A Brilliant Arrangement: A Sweet Billionaire Love Story (Falling for the Billionaire Book 1)

by Laila Kelly

  After a few minutes, Joleigh looked down at her watch and noticed that it was a half-hour passed the time that she was supposed to be home. She told Amber that she would only be a few minutes late, and she would be getting worried soon if she didn’t call or make it home. “Well, I think it’s about time that I get ready to go.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked towards the door. “I really hope you continue to enjoy your flowers, and I would love it if you would stop by the shop if you ever need any more floral arrangements,” Tamara looked up and smiled while she walked around the island towards Joleigh. “Of course I will, these are absolutely stunning, and I know I’ll need more flowers to fill this house up,” she laughed nervously. Joleigh headed towards the front door, “You really do have a lovely home, Tamara, have a wonderful evening.” Tamara followed her to the door and smiled, “I most certainly will, and I hope you have a great evening too!” her smile returned, and she waved as Joleigh walked towards her car.

  On the way out of the neighborhood, Joleigh couldn’t help but admire how all of the houses looked similar but different at the same time. All of the houses had multiple stories, but low, flat, stucco roofs with curved arches that led towards the front doors. The drive out of the neighborhood to the main road seemed longer than the one at home and Joleigh couldn’t help but feel a little sadness within herself. She couldn’t quite put her finger on exactly why she felt sad and let down the window to get a little bit of the fall air inside in hopes that it would lift her spirits. She hoped that Amber wouldn’t be upset that she was a little late getting home. Joleigh stopped at a stoplight and pulled out her phone to text Amber.

  Joleigh: Hey Amber, I’m running a little late, but I’ll be home in fifteen minutes.

  She pulled off and felt her phone vibrate.

  Amber: That’s alright drive safe! *smiley face emoji*

  Amber always responded with the same emojis and it made Joleigh laugh. Out of the entire emoji keyboard, she only used about three of them. The drive home was slightly underwhelming as the sunset this evening was less impressive than it has been on previous evenings as the sky didn’t have as many colors as it usually did. When Joleigh pulled up to her house, she saw her neighbor Mrs. Dabney sitting outside on her porch, a sight that has occurred every evening since Joleigh was a little girl. Joleigh got out of her car and waved. “Good evening, Mrs. Dabney, how are you?” the grey-haired woman looked up from her newspaper crossword puzzle and smiled, “I’m well, Joleigh, and yourself?” Joleigh smiled and walked over to her, “I’m okay, tired, but ok nonetheless.” Mrs. Dabney nodded, understanding completely what Joleigh was going through. Most everyone on their street had lived there long before Joleigh was even born. The closeness and care that the neighbors had for one another made up for the fact that both Joleigh’s parents didn’t have any siblings, and their parents were well into their eighties when she was born. It was a rarity for someone in the neighborhood to move out, so everyone there had become the only family that Joleigh had ever known. The neighbors that she had were another reason it wasn’t too hard to make the decision to keep the flower shop after her mother passed away, and when her dad got sick. There was an overwhelming amount of support from everyone, and everyone tried to help her out as much as they possibly while she was in college, but it just didn’t work out and she came back home to care for her father and to run the flower shop full-time, but that was years ago.

  “I understand, sweetheart.” She paused for a moment and waved at their next-door neighbor Mr. David as his old, blue truck passed by. “Your dad looked well when he was out on his morning walk with Amber,” she said with a smile. Joleigh returned the smile, but it was heavy with sadness. Physically her dad looked just like he always has, just a little greyer hair on his head and in his beard. Mentally, he was a completely different person from the man that Joleigh grew up adoring. Ever since his illness first appeared, he had been slipping away slowly from the person that he was before. Then when her mother passed away, he deteriorated a lot quicker, each day forgetting the little things that he was able to remember days before. No one in the neighborhood was fully aware of the extent of what her father’s sickness was because Joleigh barely understood what was happening to him herself. “Well that’s really good to hear. Let me head over there to check on them, I’ll try to come out later after I put Dad to bed.” Mrs. Dabney nodded and watched her walk across the stone path that connected the two houses to one another, and into her front door. When she opened the door, she could see her dad and Amber, her father’s home care worker and her childhood best friend, sitting at the kitchen table eating her dad’s fall favorite, chicken noodle soup, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

