Her Last Billionaire Boyfriend

by Liz Isaacson

  Chapter 13

  Adele chopped onions while the ground beef browned. The camera recorded above her, and step by step, ingredient by ingredient, she made the pot of chili and transferred it to a Crock pot to stay warm.

  There wasn’t anything terribly special about a chili cheese dog—except that it fit her theme for the week of upscale and yet down-home traditional favorites for outdoor dining.

  Yes, it had taken her an hour to come up with the right combination of words for the theme, but it was work she enjoyed. Good thing too, because her exhaustion was reaching peak levels, and she felt a crash coming.

  She sliced tomatoes for the hamburgers, and started a skillet to caramelize the onions. She mashed ripe avocados with cilantro, onion, and more tomato to make a homemade guacamole. If there was something better than caramelized onions and guac on a hamburger, Adele wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  She’d probably gain twenty pounds if she knew of such a food.

  She tore lettuce, cut the homemade hamburger buns she’d made the day before, and got condiments out of the fridge.

  With everything set, she took a rare moment to just sit and look at her phone. She hadn’t been able to interact as much with her TastySpot viewers in the past few weeks as she had initially. Number one, the goat yoga was tiring physically. Number two, any free time she had, she wanted to spend with Carson.

  But she opened the app now and started going through her videos. “What in the world?” she said aloud when she saw that her video from last Friday on the hidden cheeseburger had received four times as many views, likes, and comments as usual.

  Her eyes flew to the top of the screen, where her followers were listed.

  “Doubled.” She leaned closer, as if her old eyes hadn’t seen correctly. “Almost triple. What happened?”

  She didn’t have the time or energy to comb through two hundred comments to find out what had happened. Her views were up to two hundred thousand on that video, and she couldn’t fathom why.

  It wasn’t like hers was the only video to how to press a cube of cheese into the center of seasoned ground beef. Sure, she’d made a three-cheese pimento, but that wasn’t special. Was it?

  Apparently it was.

  The pressure behind her eyes increased, and pure panic raced through her. What if her videos weren’t good enough after this? What if her recipes became pedestrian? What if she ran out of ideas?

  She hadn’t heard from Joey Dawson for a while, but she wasn’t surprised. The man was a celebrity chef in New York City. He didn’t care about her ranch food—if she could even call it that.

  Sighing, she got up off the couch and went to the front door. It was time to get this show on the road. Or rather, this food on the table. She opened her front door and poked her head out just enough to see what was happening in the back yard.

  The tent had been set up, and several people worked underneath it to get tables and chairs in place. She caught Scarlett’s eye, who immediately dropped the napkins she was holding and came toward her.

  Adele ducked back inside as Scarlett closed the last few feet and went up the steps. “Hurry,” she hissed from inside the house.

  “Why?” Scarlett said, entering the cabin a moment later. Adele quickly closed the door and locked it.

  “Did you make guacamole?” Scarlett practically ran into the kitchen, where the bowl of guacamole sat. “You did. Adele.” She gazed lovingly at the condiment and the smiled at her friend. “Guacamole is my love language.”

  “I know, sweetie.” She reached over and tucked Scarlett’s hair behind her ear. “How are things going with Hudson?” Why had she asked that? She gave herself a mental shake. If she went around asking Scarlett questions like that, they’d get tossed back at her, and she’d have to confess her soft feelings for Carson.

  “You gestured me wildly over here to ask about my boyfriend?” Scarlett’s eyebrows stretched toward her hairline.

  “No, I wanted you to taste the chili and make sure it’s not too hot.” Adele opened a drawer and took out a spoon. “Wait, wait, wait.” She adjusted the lighting on the bowl and pressed the button on the video camera. “All right, you’ll get to be in one of the videos.”

  “Oh, so I’m a hand model now.” Scarlett looked like a kid in a candy store, and she moved toward the bowl.

  “Wait, wait,” Adele said.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You have to do it slowly. Slower than you think you need to. And then you’re going to do the same thing with a fork and the hot dog.” She pointed to the ready and waiting chili dog, which looked beautiful under the bright lights.

