face her so her hands were locked behind him.

  “Hey,” he said, smiling at her.

  “Hey.” Her eyes were bright as she looked back at him.

  He gave her a quick kiss and then linked his fingers behind her back as he looked her in the eyes. “Ready to take a walk?”

  She gave him a confused look. “I thought you wanted to show me the property.” She pointed to the building in front of them.

  “I did. See?” He pointed. “There’s the building. Now, would you like to take a walk with me?”

  Lacey still looked like she wasn’t sure what was happening, but she agreed. Andrew slid his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers as he made steps toward the town green.

  “Where are we going?” Lacey slowed her steps as they turned towards the library.

  “Just trust me,” Andrew’s voice was for her only.

  Lacey let out a big breath, but said, “Okay.”

  They both fell silent as they made their way across The Green and approached the small building. Andrew held the door open, but Lacey stood unmoving.

  “It’s all right,” Andrew promised. “Come inside.”

  She gave him a look that said this better be good, and then she stepped inside the door. No one was in the building. Not even behind the desk. “Are we alone?” Lacey asked.

  “Yes,” Andrew said. “But I want to show you something.” He led her to the back of the room, the back section of lights was out and Lacey squinted to try to see where she was going. Andrew stopped and dropped her hand. “Stand here.” He ran to the wall and flipped on the switch.

  Lacey blinked in surprise and then gasped as her eyes focused on the wall in front of her. Andrew went to her and stepped behind her to get her view. He wrapped
his arms around her and leaned his chin on her shoulder. He could see the sign on the wall perfectly. It read, “Pine Haven Public Library Reference Center.”

  Lacey put her hand over her mouth and didn’t speak. Andrew’s concern grew over her silence, and he let go and walked in front of her to see her expression. A tear slid down her cheek.

  “How? Why?”

  “For you.”

  “Really?” Her eyes met his and he could see how they glistened with tears.

  “Yes, really. After knowing you, I just knew I couldn’t tear down this building. But I also knew as a business man that I couldn’t spend the money to bring it up to date for a new library like we wanted for the town.” He grabbed her hand. “Here, come look.” Andrew pulled her over to the table where a drawing of The Green was laid out. “The property adjoining the lot was owned by a family that moved away from town years ago. My family owns the land beside it, here,” he pointed. “But not the spot in between. So I spoke with the owner and made an offer to buy it. This way there’s room to build a new library building beside this one and connect it.” He pointed to the page. “So this will be a brand new building with books, computers, internet, and resources. Plus all the study rooms and gathering places. But this building,” he held his arms out to his sides, “will be the reference center. It won’t have all the technology, but we can use the space to fill it with reference materials and new computers, and it will be a quiet, out of the way place for research or study.”

  “But Andrew, is this really what you want to do?”

  He gave her his biggest smile. “That’s the best part. It really is. I wanted to find a way to save the building for you, but I just didn’t see how that was really the best investment. But when I started looking at it a different way, I realized, this really is the best use of the building. We can keep the historical part and build a new part for the future of the library.”

  Lacey went to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you. This means the world to me.”

  “You mean the world to me. And really, I should be thanking you. I had a vision for a new library, but you made me reach further and come up with a better vision for the past and the future.”

  Lacey raised up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “You’re amazing.”

  He grinned. “Have I told you why I really wanted to update the library?”

  She furrowed her eyebrows. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “You’ve told me how the library was so important to you, a safe place, and a home you didn’t have. So I know you wanted to preserve it. But I have my own memories of the library.”

  “You do?”

  “Yep.” He held onto her hand with one hand and pointed with the other. “Right here is where I remember reading my first book about space.”

  Lacey followed where he pointed with her eyes. “Oh?”

  “Mrs. Simmons asked me what I wanted to learn about, and I said ‘rocket ships’. Well she sat me down there and went and got me a book. I looked at it from cover to cover and wanted more. She found me one or two other books, and I read them too. Every time I wanted to learn about something new, I knew who to ask. Mrs. Simmons would find me a book on whatever the subject was.”

  Lacey brushed at the tears falling. “She was a wonderful woman.”

  “Yes, she was. And I was grateful for every book she showed me.” Andrew sighed. “So I just wanted kids in the community to have the opportunity to learn like I did. But the collection is lacking now, and the technology is outdated. I wanted to build something new with the resources for kids in Pine Haven to learn and grow.”

  “Andrew, that’s beautiful.”

  He grinned. “It’s just the truth.”

  “Hmm.” Lacey lifted one finger to the corner of her mouth. “If you had just said that at the first meeting, maybe I would have been fine with the whole thing.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Guess we’ll never know.”

  Andrew poked her in the ribs and she laughed. “You would not. You still would have fought me tooth and nail until you got what you wanted.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m a little stubborn.”

  “A little?” Andrew put on a mock shocked look.

  Now she gave him a little punch in the arm.

  Andrew took her in his arms then. “Yes, you’re a little stubborn. But I wouldn’t change a thing about you.” He leaned in and kissed her full on the lips. He tightened his grip on her waist and her hands went up to wrap around his neck.

  The kiss lasted only a minute before Lacey pulled back as she started giggling. “I’m not sure that kissing in the library is allowed.”

