Those thoughts continued as I boarded the plane and leaned back in the seat. There was no going back now!
Chapter 6 –
When I got off the plane I hadn’t bothered trying to find a hotel to stay at. I was afraid if I had done so it would have cost precious moments that kept me from being able to find Parker the Younger.
If he had rejected me it also meant I could hop on the next plane back home and not have to worry about the hotel fee.
I knew I wasn’t thinking logically, possibly even behaving stupidly. However when it came to matters of the heart, things were rarely logical. Feelings were very different from other things in life that you could touch and feel.
As much as I wanted to mingle again with the locals that I had come to know I was on a mission to find Parker the Younger. I had started by checking all of the local haunts where I had known him to visit in the past. To my annoyance I couldn’t find him anywhere in those places.
Where could he have gone off to? Men like him didn’t just vanish into thin air and I knew I certainly hadn’t imagined him!
I knew I had to ask someone local and try to find where he had gone off to. That is if he were even still in town, which I had hoped he was.
I found Charlotte on the street and must have made quite the sight with my still holding onto my bag and in such a hurried state.
Charlotte had that look on her face that said she was about to ask some questions that required lengthy answers.
Before she could ask I cut her off, “Charlotte, where’s Parker? I can’t find him anywhere!”
“Parker the Younger? Oh, he’s out and will be leaving town soon,” Charlotte calmly explained.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“There was a rancher in a town north of here that was in need of cowboys to help him on his ranch.” Charlotte then pointed north as if to drive her point home. “It’s Parker the Younger, Jake, Alex, and Mike. They’ll be leaving soon so if you want to see him you’ll want to do so pretty quickly.”
“Can you take me to them?” I desperately asked.
For a moment Charlotte was still before her head bobbed a “yes”, “You can put your bag in the trunk of my car. We’ll get there faster if we drive rather than walk.”
I didn’t need any encouragement as I tossed my bag into the trunk and soon got into the passenger seat next to Charlotte.
Finally she asked the question that must have been plaguing her the entire time, “What brings you back here to Montana? I thought you were gone for good when you had left.”
“I thought I was too,” I admitted.
“What brought you back?”
“Parker the Younger.”
“He did mention something about flowers. Did you get them?”
“I did which is what convinced me to come back.”
Charlotte nodded. I couldn’t tell if she approved but I hoped she did. I wouldn’t have blamed anyone if they didn’t approve of my sudden return after leaving so quickly that time.
We soon pulled up into a long and unpaved driveway.
“Here we are!” Charlotte said.
I quickly got out of the car and looked around hoping to find Parker the Younger’s familiar face. I began to feel a pang of sadness and even guilt start to go through me when Charlotte called out to one of the cowboys.
“Mike! Mike, have you seen Parker?” She asked.
The dark skinned Mike grinned, “Which one? Older or younger?”
“The younger one.”
“He should be in the back and loading the truck.”
“Thanks Mike.”
“Anytime. I’m glad to be able to move up state. Much more opportunity for us there!”
“I’ll tell Jane to visit!”
When Charlotte realized I still needed her to be my guide she chuckled lightly and pointed, “This way.”
We walked past a large barn that was in dire need of a coat of paint. Behind the barn a large truck came into view with the back loaded with supplies. Some of which I could recognize and others I didn’t.
“Parker!” Charlotte called out.
He looked up and pulled his hat back. “Charlotte! I didn’t expect to see you today! Have you come to see me off?”
“Not quite. I brought someone to talk to you.”
“Who?”
I stepped out more into the open to where he could see me. He looked surprised to see me but also almost happy to do so.
“I’ll leave you two talk,” Charlotte said before beating a hasty retreat.
“So, you got my flowers?” Parker the Younger asked.
“I did, which is why I came back to see you,” I said.
“You didn’t need to come all this way to thank me.”
“That’s not why I’m here.”
Parker looked both confused and curious by my admission. He walked over and sat down on a barrel and looked at me. “Then please tell me why. You left so suddenly with barely a good-bye I didn’t and don’t know what else to think. I took up this job to help me be able to get away from it all.” He then shrugged, “I leave in just a few hours.”
I nodded a little before continuing, “I want you to hear everything I have to say.”
“Go on.”
“I want us to be together and you’ve opened up a whole new world to me. A world that I didn’t think I could enjoy let alone love!”
“But you left that world rather quickly when I wanted to make things official. Are you afraid of commitment?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I hadn’t let go of my past back then. I didn’t realize how much Tyrese’s betrayal was still affecting me. When you said you wanted to make it official I must have imprinted Tyrese’s actions on you and feared that you would do the same.”
