Secret Billionaire

by Leah Torie

  Jessie stared at the screen. The number was unfamiliar. She assumed it was Toby, but he sounded like he was finally planning to do something without his brother.

  Would she like him any better if he was free to make his own choices, without that pact he’d made? Faced with the option, she decided that she still wasn’t feeling like dating him. She put her phone away, intending to reply later.

  Glancing occasionally at the big wall clock, she watched the minutes go by slowly, while she waited for Bibbi. Finally, at three minutes after two, a woman emerged from a back room, followed by Bibbi.

  “Thanks a lot, hun. I’ll see you again in about four weeks, yeah?”

  “Sure. It should last six but if you need a top up, you know where to find me.”

  The woman went to the cash register and Charmaine took her payment. Bibbi gave Jessie a strange look.

  “You’re next.” Her voice was clipped and Jessie had never felt so unwelcome in the salon. Leaving the magazine behind, she stood up and followed Bibbi into one of the rooms she used for waxing.

  “Bibbi, I—”

  “If you want me to do this, the next words outta your mouth better be “sorry” or nothing at all.”

  “I’m not wrong.”

  The air in the room seemed to disappear as Bibbi turned away to tend to the wax heater.

  “Sorry, I’m gonna have to re-schedule your appointment for another day. I’m all out of wax.”

  Jessie couldn’t tell if Bibbi was crying or not because she was still bent over the pot that ought to have contained wax.

  “Fine. I’ll make another appointment. But one day soon, you’re going to have to back down. I’ve tried holding out an olive branch today. If you won’t take it, that’s your problem.” Jessie turned to the door and opened it before looking back over her shoulder. “I thought our friendship was worth more than something so stupid.”

  She walked out, past a surprised-looking Charmaine, and kept moving until she reached her car.

  Only once she was driving away did Jessie allow herself to react. Her heart suddenly swelled with a surge of sorrow and her eyes began clouding over. She blinked away the tears and kept going, wishing more than anything that Bibbi would just back down and accept that Becca could date anyone she chose.

  A more urgent problem was the fact Jessie still needed her legs waxing, her face threading and her brows shaping. Bibbi had the only beauty salon in town. Jessie searched on her phone until she found somewhere in the next town over. She called them. They had a cancellation that afternoon. She began driving, hoping she could make it in time.

  Anna had taken Taylor out on a bug hunt, as part of Taylor’s new homeschooling curriculum. Jessie knew she couldn’t be gone for too long, but the next town was an hour’s drive, so even with no traffic, it was going to take at least two hours to return, and that wasn’t including the time she would need for the salon appointment. Waxing could take anywhere between twenty minutes and an hour.

  An hour later, Jessie was still sitting on the road between Oakdale and Blueford, in traffic which wasn’t moving. She was pretty sure there had been a crash, because she couldn’t think of any other reason why she was stuck for so long without going anywhere.

  Her phone rang, and she answered without looking at the caller ID.

  “Anna?”

  “Tom.” A man’s familiar voice awakened butterflies in Jessie’s stomach.

  “Oh. Uh... hey.”

  “Driving to Blueford?” His tone was casual.

  Jessie frowned. “How did you know?”

  “I’m in the Aston Martin.”

  Jessie looked over her shoulder. The silver car behind her looked expensive. Really expensive. Handmade to order kind of expensive. And behind the wheel, Tom was looking straight at her. He gave her a little wave. She ended the call. He got out of his car.

  When he stood by her window, she lowered it.

  “You have two cars?” It was all she could think to say.

  He gave her a wry smile and nodded.

  “At least two,” he conceded. “Did you see my text message?”

  She tried to think if she’d seen anything from him. There had just been the one from Toby. “Sorry, I didn’t get it.”

  “That’s a shame. I’ll have to ask again some other time.”

  Jessie blew air out of her cheeks, wanting the road to clear so she could make her appointment. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

  “I was on my way to Sharman’s.” On her confused look, he added, “It’s a musical instrument repair store.”

