The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1) (23 page)

“Have a nice Thanksgiving,” Kelsey said.
 

“Thanks, you too,” he replied.

“Are you going home for the holiday?” she asked.
 

Tyler nodded. “Back to Medina,” he replied.
 

“Are you leaving tonight?” Kelsey asked.
 

Tyler looked a little surprised. “I’ll just drive over on Thursday. I have some studying to do,” he replied. “Are you leaving now?”
 

“I am. Well, have a nice holiday.”
 

“Thanks, Kelsey,” Tyler said, and Kelsey left the room. She felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders, just for a little while. She and Jessica were bringing their casebooks, but Kelsey didn’t expect to get much done. She was so looking forward to having a break. Kelsey walked across the quad and up to her room. Jessica was there, with Dylan sitting on Kelsey’s bed.
 

“Are you ready? Are you ready?” Jessica said excitedly.

“Just let me get my bag,” Kelsey replied. She had packed last night, in anticipation.
 

“I finally get to see your cute hometown,” Jessica said.
 

“And I expect cookies,” Dylan added.
 

“They’re already waiting for you,” Kelsey said.
 

“Then let’s go!” Dylan said, standing up and slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder. The three of them walked out of the room and headed downstairs. As they walked along the damp ground to the parking lot, Kelsey felt so happy. She really had missed home over the past few months. They threw their bags into the trunk and piled into Dylan’s car. He started up the ignition, and they drove off.
 

“Oh, yeah!” Jessica said as they stood on the deck of the ferry to Kingston. Dylan had calculated that since it was almost rush hour, they would have a shorter wait at the ferry dock in Edmonds, so he had driven up I-5 to get there. “This is beautiful, Kelsey.”

“Wait until you see PT, Jess.” Kelsey said, as the wind blew through her hair. After weeks of going from one building to another, it was nice to be enjoying the natural beauty of Washington State. Dylan walked up to them and stood with his hands on the railing.
 

“Thanks for inviting me, Kelsey,” he said. Kelsey smiled. She was worried about him, and had been ever since they had gone to downtown Seattle two weeks ago. She hoped that the short vacation would relax him.
 

“I’m glad you decided to join us.”
 

“Me too,” Jessica said. She had given up on her thought of having a relationship with Dylan, but she was just as concerned as Kelsey about his mental health.
 

“Look!” Jessica said excitedly, as she spotted the ferry dock.
 

“Let’s head to the car,” Dylan said.
 

After a drive over Route 104, with a quick stop in Port Gamble for freshly-picked apples, Dylan turned on 101, then up Route 20 toward Kelsey’s family home. Dylan swung the car into the parking lot at Safeway before he headed into town.
 

“Does your mom need anything?” Dylan asked. Jessica glanced at Kelsey.
 

“I’ll ask her,” Kelsey said, pulling out her phone.
 

“Okay, I’ll go on in,” Dylan said, getting out of the car.
 

“Why are we stopping?” Jessica asked, opening the back door.
 

“No idea,” Kelsey said, getting out with her phone in her hands. “She said she could use some more butter.”

“Okay.” Jessica said and they walked out of the parking lot and into the store. Dylan was in the checkout line, a case of beer in his arms.

“Your Dad’s brand?” he asked as they walked up.
 

“I guess,” Kelsey said. Her father very rarely drank. “But there’s probably some in the house.”
 

Dylan shrugged and placed the beer on the conveyor belt. “It’s OK.”
 

“Let’s get the butter,” Jessica said, steering Kelsey away by the arm.
 

Kelsey sighed.
 

“Don’t worry, Kelsey,” Jess said.

But Kelsey did nothing but worry until they pulled into her driveway. Then Dylan honked the horn, and Kelsey’s mom ran out of the front door.

“Mom!” Kelsey said gleefully, as she ran into her mother’s arms.
 

“Oh, you’re so skinny,” Mrs. North said. “I need to send more cookies.”
 

“I’ve been eating them, Mrs. North,” Jessica said guiltily. Mrs. North gave her a hug.
 

