Small Town Billionaire Read online

  Small Town Billionaire

  Book One in the Landon County Series

  Cheryl Michaels

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Sneak peak - Small Town Boss

  Small Town Boss

  About the Author

  Copyright © by Cheryl Michaels

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, including photocopying, graphic, electronic, mechanical, taping, recording, sharing, or by any information retrieval system without the express written permission of the author and / or publisher. Exceptions include brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Persons, places and other entities represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They are not intended to represent actual places or entities currently or previously in existence or any person living or dead. This work is the product of the author’s imagination.

  Any and all inquiries to the author of this book should be directed to: [email protected]

  Small Town Billionaire © 2019 Cheryl Michaels

  Chapter One

  Chase Wright stared across the big mahogany desk at his lifelong friend and business partner and said the words that had been haunting him for fifteen long years. “I want to go home, man.”

  Home for them meant a small Midwestern town where people called their neighbors friends and didn’t feel the need to lock their doors at night. It held a lot of good memories, and a lot of bad for Chase, thanks to the one girl who’d changed the course of his life with just a few words.

  “You want to go home?” Bryce stared at him, looking stunned. “For what, a visit? Sure, take as much time as you need. I know it’s been rough on your family since your dad passed.”

  John Wright had been Chase’s rock growing up, the one who encouraged him to drop out of college and start his own business, and without his guidance, nothing made sense in Chase’s life anymore.

  The business he’d once loved, borne of his passion for hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors, didn’t even fuel him with the desire to get out of bed anymore.

  “I’ve been running too long.” Bryce was one of the few people in the world who would understand that statement, without needing an explanation. He should. He’d been running too. “It’s time to go back and face my past. Make things right with Shay.”

  Shay was the girl who shattered his world when she told him she was pregnant in one breath and in the next pled her case for adoption, to give their son a better life.

  Sure, they’d only been eighteen at the time. It was the summer before college and they were both excited about their future. But with those two little words, I’m pregnant, Chase’s priorities shifted. He wanted to be a father. But he never got the chance. Before he knew what hit him, Shay’s father was making demands, siccing lawyers on him, shoving legal papers in his face, and making threats about bringing down Chase’s whole family if he didn’t agree to his terms.

  “Come on now, man. It’s been a long time. Shay’s probably gotten on with her life, just like you need to do.”

  Chase laced his hands behind his head as his eyes drifted to the family photo on his desk. It was the last one taken before his father died. “Losing my dad reminded me what really matters. He didn’t raise me to be a coward, but that’s what I’ve been. I’ve got a kid out there I don’t even know. How am I supposed to live with that?”

  Bryce sighed, sinking back in the leather chair across from Chase. “You don’t talk about it, but I know that’s got to be eating at you.”

  “You have no idea.” There were days when it took all of Chase’s self-control to keep him from picking up the phone to call his lawyer, or a private detective, the adoption agency, someone who could put him in touch with his son.

  “It was an open adoption,” Bryce reminded him. “If he wanted to reach out to you, he could.”

  “Maybe he thinks I don’t want him in my life.” That was the part that hurt Chase the most, the thought that his son could believe he’d abandoned him. “He probably thinks I’m a selfish, irresponsible lowlife who—”

  “Don’t do that,” Bryce said, shaking his head. “Don’t put words in the kid’s mouth. You don’t know what he’s thinking or how he’s feeling.”

  “No, but I need to find out. I have to meet him.” Chase knew none of the pieces of his life could fall back in to place until he made peace with his past.

  “Fine, but how will going back home help make that happen?”

  “I left there because I couldn’t stand the thought of running into Shay and her family every time I turned around.”

  “I know, but—”

  “A lot of time has passed. I’m not going to lie. It still hurts to think she didn’t want me to be the father of her child, but she was just a kid then. Same as me. Can I really hold her responsible for buckling under the pressure from her family? You know what her old man was like.”

  “Yeah, ruthless, from what I remember,” Bryce said, rolling his eyes. “But what do you hope to gain from seeing Shay again?”

  “Maybe she wants the same thing I do, to meet our son.” Chase imagined taking that step with Shay, them meeting their son together for the first time, trying to explain to him that giving him up had been the hardest thing they’d ever done.

  “How do you know she hasn’t already met him?” Bryce asked. “Just because he hasn’t reached out to you doesn’t mean he hasn’t reached out to Shay.”

  Chase knew his friend was only trying to help by preparing him for all possible scenarios, but right now he wasn’t helping. He was only making him question everything all over again. “Either way, don’t you think I need to know?”

  “I guess so,” Bryce said, shrugging. “Okay, so how long will you be gone?”

