MY FINGER PRESSED the button for voicemail, and I held my breath.

“Charlie, it’s me. Please call me back. Please. I was going to tell you this weekend, I was … I … fuck I was just hoping you’d tell me first. Baby, I’d do anything for you. You didn’t have to come up with some fucking plan. Charlie, I’d marry you in a heartbeat. I … I love you, Charleston. Please call me back.”

Tears streamed down my face the moment I heard his voice. I could hear the sadness, but was it because of what he’d said to me or because of his father? He hadn’t said it, but I knew he was thinking of the last conversation he’d had with his father a few days back. I’d overheard it, and I knew it ate him alive.

Then he said the words that stopped my heart.

“I … I love you, Charleston. Please call me back.”

I covered my mouth and dropped my phone next to me. Burying my hands in my face, I cried harder. The hateful words from last night played over and over in my head.

He was hoping I’d tell him first? What was this … a game to see who would break first? He’d been playing me the entire time. How could I be sure any of this was real? And now he decides to tell me he loves me? Over the phone in a message? When he’s guilt stricken with his father’s death weighing so heavily on him?

No. He’s looking for a way to make himself feel better. He couldn’t redeem himself with his father, so he thinks he can do it with me.

Well, fuck that.

Note to self: I’m giving up on men. Every last one of them.

My phone buzzed next to me, causing me to cautiously glance down at it.

Marge.

With shaking hands, I answered it. Seeing her name made me remember the thumb drive with the videos on it that I hadn’t looked through yet.

“H-hello?” I said, my voice much weaker than I wanted it to be. Marge didn’t notice though.

“I found it! Charleston … I mean … Charlie! I found it!”

Leaping up, I clutched my chest. “You did? Can you meet me at the office in thirty minutes?”

Hell, I wasn’t even sure where Marge lived. She might not live that close. “Or just get there whenever you can.” I added.

“I’ll be there in fifteen.”

I rushed into my bedroom. “Great! See you then.”

Throwing on jeans, a light sweater and my hair in a ponytail, I ran to my bathroom and attempted to put a little bit of makeup on. I looked like hell, and it was obvious I’d been crying.

On the way down in the elevator, I pulled up two names on my phone. I called them both and told them to get to the office and meet me in the boardroom in two hours.

Slipping into a taxi, I dragged in a shaking breath. My heart was firmly on Tucker, but my head needed to be in the game. I needed this to work. If it didn’t, I had no idea what I was going to do. No idea at all.

I NEARLY RAN to my office after getting off the elevator. Marge was sitting at her desk. It was the first time I’d ever seen her in regular clothes. She looked younger. Her hair was half up and half down. Usually she wore it up in a tight bun. She had on jeans and a sweater. Unlike me who threw on sneakers, she had on a pair of black flats.

Damn. Why didn’t I think of that?

She must have seen me looking at her shoes and then mine because she said, “You’ve got a pair of Jimmy Choo black flats in your office in the closet.”

I did have a pair in there!

“You’re a lifesaver, Marge, remind me to give you a big-ass raise.” Kissing her on the cheek, I rushed into my office with Marge on my heels.

Kicking my sneakers off, I pulled off my socks next and slipped into the flats. “Mr. Knots and Mitchell Landing will be here in an hour and a half. Let’s take a look at the tape and get a game plan together before they get here.”

Marge was already on the other side of the room, getting her laptop connected to the large TV on the wall at the end of the board table. When I mentioned Knots’s name, she looked up and frowned. I knew she didn’t like the man; he was one of those lawyers who were part of the good ol’ boy system. He started working at CMI when my grandfather was still CEO.

“This is a copy. The original is in a locked safety deposit box at my house.”

My head jerked over to look at her. “O-okay,” I replied, my brows pulled in tightly as I looked at my executive assistant. Did she think someone would try and break in for it? No one even knew we had tapes from my father’s office.

When she was finished, she looked at me; sadness swept over her face. “Charlie, this video was taken two weeks before your father’s death. Your father had found out that your grandfather tried to sneak the bylaw in without any votes on it because he knew it would never pass. It has absolutely no merit. He told Ricker to remove it.”

“What?” I gasped. “Ricker made it sound like Dad knew for a while.”

She nodded. “Come on, sit down,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a chair.

A video started up. It was my father and Paul Ricker, who was sitting in one of the large, leather chairs in front of Dad’s desk.

My chest ached at the sight of my father. Tears filled my eyes, and I had to work hard at keeping them back. I missed my parents so much.

