Page 54 of The Billionaire Land Baron

Chapter 13

Shelby stumbled to the Airstream, for the first time glad that Jake was gone so she could be alone. She couldn’t be in the house. Not with her mama.

While she wanted to be glad that her mother looked clean and alive and completely level-headed, she did not feel that way. Not yet. Instead she was filled to the brim with thoughts and feelings that roiled and churned like water set to boil, making it impossible to sleep or stop thinking or any of the things she wanted to do.

Mama had come in when Shelby finally stepped aside. Didn’t hug her, as though she could see from Shelby’s face that it was too soon.

Shelby had watched her move into the family room, bracing herself for the shouting to start, picking up where it left off ten years ago. Instead her daddy’s face moved from disbelief to a warm joy that Shelby couldn’t understand. And he stood so fast on his good leg that he almost spun out on the carpet.

Her mama had caught him, laughing, and then they were both laughing and Shelby had stepped back into the dark kitchen. The sick feelings moving through her would just kill whatever joy was happening there between them. And as much as she wanted to throw her mama out, she loved her daddy too much to do that to him.

Mama had spilled a stream of explanations and apologies that Shelby literally could not hear. It was like as soon as the words started pouring from her mama’s mouth, some part of Shelby stopped being present. That’s when she slipped out the front door to the trailer.

She lay in the bed. It was tiny and she couldn’t imagine how Jake had folded himself to fit. The sheets smelled like him, so she knew he had found a way. Now the sheets were soaked with her tears. She hated that this might make them stop smelling like him.

She knew he had gone, but still hoped he had been the one at the door. But he had not come back and was likely already settling into the L’Auberge Hotel and Casino. Shelby was stuck here in an empty Airstream on a property she was about to lose with a prodigal mama she didn’t know if she had wanted to return.

Jake was gone. She had told Matt that he shouldn’t be there for her emotionally anymore. Going back in the house wasn’t an option. She could call Gracielynn, but she knew that Gracie would just cry and get her crying again. Plus, Shelby knew that Gracie would probably tell her to go back home and work things out with her mama. She thought to pray, but didn’t want to have to let go of her anger or feel compelled to forgive.

This she could not do. Not yet.

Her mother had walked through the door an hour ago and the tiny toothpick that was holding her life together snapped. Shelby needed to get away.

As much distance as she could get from this too-easy reunion. Sighing, she pulled out her phone.

“Matt,” she said when he picked up. “I know I said I was done asking for favors, but I need just one more. It’s a big one.”

Matt didn’t say muchwhen he picked her up other than to ask whose car was out front. Shelby hadn’t noticed. It was a gold Camry. Such a nondescript, normal car. It only brought on more questions. Did her mama have a job? Where did she live? How long had she been…like this? Where had she been the last ten years? But even as the questions came, Shelby knew she wasn’t ready for the answers.

Mama had looked older than she did in Shelby’s mind, her light brown hair streaked with grays. Her forehead more lined and her cheeks softer. But she looked fit. Not so thin and angular, her eyes bright and clear.

“It’s Mama’s,” Shelby said.

Matt jerked his head toward her, slamming on the brakes under the cover of the trees along the drive.

“What—she’s—are you—”

“Don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “But you can see why I need the favor.”

Matt nodded and headed for the highway and didn’t ask another question on the long ride toward Lake Charles. She had hoped that she could just take the Jeep, since it was already in the driveway. Jake had left the keys in the floorboard. But Matt’s Dad needed it the next day, so that was out. Leaving Matt to drive her to Lake Charles.

Shelby saw L’Auberge across the lake, nicer than the casino right by the highway. It glittered and lit up like a little piece of the Vegas strip. The lights on the water looked beautiful even though the other side of the lake was lined with refineries and factories. Piles of gravel and smokestacks and a train track with cars jammed up on the line.

L’Auberge looked out of place, much too beautiful for the setting. Louisiana was like that though—upscale butted right up against industrial areas. Texas could be like that too, to a lesser degree. It was a lax zoning thing, but it made opulent places like L’Auberge look like they were thumbing their noses. Thinking of Jake staying there made his wealth seem more real, the way it had when she saw his three-hundred-thousand-dollar car.

Shelby wasn’t in the mood for her own stupid protests about wealth. She didn’t understand that life, still in some ways was jealous for it, hated how the lack of it left her powerless. No, tonight she wasn’t going to care about any of that. Tonight she was hoping that she could call in not one, but two big favors from men who didn’t owe her anything. The first had worked out, giving her a veiled hope for the second.

She almost changed her mind when they pulled up front, Matt’s truck looking out of place with limos and nicer cars. But not everyone going inside looked fancy. L’Auberge was free for anyone to gamble, so she saw a mix of people moving in and out of the doors. A couple in matching beach T-shirts and fanny packs carrying a toddler in only a shirt and diaper made her feel sure that she could do this. Shelby put her hand on the door.

“Matt, thank you. I’m sorry I had to ask.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, Shelby. I’m sorry too. You were right, you know. I should have let you go a long time ago. Not in a bad way. Just in a way that would have set you free. Consider this a ride from a friend. Nothing more, no strings.”

“I appreciate it.”

She opened the door, but he grabbed her arm. “Shelby, I don’t want you to get your heart broken.”

Shelby shook out of his grasp and stepped out of the car. “It already is,” she said, closing the door.

---