Page 18 of Billionaire Unexplained: Kaleb

“Not until recently,” I shared.

“I get it,” she commiserated. “I think once you reach a certain age and level of success, you start thinking about the things you’ve sacrificed to get there. Success is a double-edged sword. It has both good and bad consequences sometimes, Kaleb. Especially if you’ve chased that success without anything else good in your life.”

Damn! She was incredibly perceptive, and she was also right.

“You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Shelby and for not being home when your father died,” she advised wisely. “Spend more time with the people you care about because you really want to be more present in their lives now. Don’t regret the choices you made in the past. It’s made you who you are today. I have a very hard time believing you’ve ever disappointed your family, but if you want to stop working like a madman now, you can change that. Priorities change in different phases of our lives, right? I wish I had spent a lot more time with my parents, but I never thought I wouldn’t have time to do that in the future. I never, not for a moment, ever considered that they could be gone in a heartbeat. Maybe none of us do until it happens to us.”

“I should have learned that lesson when my dad died,” I said hoarsely. “In some ways, I guess I did. I spend far more time with my mom than I used to before he died. I don’t travel as much anymore, and I actually have dinner at her house pretty often.”

“So you’ve made some life changes,” she observed. “Cut yourself a break, Kaleb. You’re a strong man, but you aren’t superhuman. Just admit there was no possible way you could have foreseen your father’s death or your cousin’s abduction. If you could have, you would have moved mountains to be there for them. I know you would have.”

Would I have been there for them if I had known what the future held? Hell yes, I would have. “Maybe I’m just pissed that I didn’t know,” I rumbled.

She raised a brow. “Are you psychic? I know I’m not. I’m pissed that I didn’t know what would happen to my parents, either, but I’m trying to work on that and my guilt about not being there. I do know that they knew how much I loved them, and I know they loved me. I’m willing to bet that your dad knew that, too. And I’m sure Shelby knows how much you care about her. No one expects you to be perfect. Most of us just want to be loved,” she said softly.

“Don’t try to tell me that you don’t expect a lot from yourself,” I said unhappily.

“Oh, I do,” she readily admitted. “And that expectation of perfection crushed me. I tried until I ended up in a total meltdown because of it. I guess that’s why I feel like I can give some advice on the topic. I’m an expert on expecting myself to be perfect.”

Unable to stop myself, I reached across the table, snagged her around the waist and pulled her to my side and into my lap.

It wasn’t something a friend might do, but I didn’t give a shit.

It nearly killed me to think about Anna trying to be strong alone when her whole world had collapsed around her.

She might be a champion at hiding her pain most of the time, but I could feel her vulnerability and loneliness, and it ate my guts out.

“You never have to be perfect for me,” I told her as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “Just being you is more than enough.”

She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed contentedly. “You’ll probably never know how much I value that,” she whispered. “I feel the same way about you.”

I knew she did.

She liked me just as much as I liked her, even though I’d made some mistakes.

It was a little addictive to be liked for the man I was and not because I was Kaleb Remington.

She’d probably never know how much that meant to me, either.

“Should I make us something to eat?” she finally asked.

I tightened my arms around her waist. “I’ll help you in a few minutes.”

Strangely, I wanted to savor the moment and my connection with this incredible woman just a little while longer.

Anna

I closed the book I was reading two days later, stretched, and then glanced at the clock.

It was late. I’d gotten absorbed in my reading material and had completely lost track of the time.

I felt good, much better than I had for a long time.

Appparently, the peace and isolation of this cabin and Kaleb’s company was therapeutic for me.

Sometimes Kaleb and I talked a lot.

Sometimes we just read in silence, but those quiet times were never uncomfortable.

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