  Jessie raised a brow. “You need a musical instrument repairing?”

  “Not any more. I’m collecting it. At least, that was the plan.”

  Jessie’s curiosity was killing her, and she was pretty sure he knew that, because any normal person would have elaborated on the fine details rather than wait to be asked.

  “What instrument do you play?”

  She felt like they were engaged in a secret battle of wills, and she had somehow lost by asking the question.

  He grinned. “Guess.”

  She thought about it for a moment. Glancing at his hands, she saw slender, tapered fingers. For some reason it made her think of the violin or piano.

  “Are you a violin player?”

  He shook his head. “Guess again.” His eyes were twinkling. Her uncertainty and desire to know more about him was clearly entertaining him. She felt wrong-footed.

  “Piano?”

  He chuckled. “Would a piano fit in an Aston Martin? I’m collecting the musical instrument in question.”

  She laughed at the idea of him attaching a big old piano to the roof of this sleek sports car.

  “Okay, so not a harp or a timpani, either...”

  “Less obscure.”

  She decided to tease him back.

  “A flute might fit in the back of that car. Do you play the flute?”

  “No.”

  “Triangle?”

  He laughed out loud and shook his head. “How would a triangle be in need of repair?”

  Jessie giggled and shrugged. “Maybe you left it in the driveway one morning then rolled over it with your fancy sports car?”

  “I don’t play the triangle.”

  She tried to think of another unlikely instrument. “Xylophone?”

  “You’re half right.”

  She was? What was the other one called that was identical to the xylophone?

  “Glockenspiel!” she shouted, not caring that people in nearby cars might hear her.

  He frowned. “Not even close.”

  She thought about this. How could xylophone be half correct while glockenspiel was completely wrong?

  “Can you give me a hint?” She fluttered her lashes at him to show she wasn’t taking this particularly seriously.

  “Think about the word xylophone.”

  “Is it something that rhymes?” She racked her brain for anything that sounded similar.

  “Yes.”

  She went through musical instruments. “Trombone?”

  “No.” The glee in his voice proved he was enjoying this guessing game.

  “I give up.”

  “You can’t think of anything else that rhymes with xylophone?”

  She shrugged and shook her head.

  “It’s a tenor sax.”

  Understanding dawned. “A saxophone! Of course! Xylophone... saxophone... yeah, those rhyme.” She wasn’t sure how she’d missed that. “So what was wrong with it?”

  “It needed its finger pads replacing. It’s not a big job, but I prefer to leave it to the experts.”

  “There’s a music store in Oakdale, why did you take it to the next town over?”

  “Because Jimmy Spielen and I don’t see eye to eye. I haven’t been to his music store in several years. Sharman in Blueford is a saxophone expert and he’s a friendly face, so it makes sense to send my business his way.”

  Jessie nodded. It did make sense.
>
  “How about you? Why were you heading this way?”

  She gazed up at him, feeling a blush heat her face.

  “It’s just a silly thing...” She trailed off, not really wanting to elaborate. He didn’t take the hint.

  “It can’t be that silly if you’re driving to a different town for it.”

  Was he trying to be encouraging, or was he just curious about her? She didn’t know how to respond, so she tried to mumble out the truth.

  “I was trying to find a cosmetologist who could give me a leg wax this afternoon.”

  “Isn’t there one in Oakdale?”

  Jessie had been so focused on how embarrassing it was to admit to him that she had to remove hair from her legs, she didn’t realize there was something she wanted to talk about even less.

  “Yeah, well, she couldn’t fit me in.”

  “I thought you were friends with the woman who runs the salon?”

  Jessie wiggled in her seat, wishing the road would clear so she could have an excuse to end this conversation.

  “I thought so too,” she said at last. Seriously, she didn’t understand what was up with Bibbi lately, but it felt like the end of years of friendship, and Jessie didn’t want to think about it, because when she did, a huge bubble swelled in her chest, making her throat tighten and her head ache.

