Healing the Billionaire

  Healing the Billionaire

  Eliza Boyd

  Healing the Billionaire

  Copyright © 2019 by Eliza Boyd

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Contents

  Healing the Billionaire

  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

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek of Book 3

  To The Reader

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Healing the Billionaire

  An ex-wife with a dislocated shoulder.

  A secret billionaire ex-husband.

  And a St. Bernard to keep them together.

  Will high school sweethearts Hailey and Jared get a second chance at love?

  1

  Hailey Cumberland rolled her suitcase up to the front door. She hadn’t been to this house in over seven years, so she prepared herself for the memories. It wouldn’t be easy, but the vacation and possible business expansion would be worth it. Plus, it’d been too long since she’d seen Otis, her favorite St. Bernard. A week with him—plus catching up on Netflix shows and a trip to the ocean—would be the icing on her cupcake.

  Her mood, however, would depend on the doctor’s news. She expected a call at the end of the week, which was going to be big for her all around.

  She located the spare key under the welcome mat. As she unlocked the door and twisted the knob, she pulled Rachel’s number up on her phone and hit send. Then she hefted her suitcase inside the house and waited for Rachel to pick up, the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

  “Hey! Did you make it?”

  “I did,” Hailey answered, clicking the handle of her luggage into place. When she looked around the house, nothing seemed familiar. “And it all looks so different than it used to. Did you remodel?”

  “Big time,” Rachel answered. Airport noise filtered down the line. “Lots of upgrades. In fact, make sure you check out the tub in the master bedroom. I think you might find that relaxing.”

  Hailey mentally added nightly baths to her routine while she was there.

  “Thanks again for doing this,” her friend said. “I really appreciate it, and I hope it helps your business.”

  “I do too.” Hailey slipped her shoes off and approached the kitchen to check the backyard for the dog. “I’m going to make a test batch shortly and see how it goes.”

  “Everything you asked for should be stocked in the kitchen, but if you need anything else, we have a few grocery stores close.” Rachel paused before she said, “And if you happen to make too many, know they won’t go to waste. Brad and I will gladly dispose of them for you.”

  “We sure will!” Brad yelled in the background.

  “Don’t worry,” Hailey said around a laugh. “I’ll leave you some cupcakes before I go.” When she reached the back door, she peeked out the window and spotted Otis lying on the chaise lounge like a person. She couldn’t help the next laugh that escaped. “Uh, your dog is hilarious.”

  “Let me guess. He’s in the backyard, lounging on his chair?”

  With a hand over her mouth, Hailey nodded even though Rachel couldn’t see her. “Oh my goodness, he does this a lot?” she chuckled.

  “All the time. If he’s not inside on his blankets, he’s out there.” Rachel gave a happy sigh. “He’s a good dog. He shouldn’t give you too much trouble.”

  “I’m sure he won’t.” Then an idea came to Hailey. “Hey. Think he’d be up to taste-testing some doggy cupcakes?”

  “Ooh. Thinking about adding a line of dog desserts to CumberCakes?” Rachel asked.

  Hailey shrugged, but she liked the idea. “Maybe. Otis will have to tell me what he thinks about that.”

  “He’d be happy to.” Rachel chuckled. “But brace yourself. He’s significantly bigger than he was when you saw him last.”

  “I see that!” Hailey smiled. She’d seen the photos of him on social media over the years, and Rachel had wanted to bring him with her when she’d visited last year but couldn’t. Traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, with a one-hundred-and-fifty-pound dog was nearly impossible. She was worried that walking him by herself would be too. “You really have to see him in person to believe it though.”

  Rachel’s light laugh filled Hailey’s ear before an airport announcement muffled it. “Oh, that’s us. Our flight is boarding.”

  “Okay,” Hailey replied. “Have a great time in Mexico, you two. Drink a margarita for me.”

  “You know, you could have come with us instead,” Rachel said. “I could have asked Jared to watch Otis.”

  “Your brother would take time off work to watch your dog?” Hailey raised an eyebrow in disbelief. She couldn’t imagine her ex-husband doing any such thing.

  “He’d work from my house on ‘vacation’ I’m sure,” Rachel answered, and Hailey could hear the implied air quotes. “But at least you’d be on the beach, drinking a margarita with me!”

  A deep breath filled Hailey’s chest. No, there would be no margaritas for a while. Not until she heard back from her doctor about how the tests had gone. And Hailey’s silence must have cued Rachel to that.

  “Oh, Hailey, I’m sorry. I know you’re not drinking right now. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “It’s okay,” Hailey rushed out, even though her heart constricted at the idea of it possibly not being okay.

