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Isaac took a long, deep breath. He was shaking. He was fuming. He wasn’t used to being told ‘no’.
“What’s the matter, Isaac?” his aunt taunted him. “The thought of settling down with just one girl makes your blood run cold? Got too many wild oats to sow?”
Isaac stood up, looking down at his aunt. “I offered you an opportunity,” he told her. “An opportunity to buy whatever you wanted for the rest of your life. All the Squirt your heart desired. Shares in the damncompany, if you wanted. Clothes with slogans on them. Vacations. Cars. Happiness.“ He composed himself. “But you threw away that opportunity, Aunt Meg. And you’re throwing away this ranch with it. Those cattle out there are close to death. And this land won’t be fit for anything if you let it fall apart much more.”
Aunt Meg blinked at him, unmoved. “Guess that’s just the way it’s gotta be.”
Isaac could taste the bitterness in his throat. He wanted this ranch almost as much as he wanted oxygen. It was his. It didn’t make sense that his aunt got to keep it. His parents always told him it would be his when they died.
“Think about it,” said Isaac. “Twenty million dollars. My offer stays open.”
“So does mine.” Aunt Meg crossed her arms. “Get married or go home.”
Go home.
Thiswashis home.
Isaac said goodbye with a heavy feeling inside, like he’d just eaten a lump of lead.
As he walked out of the ranch, he thought about how different things would have been if this place was his. Green grass. Fresh air. Fat, happy cattle with a load of happy fat, happy ranchers looking after them. He wouldn’t deal with the animals himself, of course, because of his allergy, but that was okay. He could play to his strengths. Build some kind of lucrative side hustle on the land: a dude ranch or a luxury hotel, with a small cabin tucked away at the back of the grounds. Somewhere for him to relax at the weekends. Maybe, if he’d had this place, he’d never have gone to Miami at all.
He didn’t even look at Aunt Meg as he stepped out of the front door. But he couldn’t resist walking around the side of the building after he left her, to take a look at his parents’ graves. Maybe say a few quick words to them before Aunt Meg kicked him off the property.
As soon as he turned the corner, though, he froze. His parents’ graves were there. He could still see the wooden crosses over the spot they’d been put in the ground. But Aunt Meg had dumped something on top of the graves: an old, dirty mattress.
Immediately, a hot fire of determination began to burn in the pit of his stomach.
This wasn’t the end.
It was just the beginning.
He’d do whatever it took. He’d do it for them.
Chapter Four
PEACH
PeachandKierawalkedbarefoot along the beach. They’d both left their shoes back at the hotel, because you could do things like that in Miami. Peach was wearing a PAW Patrol t-shirt and PAW Patrol shorts, and Kiera wore a neon pink sundress. Peach rarely wore dresses because she was self-conscious about her figure. She was definitely on the curvier side, though her friends always assured her that her body was catnip for men.
Peach was carrying a bag of buckets and spades and they were looking for exactly the right spot to make the world’s biggest sandcastle.
“This beach is the best,” said Kiera.
Peach agreed. “Teddy seems to like it too.”
Teddyadoredthe beach. He was running around in circles, barking in that ear-piercing way of his that Peach had learned to love.
“Well, who wouldn’t?” said Kiera. “It’s paradise here. I love everything about it.”
“Except that jerk from Daisy’s office. What was his name again? Isaac.” Peach pretended like it took her a minute to remember Isaac’s name, but it didn’t. He’d been on her mind almost constantly since yesterday. She was still feeling sore about the way he’d spoken to her.
Getting told off was always upsetting, but getting told off by a handsome billionaire was upsettingandconfusing. She didn’t know why, but she’d woken up having a dirty dream about Isaac. She’d felt it so strongly — his face buried deep between her thighs, eating her up like she was a warm slice of pie. She hadn’t told Daisy or Kiera about it, though. Much too weird.
“Oh yeah. Except for that meanie,” Kiera agreed.
Peach was eager to change the subject. “I kinda wish I didn’t have to go back to Connecticut.”
Kiera stopped walking all of a sudden, grabbing on to Peach’s arm. “I feel the same way! I feel like I could just stay here forever.”