“You’ve lost weight too. Don’t they feed you kids?”
 

“Hi, Mrs. North,” Dylan said, coming from around the back with the bags from the trunk. Mrs. North gave him a big hug as Kelsey and Jessica took their bags from his hands.

“Come in, all of you.” Kelsey’s mom said. They walked into the house, which smelled like chocolate-chip cookies.
 

“The best smell in the world,” Dylan said. Mrs. North laughed.
 

“I made six batches,” she said.
 

“That should last at least five minutes,” Jessica said, looking around the living room. “Oh, you were so cute!” she said, spotting a photo of Kelsey from kindergarten.
 

“What do you mean were?” Kelsey said. Mrs. North gave her another hug.

“I’m so glad you’re home, honey,” she said.

That evening, they sat in the living room eating cookies and playing Monopoly with two of Kelsey’s friends from grade school, Jasmine and Morgan.
 

“What are you guys going to do while you’re here?” Morgan asked.

“Eat,” Jessica said, taking another cookie.

“Eric’s having a party on Friday night,” Jasmine said. “These cookies are great, Mrs. North.”

“Thanks, Jazz,” Mrs. North called from the kitchen.
 

“Yeah, we should go,” Morgan said. “It should be a blast.”
 

Kelsey wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know. Eric’s parties always get out of hand.”
 

“That didn’t used to bother you, Kels,” Morgan said knowingly.

“I’ve grown,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Not me,” Jasmine said. “Anyway, I told Jim I’d be there.”
 

“Are you still going out with Jim?” Kelsey said.

“It’s getting serious,” Morgan said.

“Really?” Kelsey said. Jasmine nodded.
 

“I think he’s going to propose,” she said.

“No way,” Kelsey replied.
 

“My dad doesn’t like him though. He thinks I can do better,” Jasmine said, taking a cookie.
 

“You probably can,” Morgan replied. Jasmine stuck her tongue out at Morgan.

“You just haven’t forgiven him for spilling glue over you in second grade.”
 

“He ruined my new dress!’ Morgan said.

“Anyway,” Jasmine said. “I saw the prettiest ring at the mall in Silverdale. I’m hoping that he gets it for me at Christmas.”
 

“Did you tell him to?” Jessica asked.
 

“You have to be subtle with men, Jess,” Jasmine said, knowingly.
 

“She took a photo of herself wearing it in front of the store, and messaged him,” Morgan laughed. “Really subtle.”
 

“Whatever works,” Jasmine said.
 

“Why are you so quiet, Dylan?” Jessica asked.
 

“Too many girls,” Morgan said.
 

Dylan laughed. “Excuse me,” he said and left the room. Jessica glanced at Kelsey, who frowned.
 

“What’s going on?” Jasmine asked.
 

“Law school is stressful,” Jessica replied.
 

“I’ve heard that. Are you doing OK? How are your grades, Kels?” Jasmine asked in concern.

“We don’t know. They’re based on our finals.”
 

“OK, that’s scary,” Morgan said. “What if you fail it?”

“Then you fail the class,” Kelsey said.
 

“It’s a good thing our Kelsey has nerves of steel,” Jasmine said.
 

“Yeah,” Kelsey replied. “Good thing.”
 

“Well, go out with us Friday. Let off some steam,” Morgan said.
 

“We’ll see,” Kelsey said.
 

Dylan didn’t return. After Morgan and Jasmine left, Jessica and Kelsey found him in the basement watching television with Kelsey’s dad.
 

“Hey,” he said, beer in hand.
 

“Are you girls joining us to watch wrestling?” Kelsey’s dad teased.
 

“I think we’ll pass, Dad,” Kelsey said, sitting on the arm of his chair. “Mom went to bed. She said she had to get up early.”
 

Kelsey’s dad nodded. “She told me, thanks. She’s been working on the meal all week, and we’ll finish it in twenty minutes.”

Kelsey laughed. “I know, she does this every year.”

“At least she can’t go crazy at Christmas, with the store being so busy.”
 

“It’s always delicious,” Kelsey said.
 

“I know, but one year we should just go out. Give your mom a break.”
 