  The whole thing seemed so unfair. Jessie didn’t even have anything to do with the original disagreement, it was between Becca and Bibbi, but somehow Jessie had been caught between the two of them.

  Without warning, the dam burst and hot tears trickled down her cheeks splashing against the steering wheel. Her vision was blurry and her sinuses ached with pressure. Great. Tom officially thinks I’m a basket case.

  The humiliation burned, even through the sadness of feeling like she was losing Bibbi. All the same, the tears kept coming, until her chest felt so ragged that breathing was difficult.

  “It can’t be all that bad.” Tom’s voice was soft, and when Jessie dared raise her head, she saw an expression of sympathy on his face.

  Slowly, Jessie choked out the short version of what was happening between herself and Bibbi, including the incident at the salon.

  “It’s like she’s a different person, now, instead of my friend,” Jessie finished.

  Tom sighed. “That sounds hard. Real difficult. But people change and grow as they get older.”

  “Surely if anything, she’s become less mature than she used to be.”

  “She probably thinks the same of you about now.”

  Jessie shook her head. “But I’m not the one telling my friend who she can or can’t date. It’s none of Bibbi’s business.”

  “And the disagreement is between the two of them, so it’s none of your business, either.”

  His words hit Jessie like a slap in the face. She even gasped and her mouth fell open. Before he said anything else, the car in front of her started its engine and began moving forward.

  “Please excuse me,” she said in a cold voice. She rolled up the window and drove away. In her mirror, she saw him staring after her. He threw up his hands then returned to his car. She guessed the pickup truck behind him had honked its horn or similar.

  Trying not to think about what just happened, Jessie put on the radio and turned the volume up.

  How could he think even for a moment that she was wrong to support Becca and call Bibbi on her nonsense?

  Chapter 12

  Jessie got back from Blueford in the early evening. The scent of home cooking greeted her at the door. Odd. She hadn’t started a meal before leaving, and it seemed unlikely anyone else would, and yet…

  “That you, Jessie?” Anna’s voice called from the kitchen. Jessie walked through the house until she found her sister stirring a big pot of something on the stove.

  “Cooking?” Jessie frowned.

  “Don’t look so confused.” Anna giggled.

  “But... I am confused.” Since when did Anna like to cook?

  “Taylor and I were watching a food show and she said she didn’t remember the last time she had lamb so I decided to make lamb stew.”

  “With what lamb?” Anna didn’t have a car, so where in the house had she found the proper ingredients?

  “I found something in the back of your freezer.” Anna indicated the empty tub. As soon as Jessie saw it, she groaned.

  “That wasn’t lamb, Anna.”

  “What? It looks like it.” They both peered into the pot of stew. It smelled really good. Jessie almost thought she shouldn’t tell Anna what was in her food.

  “It’s rabbit.”

  “What?” Anna dropped the wooden spoon and it landed on the floor with a clatter, sending brown gravy splattering againt the clean white-tiled floor.

  “You’ve cooked Freddie’s dog food. It’s roadkill. I buy it from a local man, and I freeze it so it stays fresh.”

  “I thought he had those tins!” Anna’s voice had jumped several tones higher. Jessie was torn between laughing and feeling sorry for her sister.

  “He does. And once a week, he has this as a special treat. He loves it.”

  “But... you let your dog eat rabbit!” Anna sounded shocked. Jessie didn’t think it was so strange.

  “He’s a dog. It’s the sort of thing he’d eat in the wild. I go to the butcher and buy him real bones to chew, too.”

  “Yeah but... bunnies.” Anna looked at Jessie with big eyes, then glanced back at her stew. Jessie regretted telling her sister the truth, but it was probably for the best. Ugh, why did honesty always seem to get her into so much trouble? It was supposed to be a good thing, and yet, time after time, Jessie found herself wishing she knew how to lie or sugar coat things better.

  “Well, it seems like Freddie’s going to eat extra-tasty chow for the next few days.”