“Paul, you and I both know this won’t hold up. It’s ridiculous and will never stand up in any courts nor get any votes. Get Knots on this before Charleston hears about it from someone.”

My heart dropped. Had all of this been a waste of time if my father didn’t think it would hold up? Knots said it would take months to work through the court system. They lied to me.

“I never did think that would hold up and so did a number of the board members,” Marge tossed out. “Scuttlebutt was going around about when the bylaw was put into place because no one had voted on it.”

“Why didn’t anyone say anything?” I asked, my brows pulled in tightly. I assumed this had been done months, if not years ago!”

Marge nodded. “So did the rest of the board, Charlie, or they assumed your grandfather pulled some of the old-timers aside and did it in secret.”

I focused back on the tape.

“Sir, your father had the companies best interest at heart.”

The way my father shot daggers at Ricker had me smiling. “Listen, you and I are friends. I know deep down you think you should run this company if anything should happen to me, but I know my daughter will do the job and do it better than any of us. So, I’ll say this again, get it out of there. Even if it stayed, it wouldn’t hold up. You and I both know it. Charleston could take it to court and contest it. Any judge in their rightful mind would throw it out, and I’m pretty sure my father knew that. He was bitter that Sally and I never tried for a boy. This was more of a jab at me than directed toward Charleston.”

Paul moved around in his chair. “Mike, we’ve been friends for a while now. You know I’ll do whatever you want, but do you honestly believe your daughter is the right person for the job of CEO in the event that, God forbid, anything should happen to you?”

My father looked angry. “Do you honestly think I’d put my entire life’s work, and that of my father’s, in the hands of someone who wouldn’t know what to do with it? I’ve been grooming that girl since she was in the single digits to take over.”

Pride filled my chest.

My father went on. “CMI is her entire life. She’s dedicated and smart as hell, and I’ve taught her everything I know.”

Paul nodded. “She is very much all those things. But she is also young and hasn’t even been out of school but a few years.”

My father laughed. “Do you think I’m going anywhere soon?”

Shaking his head, Ricker had the decency to look embarrassed at his choice of words.

“Hell, I’ve gone out of my way to make sure my daughter stays away from men, and you want my father to force her to marry one. No. She doesn’t need a man by her side to do this job. No woman needs a man by her side to do any job. Besides, by the time she’s ready to take over as CEO, she’ll be older and wiser. You and I will long be retired.”

Paul Ricker tensed some but let out a laugh along with my father. My chest ached knowing my father would be gone weeks after this was taped.

Paul finally stood. A fake-as-hell smile grew over his face. “I’ll get it taken care of as soon as possible.”

“Get it done today, Ricker. We have a shit ton of lawyers I pay a pretty penny to. Get them to handle my father’s little joke before someone tells my daughter about it.”

“Yes, Mr. Monroe.”

We watched as Ricker walked out of my father’s office. There was a break in the video and another one started up.

“Found this one a few days later.”

Marge’s voice says over the video.

Then I heard Marge’s voice again, this time coming from the TV. “Mr. Monroe, Mr. Ricker is here to see you. He said it is in regards to the situation you asked him to take care of last week.”

Hitting a button, my father answered. “Send him in.”

The door opened and Ricker walked in. “Paul, tell me you got that taken care of ?”

Ricker cleared his throat and sat down in the chair. “Yes. It’s all been taken care of. Nothing to worry about.”

Lifting his head, my father lifted a brow. “It’s done?”

“Yes, just like you asked me to do. I talked to Mr. Knots about it, and we handled it. He took it to one of the judges he knows who simply laughed. Said it would never hold up in court. You could, of course, move to have the board vote that Charlie would need to be of a certain age before becoming CEO.”

“No,” my father retorted.

“Then the subject is dropped.”

Marge and I looked at each other.

My father’s voice made me jump.

“Good. Good. Now let’s just forget this whole little nasty thing and move on.”

Marge’s voice once again comes over the TV. “Mr. Monroe, you asked me to remind you when it was one.”

Standing, my father smiled. “Stay here, Ricker. I need to go wish my daughter a happy birthday.”

My hand covered my mouth, and I forced the tears back. Marge reached over and squeezed my knee. She kept her hand there and turned back to the TV like she was waiting for a bomb to drop.

Ricker stood, walked around the desk and sat in my father’s chair.

“That bastard,” I hissed.

He hit a few numbers and smiled as he leaned back in the chair. “Knots, it’s me. I’m calling from Mike’s office. I told him it was taken care of. If he asks to see it, show him the fake one you drew up and then destroy it.”

