Healing the Billionaire Read online

  “A Vitamix,” she said longingly. That thing had been super expensive, but it was worth every penny. Even when she wasn’t making cupcakes, she was using it. It did everything she needed.

  Unlike the twenty-dollar blender every kitchen was usually stocked with—just like Rachel’s. It would never do. She started to feel hopeless, but as a baker, challenges arose all the time. She’d just have to figure it out with the ingredients she had on hand—ones that didn’t need to be blended. She prayed that Rachel used pure maple syrup.

  As she fumbled around the kitchen looking for the syrup, Jared took his phone off the table and his fingers flew over the device. He was probably checking email and working on closing some deal for his business. That’s what he always used to do when he was building his tech company. The phone was practically attached to his hands during the entirety of their marriage. If it wasn’t an email, it was a phone call or another deal he was trying to land for a partnership or a bulk order of servers. It looked to Hailey like things hadn’t changed a bit, even when he was away from work. She wondered what that new wife he might have thought about that. If it affected her as much as it had affected Hailey.

  “Ugh,” Hailey moaned when she couldn’t find what she was looking for. “Do you know if your sister has maple syrup anywhere?” She kept her gaze inside the fridge as she waited for the answer.

  “No, but I still need to go get your prescriptions,” he said. When she peeked at him, he still had his head down toward his phone. “I can get some while I’m doing that if you want.”

  He lifted his head and the earnest expression on his face confused her. He actually looked like he wanted to help. Like he didn’t mind taking a few moments out of his day to do something for her. It was the look she’d wanted to see the entire time they’d been married, but he’d been so focused on his job.

  Maybe things had changed. Maybe he’d changed.

  Hailey tried to still her wildly beating heart as she nodded absently. “Thanks,” she muttered.

  Smiling, Jared nodded once and then left the kitchen. The jingling of keys signaled that he really was about to do what he’d just said he’d do. Then the door opened and closed and Hailey felt like she’d been transported to another dimension.

  Since when did Jared Brantley drop everything to do something for her? Especially now that she was his ex-wife?

  She shook that question off. It didn’t matter, really. He’d do that thing where he’d appear to have changed, but eventually, when a work crisis came up, he’d choose that over her. She couldn’t let this change her mind about him, not when she had so much on the line for her own business. So she went back to the ingredients she did have and decided to make the best of this first trial run. She was Hailey Cumberland, owner of CumberCakes and vegan cupcake extraordinaire. She’d figure it out.

  She always did.

  6

  On his way out the door, Jared pulled up the number for his contact at Vitamix. Being one of the top dogs in the food service industry had its perks, and he was about to put that to good use.

  For Hailey.

  He didn’t want to think about that part or else he’d fall down the rabbit hole. Because what had happened in the kitchen? When his fingers had touched hers, it was like he’d melded to her and couldn’t let go—just like it’d been before with her. He’d never wanted his marriage to end, and it hadn’t been more apparent than it was in that moment.

  Over the years, he’d been able to stuff it down and forget about it. When he’d sold his tech company for a quarter of a billion dollars and gone into the meal-kit-delivery industry, he’d launched himself into it. He would have been happy with two hundred and fifty million dollars, but with no one to share it with, he went full throttle into something else. Now, it was like the pieces were clicking into place and he could see why that deal had landed in his lap.

  So he could much more easily get what Hailey needed to make her deal happen.

  When his contact there picked up the phone, he said, “Hey, Celeste. It’s Jared from Easy Chef. I’m wondering if I could place a rush order on a Vitamix to be delivered to my sister’s house in Portland. Any chance that could happen, say, today?”

  “For you?” Celeste asked, a light lilt to her voice. “Of course.”

  Celeste walked him through the ordering process, taking his information and giving him all the details on the delivery. When she mentioned that it’d cost one hundred dollars to have it shipped and delivered on the same day, he merely chuckled and told her that it wouldn’t be a problem. Then they wrapped the call up and Jared got into his car to pick up Hailey’s prescriptions, satisfied that things were going smoothly.

  On his way to the store to get her medicine, he thought about money and how much different his life was. With Hailey back in the picture—even if briefly—he couldn’t help but reminisce. One hundred dollars to have something shipped would have been laughable for a whole different reason back when they’d been married. She would have lost her mind over him even thinking about spending that kind of money on anything, let alone on shipping for a seven-hundred-dollar blender. Not because she’d been that worried about money, but she’d been that worried about him.

  Hailey had understood his determination to prove his parents wrong. All the times his father had told him he was worthless and stupid had fueled his fire to finally become something. Hailey had encouraged him every step of the way to do just that, but that included being frugal with their money—especially when it became their money after the wedding. His parents hadn’t wanted him to do that, either. But they’d eloped with the help of Hailey’s parents, who’d soon after moved from Maine to Arizona to enjoy an early retirement. Jared made a mental note to ask about them soon.

  While they’d been together, Hailey had wanted to see him succeed. But in the end, she’d felt like his success was at her expense. He’d been so determined to make something of himself that he’d lost sight of keeping his marriage healthy. So she’d felt the need to leave. And he hadn’t been able to stop her. He’d wanted to, but at the same time, he hadn’t. If she needed to go in order to be happy, he’d let her. And that’s what happened. All he wanted was for her to be happy.

