Page 35 of Burning Hearts

“I used to make sure Tristan got breakfast before school. I took him to his bus stop and then walked to my school.” Thankfully, it hadn’t been far, but while most kids had ridden bikes or scooters, she had walked on the edge of the road beside the curb so they didn’t hit her when they whizzed past on the sidewalk.

“You’ve been taking care of him for a long time.”

She nodded. “It isn’t a spiral. It’s just how things have always been, because we knew that if we didn’t take care of each other, then no one else was going to worry about us.”

They wouldn’t have ended up forgotten for just one night, like Logan had been, but for years. They would have fallen through the cracks.

Who knew what Tristan would have gotten into if she hadn’t repeatedly pulled him out of jams with the worst kind of friends, or jobs that were less than legitimate.

She’d stood by him when he’d faced legal charges.

Picked him up after sixty days in the county jail.

“I care about him,” she said. “And just like with my mom’s rehab bill, I have the resources to help them live better lives.” She had left her credit card on file with the rehab center. Same way she did every time. They’d charge her for the days her mom stuck around and hopefully wouldn’t continue to charge her after Mom checked herself out before the program ended.

At least this time it seemed like her mom intended to stick around for a while. Longer than ever before so far.

The dog lay down on the dirt by the fire with a groan and set his chin on his paws, all brown curly hair that fell over his eyes.

“How did you get into finance?”

As much as he kept his tone light, she heard the curiosity in his question. “I went to college close by so that Tristan and I could be roommates. We had this awful apartment on a rough side of town. I took extra classes online and worked. At some point I realized I was good at financial accounts and investment portfolios. It seemed like all my strategies paid off for the most part. No one is perfect, and things always fluctuate. It’s not a guarantee of success. But I play the long game, and I managed to show my professors what I could do.”

Back then, she’d been barely into her twenties and had the energy levels to pull all-nighters. To work and then study and then go back to work. Tristan had pitched in, and things had been good for months at a time usually.

These days she didn’t work all night, but those early days building the business had been intense.

“Samuel was friends with one of my professors. He’s my chief financial officer now, but back then, he offered me a job at his company. When I turned him down because I wanted to start my own, he offered to mentor me. When he retired, he came on my board of directors and took the job as chief operations officer.”

“It’s good he can keep things running in your absence. Then you won’t lose income because you aren’t working.”

Yeah, she was going to have to explain that. And yet, at the same time, it felt as if she had to apologize for her success. The whole thing was just a giant guilt trip after a lady at church had told her she should be trying to get married and have babies rather than “seek worldly advancement.”

Then again, that woman had zero clue what Jamie was accomplishing at work, and seemed to have overlooked the fact she didn’t even have a boyfriend at the time.

After that, it had been easier to focus on her career rather than how lonely she was.

Jamie said, “Things are steady. A lot of it just keeps its momentum, so I don’t need to worry.”

“The business is solid? That’s impressive, even in a good economy. Building a business is hard, I’m sure.”

“Nearly ten years now. It’s…I make a lot of money, Logan.” She tugged her fingers from his, not quite sure what he was going to say.

Her last boyfriend—during the time Logan had been in Australia—had broken up with her because he hadn’t liked the fact she made more money than he did. So much for being honest.

The reality was that if she had to find someone who made more money than her, Jamie needed to take a vacation in the Mediterranean and find some heir to an oil tycoon so she could marry within the same tax bracket.

“Most people get uncomfortable when they find out how successful I am. It’s why I never said anything. I tried, after you. It didn’t go well. What you do is impressive, and the people you work with are impressive. All I know how to do is financial stuff. I’ve never been good at anything else, and I try not to feel bad about my success when so many people don’t have a lot of money. I know what it’s like to barely make ends meet.”

He glanced at her.

She could see it out the corner of her eye, but she didn’t meet his gaze. What if he thought her money made him less of a man because he was supposed to be the one who provided for her? She didn’t want to have to apologize for it like her ex, Steve, thought she should. As if there was something wrong with her for having the means to take care of herself.

Logan said, “So you’re…independently wealthy or something?”

“I always wanted to be one of those people who give so much to nonprofits that they drop off the billionaires list.” Her stomach flipped over.

There, she’d said it.

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