Page 82 of The Billionaire Land Baron

“How’s my girl? It’s been too long! I was worried, but your mama said that we needed to give you space.”

It was hard still to hear him talk about Mama in the present tense. But she thought about what Jake had said about David and being honest.

“Is she still there?”

“Pumpkin, she’s here to stay. I know this is hard. Will you be alright with that? I know that she would really like to talk with you.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready,” she said. “I think I want to, but maybe not yet. Soon?”

She could hear her father smiling through his voice. “I think that she can work with soon. It’s your timing. When you’re ready, she said. Now when are you coming home?”

“I’ll be there in about an hour.”

“An hour! Shelby! We haven’t even gotten things ready!”

“What’s there to get ready?”

“Never you mind that. I can’t wait to see you, sweetheart.”

“Daddy? I got a dog.”

“Well, I’ll be. Maybe that’s just what we need around here. Bring him on. Or her?”

“Him. And he’s the best. You’ll love him. I mean, you don’t have a choice, but even if you did, you’d love him.”

“Well, you drive safe. I hope you took lots of pictures. I want to see every single one.”

Shelby hadn’t taken a lot of pictures. She meant to, but it was weird to take a bunch of selfies, and she realized three states in that although things were beautiful, having so many pictures of scenery got boring. Her favorite picture was the one she’d sent to Jake. That he still hadn’t responded to.

Maybe she had been misreading what was going on in the texts. Texts were easy to misunderstand, though she thought after the past few days, she had a sense for his tone and his humor. It doesn’t matter anyway, she reminded herself. Not like he’s here.

As she headed past town, a few people waved and she honked and waved as well. Shelby rolled the window down, just a little, so City could put his head out of the window. She still didn’t trust fully that he wouldn’t jump out or run away, so made sure it wasn’t open too wide. He had his paws up on the door so his muzzle could stick out, sniffing the air.

“Now don’t get used to this,” she said as they turned down her driveway, canopied with live oaks. “It’s pretty, but not ours anymore. We’ll be moving…somewhere. You seem pretty good with change, so you’ll be alright. Me? I don’t do change. You’ll have to help me out.”

As she reached the end of the tree-lined drive, her stomach lurched. Shelby sucked in a breath. The house was gone. Some of the foundation was still visible, the cement columns standing a foot or so high, holding up nothing. A muddy yellow backhoe sat next to it.

Her thoughts zigzagged through her head. Why didn’t Daddy tell her? She just talked to him. Where was she supposed to go now? How did this happen so fast? Where were their things? Why had no one told her?

She opened the door to the truck and got out slowly, not bothering to put a leash on City, who stayed close to her ankles as she walked over to where the house had been. The ground was soft and muddy. She was shocked at how small it looked now that the house was gone. Is that how tiny the house had really been? Tears stung her eyes and she leaned over, hands on her knees. City nudged her hand and she scratched his ears, grateful for something to do.

“This was the house, boy. I grew up here. I—” She couldn’t speak anymore through the tears.

City’s head jerked from underneath her hand, his ears pointing at alert as he looked toward the lake. He barked once, a warning, then began to run.

All she could think about was T-Ball. “City!” she shouted as he bounded away. Shelby started after him at a sprint.

That’s when she saw Jake, standing on the dock.

She stopped where she stood, about fifty yards away. City reached Jake and nuzzled into his legs as though he’d known Jake his whole life. Absentmindedly, Jake leaned down to scratch City, who wriggled happily, then sat on Jake’s foot, leaning against his legs. While he scratched City, Jake’s eyes never left Shelby.

It felt like a dream. Her house: gone. Jake: here.

Shelby began to walk toward the dock, keeping her eyes fixed on Jake’s face. As she got closer, she could see that he was smiling, but also looked hesitant and maybe a little afraid.

Her own face had a mask of confusion. Underneath it, her heart leapt at the sight of him standing there and she knew that it was confirmation of what she truly wanted. That gut reaction: beyond happy to have him there.

But why was he here? And where was Daddy? Mama? Her house? She caught sight of T-Ball’s dark, ridged head cutting through the water slowly. At least T-Ball was here.

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