Billionaire Mountain Man

“I thought you would be more excited?” I said, ruffling her hair.

“I wanted to save Daddy’s square for last,” she said.

“You still can,” I said, confused by why she was so upset.

“He’s not even going to be here to see it!” she said, crossing her arms.

Now we were getting somewhere. Not seeing Noah for more than a day was getting to her, and mixed with a crabby attitude from sleep deprivation, it was making the little angel more upset than usual.

“He has to catch up on the work he missed when we were gone,” I explained, lightly tickling her knee.

She didn’t even flinch at my touch. Usually that would send her into a fit of giggles. “But he doesn’t even call to say good night. Or call you.”

She was right. While I’d sent Noah pictures of us throughout the day yesterday and today, I’d yet to hear a response. I wasn’t even sure if he was getting my messages or if he was too busy to look at his phone. Though I was sure if some client or employee called, he would pick up right away.

My anger from last night returned, but I remained calm for Gina’s sake. She tended to mirror my moods, so making sure that she stayed calm was my priority. “I’m sure everything will be okay soon.”

> “I want to go back to Australia,” she said. “Daddy didn’t ignore me there.”

“He’s not ignoring you,” I said. “He’s working.”

She sighed heavily. “He’s always working.”

A tear slipped down Gina’s little rosy red cheek, and my heart broke. I reached out to her, and she launched herself into my arms. I rocked her and smoothed her hair. “It’s going to be okay.”

She sat back and looked into my eyes. “If we go back to Australia, then Daddy would have to go, right?”

“I think it might be a while before that’s possible. It’s not easy for him to take that much time off.”

“Daddy has money and says he can do anything,” Gina said.

I sucked in a breath as I got a glimpse of a future bratty, spoiled teenager. It wasn’t going to happen while I was around. No matter how much Noah was obsessed with money, I didn’t want her to follow in that path.

“Money can’t buy happiness,” I said. It was a stupid cliché, but I wanted her to know that. So what if Noah grew up poor, a lot of people had issues growing up. But I wasn’t going to let his twisted mentality taint this sweet little girl.

I put Gina down to bed right on time that night. After our discussion, while working on the quilt, she’d been in a dour mood for the rest of the day, but didn’t mention Noah and Australia again. Though I knew it was in the back of her mind. What had happened to us in Australia had burrowed itself into her brain. She saw the happiness that we had as a little trio; even though we weren’t a traditional family, we were something. And for her to see that and miss it, it broke my heart.

I read her several more books than I normally did, silently hoping that Noah would come home in the middle of a book and surprise us both. I sensed that she wanted the same thing, but at some point, she could no longer fight it and fell asleep.

I left her to rest and went to clean up the house for when Noah did finally return home.

Noah came in around eight that night. I’d already cleaned up our mess from the day and tidied a few rooms while waiting. I was on the couch reading a magazine when he came through the door.

“Hey,” I said from the sofa when he came into the living room.

His eyes were narrowed, and I wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion or resentment in his expression. I felt a little of both. I put the magazine down and went to him.

“I guess today wasn’t better?” I asked. I trod lightly, careful to keep my voice steady even though Gina’s tearful face stayed in the forefront of my mind.

“Not in the least,” he said. His shoulders sagged, and I wanted to comfort him, but I also wanted him to apologize for being so rude to me this morning. He could have done that to any other employee, but I thought we were something else to each other. I wasn’t looking for him to bow down to me, but a simple apology wouldn’t hurt.

“How was Gina today?” he asked and then let out a yawn.

I hesitated. He didn’t want me to guilt him about Gina, but as her father wouldn’t he want to know what she was feeling.

“Did something happen?” he asked since I still hadn’t answered him.

“Gina got upset today,” I said.