The Billionaire's Convenient Bride (Billionaire Cowboys Book 3) Read online

  She stared at the message for a moment. It wasn’t like him to bail on her without any real form of explanation. Not to mention that they were waiting well past their arranged time to meet.

  What could have possibly happened for him to miss this?

  “Mama? Is that him?” Zoe asked.

  Marianne pulled herself together to save face in front of her child.

  “Yes. It looks like he won’t be able to make it,” she said.

  As Zoe’s face fell into a mask of disappointment, Marianne’s stomach twisted with an uncomfortable feeling.

  He had let her down.

  “Does he not want to meet me?” Zoe asked in a small voice.

  Marianne shook her head.

  “Of course that’s not it. It looks like he had something important he had to tend to. It has nothing to do with us, okay?”

  Zoe appeared unconvinced.

  “Okay…” she said.

  Marianne knelt down so that she met Zoe at her level.

  “I’m telling the truth, honey. I’m sure he’s just as disappointed.”

  Zoe kept her gaze on the ground.

  “Hey,” Marianne said, nodding in the direction of the zoo, “What do you say we get some cotton candy while we visit the giraffes?”

  That turned Zoe’s mood around instantly. Her little head bobbed with a wild nod. Marianne stood and held out her hand, which Zoe took without hesitation, and together they bought a pair of tickets and walked through the entryway to the zoo.

  Marianne held it together as they strolled past the monkey enclosure. She acted excited as they made their way past the lions and then through the aquatic area to see the penguins and the seals. She glanced at her phone every so often, and was always let down.

  He didn’t say a single word after that initial message. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

  What could have possibly been so important that he would bail on the most important meeting of her life? Did he have any idea how much courage it had taken her to open up to him, to even consider letting him meet Zoe?

  Her disappointment was slowly burning into anger, and she held it all inside as Zoe jumped up and down, running from exhibit to exhibit.

  “Mama! It’s a peacock! Look at its tail!”

  “That’s so cool!” Marianne said.

  They stopped and got the promised cotton candy by the giraffe enclosure, though Marianne’s stomach had soured long before. She picked at the blue cloud on her stick and placed a small amount on her tongue, where it dissolved.

  Was her relationship with Jay like this cotton candy? Fun and delightful for a moment, but so easy to dissolve into nothingness?

  Somehow, she managed to hold herself together as Zoe made them take several laps around the entire zoo. There were animal demonstrations and many, many exhibits on display, and Zoe insisted on asking detailed questions about every single one.

  Marianne’s feet ached with every step as they finally collapsed onto a bench, Zoe looking at a paper map with animal pictures on it.

  “I think we’ve seen everything we can,” Zoe said.

  “You do?” Marianne asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

  She felt so awful about Jay’s disappearance that she didn’t have the heart to cut their trip short before Zoe was ready. It meant being there several hours longer than she would have preferred, but when she saw the glow of wonder in Zoe’s eyes, she didn’t have the heart to tell her they should go home.

  “Do you think we missed anything?” Zoe asked.

  “Nope,” Marianne said, perhaps a little too quickly.

  Fortunately, Zoe didn’t pick up on that.

  “Maybe we should go get some dinner,” she said.

  “We have dinner at home,” Marianne said.

  Zoe climbed across the bench and snuggled against Marianne’s side.

  “Yes, we do. But we don’t have pizza,” Zoe said, wiggling her eyebrows at her mother.

  Marianne laughed and wrapped an arm around her daughter.

  “You think you’re so sneaky, don’t you?”

  “No,” Zoe said. “I’m…persuasive.”

  Marianne lifted an impressed eyebrow.

  “Nice word,” she said.

  “Thanks. Isaac taught it to me at school.”

  “Well way to go Isaac,” Marianne said.

  She released a sigh and sat upright, turning to face Zoe.

  “You really want pizza?” she asked.

  Zoe nodded, giving her the most pleading smile Marianne had ever seen.

  “All right. Pizza it is,” Marianne said.

