The Wish Maker (The Billionaires 0f Silicon Forest Book 2)

by Melissa McClone

  “What do you want to do?” Adam asked.

  Kieran leaned forward. “Have you thought about resigning?”

  “You have plenty of options,” Brett added. “And we can help you.”

  Wes knew that, but his friends were forgetting the most important thing. “WEL has been in my family for generations. I can’t quit, but I don’t know if I can keep working the way I have.”

  “Especially if it keeps you from dating the lovely doctor,” Mason said.

  Dash’s face scrunched. “You called Paige sexy before.”

  “She’s both,” Mason explained.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s leave Paige out of the equation for now,” Henry said, his face tight. “I have a suggestion about your job, Wes.”

  Everyone, including Wes, stared at Henry with disbelief.

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Okay, I haven’t worked a day in my life, but I’m more than a social savvy billionaire with an impeccable fashion sense. I have a brain. You workaholics have surrounded me for years with your business talk and stuff rubs off.”

  “Let’s hear what the trust fund baby has to say,” Mason joked.

  Brett shook his head. “Give Henry a chance.”

  “Thank you.” Henry focused on Wes. “You’ve cut back at WEL already. Why not take it a step further? Make yourself chairman, hire a CEO and maybe an additional VP, and focus on your foundation. That’s where you prefer spending your time these days. Work issues solved.”

  Wes’s mouth gaped. So did everyone else’s.

  Henry smirked. “How did I do?”

  Brett smiled proudly at his daughter’s godfather. “That’s a brilliant idea, Henry.”

  Everyone chimed in, talking over each other. Henry soaked up the attention and the praise.

  He looked at Wes. “What do you think?”

  “That I’ll like my new title,” Wes joked. “But seriously, thank you.”

  Adam passed Wes a beer. “Now, we need to figure out what you should do about Paige.”

  Remorse weighed Wes down. “It’s too late.”

  “Never say never,” Blaise said.

  Wes stared at each of his friends. They’d supported him through his illness and were here with him now. Yet he’d kept something from them. Something big. He needed to tell them the truth.

  Wes blew out a breath. “There’s something I never told you.”

  “Dude, are your parents drug addicts, too?” Dash asked, wide-eyed.

  “No.” That would be easier if they had been. “This is about Annabelle.”

  Kieran’s jaw tensed. “She’s your past.”

  Nodding, Adam’s face turned red. “Forget about the gold digger.”

  “I can’t because…” Wes took a breath. “Everyone assumed Annabelle left me, so I let you all believe she was the one who broke up when it was me. I ended it. Broke her heart.”

  No one said a word.

  Guess he should keep going. “After my diagnosis, Annabelle wanted to get married. All I could think was I had cancer. Why would she want me? I assumed she was trying to wedge herself into my life and take what she could, especially if I died. So I tried to make her prove herself because I just didn’t believe she loved me. I broke up with her.”

  Kieran stared at the floor. “I got her fired.”

  Wes startled. “What?”

  Kieran’s complexion turned green. “I knew the owners of the boutique she managed. I told them what she did to you and got her fired. I figured that was the easiest way to get her out of Portland and away from you.”

  Wes stared dumbfounded. “I told you all to leave her alone.”

  “She hurt you,” Kieran fired back. “Well, I thought she had.”

  “I had her evicted from her loft,” Adam admitted. “I bought the building and forced her out.”

  Annabelle had loved living in that loft. Wes’s insides twisted. He buried his face in his hands. “I thought she left Portland on her own.”

  “If it’s any consolation, for once I listened and didn’t seek revenge,” Mason said.

  “Me, either,” Dash added.

  “That makes three of us,” Blaise said.

  Wes shook his head. “This is all my fault. If I’d been honest from the beginning…”

  “You had so much going on with cancer and WEL,” Adam said. “I get it.”

  Kieran nodded. “I do, too. I wish you would have told us, but we made an assumption and you knew we would have been all over your case for breaking up with Annabelle.”

  Wes raised a brow. “Like you are now?”

  Everyone laughed.

  “I wasn’t the only one keeping a secret,” Blaise said.

  “No, which is why I reacted badly when you told us yours,” Wes admitted. “The guilt threatened to eat me alive.”

  Blaise hugged him. “No more secrets.”

  “No more,” Wes agreed.

  “You can’t change the past no matter how much you want to,” Blaise said. “But you can learn from it and move forward.”

  “I need to go to Seattle and apologize to Annabelle. Maybe then I can move forward.”

  “With Paige,” Henry said a beat later.

  “If she would give me another chance.” But Wes doubted she would. Still, he needed to wipe the slate clean, literally. He glanced at the clock. “I’m going tonight.”

  “Two of us need to apologize, also,” Kieran said.

  Adam nodded. “I’m in.”

  “Except we have a problem.” Wes sighed. “I don’t have Annabelle’s address.”

  Dash tapped on his phone. Suddenly seven phones buzzed or dinged. “You have it now.”

  “Legally?” Wes asked.

  Dash nodded, but the mischievous gleam in his eyes made Wes wonder.

  “We’ll need to take Henry’s plane,” Brett suggested. “Otherwise, all eight of us and those of you who travel with bodyguards won’t fit.”