  She walked over to her dad and placed a kiss on his cheek, “Rosebud,” he looked up and smiled. Joleigh smiled back, holding back tears as her dad called her by her childhood nickname. She could tell that he was having a good day. When he was having a bad day, he would just look up at her with blankness in his face when she got home and not say anything. From a distance, you wouldn’t be able to tell that her dad was sick, or that just yesterday he barely knew who she was, but she couldn’t let those thoughts consume her. She had to live for today, for her dad, and to celebrate the good days when they came. Today she was happy that he was having a good day and pulled out a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream from the freezer and giving him a spoonful in a bowl. He smiled and dug into it, giggling and doing a little dance while he ate. “Let me grab you something to eat,” Amber looked towards the pot of soup on the stove. “Thank you,” Joleigh whispered. The soup was still hot and full of flavor, just like her mother’s recipe said it should be. Joleigh thought back to when she and Amber were teenagers and her mother taught them how to grow herbs in the garden for their own soups. Her mother said that making soup was one of the best ways to take care of your family. A fact that Joleigh had quickly learned to be true.

  “You ready to go watch some television, Mr. Everett?” Amber walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He nodded and followed her into the living room. She turned on the television to one of his favorite western shows. Amber returned to the table and sat down beside her. “So how was your day? Did you get that last-minute arrangement out like you wanted to?” Joleigh nodded and ate another spoonful of soup. “Yeah, I got it done. It was a delivery to that new neighborhood filled with those fancy mansions. You been over there?” Joleigh would forever be grateful to Amber for everything she does. After college, Amber fulfilled her dream of being a home care nurse for patients with mental decline and started helping out her and her mom with taking care of her dad and taking over during the days while she ran the flower shop after her mom died. All of that on top of being the best friend that a girl could ever ask for.

  Amber sipped her tea and shook her head, “No, I haven’t been over there myself, but I heard from Cathy at church that it’s pretty nice over there. You know she spends a lot of time riding through new neighborhoods.” Joleigh laughed and shook her head thinking about how beautiful the inside of Tamara’s house was. “Yeah, it’s definitely beautiful over there. They don’t even have regular paved streets, they're like cobbled like in Europe or in some Shakespeare play.” Amber’s eyebrows raised as she took another sip, “Oh really, well I’m going to have to take a trip over there to see all of these marvels for myself. Apparently European culture has crept its way into Flowery Branch, Georgia. I never thought I’d see the day,” with a laugh that reminded her of their childhood when they would sit in her room and gossip about celebrities and boys at their school.

  “Me neither, but I would love to live in a house like one of those one day. The lady that I delivered those flowers to just moved into town a few weeks ago after they finished building her house. It was even more beautiful on the inside than it was on the outside.” Joleigh took another bite of her soup and looked over to see her dad laughing at the television. “She was getting flowers from her son’s adopted mother. Apparently, she
sends her flowers every so often to say thanks, you know, for giving birth to her son.” Amber’s brow scrunched up, “That’s nice of her to do. How old is her son?” Joleigh ate another spoonful of soup, “Thirty-three,” she said and finished off her bowl of soup. “Wow that’s a long time to send someone flowers, but I guess if someone gives you the opportunity to be a mother when you might not have had one otherwise, you would definitely be appreciative, you know?” Amber replied.

