Page 60 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

The moment I stepped over the threshold, I could sense the tension in the air. Again, I didn’t know if the atmosphere wasdue to Declan or the launch. If I had to guess, I would say it was him. From my email interactions, it wouldn’t surprise me that he could make an environment uptight without even being in a room.

I shut the door behind me just as Fred came around the corner and greeted me, “Hello, Miss Thompson.”

I smiled brightly as I handed him a plate piled high with Rice Krispie treats, which were his favorites. “Hey, Freddie.”

“Thank you.” He took the tray from me and smiled, but I could tell that he was on edge.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” He stretched out his hand. “Would you like me to take those?”

“No, that’s okay.” I’d picked up some Juliet roses for Stella because she’d mentioned that they were her favorite and this was a special occasion. “Is Stella?—”

“She’s in the sunroom.”

“Thanks.” I nodded and made my way down the hall.

Before I reached the door, I took a breath, bracing for what I might be walking into. There was a very good chance Declan Wolfe would be waiting for me with his grandmother. If he’d rattled Fred, then I was sure he’d probably rattle me.

When I walked into the sunroom, I found Stella sitting on her own with a thousand-yard stare on her face.

“Hi,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle her.

“Oh, hello, darling.”

Her face was etched with worry and concern.

“Is something wrong with the site? I checked it before I left, and everything looked okay.”

“No, everything is fine. My grandson is back, and we…he…there’s been a development.”

“A development?”

“Yes. With the company.”

“The company?” I parroted as her eyes darted to the flowers I was holding. “Oh, these are for you.”

“They’re lovely, dear. Thank you.”

I set them down on the table as I lowered down into the chair beside her. “Is the company okay?”

“My husband put a stipulation in his will that the company will be passed down to whichever male heir is married at the end of the year, which means that Derek, not Declan, will inherit it.”

“Derek? The one who’s in rehab?”

“Yes.”

“But I thought…you said he has no interest in running the business.”

“He doesn’t. Not only that, he’s a gambling, womanizing idiot with a drug problem. He’ll destroy everything. And that’s not all; he also will inherit the majority of the assets.”

“There has to be something you can do, legally I mean. Or something Declan can do.” He struck me as a very capable, intelligent man. There was no way he would let this happen.

“I don’t think that there is.” A single tear slid down her cheek. She lifted her hand and wiped it away.

My heart broke for her. I knew how much this business meant to her. Over the six months we’d worked together, it had come to mean something to me; she had come to mean something to me. I’d never known my grandparents, and I’d sort of adopted her as my own.

“Why would your husband do that?” It made no sense to me.

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