  “Have you heard from Dr. Campbell?” Rachel asked quietly.

  “I should this week,” she said. Then she marched on with the conversation so she didn’t have to think about it some more. “Until then, I’m the one who’s going to work from your house.” Nervous butterflies flitted around her stomach. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but this felt like her last chance, so she hoped Dr. Campbell had good news.

  “That’s right,” Rachel said, sounding determined for Hailey. “You’re going to crush this interview.”

  “Vendor sample,” Hailey corrected, “and we’ll see.”

  “Psh. Your cupcakes are the best, Hailey. Everyone knows it. You got this.”

  She grinned, loving how enthusiastic her friend was on this Monday afternoon. Rachel was on her way to a Mexican beach resort, but that wasn’t why. She had always been supportive of Hailey even after the divorce. It didn’t matter to Rachel that they were no longer technically family. They’d been friends since grade school and that wasn’t about to end because Hailey and Jared weren’t together anymore—even though Rachel still thought that was ridiculous.

&nb
sp; But there was only so much one could do to save a marriage. Hailey had felt alone so much of the time that she couldn’t stay with him, and she’d had her own dreams to accomplish. Supporting Jared on his long-shot quest to be a millionaire had become too much. She’d needed to do her own thing and be her own person when too much distance had come between them.

  And she was doing that now with CumberCakes, her vegan cupcake business. When Rachel had asked Hailey if she’d watch Otis while she and her husband, Brad, went on vacation, Hailey had decided to test a new market. Things were working well in her Portland, but maybe Oregon wanted CumberCakes too. So she’d set up a meeting with Miriam at Fontell Foods to find distribution. Seeing as she hadn’t been able to come up with a new cupcake flavor for months, she needed something to keep her business from going stale. This was her best bet.

  That meeting was scheduled for Friday, so she had four days to bake a set of cupcakes that would wow them. She was confident in her skills, but it all depended on if she could get used to Rachel’s kitchen.

  “Thank you,” Hailey told her, a lump forming in her throat. This could be huge for her business, and she didn’t want to succumb to the pressure.

  Otis popped his head up, noticing Hailey for the first time.

  “All right. Otis knows I’m here now, so I better go before he bowls me over,” Hailey said around a chuckle. “Enjoy your vacation!”

  “You too!” Rachel said. “Let me know how it goes!”

  “Bye!” Brad shouted in the background. “And thanks!”

  “Okay.” Hailey smiled as Otis’s huge paws hit the ground. “See you later.” Then she hung up and waited for the big dog to come through the giant doggy door cut out in the wall.

  She backed up to give him space. The flaps clicked against the magnets holding his door closed, and then Otis was in front of her, his head nearly up to her chest.

  He really was huge. Maybe she’d underestimated his weight. One hundred and fifty pounds didn’t seem to be enough for him. But he was a giant teddy bear and let her approach to pet him.

  “Hey, boy,” she said. “We’re spending the week together. I hope that’s okay.”

  In response, Otis bumped her hand with his head, and she took that as a yes.

  Hailey went to get her bag and rolled it to the stairs before realizing she hadn’t asked Rachel which room she was sleeping in. She figured she’d stay in the one she’d slept in last time, so she went straight there. But the memories of last time washed over her the moment she stepped through the doorframe.

  The bed looked the same. It had the same cobalt-blue comforter neatly made over the mattress with the same white accent pillows over the top of it. The TV on the wall was new, but she wouldn’t have needed that when she’d been there last. She’d been in the company of her ex-husband and watching cable hadn’t ever been on their itinerary.

  She’d known she’d have these feelings when she’d agreed to do this for Rachel. The failure. The guilt. The desire to go back and fix it all. She couldn’t though, so she left her suitcase in the room and peeked down the hall at the rest of the house.

  The bathroom had been redone, and Rachel hadn’t been kidding. The tub was even more luxurious than she remembered. She was definitely taking bubble baths after walking Otis each night. This was vacation. Not the luxurious Paris getaway she’d imagined with Jared all those years ago though. A working vacation. She’d need the rest and relaxation of a warm soak in a clawfoot tub. Obviously.

  The wood flooring looked new too. She thought she recalled carpet in the hallways, and that was only because she remembered a time when Jared was testing an outlet near the baseboards and got rugburn on his knees from going from the outlet to the light switch so many times in shorts. Inwardly, she laughed at the memory, but when the humor faded, the sadness settled in. She released a held breath along with those feelings and went back downstairs.

  Hailey’s next stop had to be the kitchen. That looked remodeled as well. All stainless-steel appliances gleamed in the afternoon light pouring through the window by the sink. The stone tile on the floor felt solid and expensive under her feet, and the island in the middle of the room was brand new. It hadn’t been there before. It would all be perfect for cupcake baking.