  Joleigh nodded and thought about if she was in the same situation, she would be extremely grateful for someone giving her that opportunity. She thought back to the time her mother told her that she and her dad tried for five years to get pregnant with her, and how excited she was when she found out Joleigh was going to be a little girl. Wanting a baby so badly for five years and finally getting to have one would have anyone sending flowers forever. Oftentimes Joleigh wondered what it would be like to be a mother. When she was younger, she had all of the elaborate plans just like every little girl does about getting married to a handsome and loving man and starting a little family with him. Now with the way that her life was headed, she didn’t know if that dream would ever come true. The thought of not knowing if it would ever happen for her made her sick to her stomach with dread. At the University of Georgia, most of the girls that she graduated were already married, or at the least engaged already with weddings approaching in the next few months. That clearly wasn’t the case for Joleigh. She didn’t even have anyone interested in her enough to want to marry her. Joleigh shook thoughts of college out of her head and finished eating her grilled cheese sandwich while Amber talked to her about the latest celebrity family drama and what was going on in the Flowery Branch gossip circle. She listened attentively but stole away glances at her dad watching television and laughing. She missed all of the times that they would spend together watching cartoons and laughing while she was growing up.

  After briefing her on the daily news of what was going on, Amber turned around and looked at the clock on the stove, “Oh shoot, it’s already 7:45! I promised mom I would watch this new cooking show with her tonight, and it starts at 8:30.” She got up and grabbed her stethoscope and her bag. “I’ll text you when I get home, try to get some sleep, girl. You’re starting to look tired in the face.” Amber leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and ignored Joleigh’s look of insult. She knew Amber meant well, but as usual, her delivery wasn’t always spot on. Joleigh made a mental note to apply a face mask before she went to bed. If Amber was noticing that she was in the beginning stages of looking haggard, then it was a sure possibility that there were others noticing the same thing.

  She wandered around the house trying to find things to do that would make her tired so that she would be able to sleep the entire night. The past few weeks sleepless nights had become her norm and she was beginning to be unable to focus while she was at work. Things that she usually reserved strictly for the weekends became her weeknight tasks. Once the laundry had been folded, dishes washed, and the floors swept she would be more than exhausted enough to get a good night’s sleep. Before Joleigh could blink twice, it was already 9:45, the time that she liked to get her dad in bed before she spent an hour out on the porch with Mrs. Dabney. When she was younger, she wondered why she would spend so much time outside on the porch and at this hour of the night, but shortly before her mom passed, she learned why. Mrs. Dabney was the noisiest neighbor on the block, but she was the most informed on when something was happening whether it be good or bad.

  She walked over to her dad and placed a hand on his shoulder. In that short amount of time, he had already drifted off to sleep leaving the sheriff to fall in love with the damsel in distress and save the town yet again from bandits all by himself. “Dad, it’s time to get ready for bed,” she said softly, trying not to make too many loud noises. He looked up at her and nodded before he stood up and headed to his room. She set out some clothes for him to change into after his shower, and as the water ran, she heard him singing one of his favorite songs, “Ave Maria”, at the top of his lungs. Her dad had a wonderful voice and was a concert singer before retiring early to start a family and to live out his lifelong dream of owning a flower shop.

  Joleigh laid down on the bed and snuggled into her what was once her mother’s side and listened to her father sing. She looked over at her mother’s nightstand and it was left exactly how she last left it. Joleigh ran her fingers over her mother’s ring dish, the place she always put her wedding rings before she showered. The rings were still as beautiful as Joleigh remembered. One day she would muster up the courage to move them, but the thought of changing anything from the way it was when she was still alive pained her too much. A single tear ran down the side of her cheek and onto the bed. She heard the shower cut off and got up to try and compose herself before her father got out of the bathroom, not wanting him to see her upset. It would only make him upset which was something that she didn’t want to happen tonight. He swung the bathroom door opened and waved, “That shower was amazing, honey. I can’t wait until your mother gets home, I know that she’d love it!” Joleigh nodded, unsure of what else to do. “Yeah she will,” she looked at her mother’s side of the bed again and wished more than ever that she would indeed come home one day. Things were getting to be more than she could bear alone. “Alright Dad, I’m about to go to bed. Goodnight, I love you,” her voice a little thick with emotion. “Goodnight, I love you too, sweet pea,” he hollered back.