  “I contacted my flight crew.” Henry spoke as if they were driving his car to the coast. “The plane will be ready to depart in an hour so let’s get to the airport.”

  His friends went into action, cleaning up and putting away the food.

  Wait a minute. Wes realized what Brett had said about why they were taking Henry’s plane. “Everyone is going with me?”

  Dash touched Wes’s shoulder. “Like it or not, old man, but you’re the big brother of this band of misfits. The glue that holds us together. Of course we’re all going.”

  “If Wes is the glue,” Adam said, his brows drawn together. “What am I?”

  “Rubber cement,” Henry answered.

  Everyone laughed, including Adam.

  Wes stared at each of his friends as they walked out of his house. “Thank you, guys. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Hadley, Laurel, Selah, Rachael, and Cambria spent Sunday evening with Paige, drinking hot cocoa, watching Hallmark movies, talking, hugging, and handing her tissues as needed. She needed many. Dash had told Raina to come to Paige’s, too, but she had to pack so she stayed home.

  Paige wasn’t part of their group, but the women treated her like one of them. She appreciated their kindness and company. Nothing, however, stopped her heart from hurting.

  How Wes acted upset her, but she worried about him, too. The others said to give him time, but Paige thought nothing would bring him back into her life. She only hoped his friends could help him—that he would let them help him.

  Getting out of bed on Monday morning was tough. Her eyes burned. Her face was puffy. She thought about taking the day off, but the practice was short-staffed because of the holiday. All she had to do was be attentive to her patients and muddle through Christmas as best as she could. Not too much to ask.

  She used makeup and eyedrops to hide the fact she’d been crying, trudged to work, and hoped the hours went by quickly.

  Hadley, Laurel, Selah, Rachael, and Cambria each checked in with her, texting
or leaving voice messages if Paige couldn’t answer the phone. That helped her survive the day. Not an easy feat when she wanted to be in bed, but she did it.

  For her patients’ sake and for her own.

  When she arrived at her building after work, Laurel and Noelle, wearing a pink snowsuit and strapped in a stroller, stood at the entrance.

  “What are you doing here?” Paige asked.

  “We brought you dinner.” Laurel motioned to a large tote bag. “Shepherd’s pie, a salad, and cookies.”

  Tears prickled. Saying thank you didn’t seem like enough, but Paige said it anyway. “Thanks.”

  Laurel’s eyes darkened. “I wish we could stay, but Henry needs me for something. Which, knowing him, could mean anything from putting away groceries to jetting across the country.”

  “Go have fun.” With Henry involved, fun was a given. “I appreciate the dinner.”

  In the condo, Paige put the casserole dish and salad into the refrigerator. The cookies went on the counter.

  Her appetite had been nonexistent, but she would get hungry, eventually.

  This feeling wouldn’t last forever. She would stop thinking about Wes. Time would heal her heart. The roller coaster of emotions would end someday.

  Someday.

  She bristled.

  What had Wes said last night?

  I did that on purpose, so you won’t put off your vacations until ‘someday’ arrives.

  His words swirled through her mind, sinking in deeper and deeper until…

  Paige went into the living room and plopped on to the couch.

  The more she thought about what he said, the more she realized Wes was one-hundred percent correct.

  She put off things. Kept saying “someday” or “until then.” Kept waiting until she had the perfect family of her dreams.

  What if that family never materialized?

  Family.

  The word slammed into her like a runaway gurney. She said she wanted a family, but she already had one. Her parents, her brother, her sister-in-law, and their kids.

  Paige had defined the mythical family of her dreams differently—a husband, a wife, and their kids—and centering her life around that definition.

  That wasn’t good.

  Or right.

  Especially when her family in Vermont hadn’t been a priority since medical school.

  Her shoulders sagged.

  It was like a movie she’d watched where the heroine’s life got off-track because she was focusing on a future that might not come true.

  Paige loved her job. The cancer center was her passion, but she needed more than work. The weekend in Hood Hamlet had shown her that. Wes had, too. Now, her heart was onboard.

  A feeling of lightness overtook her.

  Forget making only one or two trips a year to Vermont. Paige would make the time, so she stopped missing out on holidays, activities, life with her family. She had a life to live—one beyond her patients and work. A life here, now, in the present.

  Until Wes, she hadn’t realized what she was doing.

  Now that she did, she would take what he’d told her as a gift, the same as the travel voucher and paperwork from Hadley’s matchmaking service, and make the most of it today and every day.

  She stared at her Christmas tree.

  Pretty.

  For years, it had served her well.

  Why did I need a larger tree when it’s just me?

  That was the line she’d told herself. Except it was wrong.

  The fake tree was a symbol of her life, always waiting, putting off things until she had the life she imagined.

  Stupid.

  Nothing was guaranteed, especially the future. She knew that better than most. Yet she wasn’t living in the present. She kept waiting, hoping, praying.

  Stupid times two.

  “I want a big tree.” She moved the chair and end table, so the space in front of the window was clear. “It’ll go right here. Well, once I get it.”

  Tonight.