I gasped. “Holy fuck.”

For the first time since I became acting CEO of CMI, Marge didn’t scold me for swearing.

“I doubt he’ll ask to see it, but if he does, we’re covered. There is no way in hell I’m letting some goddamn wet-behind-the-ears young girl take over this company. I’ve lost two wives for that bastard and this company … he owes this to me.”

Standing, I balled up my fists.

“That dirty, rotten, motherfucking, son-of-a-bitch bastard!” I screamed. “He and Knots both betrayed my father!”

“If I had known you were calling in Knots, I would have warned you not to.”

I paced back and forth, trying to think of what to do.

“There are eleven very educated men and women on the board, and not one of them thought this sounded wrong?” I asked, my hands flying up to my hips.

Marge looked at me and said, “You believed it.”

I stood there, staring at Marge.

“He thinks he’s going to steal this company right out from underneath me? Well, he has another thing coming.”

Walking back over to my desk, I reached for my phone and then back to Marge. “I’m calling an emergency board meeting. I want all those bastards here in an hour, and I don’t give two shits what they have to do to get here.”

Marge smiled. I could see the pride on her face.

The good thing about this shitstorm was that Tucker was the last thing on my mind right now.

GLANCING OVER TO the church, I watched as Lily, Tucker and their mother, Patty, forced smiles on their faces as they stood outside the doors and spoke to people. I’d wait until they went inside before I slipped in.

My phone buzzed.

Terri: Stop sitting in your car and please come in. Lily will want to see you.

Tucker wasn’t the only reason I was stalling. Memories of my own parents’ funeral came slamming back to the forefront of my mind this morning. Dressing in black with that heavy feeling in my stomach, knowing people will glance my direction and think how sad it was I lost both of my parents not very long ago.

Me: I’m trying. It’s hard for more than one reason.

Terri’s reply was instant.

Terri: I know, Charlie. I know.

Her words, although simple and direct, seemed to be what I needed. I swallowed hard and stepped out of my silver BMW. The closer I walked to the church, the more my heart pounded in my chest. The closer I got to Tucker, the more my feelings mixed together. I hated him. I hated what he did to me, but I was doing the same thing to him. I had gotten together with him under the umbrella of a lie. A trick. A plan to get him into my bed and show him how much he needed to be with me so that he would surely pop the question before my deadline.

Lily had sworn to me that Tucker was not planning any sort of revenge. He swore it to her. A part of me wanted to believe him, but I kept thinking back to that first night we spent together and the note he left asking if I regretted it. Maybe that had been his only plan of vengeance.

Anger boiled up inside of me, waging a war over the grief I also felt.

Grief won out as I walked up to Patty, who stood closest to me.

“Patty,” I whispered. I could feel Tucker’s eyes on me, but I focused on the woman standing before me. Her eyes were so bloodshot from crying. All I wanted to do was pull her to me, so I did. Her arms wrapped around me, holding me tight.

“I’m so sorry, Patty. I’m so very sorry.”

The strong woman I’d seen smiling and saying hello to people cracked for a brief moment and sobbed; then she sucked in a breath of air.

“Thank you, sweet girl.”

I went to pull away from her, but she held me tighter and moved her mouth to my ear. “He loves you, Charleston. Let him love you because he feels like he has no one right now.”

My intake of sharp air was evident to both Lily and Tucker, I was positive. Patty let me go and turned to the person who was walking up behind me. I stared at her. My mind spinning.

Lily gently touched my arm and moved me closer to her. I tried to give her a smile, but I knew I was failing.

“Thank you, Charlie, for being here. I know this has to be so hard with your recent loss as well.”

I wanted to ask her if she meant my parents or her brother but decided I was reading too much into this because she had to mean my parents.

With a quick hug, I stepped to her side and looked up into Tucker’s gray eyes. The sadness in them left me breathless.

“I’m sorry about your father. I know how hard this is on you.”

His eyes held nothing in them. No emotion whatsoever. He waited for what seemed like forever when he finally said, “Thank you.”

He made no attempt at hugging me—hell, he actually took a step away from me. Our eyes lingered on each other for a few more moments before he looked away and stared blankly at the person talking to Lily.

I turned and walked into the church, the threat of tears pricking the back of my eyes. I quickly found Terri sitting in the second row with Nash, Blake, and Jim. She took my hand in hers and gave it a slight squeeze.

“You okay?” she asked, her eyes filled with sympathy.