  “Okay, slowly,” Scarlett confirmed. She moved her spoon through the chili slowly and tasted it. Scarlett always had possessed the best poker face on the planet, and Adele couldn’t even tell if she liked it.

  “Too hot?”

  “It’s the best chili in the world,” Scarlett said. “And it’s not too hot at all.”

  Satisfaction and pride flowed through Adele. Enough to make her smile. “Okay, hot dog.” She moved it closer and nudged a bowl of cheese too. “It’s a chili cheese dog. Okay, go.”

  Scarlett sprinkled cheese on the hot dog—slowly—and then cut off a bite with a fork. The camera wouldn’t capture her eating it, but Adele watched with rapt attention anyway. She wanted people to like her food, and she was prepared to skip the barbecue completely if the food was deemed disgusting.

  “Mm, Adele, you’re a goddess.”

  Scarlett couldn’t know how much her compliments meant to Adele. She felt like someone had put light bulbs in her veins and had just flipped the switch. She needed to figure out how to get to culinary school sooner rather than later, but she didn’t have time to think about it right now. She’d need a notebook, and plans, ideas, and thoughts to come together before she could do anything.

  “Okay, help me get all this stuff outside,” she said. “And don’t let anyone in.” She picked up the Crock pot full of chili and nodded toward the bag of cheese and a bag of hot dog buns. “We’ll have to make a couple of trips to get the caramelized onions and other toppings for the burgers.”

  Scarlett did what Adele asked, making three trips to get all the condiments out to the serving table. With the Muenster cheese, caramelized onions, and guacamole on the table, Adele laid the slices of tomato on the grill. They’d be there for literally twenty seconds, just to get the smoky flavor and a bit of char.

  She wished she had the ability to film outside, and a whole new idea bloomed inside her mind. She did live on a ranch… And her themes were about rustic, down-home cooking. Why shouldn’t she be grilling?

  You could grill indoors, she thought, a whole new theme week entering her mind, seemingly completely formed and planned. Her fingers twitched to have a pen and paper, but she settled by pulling out her phone and thumb-tapping in a few notes to herself.

  Jeri arrived, and she was a bosomy brunette that had a quick wit and loads of personality.

  “Heya,” Jeri said, carrying a huge white bowl, as she arrived. “Potato salad.” She had long, dark hair, tons of jokes and puns and quips hiding just beneath her surface, and a quick smile. Adele liked her, and she’d half-hoped Jeri would take the empty cabin next to hers and Gramps.

  But she hadn’t, and she lived over in the Community with Carson and the other cowboys.

  “You’re kidding,” Scarlett said, taking the bowl from the construction foreman.

  “No.” Jeri looked from Scarlett to Adele and back. “She said I could make any side salad I wanted, and my mom has a killer potato salad recipe.”

  “No, no, it’s fine,” Scarlett said. “It’s just my favorite.” She grinned at Jeri. “And Adele made guacamole, which is also my favorite. I think you guys are trying to get me to gain weight.” She laughed, and Adele joined in.

  “Mm, then there would be more of you to love,” Hudson said from behind her, snaking one hand around her waist.

  “Oh, geez,” Adele said
under her breath, but Scarlett giggled as she turned into Hudson.

  “Yeah, you know how I feel about that.” She grinned up at him, obviously smitten. This was why Adele didn’t want anyone to know about her and Carson. They spent most of their time with the goats—which was work—or in his house. Last night, they had sat on the porch, but they hadn’t seen anyone.

  Adele focused on adjusting the heat on the grill while Scarlett stepped back. “Adele is making hamburgers to order, since there’s only a few of us.”

  “You think eleven is a few?” Hudson asked.

  “Few enough to make hamburgers to whatever temperature people want,” Adele said, opening the lid on the grill. “So we’re ready to start,” she said to Scarlett. Then she opened a package of hot dog buns and laid them onto the hot grill rack. Just a little toasty. Get them warm, smoky, and crisp.

  Then she faced the tables that had been set up as Scarlett said to Hudson, “You wanna whistle and get everyone over here?” The volunteers had set up a badminton net and a set of horseshoes in the shade along the side of the house, and they were playing over there.