“I understand that you were afraid but I feel somewhat insulted. Why didn’t you talk to me about your fears? We could’ve taken a break or have tried to work things out.”
I nodded again, “I don’t blame you for being upset or even angry with me. However, I’ve learned how to let go of my past and those actions. I want to start again and start again with you in this little cowboy western type of town.”
Parker the Younger leaned forward as if he were thinking. “That gives me quite the choice that I have to make.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I take the job then it doesn’t give us a lot of time to be together. It’s a very demanding and difficult job to do and I would be worn out by the end of the day. Doing this job wouldn’t give us much, if any, time together.”
“Do you want the job?” I asked.
“Well, I mostly took it because I thought that we were through and you didn’t want to have anything to do with me. You had left so quickly, after all. I mean, I’m not desperate for the money and can get along well without this job. However, it also means that they’ll need to find a new cowboy to fill my position.”
It was certainly quite the predicament that I had put him into! It was quite the predicament for me too as both actions had their benefits and consequences. No matter what the option someone would have to sacrifice something. I hoped that sacrifice wouldn’t be too great.
Parker the Younger did voice his opinion on our options and what it could mean for either of us. He, however, did not ask the question of if I would run away again if things got tough or deep in commitment. I knew it was on his mind as it was on mine as well. I didn’t want him to distrust me or to think that I wouldn’t do this.
“It’s quite the leap for both of us,” Parker the Younger remarked.
“Yes, it is. It’s also one worth making,” I said in hopes he would agree to give us another chance.
Parker the Younger pursed his lips before standing. “The boss is going to have kittens for me quitting this close to shipping off but I think there’s someone who will be happy to take on the position. Robert’s a little wet behind the ears but
he’s a good cowboy and the experience will be good for him.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Oh yes. He’s also got his eyes on a certain lady so it will be good for him to be able to earn that extra money for a ring. The hard work won’t hurt him either.”
I felt my heart begin to pound with excitement as Parker the Younger left to go tell his employer and the other three cowboys. I hoped his recommendation would help this Robert.
I could hear voices in the distance followed by a loud and long sigh. I imagined after that some phone calls were being made.
Part of me did actually feel guilty knowing that I was the cause behind all of this sudden problem. Despite this I was also happy that I could now be with Parker the Younger and that he was giving me another chance.
I watched Parker the Younger walk towards me and he said, “We only have one problem. A hitch on our road to romance if you will.”
“What’s that?” I cautiously asked.
“Charlotte’s car gone so we’re going to have to walk those few miles back to town!”
I laughed and walked towards him. I could get my bag from her tonight as we had both completely forgotten about it in the moment. Our new cowboy adventures in Montana certainly weren’t going to be boring!
I was glad that I had Parker the Younger by my side on these new journeys.
Hand in hand we began to walk back towards town and our new life together.
The Billionaire and Me
Part One
Chapter One
There are times I have thought to myself “my luck has been so bad if I bought a grave yard people would stop dying!” Today has been one of those days for me.
For the past several years I had been working at the local college as an administrative assistant. It had seemed like a steady job, good pay, and there were always people wanting to enter college. I had really thought I was set for the longest time.
However, sometimes real life has a habit of pulling the right out from under you when you thought things were going well. I thought it had been for me and if I ever find the gremlin that caused all this chaos I’m dropping an anvil on his miserable little head!
It was nearing the end of the school year when notices were being handed out. There had been some cut backs due to school budgets but, like everyone else, I thought I would be spared the axe. In fact, I was confident that I would be spared. After all, the school did need an administrative assistant!
You know that old saying of “pride goeth before a fall”? Well, it sure seems to be true! No sooner than I was sure I wouldn’t be laid off I got quite the shock.
On my desk were two words printed in neat ink letters.
Amanda Granger.
My name.
My first reaction as to think that it was just some formality stuff. Surely I wouldn’t be getting laid off!
Now about that pride thing…
Not feeling at all worried I opened up the letter and began to read. If it were humanly my jaw could drop to the floor it would have.
I was getting laid off!
Despite my best efforts I began to feel myself sputter through the shock. How? Why? Why me of all people? I was certain I had seniority and would not have been let go.
Gradually my shock began to become replaced by anger. They were laying me off and no one had the testicular fortitude to actually get up off their rear ends and tell me to my face?
Sometimes my anger would get the better of me and I went to find the dean to confront him about this.
“We had cut backs,” the dean explained.
“But after all the years I’ve worked for this college?” I protested.
“I’m sorry, Amanda, but that’s the way that it is. If it’s any help you weren’t the only one who got laid off. You have plenty of valuable skills and anyone would be crazy not to hire you!”