  Again, she wondered where all of this money had come from. Rachel hadn’t mentioned doing any of this, and Hailey didn’t think she or Brad had the money for this kind of thing. But it wasn’t her business. It looked nice, and she appreciated what was available to her for the week.

  When her tour was over, she spotted Otis on his blankets in the living room. She bent over to pet him, hoping to get in some early snuggle time with the dog she’d last seen when he was just a puppy. But the front door started to creak as a key was placed inside the lock and the knob turned. That got Otis’s attention, and he rose to his full height to dash straight for the door. In his excitement, he bowled Hailey right over, which knocked her back into the solid-oak coffee table.

  Pain shot straight from her shoulder down her arm and into her chest. She tried to get up, but the a deep ache radiated and worsened with every movement. She’d never felt anything like this kind of agony before. That was mostly because she pictured her cupcake-baking ability flying right out the window if anything serious had happened. The pain was bad, but she didn’t want to lose out on a national vendor because the dog had accidentally knocked her over in the first ten minutes of being on vacation.

  However, that pain wasn’t nearly as bad as the kind that subsequently hit her when the door opened. Not only was she hurt, but she was sprawled on the floor in front of him now. This was no way to make a new first impression.

  She’d forgotten to even question who was trying to enter the house while hurting that badly. But she wished she had because then she might have been prepared for a sight she hadn’t seen since her divorce.

  Jared. Her ex-husband.

  2

  “Yeah, I know,” Jared Brantley said into his phone. Now that he was through his sister’s front door, he used his hand instead of his shoulder to hold it. Then he shut the door to make sure Otis didn’t get out. He wasn’t going to chase a two-hundred-pound dog down the street. “But I’m the one who makes the calls. And if they want a meeting on Thursday, I’ll be the one to call them.”

  Otis greeted him in his usual way: a gentle shove with his big head. But then the dog went over to the rug in the living room, which wasn’t usual. And there, Jared saw something he hadn’t expected to see while visiting his sister.

  His ex-wife. Hailey.

  On the floor, clutching her shoulder and wincing in pain, no less.

  “…vacation though. I can be the one to—” Thomas was saying on the other end.

  Jared didn’t catch most of it, but the little he did made no difference. Vacation was no excuse not to work in his book. He hadn’t built a multibillion-dollar meal kit parent company by taking time off.

  “Look, uh…” he said to Thomas, trailing off as Hailey’s gaze met his. “I gotta go.” Then he ended the call with his chief operating officer, silently promising to call him back later. “Hailey?” he asked in disbelief as he stuffed his phone back into the pocket of his black slacks.

  “Yeah,” she croaked out, attempting to get up. But she fell back the moment she put pressure on her right arm and hissed a breath out through her clenched teeth. Then she managed to ask, “What are you doing here?” while clearly still in pain.

  He glanced from her to the door. “I’m visiting my sister. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m dog—” was all she said before a groan flew out of her mouth.

  Snapping out of his surprise, he rushed over to her and knelt near her legs. “What happened?”

  With her head, she gestured toward Otis. “He knocked me down,” she said and then took a breath, “to get to the door.”

  Jared looked over at the dog, who appeared sorry if a dog could appear that way. He hung his head and lay down, resting his head on
his paws.

  “It’s okay,” Hailey said between breaths. “He didn’t mean t—” Another wave of pain hit her and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  “What can I do?” he asked. But before she could answer, the memory of the last time he said that to her punched him in the gut.

  He’d asked what he could do to fix their marriage, not fix her shoulder. All he could do was hope that her answer was different than it was before. Nothing wasn’t going to cut it this time.

  With her eyes closed, she measured her breathing, and he watched her, not knowing what else to do. Her blond hair was a lot shorter than it used to be. It had a messy-styled quality to it that made her look like she hadn’t aged a day in the last seven years. Her skin was the same creamy shade of tan he’d loved when they’d been together though. He dared to think she was even more beautiful than before and that didn’t do anything good to his heart.

  They hadn’t divorced because he’d fallen out of love with her, and his traitorous memory wouldn’t let him forget that.

  “I think my shoulder is dislocated,” Hailey gritted out. “Can you put it back?” When she tried to sit up, she couldn’t put any pressure on the right side.

  Jared reached a hand out to help her. “I don’t think I can do that. Maybe I should just take you to the hospital.”

  She vehemently shook her head. “No. It’s just dislocated. And I can’t take any med—” She suddenly sucked air in through her teeth. “Please do it.” When she opened her eyes, the chocolate brown he used to get lost in stared back at him.