  Was she though? He couldn’t tell.

  With being in so much pain, she probably wasn’t acting the way she normally would. He didn’t know what normal looked like for her, but he did want to find out. He hoped she’d take these pills instead of refusing medication like she had at the hospital. He just wanted her to feel better.

  She seemed really focused on her cupcakes, so he hoped those were making her happy. He added that to his mental list of things to talk to Hailey about—when things weren’t so tense and awkward from seeing each other again for the first time since the divorce.

  At the pharmacy of the grocery store, he dropped the prescriptions off and then went to find maple syrup. He wasn’t sure how much she needed, so he grabbed three thirty-two-ounce jugs and hoped for the best. If she needed more, he’d go get it. What else did he have to do without his sister home for this visit?

  That reminded him of a a third thing to ask Hailey about when he got back.

  Her prescriptions weren’t going to be ready after five minutes in the syrup aisle, so he checked out and left, deciding to come back when they called him. She’d toughed it out this long without any meds, so he figured she’d be okay for another hour or two.

  When he got back to his sister’s house, the kitchen smelled amazing: like peanut butter and something sweet. He dropped the bag of maple syrup jugs on the table and took a deep breath to get a good whiff of whatever Hailey was just pulling out of the oven. Even though there was flour all over the counter and a bowl with the sticky remnants of a batter needed to be washed—something she wouldn’t have let sit for too long before—she looked…

  Blissful.

  When the cupcake tin hit the top of the stove, she closed her eyes and inhaled. A smile grew on her lips, reaching her eyes. For that momen
t, she didn’t look like she was in any pain. In fact, she didn’t look like she was noticing much at all except for her own handiwork. And her handiwork looked delicious. He didn’t want to break the bubble she was in, but he really wanted to try one of those.

  “What did you make for your first batch?” he asked, leaving the bag behind to approach the oven.

  She startled, jumping a bit, but when she settled, she eyed him with a grin. “They’re peanut butter banana. Perfect for—”

  Before she could finish, he reached for one, not caring that they’d just come out of the oven.

  “Wait!” she shrieked, laughing. “They’re hot! They need to cool!”

  Jared simply shook his head. He hadn’t yet eaten breakfast, and a freshly baked cupcake sounded like the perfect way to remedy that. Plus, he wanted to try Hailey’s recipe. He’d always loved when she’d dabbled in baking before, and he imagined she’d only gotten better if she’d opened up a cupcake business.

  However…

  One bite of this one made him wonder if she’d gone into the right line of work.

  Once it’d cooled enough, he chewed a lot more slowly, trying to decipher if there was anything else in these besides peanut butter and banana. Didn’t cupcakes need flour? Eggs? And something to actually make it taste good?

  “Oh no, is something wrong?” she asked, concern written all over her face.

  “N-no,” he said slowly, stuttering over the word. “It’s…”

  She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to finish. “It’s what?”

  He finished chewing and swallowed the bite, unsure what to say. It definitely wasn’t the best cupcake he’d had, and in his line of work, he’d tried lots.

  “You can tell me,” she said, trying to fold her arms over her chest. But that caused her pain, so she winced and let them fall. “What did you think?”

  “Well…” He took another bite, in part to stall and in part to see if maybe he’d missed something the first time around. But…he hadn’t. “They’re interesting,” he finally said.

  “Interesting?” she repeated, her eyebrows rising again. Then she placed her left hand on her hip. “That’s not exactly a glowing recommendation.”

  “I mean…” He held a finger up and then popped the rest of the cupcake into his mouth.

  “It’s okay. I’ll take interesting,” she said, a smirk curling the corner of her mouth. “Considering they’re cupcakes for dogs.”

  With that, he stopped chewing and his own eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. Then he gulped the last remaining bits of the cupcake.

  After a drawn-out silence, Hailey burst into laughter, her right arm bent to support her shoulder in her hysterics. “Oh my goodness! You should see the look on your face!” Pointing a finger at him, she cracked up. Then she sighed out the last of her giggles and took a cupcake from the tin to peel the wrapper back.

  Jared had to admit that he’d missed Hailey’s laughter. At the end of their relationship, there hadn’t been much of it, so it was like music to his ears now. The cadence of it took him right back to better times, when they’d been happy and playful—the people they used to be together before jobs and life got in the way.

  Now that she’d settled down though, he was confused. “So…they aren’t cupcakes for dogs?” he asked, brushing the crumbs off his hands.

  “Oh, they are,” she said before picking a piece off the cupcake and blowing on it. “Otis! Come here, boy.”

  When the St. Bernard had lumbered his way over to Hailey, she patted him on the head and told him to sit. Like the good boy Otis was, he did as he’d been told. Then Hailey gave him the cooled-off piece of cupcake and straightened her posture, waiting to see what he thought of it.

  His answer was to sniff his way to the rest of the cupcake in Hailey’s hand and steal it right from her grip.