  Chase was most concerned about the next part of the plan, trying to convince his partner that going home was not only the right decision for him, but for their business. “Don’t you ever think about going back? For good, I mean?”

  Bryce scraped his hands over his face, looking bone-tired. “Man, where is all this coming from?”

  “Isn’t that where the business was really born? Out there on the water when we were barely teenagers, trolling around the lake in that little tin boat, talking about how cool it would be if we could do that all day, every day?”

  “Yeah sure, but we are living the dream.” He threw his hands up in the air, gesturing to Chase’s spacious office. “Look around you. We couldn’t ask for any more, could we? Thirty-nine stores across the country, catering to hunters and fisherman who are as passionate as we are.”

  “Landon has fallen on hard times in recent years,” he said, referring to their hometown. “Moving our operation there could mean jobs for a lot of people. Folks we used to consider family.”

  “What about our employees here?” Bryce asked, looking frustrated. “Don’t we owe them? They’ve been loyal to us since day one, helping us grow and work out the kinks. Have you thought about what it would do to them if we moved half-way across the country?”

  “I have.” That was the only thing that prevented Chase from suggesting this idea to his friend years ago. “I’ve spoken to a few key people in our organization, looked at ways we could re-structure so job loss here will be minimized.
”

  “Are you listening to yourself right now?” Bryce asked, raking his hands through his cropped dark hair. “You’re talking like this is a done deal. We’re fifty-fifty partners, remember? That means I get an equal say.”

  “I know that.” They’d been fortunate in their partnership, always agreeing about major decisions and the direction of the company. This was the first major road block they’d hit in the thirteen years since the inception of their business. “That’s why I’m coming to you now, so we can work this out.”

  “Well, you tell me how we’re gonna do that.”

  “We could offer everyone the option to transfer to the new headquarters.” Though Chase knew it was unlikely most people would uproot their lives and families for the sake of a job. “Our online business is strong. We’ve been talking about expanding. We could find homes for some people in that area.”

  “Sounds like you’ve thought about this from all angles,” Bryce said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this is the first I’m hearing about it.”

  Chase understood his friend’s confusion, even his sense of betrayal that he’d been considering this idea for so long before talking to him about it, but he wouldn’t be pushing for this if he didn’t believe it was the best thing for Bryce too.

  “How long have you been telling me you’re getting tired of the rat-race… that you’d love to slow down and get back to basics?” Their head office was in Houston, and as much as they loved the city, they missed the simplicity of small town life.

  “Having a flagship store in a town the size of Landon doesn’t even make sense, man.”

  He’d already considered that and knew his partner was right. Landon didn’t have the population to support a huge store. “So our flagship stores remains here. We can open a smaller store in Landon. We know the need exists. There are more avid outdoorsman there than anywhere and they have to drive nearly an hour when they want to buy their gear, or order it online. But we all know you can’t buy everything online. Some things you need to hold in your hands to get a feel—”

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re preaching to the choir,” Bryce said, raising his hands on a sigh.

  Chase knew his friend’s reasons for wanting to stay away were as good as his reasons for wanting to go back, but he’d been watching Bryce wrestle with his past for years, claiming he didn’t need his family in his life. But one bad relationship after another proved that his childhood continued to haunt him, making the stability he claimed to want virtually impossible.

  “What are you afraid of?” Chase asked, quietly. “Facing your old man again?”

  Bryce’s dad had been an alcoholic while they were growing up, often taking his anger out on his wife and kids. Bryce left town first chance he got, but his mother and siblings stayed. Alzheimer’s finally got the best of his dad and Bryce now foot the bill for his round the clock care at a facility just outside of town.

  “He probably won’t even remember me,” Bryce said, his face an impassive mask. “Which just might be for the best.”

  “But you remember every lousy thing he did to you, your mom, brother and sister. You’ve cut them out of your life too. Is that fair?”

  They rarely talked about Bryce’s family, mainly because Chase felt guilty that his father had been the kind of man his best friend deserved as a parent.

  “Dude, sometimes you just need to leave all that behind, start over. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

  “How’s that been working out for you?”

  Chase thought of the girlfriend Bryce had recently broken up with. They couldn’t have been more different. She’d rather spend an afternoon at the salon than on the water. She hated Bryce’s cabin, turned her nose up at camo, and wouldn’t get in his pick-up truck until it had been washed and waxed.

  “Just because you want to take a trip down memory lane doesn’t mean I do.”

  “You’re thinking about Ainsley now, aren’t you?”

  Ainsley was Bryce’s high school girlfriend and Shay’s best friend. The four of them had been inseparable for three long years, until Shay’s pregnancy drove them apart. Ainsley sided with her best friend. Bryce sided with Chase. And the rift gave Bryce the excuse he needed to get out of town.

