Page 76 of The Billionaire Land Baron

“Text him,” Xan said, recovering the easy command that had always drawn Jake to follow him and to try to please him.

“I guess I could. But say what?” Jake asked.

“Just ask how the trip’s going.”

“I’m not exactly on friendly terms with him or anyone else in Lucky. You saw what they did to my car.” When he got back to Chicago, Jake had planned to have Layla repainted. But when it came down to it, he left her as is. He couldn’t explain why, but he didn’t want to cover over the graffiti.

Xan chuckled. “Sorry. Yes, I did. Pretty creative and bold bunch, this small town. I’d like to visit.”

Jake’s fingers hovered over the screen of his phone. He felt stupid. It had been a month. He and Matt weren’t close. And it wasn’t like they left on good terms. Jake had hurt the woman Matt loved. Shelby. The thought of her face got his fingers moving.

Jake: Hey, it’s Jake. How’s your trip going?

Xander gotup and started shuffling papers around while Jake waited. The dots appeared, showing that Matt was typing something. It seemed to take forever.

Matt:What trip?

Jake:You and Shelby. I saw you leaving town with the trailer.

Either Matt was playing dumb,or Jake had misjudged something. His heart began racing and he sat up straighter in his chair.

Matt:Shelby borrowed my truck to haul the trailer. She’s on her own. You’d have to ask her how it’s going. Haven’t talked to her much, other than to make sure she’s okay..

Matt:You doing okay? Sorry about your car. Mostly.

Jake setthe phone down on the table hard enough that it clattered. He leaned back in the chair, pressing his palms into his eyes. “I am an idiot.”

“What’s the verdict?”

Jake met Xan’s eyes. “She didn’t go with him. She just borrowed his truck to tow the trailer.”

Xander grinned. “Well, that changes everything doesn’t it? We’ve got some work to do, don’t we?”

“Work?”

“Winning back your girl. I’m all in. Because the faster I help you get her back, the sooner I get you back. And I desperately need the boy-genius with all the good ideas to save Obsidian.”

“About that…” Jake had trouble looking at Xan.

Xander sighed. “That’s what I thought. You’re done here, huh?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be here…”

“But you aren’t here. And it’s not just the girl. I get it. Look, this is why we put things in the paperwork when we went public. I had a feeling. I could see a restlessness in you. I’ve loved having you, but I won’t make you stay on doing this work if your heart isn’t here. And it’s clearly not.”

“Xan, thank you. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Disappoint me? Well, I love working with you and you can’t be replaced. But I want you to be happy. I’ve seen for a while that you weren’t. If this is what you need to do, you need to do it.”

Jake stood and gave Xander a hug. It was slightly more awkward than he thought it would be. He pulled away, laughing. “Yeah, I’m not doing that again. Sorry.”

“Thanks. We can be buddies, but I’m not a hugger. I am a problem solver, so let’s get to the one at hand, shall we? Later we can figure out Obsidian. For now, we can focus on Operation Win Back Your Girl.”

Shelby couldn’t figureout what was disappointing exactly about traveling across the country. She’d always wanted to do this. When they bought the Airstream, that was the plan. She was going to take a summer and just drive after graduation. Major cities, state parks, and more. Gracielynn had talked about going with her and Matt had hinted at it back when he was still hoping things would work out between them. Alone meant that she could make her own plan, or no plan at all. She didn’t have to answer to anyone or argue a route.

The sights were beautiful. That was maybe too small a word for the majesty of the Grand Canyon and the dry, scraped hills and mesas of New Mexico with the shock of blue sky meeting them at the horizon. She’d finally stood with her feet in the Pacific, walking along the rough coastline. Then there were the green, rich, lush mountains of Colorado with their snowy peaks even though it was June. The plains of Kansas, flatter even than East Texas, if that was even possible.

But it all felt empty seeing it alone.

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