  “Yes!”

  Zoe leapt off the bench as Marianne stood, shifting her feet in her sneakers to work out some of the ache. She took Zoe’s hand and together they walked out of the zoo and back to her car, where they made quick work of driving to their favorite pizza place.

  Marianne opened the door as Zoe walked in, and they made their way to the counter.

  “Well, if it isn’t two of my favorite ladies!”

  Frankie, one of the regulars that worked there, winked at Zoe, and she grinned up at him as she rested her arms on the counter.

  “You look tired,” Frankie observed, lifting a furry silver brow at Zoe.

  “We went to the zoo,” she said.

  “Ah. That sounds like a blast!” Frankie replied.

  Zoe nodded, her little chin bouncing against the countertop.

  “It was, but we were supposed to meet a friend of my mom’s there, and then he said he couldn’t go.”

  Marianne and Frankie exchanged a quick look, and she wondered just how much he was able to infer from Zoe’s story. He released a heavy sigh for Zoe’s benefit.

  “I know that can be frustrating, but life has a way of interrupting our fun sometimes. I’m sure whatever that friend was doing, they would have been much happier being with you.”

  “Mama thinks so, too,” Zoe said.

  Marianne placed a hand on Zoe’s shoulder as she ordered them some pizza slices and iced tea, which Frankie readily produced, and they took a seat in their usual booth.

  Marianne’s head was aching from being out in the afternoon sun, but there was something more to it. All she could hear was her mother’s voice, pounding in her head.

  Trust a man by his actions, not his words.

  Was her mother right about him? Was Marianne blinded by her attraction, by whatever spell he had cast on her?

  Then again, could she really be so quick to doubt him? Granted, she had some baggage, and she was fully aware of it. She was afraid, deep down, that she would be left alone again to fend for herself.

  She didn’t want to go through that again. She didn’t want to put Zoe through it, either.

  “Mama, why do you look so mad?” Zoe asked.

  Marianne realized her shoulders were tense, her brows knit as she was lost in thought. She forced herself to relax, sitting back in her seat as she reached for her pizza and took a bite.

  “I was just lost in thought,” she said.

  “How do you get lost in thought? Aren’t thoughts in your brain?”

  Marianne couldn’t help the little twitch of a smile that brought to her lips. Zoe had the most interesting questions and thoughts, and she loved exploring the world with her young daughter.

  “Well, sometimes you get lost traveling inside your head, and it can make your face look a little grumpy, but really you’re just thinking.”

  “What are you thinking about?” Zoe asked.

  Marianne considered her answer before she spoke.

  “I was thinking about the future,” she said.

  “Like when robots are our friends?” Zoe asked.

  Marianne laughed.

  “Not that far ahead in the future. Just, what we’ll do over the next couple of months and years.”

  “Why are you thinking about that? We haven’t even finished with today, yet!”

  Zoe bit into her pizza. Marianne leaned in and gently stroked her daughter’s hair.

/>   “You are very wise, you know that?” Marianne asked.

  Zoe shrugged.

  “Sure. Do you want your crust?” Zoe said, gesturing toward Marianne’s pizza.

  Marianne slid her paper plate across the table toward Zoe.

  “It’s all yours. You worked up quite an appetite!” she said.

  “I’m starving,” Zoe said, gobbling up the last of Marianne’s pizza.

  “You ready?” Marianne asked as Zoe leaned back against the plush plastic backing of the booth.

  Zoe nodded, her eyes drooping a little.

  “Yeah. Let’s go home,” Zoe said.

  They bid farewell to Frankie as they departed the pizza parlor, jumping into the car and driving the few short blocks back to their apartment. When they stepped inside, Zoe announced that she would like to take a bath, and Marianne set her up to soak and play for a little while.

  As Zoe bathed, Marianne plopped onto the sofa and closed her eyes, leaning back to rest her body. Her mind, on the other hand, was another matter entirely.

