Stranded with the Hidden Billionaire

by Elana Johnson

  “What did you do with the money?” she asked.

  “Buried my mother,” he said. His daggered glance meant that conversation was over, and Eden could admit she probably shouldn’t have asked. Holden had always hated that his half-brother had more than him—more time with his dad. More duties on the ranch. More money.

  “Well, I make twenty bucks an hour taking people on tours around the island,” she said. “So I’m sure you’re doing better than me.”

  “Does it matter if I am?”

  “Not to me.”

  “You really only make twenty bucks an hour?” The interest in his voice caused her to look at him again.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Explore Getaway Bay pays the best out of the tour companies. I mean, besides the helicopter tours or the whale watching or the parasailing. But I can’t fly a helicopter or pilot a speedboat. So…yeah.” She shrugged. “It’s a good job. I like it.”

  “That’s good to know,” he said, and she cocked her head.

  “Good to know?”

  “Echo that,” he said, standing up by leaning into the tree and using it to hold his weight.

  “Echo what?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

  He chuckled and shook his head, wiping his hands through his dirty hair. He really was sexy while muddy, and she tried not to think about him like that. Or think about how she must look.

  “It’s programmer speak,” he said. “Never mind.” He glanced at his watch. “I think we should get going. How long to the spring, do you think?”

  “A few more hours,” she said vaguely. “I want you to take more pills.”

  “Drug me up, beautiful,” he said, and she could’ve sworn he was flirting with her. The sly smile. The sparkling eyes. And that nickname. She’d never felt particularly beautiful. Eden didn’t care about makeup or hair products. She didn’t wear heels or strappy sundresses to the beach. She only went to the beach if she heard there were turtles there or she could collect seashells.

  But for those six months while she’d dated Holden, when he called her beautiful, she believed him.

  And she did now too.

  To hide her blush, she bent over her backpack to find the painkillers and the antibiotics. He swallowed both dry while she loaded the leftover fruit into her backpack. “I’m just going to gather enough for tonight too,” she told him. “Just in case there’s nothing up there.”

  And there likely wouldn’t be. From her rusty recollection, the spring sat just above the tree line, and that meant nothing grew up there.

  Holden helped pull down mangoes, and they filled her backpack with everything it would hold. Way more than dinner and breakfast, but neither of them said that.

  Eden wanted to keep thinking positively. Keep hoping that the road could be cleared, and the rescue teams could get up the mountain to them that day. She wondered what her mother was thinking, and if anyone at work missed her.

  Cotton, probably. A fellow tour guide, he was close to her age, and he constantly encouraged Eden in her outdoor survival inventions. She’d only gone on her last two appointments with those finnicky billionaires because of him. She’d told him about all the failures too, and he just kept telling her not to give up.

  Anna too. She booked all the large group tours, and she often assigned them to Eden, because she was “the best.” They talked about the men Anna dated, and Eden’s dating disasters. Yes, Anna would definitely be worried about Eden.

  Don’t give up, Cotton would tell her.

  You’ll meet right man, Anna had often said.

  As Eden adjusted the straps on her backpack, she watched Holden get a head start on the hike. She wasn’t going to give up out here. She was a survivor, and she’d make it through this.

  “Maybe I’ve already met the right man,” she whispered to herself, Holden’s broad shoulders just as powerful now as they’d been five years ago. And maybe she shouldn’t give up on him either.

  Her friends continued to bicker silently in her mind, but Eden focused on the path in front of her. Her injuries weren’t nearly as bad as Holden’s, but she knew her ankle wasn’t at one-hundred percent, and the last thing they needed was for both of them to be immobile.

  “You’re doing awesome,” she said, catching up to Holden easily despite her wounds. “Can I walk with you for a while?”

  “Of course,” he said with a smile, this one not nearly as flirtatious. Which totally meant he’d been flirting with her earlier. Eden almost couldn’t believe it. A warm feeling spread through her, and she hiked slowly next to him.

  “I think if I had a walking stick, I could go faster,” he said. “Do you think we might be able to find something?”

  “That’s a great idea,” she said. “We should’ve broken off one of the branches on that big tree we ate by.” She turned around and glanced behind her. It felt like their lunch spot was so far away.

  “Too thick,” he said. “And we don’t have anything to cut it.”

  “I do,” she said. “If you held the branch down for me, I could do it. I’ll cut off the tip so it’s not so thick.”

  “You really want to go back?”

  No, she didn’t. But they’d only been walking at Holden’s speed for maybe five minutes. “Let’s do it,” she said, and she started down the path ahead of him. By the time he got there, she had all the fruit unpacked, the cord out, and her knife ready.

  “What is that?” he asked when he saw her tool.

  “I made it,” she said. “It’s a way better all-in-one tool, and it has a serrated edge. See?” She showed him, trusting that he wouldn’t laugh at her or say something else had already been made and it worked “well enough.”

  Eden didn’t want well enough. None of the products on the market right now had serrated knives, and she’d be hacking at this tree branch forever if she had to use a straight edge.