“When I’m in Seattle or Portland, you guys can come to me,” Kelsey said.
 

“That sounds like a great plan, Kels,” her father said.
 

“Portland,” Dylan said.

“What?” Kelsey said.
 

“You should come to Portland,” Dylan said.
 

“First I have to get through Civ Pro,” Kelsey said.
 

“Don’t we all,” Jessica said.
 

“Law school must be hard. You never talked about studying in college,” Kelsey’s father said.
 

“It’s impossible,” Dylan said, taking a drink.

“We’ll get through it,” Jessica said soothingly.
 

“Maybe,” Dylan replied. He finished the can of beer and stood up. “I think I’ll go to bed too.”
 

“Goodnight, Dylan,” Jessica said.
 

“Let me know if you can’t find something,” Mr. North said.
 

“Night,” Kelsey said. Dylan saluted them and walked up the stairs.
 

“Daddy,” Kelsey said.

“Kels.”
 

“We’re worried about Dylan.”
 

“Okay. Why?”
 

“He’s drinking a lot.”

“At school too?”
 

“Yeah,” Kelsey said. She sat in the chair that Dylan had just vacated.
 

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“He’s not listening to us,” Jessica said.
 

“Do you want me to discuss it with him?”
 

Kelsey frowned. “I don’t want to embarrass him. We’re just concerned.”
 

“It sounds like he’s having a tough time at school,” Mr. North said.
 

“We all are,” Jessica replied.
 

“But I think he’s taking it harder than the two of us,”
 
Kelsey added.

Mr. North nodded.
 

“Dylan’s always been intense,” Kelsey said. “He’s not used to failure.”
 

“What do you think we should do?” Jessica asked.
 

“Let me think about it over the weekend,” Mr. North said.
 

“Thanks, Daddy,” Kelsey said.
 

“Okay, girls. I’m going to bed. Don’t worry about Dylan, we’ll figure out what to do.”

“Goodnight, Mr. North,” Jessica said. Mr. North waved as he climbed the stairs.
 

“I was hoping that Dylan would relax while we’re here,” Kelsey said, slinging her leg over the arm of the chair.
 

“Well, we just got here. He’s got five days,” Jessica said.
 

“I guess so,” Kelsey said doubtfully.
 

“Let your dad work on it,” Jessica said. “He’s the adult. Also, he’s a guy. Maybe he understands Dylan better than we do.”
 

“I hope so,” Kelsey said. “Because I don’t understand him at all.”

The next morning, after Kelsey and Jessica woke up, they walked over to the bakery for breakfast. Mrs. North was baking rolls in the kitchen and Dylan was still fast asleep. They both ordered chocolate croissants and ate them as they walked the ten minutes to downtown Port Townsend.
 

“This is really super cute,” Jessica said, looking around.
 

“That’s what we like to hear from our tourists,” Kelsey said. “That and ‘I’ll take six of those.’”
 

“I don’t see a lot of tourists now,” Jessica commented.
 

“They mostly visit in the summer. Then the town is packed.”
 

Jessica nodded. “I can imagine. This would be great on a sunny day, just walking around, window shopping.”
 

“It’s a great place,” Kelsey said.

“But you don’t want to come back.”
 

“Maybe when I retire,” Kelsey said. “I need a bigger pond to practice law in.”
 

“Are there any law firms here?”
 

“A few. It’s the county seat, so the courthouse is here.”
 

“Of course, your inspiration.”
 

“Right up there,” Kelsey said, pointing to a large red building on the top of the hill they had just walked down.
 

They walked down Water Street and walked into the open door of the North Wilderness Store.
 

“Hi, Dad!” Kelsey called out. Mr. North looked around from restocking.
 

“Hey, girls. Thanks for coming.”
 

“Our pleasure,” Kelsey said. “Michelle deserves to have a day off.”
 

“She’s cooking too,” Mr. North said, shaking his head. “Her entire family is coming from Sequim tomorrow. I don’t know what’s with these women.”
 

“What should we start with?” Kelsey asked as Jessica looked around the store.