  She lived in Oregon, the land of Christmas tree farms and evergreen forests. Surely a tree lot in Portland had one left.

  Two hours later, she loaded the seven-foot Douglas fir into the elevator with the help of a neighbor who took pity on her. Or maybe the guy was concerned for the tree. Either way, the tree ended up in her condo, filling the air with a sharp pine scent. No more fragrance sticks required. She placed the four-foot artificial tree on the other side of the fireplace and set up the tree stand. Twenty minutes later, she had it relatively straight.

  “I think that’s good enough, Phil.” She studied the tree from different angles. “Don’t you?”

  Paige put on the lights and beaded garland she’d purchased on the way to the tree lot. She had enough to get started and would add more decorations each year until she filled an entire tree.

  Paige took off Dalton’s star and the silver one from the dinner from her four-foot tree and hung them on the live one. She stepped back to get a better view.

  Perfect.

  For the first time in over twenty-four hours, a genuine smile spread across her face. Yes, things would get better.

  * * *

  On Christmas morning, Paige visited each patient in the cancer center. A few were alone, so she spent more time with them, but many were surrounded by family, which warmed her heart. She’d begged off dinner invitations from Blaise and Hadley, Brett and Laurel, and another doctor in the practice and his wife.

  Paige wasn’t in the mood to be social and jolly.

  Her goal for the day?

  To not drag others down because she was miserable.

  To smile so nobody called her Scrooge.

  To survive the holiday without bruising her hurting heart more.

  At lunchtime, she ate with others working today.

  “Who is at home waiting for you?” a resident name Creighton asked.

  Paige’s smile faltered. She managed not to drop her fork. The temptation to say Phil was strong, but she thought better of it. The truth usually came out, and that would be awkward.

  After her second round seeing patients, Paige went to the nurses’ station where she worked on the orders for the patient in room 507. A chest infection had led to the woman being admitted. Yesterday, she’d showed signs of improvement, but today her condition had worsened. Paige updated the patient’s treatment plan.

  Shari, a long-time RN who kept the floor running smoothly, glanced up from her computer screen. “Dr. Barlow is looking for you. He’s doing rounds and wants to speak with you.”

  Dr. Russ Barlow was a pediatric oncologist. “Patient consult?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  Nothing waited for Paige at the condo except for a few presents to open. The dinner she’d ordered from a grocery store wouldn’t be the first Christmas meal she ate alone, but she hoped it would be her last. Next year, she would be in Vermont. No more putting off things for the future. She wanted to live in the present.

  “I’ll head over in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll let him know.” Shari returned to her charting.

  Paige completed the patient notes and then logged off the system, so she could see what Russ wanted. She hoped nothing serious. December twenty-fifth should be a day for magic and miracles, not complications and problems. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry left the building three hours ago,” Shari joked. “Enjoy what’s left of your Christmas. We’ll call if we need you.”

  “Do,” Paige said sincerely. “I’m just down the street.”

  The sky darkened as she crossed the sky bridge. Snow fell, coming down faster than two hours earlier. All the Portlanders who’d dreamed of a white Christmas had gotten their wish.

  So did you.

  Yes, she had.

  An imaginary band tightened around her chest. A reminder of what she’d gained and lost in two-and-a-half weeks. Such a short time that had felt much longer.

  She’d received the official notification
of Wes’s donation to the cancer center yesterday. She was grateful, yet the timing hadn’t been lost on her.

  Christmas Eve.

  Just like Santa Claus.

  As she entered the children’s hospital, she bypassed the elevator, taking the stairs instead. She couldn’t shake the nervous energy bunching her muscles and jaw. Walking might help settle her.

  Her footsteps echoed in the stairwell. When she arrived at her destination, the nurses’ station was empty. Not surprising, but she didn’t see Russ, either.

  “Paige,” a man called.

  She turned toward the voice. Russ Barlow, a short man with a receding hairline, approached with quick steps. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas to you,” she said. “You wanted to see me?”

  A sheepish expression crossed his face, deepening the lines around his mouth. “Sort of.”

  “It’s a yes or no question.”

  Russ rubbed his hands together. “Follow me.”

  She did, but… “Are you okay?”

  He nodded, looking stressed, and led her to the entrance to where Henry’s Christmas party had been held. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I hope you understand.”

  “Understand what?” The room was dark. “He who?”

  “Please go in there. That’s all I ask.” Russ hurried away, his shoulders hunched.

  Paige had no idea what was going on, but she stepped inside.

  It was empty from what she could see.

  A Christmas tree lit up. The white lights glowed, showing her she wasn’t alone. Sitting in a large chair was Santa Claus. Not any fill-in Kris Kringle.

  Wes.

  Paige’s heart slammed against her rib cage. She sucked in a breath.

  He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

  Russ’s words now made sense. Paige crossed her arms over her chest as if that could protect her from… She had no idea what, but she needed to do something. “What are you doing here?”

  “Wishing you a Merry Christmas. I also want to say I’m sorry,” he said. “Hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do, but I did it anyway because I’m an idiot.”

  “You had your reasons.”

  “I did, and I mean it, which is the other reason I’m here.”

  “Shouldn’t you be at your parents’ house?”