  Andrew smiled. “It is when you own the building.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Shannon, are you almost ready?” Hudson Jennings called out to his wife.

  “Yes, just trying to decide which shoes to wear.”

  “The ones on the right.” Hudson looked at his watch, noting that it was time to go.

  Shannon peeked her head out from the closet doorway. “You don’t know which ones are on the right.”

  “Maybe not.” He went to her and caught her up in his arms before she could go back in the closet. He gave her a long kiss until she pushed against his chest with both hands.

  “So, how do you know I should wear the ones on the right?”

  “Because.” He kissed her again. “Because I know you have good taste, and whichever shoes you are trying to choose between I’m sure are fine. So go with the ones on the right.”

  “So we can go?”

  “Yes, but also because I love you and I want to see you in your beautiful dress and the shoes on the right.”

  Shannon laughed. “All right, all right.” She wiggled out of his arms. “You’re probably right anyway. The wedges are more practical for a library grand opening where I’ll be standing in the grass.”

  “See?”

  “Yes, yes. I know.” Shannon waved a hand out of the closet. “Will you make sure the girls haven’t messed up their hair, or taken off their shoes since I put them on five minutes ago?”

  “You got it.” Hudson peeked one more time at his wife before she shooed him out. He grinned as he left their bedroom and headed down the hallway to their twin daughters’ room. “Haleigh, Adeline, come to Daddy and let me see your pretty dresses.”

  “Daddy!” Their two voices rang out together, and they dropped the toys they were playing with on the floor. At three-years-old, Shannon often referred to them as “The Twin Tornadoes”. Hudson did a quick observation and noted that, while both girls still had bows in their long blonde hair, neither one had shoes on.

  “Oh wow, you look so beautiful,” Hudson said as the girls twirled in their dresses. “But let’s be quick and get your shoes on so we can go to the party.”

  “Yay! Party!” The girls scurried off to grab their shoes.

  Hudson watched them try to put the shoes on themselves, Haleigh with her tongue sticking out on one side of her mouth, and Adeline with the shoes on the wrong feet. He grinned as he silently said a prayer of thanks to God for the life He had given him when He sent him to Pine Haven, Alabama.

  * * *

  “Sir, we’ll be landing at the Birmingham Airport in approximately twenty minutes.” The voice came over the speaker of the luxury private jet.

  “Thank you,” Pete Collins spoke as he pressed a button to respond. “Are you ready to be home?”

  Mallory smiled at him. He always called Pine Haven “home” since they had gotten married, and he knew it warmed her heart. She put their four-month-old son on her shoulder to burp him after his feeding and reached over in the seat next to her to pat her two-year-old daughter’s leg. “Gracie, we’re going to be landing soon. So you need to stay in your seat until we’re parked okay?”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  Pete glanced out the window and thought of all the times he had dreaded a trip back home. But today, and every other day with Mallory and their little family, he thanked God
that He had sent him back to his hometown.

  * * *

  Andrew Hartley stepped out the double glass doors of the brand new building, and onto the concrete steps leading down to the green lawn. His heart felt ready to burst inside him to see his vision become a reality. It had been a long road of construction and filling all the shelves with books. But the day was finally here. The door opened behind him and he turned to see Lacey. She was beaming with pride at the work he had done.

  “Are you ready?”

  Andrew spoke confidently. “Yes. I haven’t been looking forward to a day as much as this one since our wedding day.” He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips and kissed her fingers just beside the diamond engagement ring and the white gold band.

  Lacey smiled and squeezed his hand. She placed her other hand on her belly. “You mean, next to the day this little one is born?”

  Andrew’s smile spread wide across his face. “Of course.”

  Lacey stepped close and kissed him. “You’re going to be a wonderful Daddy. I just know it.”

  “Well, I’ll have to be to come anywhere close to how great you’ll be as a mom.”

  Lacey gave a half smile. He knew she was still concerned that she didn’t know how to do that. But he tried to encourage her every day.

  “It’s just about time.” She squeezed his hand once more. “I’ll be right beside you.”

  A crowd began to gather a little before the time for the ceremony to begin. Andrew and Lacey greeted members of the city council, and others from the community. But the sight that meant the most was their friends standing together in a group to support them on their big day. Hudson and Shannon with their girls, and Pete and Mallory with their two. Andrew felt proud to have such wonderful friends, and he would always be grateful they had brought him into their circle. Pete and Hudson had stood beside him at his wedding, just as Mallory and Shannon had stood beside Lacey. The two men had taught him so much about how to follow God, and how to be a good leader. But they had also told him how to get the girl.

  The time came and Andrew stood at the podium set up for the event and spoke in his loudest voice. “Thank you everyone for coming.” He cleared his throat before he began the speech that wasn’t memorized and prepared, but was carefully thought out from his heart. “Today is a day we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. Many years ago, my grandparents offered a building to the town to be used for a library. I don’t think they had any idea what that might entail, but they knew that reading and education was important to them, and they wanted to give that to the people of Pine Haven. Now, we are proud to grow the library into a new phase, while keeping the heritage started by my grandparents.” He stopped to wink at Lacey.