  Hudson puckered his lips and an ear-splitting whistle rent the air.

  “Time to get started,” Scarlett called, and everyone came over, including Carson. He positioned himself right next to Adele, who suddenly felt like the heat from the sun and the grill and Caron’s nearness was way too much for her system.

  Her knees gave a little, but she managed to stay upright—especially when Carson brushed his fingers against hers and then pulled away.

  She turned back to the grill after Scarlett’s speech, welcoming everyone to Last Chance Ranch, and put down a few hamburger patties. Getting everyone the protein they wanted at the requested temperature took quite a few minutes, which was just fine with Adele.

  She didn’t want to sit by Carson for some reason. Didn’t want to make a big deal about their blooming relationship. She wanted to hold it close, tight inside her fist, the same way she did her cooking videos and social media accounts.

  By the time she made her own gourmet burger and sat next to Jeri, almost everyone had finished eating. “Thanks, Adele,” Jeri said with a grin. “I’m going to go play badminton.”

  “Mm,” Adele said around a mouthful of beef and onions.

  “Adele?”

  She turned toward Sawyer, who’d been working on the ranch when she and Scarlett had shown up. “Hey, Sawyer.” She noticed that he’d only eaten half of his chili cheese dog. “Is the chili too spicy?”

  “No, it’s great,” he said, pushing his plate away. “Listen, I was wondering if you’d like to get lunch one day.”

  Adele blinked, so taken by surprise she didn’t know what to say. She glanced around for Carson, sure he’d swoop in and claim her as his. They hadn’t exactly hidden the hand-holding after their yoga sessions. Had they?

  Adele didn’t see Sawyer a whole lot, so it was possible that he didn’t know about the little relationship that had started between her and Carson.

  “Hey,” Scarlett said, sitting down. “What’s going on? Lunch was so great, Adele.”

  “Thanks,” she said, her vocal chords working just fine now. She flicked a glance toward Sawyer, completely unsure what to do or say.

  “I just asked Adele out,” Sawyer said, his lips quirking up into a half-smile.

  “Oh.” Scarlett looked back and forth between them. Her eyes practically glowed from within. “And what did Adele say?”

  “She didn’t answer,” Sawyer said.

  Scarlett nudged Adele, and Adele wished her eyes had laser capabilities. She’d give almost anything to have mind reading powers, so she could let Scarlett know how she felt about Carson, and what had really been going on at the Goat Grounds all these weeks.

  “She works so hard with the goats,” Scarlett said. “Hardly ever gets off the ranch. I’m sure she’d love to go to lunch sometime.”

  “So what do you say, Adele?” Sawyer asked, and she had the distinct impression that he and Scarlett had set this whole thing up. How could her best friend do this to her? Couldn’t she tell that Adele had eyes for Carson?

  Scarlett kicked her under the table, and Adele kicked her right back. “She says yes,” Scarlett said. “That’s an order from the ranch owner.”

  A sense of hopelessness filled her. Maybe she could just say yes and break the date later—before Carson found out.

  She smiled as sweetly as she could though her stomach clenched against the food she’d eaten. “Yes,” she said, glancing around to make sure Carson hadn’t heard.

  Chapter 14

  Carson didn’t see Adele for a couple of days. They’d taken a break from the morning goat yoga for the holidays, and she’d told him she was planning to sleep for days.

  She had looked extremely tired for the past couple weeks, and he didn’t want to bother her. Hudson had invited him and Sawyer to come out on the mapping expeditions he’d been doing for Scarlett.

  Carson figured he didn’t have anything else to do, and he hadn’t been horseback riding for a while. So he saddled Moonbeam and led him outside to the pasture where Sawyer was already waiting.

  Hudson came out last, and the three of them set off at a slow walk. Trixie, Hudson’s horse, led the way, and Carson was content to simply ride in the sunshine. The silence poured through him like warm water, and he felt the same peace and serenity he’d felt the night he’d walked Adele home under all those stars.

  He still hadn’t gone to church, but he’d been talking to God a lot more, and he didn’t feel the same anger punching through him that he had for the past year or so.

