Small-Town Billionaire. Renee Andrews

he hasn’t been interested.”

      “I asked him to the camp’s Bible study this afternoon,” Maribeth said, “but he’s busy.”

      “I have conference calls,” he repeated, “and I wouldn’t have a thing to contribute to a Bible study.” When Dana started to speak, he shook his head. “Don’t, sis. We’ve gone through this before. That’s your life, not mine.”

      Maribeth suddenly felt sorry for her friend. And she also felt sorry for her own family, when they’d tried to bring Maribeth back to the straight and narrow road and she’d barreled on her own way. Later, she’d regretted that. And she wondered if Ryan Brooks would regret it later, too. “You should at least give the Bible study a try,” she said.

      He grabbed his crutches and put one beneath each arm. “Like I said, I wouldn’t know anything about it, and I’m not going to attempt to participate in something I know nothing about. But I do know a thing or two about business, and I’d like to talk to you sometime about yours. Consigning Women, the business—the concept—has a lot of potential, and you’ve only scratched the surface. I could help you make that name for yourself.”

      And just like that, Maribeth saw through the nice-guy image to the real man beneath the friendly facade. He’d seen her business and wanted it for himself. Maybe not the whole thing, but he had hopes of using her idea for his own benefit. She could see it in his eyes: another rich boy used to getting any and everything he ever wanted. He was being nice because he wanted something.

      “I don’t think so,” she said, and didn’t hide the irritation in her tone. Then she turned away, told Dana to have a good day and headed into the barn.

      * * *

      Ryan’s coffee sloshed in the travel mug when Dana stomped on the brakes before they reached the main road.

      “Hey, easy there,” he said, taking a sip to keep more from spilling over the top.

      “I don’t get it,” she said, apparently forgetting that they were already running late to his rehab appointment. “Maribeth told you last night that she isn’t interested in her business growing bigger, but you just won’t let up, will you?” She placed her mug in the cup holder and put the car in Park, obviously not going anywhere until Ryan responded.

      “Why wouldn’t anyone want to go bigger?” he asked.

      “Everyone isn’t you, Ryan,” she said, then visibly swallowed. “Everyone doesn’t want to be Dad.” When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “That’s it, isn’t it? You think you’ve got to spend your life trying to make everything a little bit better, and a whole lot bigger, the same way he did. Well, I’ll tell you something. That didn’t make him happy, because things couldn’t satisfy him. He realized that in the end.”

      Ryan had heard this speech way too many times in the two years since Lawrence Brooks had died, and he didn’t want to hear it again, particularly since it wasn’t true. “I’m not trying to be Dad. That’s the whole point of me wanting to help grow Maribeth’s business. She said she came here to make a name for herself, and I understand that, because that’s what I want to do. I’m drowning in Dad’s shadow. Everything I’ve done at that company has been done exactly—exactly—the way Dad did it. Nothing original. Nothing new. I’ve followed his strategies, utilized his resources and basically continued living in his world. My investments, each and every resort property, were the ones he already had in his sights when he died. Do you realize that the board hasn’t approved anything that he hadn’t already set into play?”

      “Nothing you’ve recommended to the board has been approved?”

      “That’s just it. I haven’t had a chance to recommend anything, because Dad had the next decade lined up.”

      “How?”

      “Not exact properties and investments, but he set the plan in motion, the types of scenarios that were must-have purchases for the company, and that’s what the board is looking for. They aren’t interested in messing with a system that works.”

      “But that leaves you out of the equation,” she said.

      “The one time they’ve deviated from Dad’s plan was when they approved the funding for new entrepreneurs, and that was due to you going to bat for John’s dude ranch.”

      “But you want to make your mark in the company as well, and you saw Maribeth’s idea as a way to make that happen,” she said, realization dawning on her face.

      “Pretty much. Maribeth’s idea is ingenious. She’s tapped into something original, inventive and clever, and I think—no, I know—that I can help her make it huge. I’d be investing in something that I found, something that I believe in. Something Brooks International has never done before.”

      “But it’s Maribeth’s concept,” she said. “And she likes it the way it is—a small store in the Claremont town square. She doesn’t want to make it bigger.”

      “She said she wanted to make a name for herself,” Ryan repeated.

      “And she has, here, in Claremont.” Dana ran her hand through her hair then turned to face him. “Listen, I know you think convincing her to hand over Consigning Women so that you can turn it into some worldwide conglomeration is a good idea and that deep down, you actually believe you’d be helping her.”

      “I would be.”

      “Not if it isn’t what she wants.” She shook her head, then said, “I thought, or rather, I hoped that part of your decision to stick around for the remaining weeks of your therapy was because you had an interest in Maribeth. And I don’t mean her business, but her, the person. In my opinion, she’s exactly the type of person you need in your life. She’s beautiful and smart, and she loves God. And she’s feisty enough to handle you, which I can’t say about most women.” She opened her fingertips above the steering wheel and then curled them in to clasp it, but Ryan suspected she’d rather be pressing them against his throat. She’d never been good at hiding irritation. “I thought you were acting interested in her, but I should have known you were only interested in her idea and what you could do with it.”

      Ryan didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t deny that he was physically attracted to Maribeth, but he also didn’t plan on acting on that attraction. Dana was right; the lady was beautiful, smart and feisty. And she seemed like the real deal when it came to her love of God, which was something Dana wanted in Ryan’s life, even if it wasn’t something he was looking for. Truthfully, he didn’t know enough about God to know whether he wanted Him in his life or not. But the main reason he couldn’t have any type of relationship with the woman was because that strong, bizarre attraction he felt every time she was around seemed way too similar to the fascination he’d had toward Nannette. It felt real. And his past experience told him that if it seemed that real that quick...it wasn’t.

      He wouldn’t get his heart broken again.

      “Wait a minute,” Dana said, studying him as though she knew his very thoughts. And, based on past experience, he suspected she did. All of those years with the two of them depending on each other as best friends when their father left them to one nanny or another had them so tuned in to each other’s feelings that Dana didn’t miss where his mind had headed now.

      “You are feeling something toward Maribeth, aren’t you?” she questioned. “But you’re still suffering from shell shock after what happened with Nannette.” She nodded once, as though she didn’t need affirmation from Ryan to know she’d hit the mark. Then she picked up her coffee mug, took a sip and then put the car in drive. “I’ve changed my mind,” she said, pulling out onto the road.

      Ryan drank his coffee, which had turned cold and bitter, and debated whether to ask, but curiosity got the best of him. “Okay, I’ll bite. Changed your mind about what?”

      “About you talking to Maribeth about her business. I think you should try to convince her to let you help her out, make her business bigger and all