  “Are you kidding? I haven’t thought about that girl in years.” Their eyes met and Chase would have bet every last dime he had that his best friend was lying through his teeth. “Just because you haven’t been able to leave the past behind, doesn’t mean I haven’t.”

  “So you’ve never looked her up, huh?” Chase asked, sliding a pen through his fingers. “No idea whether she’s got a husband or kids?”

  “What makes you think I’d even care? That was a lifetime ago. I’ve had plenty of girlfriends since then.”

  “Yeah, and you’ve never loved one of them the way you did Ainsley.”

  Bryce swallowed, glancing out the expansive window that looked out on the forest behind their building. “It’s all water under the bridge now. We can’t go back and re-write history.”

  “No, we can’t. But we can make things right with the people we hurt.”

  Bryce glared at him. “I left home for you, because you couldn’t stand to be there anymore. And now you’re trying to drag me back, claiming I’ve got unfinished business with my family… and some girl I haven’t thought about in over a decade?”

  “Then you won’t care that Ainsley’s married.” Chase watched the color drain from his partner’s face, confirming his belief that Bryce was living in denial.

  “She is?”

  “You really haven’t looked her up on social media?” Apparently not. If he had, he would have seen the photos of Ainsley with her husband: hunting, fishing, camping, doing all of the things she used to love to do with Bryce. Maybe it was for the best. No matter what he claimed, Chase knew seeing those pictures would sting.

  “No. You have?”

  “She friended me on Facebook a while back, so I see her posts from time to time.”

  “And?”

  “Married. No kids.”

  Bryce sucked in a sharp breath, looking pained. “Good for her. I’m happy she found someone.” He looked Chase in the eye. “Anyone we know?”

  Chase shook his head. “No, he moved to town after we left.”

  Bryce rubbed his eyes, letting his hands cover his face. “And you really think I’d want to go back there so I could see my ex with her new man every time I turn around?”

  “I’m not sure he’ll be her man for much longer.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She sent me a private message last week, asked how we were.” Chase watched his friend closely, half-expecting him to get up and walk out so he didn’t have to hear the rest. “We went back and forth a bit before she told me that her husband got a job offer out of state.”

  “Is she going with him?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. It seems they’ve been having problems for a while now. She’s talked to her pastor about it, begged her husband to go to counselling, but it seems he’s not willing. Doesn’t share her faith.”

  “Hmm. What did she tell you about Shay?” Bryce asked. “And don’t tell me you didn’t ask about her ‘cause I know you better than that.”

  “Her dad had a stroke a few months ago. She’s taken over his car dealership.”

  “Huh.” A ghost of a smile played across his lips. “She must hate that. Even in high school, she didn’t want to work there.”

  “Yeah, well I guess she doesn’t have much of a choice. Her brother’s in medical school and we all know her mama’s never worked a day in her life.” Chase tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but it wasn’t easy. Shay’s parents had always looked down on him because his family had been honest, hard-working farmers, while they enjoyed the benefits of inheriting the only car dealership in town.

  “I need time to think about this.”

  “You got it.” At the end of the day, the business and their friendship cam
e first. It was the only thing that had gotten Chase through the past decade and a half and he wouldn’t do anything to put it at risk. “Just don’t take too long.”

  Chase had already lost too many years with his son and he didn’t want to waste another day.

  Chapter Two

  It had been a long time since Chase set foot inside Rusty’s. He’d been barely out of his teens with a chip on his shoulder then. Now he was a man… on a mission.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Rusty said, chuckling. “Look what the cat dragged in, Bernie.”

  Rusty’s thick red hair was a little thinner and greyer than Chase remembered, his belly was a little bigger, his faded jeans sitting just a little lower, but he could have picked his father’s old friend out of a crowd any day.

  “Good to see you, buddy,” Chase said, shaking Rusty’s hand before leaning over the bar to kiss Rusty’s wife’s cheek. “Bernice. You’re prettier than ever.”

  She laughed, slapping his arm. “You silver-tongued devil. What took you so long to show your face around here? Just ‘cause you’re some bigshot now, you ain’t got time for us little people anymore?”

  “You know that ain’t true.” His eyes scanned the bar, settling on the real reason for his visit. It was nice to see his old family friends, but it was knowing that his ex-girlfriend was there that prompted him to leave work early.

  “I’d have been here sooner. Just been so busy settin’ up shop.”

  Between the time it had taken to convince Bryce it was the right call, and working out the logistics, it had been a year since Chase got the ball rolling on the plan to re-locate their business. A year of planning what he would say to Shay when their paths finally crossed again.