Page 59 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

“That doesn’t matter. We were married at a different time. Your grandfather had a different idea about a wife’s place.”

“But those areyourhomes and?—”

“This was the only home I ever cared about, and I am more than taken care of financially; his life insurance took care of that.This isn’t about me. But I’m telling you, I don’t have any say over the business.”

“So Derek is going to inherit the business? He hasn’t worked a day since Grandad died. He’s been in rehab. He has criminal charges pending against him. He’ll run the company into the ground. There has to be something we can do. Legally.”

“You can talk to Serena. I think that she will?—”

“I’m not going to marry Serena.” There was no way I could marry a woman just to save the company.

“I don’t see another way.” Gran sat stoically, her expression giving nothing away.

“Why?” I shook my head back and forth. “Why would he put in that clause?”

“I can only assume he did it because he thought that was the best chance of having it handed down to grandchildren. He wanted to leave a legacy.”

It’s not that I’d always agreed with my grandfather on a personal level, but in his professional life, I’d respected and looked up to him. But this was the dumbest, most insane, most ridiculous thing he’d ever done. How could a man I’d admired and emulated, in business at least, a man who I thought loved me, who had taken me under his wing and mentored me, do this?

All my life, I’d been bred to run Wolfe Enterprises. It’s all I’d ever envisioned myself doing. And now, because I wasn’t married, my brother, who didn’t take the business or family or himself seriously, was going to have it handed to him on a silver platter. Not only the business but also the houses, the cars, and the assets.

I could only imagine the damage that Derek and Raquel would do with access to virtually unlimited resources. I had to find a way to stop this. Somehow. Some way. There was asolution. I just didn’t know what it was, but I would find it. I had to. I didn’t have another choice.

21

ASHLEY

“Be a good boy, Mr. Purrfect!”The steel bowl clinked as I set his food on the tiled floor, then kissed my handsome boy on the top of the head before grabbing a banana on my way out of the house.

Today was a big day. Our online drop was going live in one hour. The social media prelaunch rollout had been a huge success. I’d worked closely with the marketing department, and I was proud of what the entire team had been able to achieve.

These past few months had been a lot of work and very challenging, but in the best way. All but one aspect. Declan Fucking Wolfe. Even from thousands of miles away, he’d still been a pain in my ass. His multiple emails daily to ‘touch base’ never failed to rub me the wrong way.

Honestly, it amazed me that anyone could work with him. Over the past six months, I’d corresponded with his assistant, Hannah, several times, and she was delightful. I truly believed that she deserved sainthood for putting up with him.

Thankfully, after today, I would never have to interact with him again. My resignation letter was typed out. Besides the hard copy I had in my purse that I was going to give to Stella, I alsohad a version in my drafts that I planned on sending to Mr. Suha at the end of business today.

As soon as I sat in the driver’s seat, my phone vibrated with a text reminding me to pick up Luna. The baby shower had taken a lot out of Skylar, and she’d started having Braxton Hicks contractions over the weekend. After a midnight trip to the hospital, she’d been put on modified bed rest, so I offered to take my niece to school, but I was afraid I’d forget, so I’d set myself an alarm.

The drive down the dirt road to the front of the property took less than thirty seconds. When I pulled up in front of Hank’s house, Luna ran down the steps wearing her backpack, which was about half her size, with her high ponytail swinging from side to side. Skylar waved from the doorway, her belly sticking out a good foot in front of her. Just like she had been with Luna, she was all belly.

As my niece climbed in the passenger seat, I shouted out to my very pregnant sister, “You’re supposed to be on bed rest!”

“Modified bed rest. And I had to pee!” Skylar rebuffed. “Have a good day at school. I love you, Squirt!”

“Love you, Mama!” Luna waved before shutting the door behind her.

On the drive, Luna talked a mile a minute about everything she was going to do with her baby brother and how much of a helper she was going to be. She was still talking as she got out of the car and headed up the path to the school; she just transferred her story to Macy Reece, who was working the drop-off. I was happy to see how stoked my niece was about being a big sister. I hoped that excitement didn’t wear off once the reality of living with a baby and not being an only child set in. I was glad I’d be around to help my sister and niece navigate the new addition.

We’d planned the launch of the clothing line so that it was out before the holiday season, and I was happy the timingcoincided with my sister’s due date. My plan was to work part-time teaching my art classes again until after the new year, so I was available to help my sister with my nephew and niece through the first few months. Thanks to the salary I’d earned working for Wolfe Clothing, I had a modest savings now. I was still up to my eyeballs in debt, but I was chipping away at it. And the debt would still be there in three months after the holidays and when my sister was back on her feet.

As I came to the clearing in front of the estate past the cypress trees that lined the drive, I noticed there was a small plane parked in the hangar. I was finally going to meet Mr. Stick Up the Ass face-to-face. I might have been nervous if I planned on keeping my job, but since I wasn’t, I was more curious than anything else.

I grabbed my purse and pulled out my resignation letter just to proof it one more time. I also had a hard copy of my grant proposal, which Stella had agreed to read and give some pointers on. She’d been on several boards that distributed grants and scholarships, and she’d offered to look at my proposal and give me notes, which I was very grateful for.

I’d gently broached the subject of me moving on after the launch, and she said she’d seen the writing on the wall, so my resignation was not going to come as a surprise to her. She told me she was happy that I was seeing the project through to completion but that I had an artist’s heart and eye, and I needed to pursue my passions.

As I walked up the steps, I was surprised to feel the flutter of butterfly wings in my stomach. I wondered if the winged creatures had shown up because of the launch or if they were here because of Declan. I told myself I didn’t care what he thought about me, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

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