  Joleigh headed into the kitchen and made a cup of green tea before deciding against heading out to the porch to sit with Mrs. Dabney. Instead, she crawled into her bed and drifted off to sleep, thoughts of her future heavy on her mind.

  Chapter Two: Graham

  Graham stood back and looked at the large map spread out in front of him. Finding the perfect spot to place a new subdivision is always more about having an initial vision, than worrying about the viability of the houses that will be built there. That always works itself out. Every single time. Isn’t one of the first things that they teach you in real estate is location, location, location? Besides, when people were on waiting lists to see when you were going to build another subdivision it made for pretty much a fool-proof plan. Graham Brentwood jotted his thoughts down on a piece of paper in his notebook on the large Cherrywood desk in his office. One day he would turn these arbitrary thoughts into a book. For now, they were just small thoughts that he had every once in a while. Thoughts that he hoped would help serve as a manual for his family to continue the success of his construction and real estate business one day.

  He ran his fingers through his thick brown hair, trying to figure out what he wanted to eat for lunch. Usually his secretary would call his lunch in depending on what he told her he wanted in the morning, but today he wasn’t going to be spending the rest of the afternoon in the office. He’d spent the past few days in the office all day, and it was beginning to drive him crazy. Instead, he was going to see how one of his latest subdivisions was doing on their construction plan. According to his projected schedule, it should be at least three houses completely built already and being put on the market. The Texas housing market was competitive, and one of the edges that he had up on the competition was physically seeing how construction was going rather than relying on the words of his associates and their teams. Laying eyes on the properties himself ensured that the success that he had so hard built from the ground up and gave him the opportunity to point out the things that needed to be fixed.

  Graham grabbed his keys and jacket before closing the door to his office and walking towards his secretary, Stephanie’s desk. “Please forward my calls for the rest of the day. I’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning.” She shook her head in acknowledgment and wrote something down in her notebook, “Yes, sir, is there anything else you would like for me to do?” He pressed the down button on the elevator, “No, that’ll be all. If I think of anything else that I need, I’ll call.” She stood, smiled and watched him get on the
elevator. Stephanie was a good secretary, she was efficient, didn’t talk too much, and she did her job well. Good secretary’s like her are hard to find and come few and far between, a lesson that he’d learned from his father as a young boy.

  On the ride down to the ground level, he thought of his father and he wished that he could see the man that he had turned into. His mother liked to tell him that his father would be extremely proud of him if he were here, but he often wondered. Success was hammered into him, and his childhood days were spent between school, recreational activities, and watching his father run his businesses, the latter of them being his favorite. He wanted so badly to be just like his father that he spent more time following behind him than playing or doing the other things that regular children were doing. His father was the definition of the American Dream. The son of cattle farmers became a multimillionaire all on his own, and never forgot the person that he was in the process. He sighed and shook his head, trying to weed out all of the thoughts that would send him down another spiral of grief. He had too much to do today and none of them were sitting in his truck and looking out the window into space.

  The elevator quickly glided down from the fifteenth floor to the ground in a matter of seconds, and the Texas afternoon sun hit Graham in his eyes, blinding him for a moment. He needed to get more sun. he was beginning to feel more like a vampire and less like a man these days. The doorman, James stood there with his car ready for him and the door already open. “Have a wonderful rest of your day, Mr. Brentwood,” with a smile and closed the door after he slid in. “You have a good one too, James, take care of yourself,” returning the smile and rolling up the window. Out of all of his staff workers, the doormen, construction workers, and the cleaning staff were his favorite. “You should treat your heavy labor employees just as good as you treat your executives,” his dad would say, “Taking care of them means that they will always take care of you.” A fact that Graham learned to be true. Some of the issues he saw in other companies, or the stories that his employees would tell them about previous places they’d worked, horrified him. Being rich can make most people reveal their truest of nasty selves.