Page 11 of Billionaire Hunt

“Yep,” said Lacey, answering the rhetorical question. This time Jude outright laughed.

“Okay, well yes, he was all those things, but I realized he’s also hardworking, compassionate, entrepreneurial, and a saint for putting up with me all these years without reinforcements,” Oliver finished.

“Amen to that,” Jude said, making the rest of us chuckle.

“Well, I know I’m not easy. And I want to thank Jude anyway for putting up with me. And I want to thank him for keeping his mother’s memory alive. Your mother was a wonderful person and you’re following in her footsteps with all the great work you did establishing and growing Ophelia’s Angels in her honor. She would be proud of you, of all the good you’re doing. I’m proud of you. I don’t deserve a son like you. Thanks for putting up with this old fool.”

Everyone was shocked by Oliver’s sincere words. He was always a blunt person, but he didn’t really talk about his feelings or show much emotion.

I looked up at Jude, as I swallowed back the lump that had formed in my throat, knowing that my parents would never say the same to me, and watched as Jude wordlessly stood up, crossed around the table and gave his dad a hug. He kissed him on the top of his bald head and then said, “Sit down, old man. We’re not here to listen to your excuses for years of inadequacies. That’s for your therapist. Let’s eat.”

We all chuckled, including Oliver, and began to pass around the food when Lacey started hitting her glass with her fork.

She smiled widely as if she had a secret to tell and she just couldn’t wait to tell us. “I also have something to say.”

“Oh god, not you too. Not another heartfelt speech. What happened to my stoic, emotionless family? Who are these aliens that have replaced them?” lamented Jude.

“Hush you,” Lacey said softly. “While we’re all here, I wanted to make an announcement.” She took a deep breath, looked around at all of us and shook her glass at us. “There’s apple cider in here, not champagne...Who wants to guess why?”

I frowned, not understanding. “Oh, for goodness sake, don’t tell me you gave up drinking. Now who am I going to go to happy hour with?” I was suddenly feeling cross.

Lacey smiled furtively. “We can go to happy hour together in about six months...if I can find a nanny!” She said the nanny part in a sing-song voice.

My eyes widened at the same time as Emmaline’s. “Oh my god! You’re pregnant,” we said simultaneously.

We both then jumped up and hugged her. The guys got up and congratulated Jude.

Oliver kept blubbering, “I’m going to be a grandfather. A grandfather. Finally! Miracles do happen!”

Excited chatter about Lacey’s announcement filled the room. Lacey and Jude kept smiling at each other. It was pretty adorable. And before I knew it, we were all done with our food. I said my goodbyes occupied by the news Lacey just dropped on us.

Yes, I was happy for her, but I didn’t really share in her excitement. I wasn’t ever the type of woman who dreamt about her domestic future. I never really dreamt about what my wedding would be like or what my apartment after college would look like. I just pretty much lived in the moment and let life take me wherever. Lacey was the opposite. If she could plan her own funeral posthumously, she would.

As a woman who never wanted kids, or ever fantasized about a family, it was hard for me to relate to the whole excitement over becoming a mom. After all, it’s not like being a mom had ever made my mom happy. The only photo I’d ever seen of her smiling was taken years before I was born. And every photo afterward featured her looking tired and unhappy. Despite this, I never felt my mom didn’t love me, I just felt that she didn’t have the energy or emotional aptitude to show it.

When I had dated Wyatt, we hadn’t discussed children. It had come as a surprise years later when he’d suggested that we try for a baby, that someone like him would even want kids. He was so uptight, so controlling that I didn’t think someone with his personality would ever contemplate having children. There would just be too many unknowns that a parent couldn’t control. He had been shocked to know that I hadn’t wanted to have any. And I had felt guilty for years for depriving him of a child of his own. But he had assured me that wanting children had just been on his “To-do” list so to speak. A role that he had assumed he would perform, and so he hadn’t pushed the issue. He had been disappointed, yes, but he told me he would get over it, that he was too practical to get emotionally distraught over something that we hadn’t even agreed on.

And now he was about to be a father. I briefly thought to myself that maybe if I had given him a baby, more of a family life, he would have come home to me instead of his mystery woman. If I hadn’t been tied up with building my business, then losing my business, and if instead I had focused on home and babies, we would still be together. But I knew it was silly to torture myself with what-ifs.

A baby wouldn’t have saved our relationship. I knew that. A baby would have just meant another innocent person being hurt by our failed marriage.

I was so deep in thought as I made my way to my car that I didn’t hear the footsteps behind me until the person touched my shoulder.

I turned around ready to fight and scream when I saw that it was Erik standing there.

“Woah, don’t punch me. I didn’t mean to startle you. I tried calling out to you, but you didn’t answer.”

I placed my hand over my heart. “You scared me half way to death, you loser.”

He laughed. “I’m sorry...did you just call me a loser?”

I placed my hands on my hips. “Yes. That’s exactly what I called you.”

“You’re feisty.”

“So I’ve been told. So, what can I do for you? Why are you running around stalking me in the middle of the night?”

He laughed. “We were supposed to discuss working together, remember? But if you would rather not take my money...” He let his voice trail off.