Worth Billions (Worth It 1)

My eyes opened and I smelled waffles before the scent of coffee hit my nose.

“We’re going to have to pick up the pace today if we’re going to finish in time,” I said. “We need to start delivering today.”

“Which was why I wanted to finish last night. So I did.”

“What?” I asked.

“I stayed up and mapped out the best way for us to take these routes.”

She slid the map towards me and I looked at the final decision she’d made.

“You stayed up?” I asked.

“I did. Now eat, because we have to get on the road.”

“This is efficient,” I said.

“It’s not so much about delivering in a specific order as it is getting the flow of town. Stillsville is separated into four parts, if you look at it closely. Two outer rings and two inner rings. If we take each ring clockwise from the house, we’ll end up back where we need to be to load up without having to go out of our way in order to get back.”

My eyebrows shot up my forehead as I looked over at her. She leaned against the kitchen table with her coffee to her lips, but I knew the grin she was hiding.

I was impressed with her work.

“Then let’s finish breakfast and start loading up,” I said. “I’m paying you overtime for those hours, by the way.”

“What!? No you’re—”

“Sh!” I said.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t fight me again. I picked up my waffle and ate it as I chugged some coffee down, then the two of us got to work. We loaded up my rental car with the possessions for the first round of deliveries, then we started out. And the pattern was the same. Michelle drove to each house and stopped at the curb, then I pulled out the possession for the person that lived there. I walked up to their door, knocked on it, and then delivered the speech I’d rehearsed in my mind.

“Anton Volk cared for you greatly. He cared for this town greatly. And as a last gift to you, he wanted you to have this.”

Their reactions were strange, but almost all of them were the same. Tears would fill their eyes and they’d bring me in for a hug, like I was the one to be thanked. Some of them were shocked to see me standing on their doorsteps and tried to strike up a conversation with me, but I kept everything short and sweet. We had a day full of deliveries and something told me more people would be hugging my neck before it was all said and done.

“Thank you so much, Grayson.”

“He would’ve been proud of the man you turned into.”

“Oh, I haven’t seen you since you were just a teenager.”

“What are you up to these days?”

“I’m so sorry for your loss. I know he meant a lot to you.”

So many sentiments that punched me in the chest. So many things I wanted to say to so many people. But it wasn’t about me. Not this trip. It was about Anton and how an entire community had been affected by his generosity. And the more doors I knocked on, the more I understood the love everyone had for him in this town. It was strange, listening to stories of him I didn’t even know. And it seemed everybody had a story. A small anecdote to share with me that brought a smile to their face and filled their hearts with grief.

“I’m going to miss that man.”

“He always had a sucker for Bobby.”

“Beautiful. That was how he made me feel.”

“Are you okay?” Michelle asked.

She pulled into the driveway as we prepared to load up the last of the items.

“I’m okay. It’s just—strange.”