Page 54 of Seeing You

Please don’t let this be another mistake…

Standing on Billie’s front porch holding a pizza—because there was seriously nothing great in this town to get for takeout—left Marcus feeling foolish. If they were back in D.C., he would have ordered all of her favorites from the Mandarin place she used to love so much, or perhaps hired a personal chef to make them a chilled seafood tower and grill up two perfect steaks.

“Instead, I’m holding a cardboard box with grease stains. Awesome.” Letting out a breath, he knocked on the door and waited.

“Pizza! Yes! How did you know that was what I wanted?” she gushed as she invited him in. “Have you ever just…you know…craved something for dinner because you couldn’t stop thinking about it?”

He had a feeling he’d come off sounding like a snob if he mentioned the seafood tower and personal chef, so he simply smiled and nodded. “I do. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I should get. Some foods just don’t travel well for takeout. Max and I have gone to the steakhouse and the café, but the food at both places is way better when you’re dining in.”

“What can I get you to drink? Beer? Wine? Soda? Sweet tea?”

“Um…” Before he could answer, she was handing him a beer and watching him as if waiting for him to turn his nose up at it. Instead, he smiled and accepted it. “The perfect choice with pizza, right?”

“Color me surprised. I would have thought you’d choose the wine.”

“Like I said, it just pairs better.” He took a pull of the beer and had to admit, it tasted good.

“Let’s sit down before dinner gets cold,” she told him, walking over to her kitchen table.

Following her, he glanced around. There was nothing modern about the house. It was very basic, with the traditional decor and the afghan draped over the sofa. Actually, the decor reminded him a little of his father’s house—only Billie’s was a one-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, just like every other house in this neighborhood, whereas his father’s was a two-story. It was very cookie-cutter, and nothing at all like the sleek townhome they had lived in back in D.C.

“I like your house,” he said as he sat.

“Liar,” she replied with a laugh. “Your face is very expressive, Marcus. I could tell how unimpressed you were as you looked around.”

“It’s just very different from what I thought you liked.”

Shrugging, she opened the lid on the box and served them each a slice. “I bought it a little over five years ago and kept telling myself I was going to do all kinds of upgrades. The only problem with that was how much I hate living in a mess. So if I gave in and did it, I’d have to live somewhere else while the construction was going on.” Another shrug. “It was just easier to embrace it.”

Nodding, he took a bite of his pizza. It was probably hard for her to financially afford to do the upgrades, and she was too embarrassed to admit it. Poor thing. He doubted small-town bakers made a lot of money. It boggled his mind when he thought about all she gave up to come back here—she was making more money than he was. Billie was one of the most brilliant financial analysts he’d ever seen. She had a way of following the trends and knowing what stocks to buy, when to sell, and her clients loved her for it. She made a lot of money forthem and for herself. He figured she had a nice savings account when she left him, so maybe she’s been living off of that to keep her going.

“You mentioned investing in other businesses here in town. Is that something you enjoy doing?”

“To be honest, it all started because I hated seeing Jade struggle. She opened Books & Beans and had a great plan, but her ex’s mother was running a smear campaign against her. It was awful and she just couldn’t seem to catch a break. She needed some financial help to have an advertising budget and get the word out. So, between me and Levi, we were able to give her a little boost.”

“Because Levi does…”

“Oh, he’s in advertising. He’s kind of outstanding at it. It was a crazy coincidence that he came home at just the right time. Once we dealt with the smear campaign—thank God that didn’t last too long—there were just things I saw that she needed, but she couldn’t afford. So, I offered to invest and it’s been mutually beneficial.”

“That’s great! I’m sure she appreciated the help.”

“She did, and I got to have a front-row seat to her and my brother falling in love.” She sighed happily before taking a sip of her beer. “Hard to believe he was the first one of the four of us to get married.”

Their eyes met and he saw how flushed her face got. It was on the tip of his tongue to remind her that she could have been the first of her siblings to get married, but he decided against it.

“Then there was Ashlynn,” she went on. “She got laid off from the hair salon she was working at and had always dreamed of opening one of her own. The town was going through a bit of a renaissance thanks to the ski resort reopening, and there were a lot of old buildings that were suddenly getting renovated. She obviously didn’t have the money to do it on her own, so Icosigned with her, but unlike Books & Beans, I’m a total silent partner with the salon. I help her with the accounting part of it, but otherwise I’m completely hands-off.”

“Nothing with Chloe?”

Shaking her head, she reached for a second slice. “She’s a kindergarten teacher. I always donate to her classroom wish list, but other than that, I’m just there for moral support.”

“That’s nice.” But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he had to wonder how much of what she did was reciprocated. And because he couldn’t help himself, he had to ask. “It sounds like you’ve helped them all in different ways.”

He caught her chuckle as she asked, “But…?”

Because she knew him so well. “But…what have they done for you?”

“It’s not a competition, Marcus. No one’s keeping score.”

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