  She glanced over at the kitchen table, where she’d left her purse. Her phone hadn’t made another sound since she’d last checked it, but she had the urge to look again, to see if there was something she missed, somehow.

  She pressed her palms against the sofa to lift herself from the comfortable seat as she padded over on tired feet toward her purse. She grasped her phone and brought it back to the couch, sinking back in as she unlocked the touchscreen and opened her text messages.

  There was nothing there. She knew that would be the case. So why did she feel the need to look? Perhaps she should have responded, but when that was all he’d said, she didn’t feel the need to say anything. Wouldn’t he be curious that she had no response? Wouldn’t he wonder if he had done something to upset her?

  Wouldn’t he explain himself a little more?

  Something felt so terribly wrong with all of this. Marianne tossed her phone onto the coffee table and crossed her arms, engaging in an inner battle with herself as she fought back and forth on how to handle the situation.

  The smart thing to do—the mature thing to do—would be to simply text back and demand an explanation. No, not demand. Ask. She was jumping to conclusions, believing that he was somehow behaving with nefarious intentions, when given her experience spending time with him, she had no reason to believe that to be the case.

  The sound of the bathtub plug being pulled and water draining reached her, and Marianne waited a moment before she stood up once again and headed down the hall. Zoe was already dressed in her pajamas and was brushing her brown hair with a little comb.

  Marianne sat on the bed and patted the space next to her.

  “Come on. Let me help with that.”

  Zoe nodded, clearly too tired to protest anything, even if she wanted to. She handed Marianne the brush and instead snuggled onto her lap. Marianne began working out the tangles in Zoe’s hair, carefully brushing each section until the wet tendrils were nice and smooth.

  “Did you have fun today?” Marianne asked.

  “Yeah,” Zoe said, covering a yawn. “I liked the giraffes and the cotton candy.”

  Marianne chuckled as she set the brush down and wrapped her arms around her little girl.

  “I thought we saw quite a bit more than that,” Marianne said.

  Zoe shrugged.

  “Those were the best parts.”

  “Fair enough,” Marianne said, releasing her grip on Zoe and guiding her beneath the sheets of her bed.

  Zoe’s eyes were hooded as she gazed up at Marianne.

  “What was your favorite part?” Zoe asked.

  Marianne tilted her head in thought.

  “Hmm,” she said, considering.

  Truth be told, she hadn’t paid much attention to the zoo, consumed as she was with curiosity about Jay’s actions. Or lack thereof, anyway.

  “I think I liked the penguins,” Marianne finally said.

  Zoe crinkled her nose.

  “But they smell like fish,” she protested.

  Marianne nodded.

  “Yep. And they’re cute enough to make up for the stinky smell. Just like your toes.”

  Marianne reached down and tickled Zoe’s feet. Zoe giggled and curled her feet up to hide them, and Marianne placed a gentle kiss on her child’s forehead.

  “Good night, sweet pea,” Marianne said.

  “Night,” Zoe mumbled, her eyes already closed.

  Marianne turned off the light and closed the door behind her, finally allowing her own wave of exhaustion to wash over her as she headed back down the hall toward the living room.

  She considered opening a bottle of wine. It certainly had been an exhausting day, both mentally and physically, and Marianne was ready to soothe her frayed nerves.

  She sidestepped into the kitchen and poured a glass of merlot, then sat at the kitchen table and took a sip, savoring in the sensation of warm heat that relaxed her to the core.

  That was when her phone finally decided to beep, and she stared at it, not sure what she would find on the screen.

  Chapter 23

  Marianne

  Marianne set her glass on the table and walked over to the living room, where the light from her cell phone glowed into the darkness. She reached over and plucked it off the table, then read the screen.

  It was from her mother.

  Perhaps your billionaire beau isn’t such a bad guy after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Marianne stared at the text, bewildered.

  Why would her mom all of a sudden have a soft spot for Jay? And what had her excited enough to use so many exclamation points?