I knew he meant well but that only made me angrier. “I heard Elizabeth got laid off too! What about her? She’s got two kids and another on the way! How’s she going to be able to get work? I could almost be more accepting of this if this college made more of an effort to be fair about it.”
“I’m sorry but it’s the budget cuts.”
I soon learned I would not get anywhere with this arguing and gave up trying to explain logic to the dean.
I ended up backing up my box and leaving the office the same day. It’s funny how the television shows show the person with just one single box as they leave. When it came to be my turn it took a few trips to the office and my car and then back again. Sometimes fiction was incredibly deceptive.
I had been lucky in that I had been smart and saved some of my money when I still had a job. I had enough to live on for a little while.
Job hunting in any economy can feel like a challenge and employers certainly weren’t reaching out to grab me up off the street.
For all my experience each employer found a reason to turn me down. Not enough experience in this, too much experience in that, even I don’t have the right amount of experience. It’s ironic that I have to get experience before trying out again for an entry level job.
My mother did point out that I should be grateful we live in an era where a person could not be rejected because of their skin color. I knew I should indeed be grateful that I didn’t have to go through what my parents and grandparents did with segregation and discrimination, but sometimes, when you’re frustrated it can feel like very poor advice.
Though the rejection slips were a sign that I was trying it was no help nor was it a comfort to me.
Grabbing my lap top I once again headed to that job site that was beginning to feel like a second home to me. I had been to that site so many times it was almost insulting that they hadn’t offered me a job!
I went through the usual listings and saw those that I had already applied for. The greeting card company listing was still up. They had rejected me and for as long as that listing had remained up I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were rejecting everybody who applied. As unlikely as that was it at least gave me a little comfort.
Finally, towards the end I saw another listing that had in orange letters next to it “apply easily!” The listing itself read “local businessman seeking personal assistant. Discretion a must.”
I felt my eyebrow rise. What was this? Some sort of listing where the businessman turns out to be a mass murderer? I was about to pass over this mysterious listing when I felt myself being drawn back to it. I knew how to type and was pretty quick at it too. I knew how to keep a secret like the best of them.
I was about to pass over it again when I felt myself pausing again.
I really had nothing to lose. I clicked the “apply easily!” button and off my resume went!
Now, now, we played the waiting game.
Chapter Two
When that company looking for the secretary didn’t call I had practically written them off. I felt frustrated and decided to take my sister, Janice, up on her offer to let me call her when I was feeling frustrated.
Let the ranting begin.
Janice and I had always been close together and could talk about anything. We were sixteen months apart and practically raised as twins. We would often talk to one another about things going on in our lives, complain about boys, and gush over whatever we had happened to fall in love with.
I heard the phone ring a few times before Janice picked up. I had called her from my land line just in the every so slight case someone would try to call me on my cell phone. I had given that number as my contact number for employers to call me back at. It felt ironic as I was pretty sure no one would be calling me. She asked me if I had any luck in finding work and I said no.
“Let me sit down while you rant away big sister,” Janice said.
She knew me too well.
At the same time I felt myself sitting down in a semi comfortable chair as I angrily thought about how no one would hire me. At least talking to someone who understood would probably
help.
At the very least I was certain Janice would have some creative ideas or some sort of suggestion that would help me get back on the right track.
It was certainly better than sitting around and doing nothing.
“I can’t get a job without experience, can’t get experience without a job!” I protested.
“But you already have experience!” Janice answered.
“But to them, it’s not the right type of experience.”
“That’s just stupid.”
“Tell me about it!”
Janice paused before asking, “Do you have enough money to get by?”
“For now I do,” I admitted. “I was lucky in that I was smart to save extra money for a rainy day.”
Janice was about to speak when my cell phone rang.
Reaching out I took it into my hands to see who was calling. I can’t say I recognized the number but I did see the word “office” written across it.
“Uh, Janice, I’ve got to answer this,” I said to her. “Can you wait for me?”
“Yeah, I’ll be here.”
I set the phone down and answered my cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Yes, good morning, is this Amanda Granger?” A professional sounding voice on the other end of the phone asked.
“Yes.”
“Yes. You applied for a job at Covington Industries. Are you still interested in this position?”
I felt my heart stop. Covington Industries? I could be working for the Blake Covington?
It took me a few seconds to be able to find my voice again. “Uh, yes, yes I am,” I half sputtered.
Idiot, I told myself. You just blew your chance at getting this job before it’s even begun!
“We’ll see you tomorrow. Dress professionally, no jeans,” the voice said and then hung up.
I hung up my cell phone while feeling shocked. Could it have possibly been a joke? Why would they call me when there were probably so many other more qualified people out there?
Despite my shock I was able to tell Janice what had happened.
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 92