  “That’s great, Eden,” he said, a measure of awe in his voice. “So this and the can cooker. What else have you got?” He seemed genuinely interested, but some of Eden’s defenses flew into place anyway.

  “I have a few things,” she said, not wanting to tell him that she spent all her spare time either on bad first dates or in her shed, making outdoor survival products no one wanted. She moved around the tree, looking at the branches. “This one looks good.” She glanced at him. “You hold it down, okay? Tell me if you need to let it go.”

  “I got it,” he said, moving into position. He bent the tree limb over, stutter-stepping with it until she could reach it. She made quick, tight sawing motions with the knife, actually surprised at how quickly it moved through the wood.

  “Got it,” she said, and he moved backward through the motions of letting the limb back up. She switched to the straight blade now, and quickly got rid of any extraneous branches and leaves before setting the walking stick on the ground beside her.

  “Seems tall enough,” she said, moving over to him and handing him the stick. “What do you think?”

  He positioned it on his right side and leaned into it to step. “I think I’m going to be able to go about ten times faster.” He beamed at her, and added, “Thank you, Eden.”

  “It was your idea, Holden.” She didn’t need to take credit for having a knife in her pack, even if it was a superior product than what currently existed.

  “You should sell your inventions,” he said as they started up the path again. He did move a lot faster, and Eden liked that they’d be able to hike beside one another instead of her so far ahead.

  She snorted. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Why would I be joking? That was awesome. It had cord in it and everything.”

  “Well, I’m afraid you’re the only one who thinks it was awesome,” she said. “I’ve been around to probably a dozen investors—or guys who claim to be investors. They have the right number of zeroes in their bank accounts to be investors. None of them wanted anything I have.”

  She heard the bitterness in her own voice. “Maybe I
should talk to Lincoln. Now that he’s a cattle rancher billionaire, maybe he’d invest in my survival products.” She laughed, not really thinking she’d ask Lincoln.

  She was done with that. She couldn’t handle another meeting. Getting her hopes up only to have them dashed again.

  Nope.

  She’d take Holden’s compliments, but she wasn’t going to waste her time on lost causes anymore.

  Her mind needled her with one last question: Is Holden a lost cause?

  Chapter Eight

  Holden kept his mouth shut, though he wanted to shout that he could be her billionaire investor. He had the right number of zeroes in his bank account, mostly from his wealth in Explore Getaway Bay, but his inheritance in the cattle ranch had put him into the ten-figure category.

  He’d recently been contacted by a man named Fisher DuPont, the owner of Sweet Breeze Resort and Spa. Apparently, they had some sort of Nine-0 Club he wanted Holden to join. Holden hadn’t found the time to meet with the man, though he was a friend of Theo’s.

  All at once, he realized that Theo was most likely in the club already.

  “I even met with your boss,” Eden said, drawing Holden back to the conversation. “He wasn’t interested.”

  “Well, Theo does technology,” he said. “I’m going to—” He cut off before he could utter the next word. That was the second time he’d almost slipped enough to let her know he was more than just a computer scientist for The Web Developer.

  When she’d said his company paid the best, he’d been pleased—and he’d almost given away too much. Eden had a way of making him say things he wouldn’t normally say. He liked it as much as he didn’t.

  “You’re going to what?” she asked.

  He cleared his throat, and he wondered if she recognized the sign of a lie. She’d always known his tells in the past. But she just kept stepping with him, each of them slowly making their way up the mountain.

  “I’m going to be working on an app for Explore Getaway Bay.” He glanced at her and looked back at the ground. She watched it too, and he wished he’d suggested she cut her own walking stick as her limp remained.

  She didn’t need to know he’d hired Theo do develop the app. Well, Dean had. And then he’d asked Theo to make sure Holden got the project for his “enthusiasm for the outdoors.”

  It had landed on his desk just last week. He hadn’t started yet, but he found it ironic to be getting paid to develop an app he was also paying to have developed. He smiled just thinking about it.

  “That’s great,” she said. “Tourists love apps.”

  “They do,” he said. “What would you have on the app? From a tour guide perspective.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not great with apps myself.”

  “Would you use one as an employee?” he asked anyway. “Like if you could see your schedule or text in to say you were sick or report a problem with a guest. Something like that.”

  “Yeah, that would probably be great,” she said. “Would anyone lose their job?”

  “Why would someone lose their job?”

  “Like my friend Anna. She schedules all the large groups. If they did that on the app, would Anna still have a job?”

  “Of course,” he said. “She’d still have to contact them. Find out their needs. Schedule the guide and the vehicles. All of that. Basically the booking comes in as an email to Anna, instead of a phone call.”

  “That’s pretty cool,” she said. “I think that would be great. And if I could see my paycheck, or what I’ve been booked to do right on my phone, any time, that would be great too.”

  “If someone texts in sick, those shifts or tours or whatever would come up, and others could claim them,” he said. “There are a lot of cool options.”

  “Sounds like it.”

  Holden wished he didn’t have to focus so much on walking. Then maybe he’d be able to hold her hand while they walked, pretend that they were on a romantic walk through the wilderness instead of a march for their lives.