  “I’m headed off the ranch for a few days this weekend,” Hudson said, breaking the quiet of the wild ranch. “Can you two cover my responsibilities with the horses and llamas?”

  “Off the ranch?” Sawyer asked. “Where you goin’?”

  “Just to the beach,” Hudson said. “The ocean clears my head.”

  “I’m sure we can cover it,” Carson said, because Hudson did whatever Scarlett said, and while he did quite a bit of work with the horses, it wasn’t so much that Carson himself couldn’t do it.

  “Thanks.” Hudson let the silence descend again, but only for a few steps. “Scarlett’s comin’,” he said.

  Surprise cut through Carson’s previous peace. And he could admit that he was jealous. He’d been holding Adele’s hand, and helping her with those goats, and driving himself crazy with thoughts of kissing her.

  “So you two must be getting along great,” he finally said.

  “Well enough,” Hudson said.

  “Must be serious if you’re going on a trip together.”

  Hudson was a man of few words—someone just like Carson and who Carson could appreciate. He said nothing now, which only drove the green-eyed monster in Carson’s chest toward madness.

  “He can’t even confirm it,” Sawyer said. “Must be really serious.”

  “It’s…been about eight weeks,” Hudson said. “So it’s still new.” He sounded wise and mature, and Carson wished he didn’t feel so hormonal for the blonde woman who wouldn’t even let him inside her cabin.

  Not only that, she wouldn’t even tell him what she was doing inside the cabin.

  Hudson scanned the horizon and said, “Ho,” to get Trixie to stop. He pulled out the notebook from the saddlebag behind him. “Okay, so I’ve got this grove here.” He flipped pages until he found the section he wanted. “We stick here and go west until we get to the cemetery.”

  “There’s a cemetery out here?” Sawyer asked.

  “I think it’s for the animals,” he said. “The headstones are interesting. Only first names on most of them. A few say things like, ‘Beloved companion to Ben.’”

  “Interesting,” Sawyer said. “Have you told Scarlett about it?”

  “Not yet.” Hudson made notes on his paper, and Carson glanced up into the sky, wishing the Lord would give him a message—a way to take things to the next level with Adele.
He’d been thinking a lot about what she’d said.

  If you still had the ranch in Montana, you wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t have met.

  She was right, and Carson was glad he’d met her. If only he could tell where she stood, how she felt. She was an expert in flirting, and Carson didn’t mind so much, only that she didn’t seem keen on doing much more than that.

  “So I asked Adele to lunch,” Sawyer said, and Carson whipped his attention to the other cowboy. Something cold and hollow filled his chest, but he didn’t want either of the other men to know.

  “Oh, boy,” Carson said, ignoring Hudson’s look. “What did she do? Slam the door in your face? Roll her eyes?”

  Sawyer looked at him evenly. Blinked once. “She said yes.”

  “What?” Carson’s shock permeated his voice, his every cell, and the air. Adele had said yes to a date with Sawyer? So much was wrong with that, and he instantly knew he’d made a mistake by not kissing her when he’d had the chance.

  Lots of chances, actually.

  But he didn’t want a broken nose, and he knew that Adele had the power to skin him alive with a single look.

  Sawyer shrugged. “She actually said it would be nice to get off the ranch for a meal or two.”

  “I’ve asked her to dinner at least five times,” Carson said. He looked at Hudson, his disbelief fading into fury. “What in the world is going on?”

  “I don’t know,” Hudson said at the same time Sawyer said, “I didn’t know you liked her, Carson. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t like her,” Carson said darkly, trying to find the right term for how he felt about her. He did like her. Oh, he liked her a whole lot. “I only follow her around like a lovesick puppy, doing every single thing she barks at me.” He continued to mutter under his breath, the other two cowboys forgotten. Their conversation continued, but Carson couldn’t focus on it. All he could think about was getting back to the ranch, finding Adele, and kissing her.

  The mapping expedition seemed to take hours and hours, and then he had to brush down Moonbeam and put her out to pasture. By the time he started for the cabins that lined the back yard of the homestead, he was practically running.