Page 36 of The Billionaire Land Baron

“That’s it?” Jake was shocked. “It seems like it should be worth so much more. That’s really what the city offered?”

“Yep. And the bank essentially said I had to take it. I mean, I could not take it, but I’d still lose the property.”

Jake felt sick. She was losing her whole world for so little money. If he wasn’t part of the reason she was losing her land, he would put down the money right now. It would be nothing to him. But present circumstances aside, he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t accept.

“Matt wants to marry me,” she said. Jake’s stomach clenched. “He always has. It would be so easy. He’s a good guy and would take care of us. My dad knows him and wouldn’t put up a fuss at letting Matt help. It makes sense.”

“So why don’t you marry him?”

Shelby picked at the hem of her cutoffs and didn’t speak for long minutes. The sound of the summer insects and frogs rose around them. Jake couldn’t get over the sound. It was deafening. He’d heard similar sounds in the summer at his sister Candace’s house, but nothing like this. It was a wall of sound, surrounding them.

“I don’t love Matt. That wouldn’t be fair.”

Jake struggled with words. He felt such an intense jealousy, even as Shelby said she didn’t love him. Because Matt hadn’t been the one to destroy her. Matt had only ever cared for her. Jake thought of Hannah. How she’d pretended for so long just so she could have the security from Jake and his money. When he had broken up with her, he could see her panic below the anger. She’d been trusting in what he could give her. She didn’t love him but loved and wanted what he had, what he could offer. Matt was the opposite: a good man who loved Shelby and offered her what she needed, even if he got nothing back.

“I was in love once,” Jake said. He hadn’t planned to say it. Shelby had a way of drawing out these words, even without asking the questions.

“Just once?”

“Yeah. And she didn’t love me back. I thought she did, but she just loved what I had and what I could give her. She loved the money and the security. I had trouble trusting before. I still can’t. Not very well. Because I don’t know whether it’s real or just about the money.”

“You must have a lot of money,” she said.

“Too much,” he said. “More than one person needs.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you have it? Why do you keep working for it? Do you love it?”

Jake thought about these questions. Because they were not ones he’d ever considered. Did he love the money? Why was he working still? He was starting to realize how much of it was for Xander. So Jake wouldn’t disappoint him. The money, the success, all of it pleased Xan and Jake saw for the first time how much he longed for his approval. More than a mentor, Xan was in some ways like the father Jake hardly knew and had never impressed. Xander’s belief in him meant more than the money ever could.

As he thought about his life, though, he didn’t want a corporate job or the reputation of being a Billionaire Land Baron. He wanted simple. No strings or fears or high pressure. Something real that he could trust. A life like the one Candace had: a family. A home. Love.

Right now, he wanted Shelby. One full day with her and he felt like everything in his life had shifted.

This had him circling back to the idea of leaving Obsidian. He needed to talk to Xander, but maybe not in the middle of this deal, which felt precarious to begin with. Then again, if the deal fell through, maybe Shelby wouldn’t have to lose her land. His success meant her pain.

But he couldn’t live for that.

“I don’t know why. But I don’t love it. And I’m not sure I want it. Not anymore.”

“I hate money,” Shelby said.

“Why?”

“Because I want it so bad. It would fix the things on the surface that I need fixed. I could have paid off the bank, kept our home. Hired help if I needed it with daddy. I could travel like I wanted. That’s why we bought the trailer. It was supposed to be for me. A graduation present from college, but I couldn’t ever go. Not to college and not to travel. I’m stuck. Money seems like it would be the answer, even though I know it’s not. It can’t fix my mama or bring her home. It can’t fix Daddy’s brain. It can’t make me feel free enough to leave. To love.”

She was crying and grabbed his arm, pulling it across her chest as she swung further away from him, her back fully up against his side, legs stretched out on the bench. Her tears fell on his arm and Jake’s heart broke for her. What she didn’t say was something he knew: even if he offered or tried to fix things with his money, which wouldn’t even pain him she wouldn’t and couldn’t take it.

It was ridiculous. She needed what he had, but she wouldn’t take it. He knew that to offer would be the worst thing he could do. It felt like there was a gulf between them.

“I wish it could be different,” he said.

“What?”

“This. I wish I could...make it better for you. In a way that wouldn’t make you feel pitied. Because I know if I offered, you would say no. You’d hate me for offering and hate yourself for wanting to say yes.”

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