  They walked in silence for a while, until she finally asked, “Do you think your co-workers are worried about you?”

  “Yes,” he said, thinking of the state Dean would be in by now. “Dean probably has us on the news stations and everything.”

  “Really?”

  “He’s a bit high-strung.”

  Eden giggled, immediately covering her mouth with her hand. “Sorry,” she said with sparkling eyes.

  “It’s fine,” Holden said, laughing too. “I said it, and it’s true.”

  “That must be why you guys get along so great,” she said. “You’re so laid back and he worries about enough for the both of you.”

  “That’s about it,” Holden said, thinking she’d nailed his friendship with Dean pretty well. “You think I’m laid back? After I basically broke down when my mother died?” He’d only talked about his feelings during that dark time with his grief counselor, but he found he wanted to clear the air with Eden.

  “I mean, yeah,” she said, her ponytail falling between them. “That was just an isolated incident. You…reacted the way you did because you feel intensely, not because you’re high-strung or intense in personality.”

  Holden let her words sink through him, trying to make them align in his mind. “I feel intensely,” he repeated slowly.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Don’t you think?” She paused and looked at him. “I need to take a break.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Holden wiped his hand across his sweaty forehead. “Me too.” He sure would like a drink, but he accepted another mango from Eden as she took one out of her backpack for herself. His stomach ached quietly, probably from all the fruit and all the pills, but he said nothing as he peeled back the rind to get to the juice inside.

  “I hope I didn’t offend you when I said you feel intensely,” Eden said after they’d rested for a few minutes.

  “No,” he said. “You didn’t.”

  “You just never responded.”

  “I guess I was just thinking,” he said. “I mean, it’s true. I was devastated when my mom died. It broke me.” He couldn’t look at her. “And when we were together, it was some of the happiest times of my life.” He’d loved her deeply, even if he’d never said those three words out loud to her. “Honestly, it was like I was on a roller coaster during those six months.”

  “I know,” she said, and he looked at her to see if there was any sarcasm there. Didn’t seem to be, and he reached over and took her hand in his.

  “I still…feel intensely about you, Eden,” he said, wondering if he’d just blown everything wide open.

  Her eyes definitely widened, and she slipped her hand out from under his. “I’m sure you’ll feel differently once we get back to civilization.”

  He didn’t think so, and he opened his mouth to argue.

  “Please don’t say anything else,” she said, a blip of rare emotion entering her voice. Eden was so tough on the outside, and so tender inside. Holden had seen both sides of her when she’d trusted him enough to open up. He wanted that again.

  “Why not?” he asked, realizing that if he did pursue a relationship with her, she’d have to be privy to certain information—including what company he owned and how much money he had in his bank account.

  But his heart didn’t seem to care about those secrets. His heart wanted her back in his life. His heart wanted a woman to care about—and it wanted Eden.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I just…it took me a very long time to get over you, Holden. I don’t think I could survive falling for you again, only to have my heart broken twice.” She started up the path again, but Holden didn’t even have his walking stick in his hand.

  He grabbed it from where he’d leaned it against a rock, but he couldn’t move. “Falling for me…again?”

  Had she been in love with him too? How had he not known?

  “You didn’t even know your own name back then,” he muttered, checking the ground before step
ping. His leg felt loads better, and he managed to catch up to her several minutes later, when she paused at the top of the next rise.

  “I’m sorry,” he said to her, hoping it covered all the bases for things he needed to apologize for. “I didn’t know I’d hurt you so much last time.”

  She looked at him, her eyes so clear and still calling to him in a way only Eden McLaughlin ever had. “I know that, Holden. Like I said, you feel intensely. The good and the bad.” She patted him on the shoulder like he was her brother and started up the path again.

  “I want it to be good,” he said after her, and thankfully, she turned back. “Between us,” he added, his throat so dry. “I—I want us to be okay. To be friends.”

  His heart wailed at the word friends, but his mouth had already spoken it.

  “We are friends, Holden.”

  “So if I were up here alone, and you saw my face on the news, would you be worried?” He took the few steps between them and stood in front of her, the memory of her lips on his cheek just that morning still fresh.

  “Yes.”

  He studied her for a few moments, probably too many. “I’d be worried about you too, Eden.”

  Hours later, Holden hadn’t said anything else to embarrass himself, and they’d reached the spring. Pure relief flowed through him at the trickle of water coming out of the rocks only fifteen feet above the tree line.

  His whole body ached despite the medicine he’d taken that day, and he cupped his hands to catch the water, drinking and drinking and not feeling satisfied.

  He finally stopped when Eden made him. “We don’t have to drink it all right now,” she said, a teasing quality in her voice he liked. “It’ll be dark soon, and we need to figure out shelter.”

  There were plenty of rocks up here, but the wind was going to be their biggest opponent now. “It’ll be easy to go down into the trees,” he said. “And back up here for something to drink.”

  “Not if you do it in the middle of the night,” she said, turning toward him. “Let’s just make that a rule. Rule number one. Do not go wandering in the night, even if you’re thirsty.”