Page 92 of Hello Handsome
It was a good childhood, but nothing like this.
Nothing anywhere close to this.
The phone rang three times before he picked up. I could hear the sound of waves in the background mixed with wind ripping over the speakers before my dad said, “Hey, kid.”
Never mind the fact that I was over thirty now. That I’d been out of the house for over a decade. Or that he was fully retiredand on a month-long trip to the Oregon coast with his wife, Aggie. I thought cowboys never retired, but then again, I thought my dad would never remarry.
“Hey, Dad,” I said. My voice came out shaky, and instantly, Dad responded with anxiety.
“What’s wrong, son?” The wind quieted. He must have cupped his hand around the phone to help with the noise.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I said. But my body wasn’t catching up. My heart was racing, palms sweating, muscles poised to run at a moment’s notice. I took a deep breath to calm down, but it did nothing to combat the adrenaline coursing through me despite the fact I was standing in a pristine lobby.
“Then what is it?” Dad asked, perplexed. “What’s going on?”
I took another breath and said three words I never thought I’d say.
“I’m a billionaire.”
