Billionaire's Second Chance (Billionaires #16) - Jennifer Hartley Page 0,55

keep the baby?” I asked her nervously. In my mind, it wasn’t even a question. I didn’t know what I was going to do if she said that she didn’t want it. It was, of course, her choice, but I would have been devastated.

“Yes,” she smiled.

I couldn’t help but feel my face light up. “I hope you know that you’re not doing this alone,” I said. Even if we’re just…whatever it is that we are, that child will know me. I won’t be the man that my father was.”

Clara looked at me with tears in her eyes and a widening smile on her face. She took my hand and squeezed it. “I know,” she said. “But now we have to convince my brother that working on this farm isn’t what he really wants to be doing with his life.”

“Scott?” I said to him.

He didn’t say anything right away, and I could tell that the two of them had already had a conversation about this before I had arrived.

“Is that true?” I asked. “Do you want to do something different with your life that doesn’t involve this farm?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. I could see it in his eyes.

“Why have you been doing all of this if you don’t want to be working on the farm?” I asked. “I’ve asked you countless times to come to work for me. I’ve given you an offer every time I’ve come to visit.”

“I know,” he said. “And I appreciate it.”

“But then why haven’t you taken me up on it?” I asked in confusion.

“I couldn’t,” he said. “When our parents died, I became the head of the household. I had no choice but to take that responsibility seriously. I had to take care of the farm and of Clara. The farm isn’t something that I could take a break from while I thought things over. There is no break on a farm. One missed day means that animals don’t get fed and crops risk being ruined.”

I always knew that Scott was a good man and that he loved his sister beyond measure, but this—this was truly a selfless thing that he had done. He had put his whole life on hold and gave up on his own ambitions to pick up his parents’ legacy and take care of her.

“I’ve always been more passionate about the farm than Scott has,” Clara interjected. “He’s done an amazing job keeping it up, but it’s not what he wants. It’s what he felt like he had to do for me. I am the one who needs to be running the farm, not him.”

It made sense. Clara loved the farm, and Scott did not. She had all the knowledge and all the drive to be able to do it. “She’s right, Scott. You shouldn’t have to keep running this farm if it’s not what you want to do.”

Scott just shook his head. “Well, we’ve talked about that,” he said. “But it’s not as if she can do it alone, especially not now in her current condition. Everything needs to be updated. Everything needs to be repaired and reworked for a modern-day farm. Everything we have is old and broken down. It’s just not going to last through the winter, never mind lasting through her pregnancy and beyond that to the point where she would be able to run the farm without it crumbling into ruin. We just can’t make that happen. We don’t have any money.”

All of a sudden, the idea finally hit me. This was the moment that I could seize to help. This was the moment that I was made to help with. It was finally my chance to be a part of this with them and not be on the outside looking in anymore.

“How about this,” I said with brimming enthusiasm. “Scott, come work with me like we both know that you want to, and your sign-on bonus will be my monetary investment into improving this farm.”

I could see Scott thinking it over behind his eyes. I could see the sliver of excitement, even though he tried to hide it.

“How much?” he asked. “I mean, all of this is going to be really expensive, DeShawn. Like unbelievably expensive. Farm equipment isn’t cheap, and neither are any of the things on the farm that would need to be done in order to make this viable.”

I laughed, not at him, just at the thought of expense. “Did you forget that I’m a billionaire?” I asked as