Toby, a man in his fifties and an employee Christopher had deemed their right-hand man, shuffles in not too long after I make Jax listen to my ideas to improve the brewery. Which is fine with me. The less time I spend alone with Jaxson Bridges, the better. I’ve scheduled two appointments with prospective retailers to stock our beer, thanks to my mother.
Toby side-eyes me when he sees us in the office together. I’m sure it does look weird. Your deceased boss’s girl in the office with his best friend–slash–business partner. So we won’t look suspicious, I introduce myself to him and tell him I’m now the new partner.
Toby looks to Jax for confirmation. It annoys me, but I also understand. You can’t randomly stomp into a business and tell employees you’re the new boss without them questioning it. Jax reluctantly nods, most likely not wanting to look like a toddler in front of his employees, and Toby shakes my hand. We’d met before, shaken hands before, but it seems to be more of a respect thing to Toby.
Nolan, the next employee to come in, is a new face. Jax must’ve hired him after Christopher’s death. He’s on the younger side, and he shoots me a flirtatious smile when I introduce myself. That smile drops when Jax smacks the back of his head and says to keep his eyes to himself.
I’m not a hundred percent on what their jobs are, but I put it on my list to discuss it with Jax. I’d come here to show him I was serious. Even though I hate it when it happens, Jax is right. If I want to be taken seriously, I have to prove myself.
Which is why I spent all of last night researching brewery information, and I hoped to God I sounded like I knew what I was talking about.
Christopher’s dream won’t be in my past. I might be afraid of letting him go because I’m still healing. I’m unsure if I’ll ever really be healed. One thing I do know is, I’ll never be the same, never love the same, and never have as much hope in life as I once did.
As I leave the brewery and get into my car, my mind drifts to his letter.
The letter I can’t open.
It probably has answers to so many questions.
But it also has the potential to destroy me.
So, I decide to give myself another day of not finding out what it says.