  Hailey’s surprise made her eyes flash wide as she giggled again. She winced in pain right after, but with a hand on her shoulder and a happy grin on her face, she seemed okay. Laughter was supposedly a good medicine, but he didn’t think it’d miraculously heal a dislocated shoulder. Still, he loved seeing her that carefree and happy.

  Laughter looked good on her. It made her short hair sway as her head bobbed, and she tucked some of it behind her ear with her non-slobbered-on hand. Then she went to the sink to wash her hands, hissing through her teeth as she lifted her arm.

  “Oh, your prescriptions are being filled. I’ll pick them up later,” he said, her show of pain reminding him. “In the meantime”—he went to the kitchen table—“I got these. I wasn’t sure how much you needed…” His voice faded as he took the three jugs from the bag.

  When she spun around, her eyes widened. “Oh, whoa! That’s a ton of maple syrup.” She grinned, but that died down before she said, “How much do I owe you for those?”

  Jared pressed his lips into a thin line, letting moments pass as he thought about how to answer. “Nothing. It’s no big deal,” he finally said.

  Hailey’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. She looked like she was going to say something else, but Otis took that moment to put a paw on the counter to get closer to the cupcakes. She burst into action at the same time Jared did, both of them laughing as the dog snagged two, wrappers and all, before he hopped down. Satisfied, he trotted into the living room.

  Which left the two of them alone again.

  Once she’d sobered from the laughter, she plucked the remaining cupcakes from the tin and cleared her throat. “They’re fine for us to eat,” she said, getting serious again. “They’re made with regular ingredients, but they aren’t sweetened how most people like dessert. That’s all.” Then she shrugged with one shoulder.

  “Well, Otis liked them,” he told her, snagging a container for the cupcakes from the cabinet across the kitchen. When he returned to her side, he put it down on the stove for her. “All that matters is your target audience.”

  Slowly, she nodded and put the cupcakes in the container. “I might add it as a new line to my business.” Once they were put away, she secured the top and lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know. We’ll see.” Then she turned her back to him and walked toward the living room.

  He watched her go, appreciating the little bit of information she’d given him.

  But she stopped at the table, placing a tentative hand on the bottles of maple syrup. Peeking up at him briefly, she said, “Thanks for these.” Her hand lingered over the bottles for a moment, and then she ducked her head and left the room.

  The unfamiliar feel of a smile edging across his mouth took him by surprise. He’d missed those moments in their marriage. He hadn’t been paying close enough attention until it was too late, but maybe Thomas was right. Maybe they were getting a second chance. He didn’t want to think about all the reasons why it sounded like a bad idea, because if they hadn’t worked one time, what made them think they’d work a second time? He’d cited distance and their differing views on having children. But maybe he’d use this time to see if those details could be worked out.

  He wasn’t sure if she’d be open to it, but he was determined to find out.

  7

  Hailey hoped a shower would help her feel refreshed and ready to tackle this new cupcake challenge. She wanted to kick herself for not asking Rachel what kind of blender she had, but she’d been so excited for the trip. It was what it was though, and if she was a baker worth her salt, she’d figure it out. She didn’t want to go in there saying that her cupcakes were normally better than the ones she’d brought, so she needed to bring her A-game to the table.

  Too bad a shower wasn’t in the cards for her with how her shoulder was feeling. By the time she reached to turn the shower on, she knew it was time for more ice.

  Back downstairs, she took the peas from the freezer and wondered where Jared had gone. Perhaps he’d done enough non-work activity for the day. He was probably making phone calls or checking emails. That was fine with her. The less time they had to spend together, the bet
ter.

  With Otis for company, she curled up on the couch and put the bag of peas on her shoulder. “What do you think about carob sweet potato cupcakes?” she asked him.

  When she glanced at him, he perked his head up for a moment and then settled back down, releasing a deep dog breath through his nose.

  Hailey wasn’t sure what to make of that answer, but she liked the idea. “Or maybe avocado chocolate walnut?” She weighed that one around in her head and wondered if she could make it work with maple syrup.

  Dates were good because they gave her desserts a richer, naturally sweetened flavor without any sugar. Plus, they weren’t a liquid like maple syrup, so she had more room to play with other ingredients. Maple syrup had a distinct flavor, and she liked it better on things like pancakes, waffles, and—

  “Oh!” she gasped. “What about a French toast cupcake?” The idea of that made butterflies swarm her stomach, which meant she was onto something. That feeling always accompanied her strokes of genius. So she shot to her feet and bounced into the kitchen, excited to get to work.

  Most of the dry ingredients were still out on the counter, so she found a few wet ones she needed, opened one jug of maple syrup, and started measuring and mixing. If this sample run worked, she’d test a larger batch so it was ready for production when she got back home. If it didn’t, she’d rework it until it did. She was just happy that she’d been bitten by the inspiration bug again.

  The last several months had been a disaster of trial and error. She’d been bogged down with doctors appointments, clinical tests, and testing different medications to see what would work for her. New cupcake recipes weren’t panning out, so she’d relied upon the oldies but goodies to see her through. At various summer farmers markets, she had done pretty well, but summer was winding down in Maine, so she needed to refresh the business with new recipes and flavors—or find a new market.