Page 10 of Her Billionaire's Baby Secret

“Do you think there’s something you could do to help, Kane?” Carrington asked. “I’d think you’d be able to have some pull with the standing you have in the business community.”

Kane considered her words for a minute. “I’m not sure how I’d be able to help. I’m going to be pretty busy with my grandpa’s funeral.”

“You did just say you wanted to extend your stay to help your grandma out,” Chase said.

“That’s true.” The waitress came back with drinks for the ladies.

“You’re staying longer?” Sariah asked.

“My grandma is struggling. I think it would be best.” He’d already cleared it with his grandfather that morning. He heard something in Sariah’s voice when she’d asked him if he was staying longer. What was it? Did she want him to stay longer? That couldn’t be it. He was imagining things. They were a thing of the past. It was best to keep it that way.

“So if you’re staying longer, then you’ll be able to find time to help us out.” Carrington took a drink of her lemon water.

Chase laughed. “This girl is persistent.”

“I’m not saying take time away from your grandma, but think about the good you could do for Maple Creek,” Carrington said.

“I think she’s right,” Sariah said. “My grandma and I will be around to help support your grandma. When she finds out about the shopping mall, she’ll be the first one to want to fight against it. It could be good for her to find something to get her mind off her sadness.”

Kane hadn’t thought of that. Maybe Sariah was right. It could be this fight would be exactly what his grandma needed. A welcome distraction. They had to get through the funeral first. She deserved to bury her husband before he started distracting her too much.

“I appreciate all you’ve been doing to help support my grandmother,” Kane said to Sariah. “You and your family have really been there for her. She needs that right now.”

“It’s no problem. With her living next door to my grandma for years, she’s helped her with various things for decades. It’s what we do. We’re there for each other.”

Kane’s heart warmed to hear her say that. His grandma meant the world to him. All these years she’d had his grandpa to be there for her, and now that he was gone, he worried she’d have a rough time on her own. “I hate it that I’m so far away most of the time. I have a feeling my grandma’s going to need a lot of extra help now that Gramps is gone.”

“You’re only a plane ride away,” Carrington pointed out.

“Yeah. But it’s not the same. Which is why I’m going to stay at least a week or two after the funeral to help her get situated.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Chase said. “You’re lucky you’re able to get away from work right now.”

“I know. We’re going through a merger right now. It’s a little intense, but I’ll be videoing in with them every day. The company is a family friendly place, and my grandfather was close to my maternal grandparents. He completely gets it.” He didn’t mention that his grandfather also wanted him out of the office since Orchid kept showing up there to stir up drama. With him gone longer, it removed the problem for a longer period of time.

“What do you think you can do to help with the shopping mall?” Sariah turned to Kane.

“At the very least, I can go to the town meeting.”

“Now we’re talking,” Carrington said.

“I’ll go there too. I think the more people we get there, the better our chances will be to get the project shut down,” Chase said.

“It probably won’t be an easy fight,” Carrington said. “I hear these people are determined, and they have big money.”

“Have they already bought the land?” Kane asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sariah said. “Does anyone else know?”

Kane looked around the table, but they all shook their heads. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find out.”

“What does it matter if they did?” Sariah asked.

“They’ll be more likely to build if they already have the land purchased.”

“True, but they’d still have to get the zoning approved,” Chase said.

“Right. That means there’s some time before this thing would go up.”

“It would be so heartbreaking to watch this town change,” Sariah said.

Kane couldn’t stand to see the sadness on her face. It reminded him of the day they said goodbye to each other. It was the summer after high school graduation. He was moving to New York to get settled in for his freshman year of college. It had been so hard to end their relationship, but they’d both agreed that it would be too hard to keep a long-distance relationship. Sometimes he wondered if he’d made a terrible mistake. If he’d stayed with Sariah, would they have gotten married eventually? It would have saved him from the disastrous marriage he’d had with Orchid. Sariah was so sweet compared to Orchid. She was down to earth. Orchid had been pampered even before he’d met her. Her parents had indulged her too much, and he hadn’t done her any favors by giving her everything her heart desired.

She’d taken advantage of him. He saw that now. He didn’t think it would have gone that way if he’d chosen Sariah. He couldn’t stand to see her heart break again. Because that was the look on her face when he’d said goodbye to her that day so many years ago. She’d been heartbroken.

He would do whatever he could to protect her from another heartbreak and Maple Creek from commercialization.

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