  Anna laughed. Only a little, but it was still better than nothing. Jessie pulled out some containers and helped Anna empty the big pot into them, then she left them to cool.

  “Any idea what we can eat for dinner?” Anna asked, once the pot had been washed and dried.

  Jessie shrugged. “No sense cooking twice tonight. Let’s order takeout.”

  “What about Taylor?” Anna seemed surprised that Jessie would allow her daughter to eat takeout. Jessie didn’t care much.

  “She can pick from the kids’ menu.” Jessie went to the telephone in the hallway and pulled out menus for the three takeouts in town.

  “Chinese, Thai or pizza?” She flourished the menus toward her sister, who took them and scrutinized the first one as though it were a contract.

  Jessie went upstairs to find Taylor while her sister read the menus and picked a place to order food from.

  “Hey kiddo,” Jessie greeted her daughter, who was coloring at her bedroom desk.

  “Hi, Mom.” Taylor looked up and smiled.

  “Aunty Anna was cooking us a delicious meal for dinner, but she accidentally used Freddie’s dog meat, so we’re having takeout instead.”

  Taylor smiled. “I love takeout.”

  “I know. Because it’s better than my cooking. But Anna is a real good cook usually… when she finds the correct ingredients.”

  “Mom, why can’t we eat dog food? Freddie eats people food all the time.”

  Jessie wondered how to explain this to a seven-year-old.

  “Dogs have different digestion to people. They need different amounts of vitamins. For example, you need to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. Dogs don’t need to eat any of those things.”

  “Not even strawberries?” Taylor looked horrified. Jessie grinned. She’d raised a good kid, who always ate her fruit and vegetables.

  “No. They get bones to chew, instead. Dogs are man’s best friend because they save all the best food for us.”

  “Freddie is the best. But what will he eat, now?”

  Jessie shrugged. “Don’t worry, he can still have the dog meat, but it will taste different to usual. He won’t mind. Dogs are really easygoing.”


  “Sharla at school says dogs are like men. Is that true? If you married that man you keep seeing, would he want to eat bones and never have strawberries, too?”

  Jessie burst out laughing, then she caught the glaring observation in her daughter’s words.

  “Wait, which man am I marrying?” Did Taylor know something that Jessie didn’t?

  “The one who you see when Aunty Anna takes care of me and puts me to bed sometimes.”

  Jessie almost laughed with relief at the idea that things would ever become serious with Toby.

  “Oh, that man. No. I don’t think I’m marrying him.”

  “Then why do you go on dates with him?”

  Good question. Why am I wasting time dating someone I don’t like? “Well, my friend likes another man, but he won’t go on a date with her unless his friend also has a date. So I’m helping out Becca.”

  “You two coming down? You need to order takeout!” Anna’s interruption shut down any further conversation about Toby. Jessie and Taylor both hurried to pick their food and Jessie wondered why she’d thought Taylor had been asking about Tom, rather than Toby.

  Sure, he’d been on her mind a lot, lately, but only because their paths kept crossing. There was nothing there. Was there? Anyway, he was a momma’s boy, through and through, and he didn’t seem to have a job. Jessie couldn’t imagine a worse husband.

  Wait, was she judging him based on what she really knew about him or what she thought she knew? He might have a job with strange hours. And wasn’t it sort of nice that he respected his parents enough to take care of his mom and visit his dad in the hospital? It was kind.

  Jessie tried to re-focus on something other than Tom’s better qualities, but the more she tried not to think about him, the more she found her mind wandering back to him.

  Jessie made herself pay attention to the menu as Taylor slowly but carefully read it out loud. Her daughter was her priority, all these thoughts of a man had to stop. She went through the process of ordering, then started a game of Snakes and Ladders with Taylor while they waited for the delivery to arrive.

  “Where’s our food? It’s been almost an hour,” Jessie grumbled at the end of their second game.

  Anna stood up. “You’re right. I’ll call them and check what’s happened.”