  Tapping out of the text, Marianne opened up a browser on her phone and sat back down on the couch as she did a search for Jay’s name. The first article was a picture of his back as he shook hands with someone at a gala event. It was several months old, so she updated the search criteria to the latest article, and her eyes widened.

  The headline was simple but powerful.

  Brunscorp Resolves Financial Snafu, Funds Returned to Retirees

  Marianne scrolled to the body of the article and read it as fast as she could.

  Months after hundreds of former Brunscorp employees lost their 401(k) savings, there are reports that the external auditing firm instilled by company president, Jay Parish, has finally filed its last report. Findings show that Brunscorp was not responsible for the loss of funds. It has been reported that the private equity firm responsible for investing the funds is to blame for the loss, and Parish has made it clear that the firm will be responsible for compensating the wronged employees.

  Marianne gasped. Her mother would be getting her money back! It was the moment they’d been waiting for so long! She pored over the article as it continued.

  In the wake of the report being filed, Brunscorp CEO Jay Parish has also been granted an investor’s green card, provided due to the many years of philanthropic work and investments Parish made in the local economy. When asked about his questionable citizenship, Parish declined to comment except to say that he would continue to do his best to invest in the great region of Brunswood and the great state of Texas.

  At the time of this report, there are no further updates on this story.

  Marianne blinked. So many thoughts raced through her mind at once. She wondered how Jay felt, coming out about his citizenship status. She was filled with joy for her mother, who would be rightfully compensated after such a long period of struggle.

  And, in the end, she felt nothing but crushing, gut-wrenching heartache.

  There was a reason Jay hadn’t joined them at the zoo. He didn’t need her anymore.

  He had his green card, gotten through other means. They’d had an agreement, after all. If Jay could get that investor’s green card, there was no reason to continue the façade with Marianne of an impending marriage, was there?

  Hot tears burned in Marianne’s eyes as she came to the harsh realization that Jay clearly was ghosting her, n
ow that she was no longer part of his plan. She’d been such a fool, letting herself fall for his charms. Letting herself fall in love…

  She was an idiot! How could she be so blind, to let him manipulate her like that? Her mother was right before…she fell for his tricks hook, line, and sinker! And she’d nearly introduced him to Zoe.

  Tears escaped her eyes and formed cool streaks down her cheeks. She picked up her phone and opened up Jay’s text again, then she began to type.

  “I saw the news. Don’t you ever bother trying to contact me again. I can’t believe that you…” she whispered as she typed.

  Before she could finish that statement, there was a gentle knock at her door. Her head shot up as her heart raced, pounding against her ribs. Who would possibly be at her door at this time of night? Marianne never had visitors, and no one solicited this late.

  Cautious, Marianne set her phone down and padded quietly to the door. She listened for a moment, wondering if the person had gone away. Her ear was pressed against the door when another knock came, slightly louder.

  “Who is it?” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

  “Marianne, please open the door.”

  Her whole body grew warm at the sound of Jay’s voice. She considered yelling at him. Keeping him out and telling him to go away would feel so good.

  But would it?

  In spite of her hurt and anger, he was there, wasn’t he? Didn’t he deserve a chance to explain himself?

  She certainly deserved to have some answers, anyway.

  She unlocked the door and pulled it open to find Jay, and her eyes widened in surprise.

  He was disheveled, his white shirt wrinkled and slightly stained with sweat. His hair was ruffled, and there was a five o’clock shadow on his chin, giving him a rugged appearance as he stood in her doorway, his gaze warm upon her. He lifted a hand to reach out to her, but when he noticed her expression, he lowered it back to his side.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I let you down today.”

  It wasn’t quite what she was expecting. Marianne was primed for an argument, some way to let off the steam that had been building inside of her all day. Instead, with his instant apology, the fire in her was very quickly doused.

  “You were supposed to meet Zoe. The most important person in my life,” she said, her voice barely audible. “Instead, I get one text that you’re not coming with no other explanation to go with it and no other communication afterward. I had to explain to my disappointed daughter that it wasn’t her fault you didn’t come.”