Page 91 of Billionaire Unexplained: Kaleb

Hell, now I was doubly screwed.

“I didn’t do much,” Mom said as she swiped the tear away. “You’ve kept me company.”

Anna had seen my mother a lot. She’d made it a point to take a break during the day to go see Mom when I was working.

Their sadness was genuine.

The two women had formed a special bond in the time Anna had been here.

While my mother couldn’t replace Anna’s mother, she’d told me that her relationship with my mom had helped her.

I was certain that Anna had been good for my mother, too. She’d been pretty lonely since my dad had passed away, even though my brothers and I tried to see her as often as possible.

“Why is everyone crying like somebody died over here?” Devon asked as he strolled up with his own plate of food with Tanner right behind him.

“Everybody okay?” Tanner asked as he shot me a questioning look.

“We’re fine,” Mom replied. “We’re just a little sad that Anna has to go back to California in the morning.”

“She’ll be back,” Devon said in a comforting voice to my mother.

“You can throw a ‘welcome home’ party the next time she comes,” Tanner suggested.

I grinned at Tanner as our mother perked up again.

He knew exactly what to say to make our mother feel better.

Mom loved to throw parties, picnics, and barbecues.

She smiled at Tanner. “I’ll start planning that party as soon as she leaves.”

With Tanner and Devon present, the conversation became a little more upbeat, and they had Anna and Mom laughing in a matter of minutes.

I looked at my siblings, knowing that they had come over because they’d seen that I was uncomfortable with the tears because I wasn’t feeling all that upbeat myself.

The three of us might not always agree, but at the moment, I was grateful that I had two brothers who would always have my back.

Anna

“You don’t look like a woman who’s happy to be back in Southern California. You’re up for multiple awards at the awards ceremony, and you don’t look excited about that, either,” Kim said sympathetically as I sat in her salon chair three days later.

Honestly…I wasn’t.

I’d gone through the motions for my rehearsals.

I’d cleared up some other business because it was what needed to be done.

I’d been a little excited about the designer dress I was wearing for the awards show because Kaleb would see me dressed up for the first time.

But I just couldn’t find much enthusiasm for anything else right now.

“You’re missing your man,” Kim stated.

I met her eyes in the mirror and nodded. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I shared. “I just feel…different.”

“Probably because you got a taste of what it’s like to live a semi normal life with someone you love,” she commented as she tilted my head back and put wax on my eyebrows. “You’ve spent your entire life dancing to other people’s tunes. What did it feel like to be away from all that?”

The shop was empty, so Kim and I were able to talk freely.

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