My words caught in my throat. I was far from okay. I missed my parents. My heart hurt for Tucker with the way things were left between him and his father, yet I was angry as hell at him. Maybe I wasn’t angry, but rather hurt that he would play me for a fool.

Pot calling kettle black.

Maybe my feelings were hurt at the hateful things he said to me in his drunken haze; they were hateful but also true. Truer words were always spoken when liquid courage was your shield, I guessed.

“I’m fine,” I finally got out. My voice betrayed me, though. I was far from fine.

Another few minutes passed by, and then the family came in. I watched Lily and Tucker as they walked on either side of their mother. Tucker looked to be helping her stand up. When they sat down in the front, I heard soft cries and sniffles and nearly jumped up and bolted out of the church. Memories of my parents’ funeral came rushing back. I focused on Tucker, watching his every move.

“Tucker is not doing well at all,” I heard Nash whisper to Blake.

“Yeah, I know. I stopped by last night, and he was trashed out of his mind.”

I frowned. That might have explained the blank expression on his face.

Tucker placed his arm around his mother and lightly brushed his fingers over Lily’s shoulder. It was a silent show of strength. I couldn’t be angry with him, not right now. Not knowing how he was feeling and the guilt that had to be eating away at him.

Tucker’s mother laid her head on her son’s shoulder. I could see her body shaking as she silently cried. I continued to watch him, willing him to stay strong for his family. For himself.

He did just that.

WE ALL SAT around a giant table in Tucker and Lily’s parents’ backyard. After the graveside service, family and friends were asked to come back for a celebration of Roger’s life.

I had mostly been zoned out of the conversation until something Nash said snapped me back to reality.

“He’s talking about leaving town.”

My head jerked over to Nash and Jim.

“For how long?” Jim asked, taking a drink of his beer.

Nash shrugged. “Not sure, said he needed to get away for a while. Talked about taking a backpacking trip in Europe.”

This news left me feeling sick to my stomach.

“What about the bar?” Blake asked.

“I don’t know. He’s not thinking clearly at all. He’s really fucked up, in more ways than one.”

When Nash’s gaze looked to mine, I drew in a deep breath.

We stared at one another for a few moments before Nash pulled his eyes away.

What in the hell was that supposed to mean? Like it was my fault Tucker’s father died? It was my fault Tucker knew about me needing to get married and was planning on playing some cruel joke on me?

Well, fuck that. The sad part about all of this was I no longer needed to get married. Once I got the board all together and showed them the tapes, it didn’t take long to get both Knots and Ricker fired. I was CEO of CMI … no marriage was needed. I should have felt relieved, but all I felt was sadness mixed with anger that my father did this to me. He left me with his dream and the longer I filled his shoes, the more I hated it.

“What’s wrong?” Terri asked, placing her hand on my leg. “You all of sudden seem really angry.”

I turned to her and spoke so only she could hear. “Do you think it’s wrong for me to be upset at Tucker for admitting he knew about the whole marriage thing?”

Terri chewed on her lip. “I mean, it’s sort of hard, Charlie. You started off planning on tricking him into marrying you.”

“I wasn’t tricking him,” I stated in a soft yet firm voice.

“Okay well, you for sure weren’t honest with him. It’s sort of like the pot calling the kettle black.”

Frowning, I couldn’t help but notice how I had mentally used that analogy earlier.

“Whatever. He could have said something, but he didn’t.”

“Lily and I both told you to be upfront with him. You had to know this wasn’t going to turn out well.”

I stood, my hands balled in fists. “So, it’s my fault?”

Her eyes filled with worry, and she looked around as she stood and grabbed me by the arm. We walked further out into the giant backyard, away from everyone.

“It’s both of your faults. You went into the relationship knowing you only needed one thing from Tucker, a wedding ring. He went into it angry because you were using him. Neither one of you is right, but you’re both right for each other, and I know you both see that. We’ve all known that and have seen it for years. And while I’m being honest, let me just say, we were all glad you both got your heads out of your asses and followed your hearts. You belong together.”

I scoffed.

Terri shook her head. “You can act like you’re not in love with him, Charlie, but you are. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can both be there for each other. Jim said something happened between Tucker and his father a few days before his death. It’s what’s tearing Tucker up inside. Then the whole thing that happened between y’all has just added to it. He’s in a really bad place right now, and I know he needs you.”

I chewed on my lip and glanced over to the house. Tucker was talking to an older woman and a younger woman, maybe Lily’s age. They both hugged him, and I couldn’t help but notice how the younger woman held Tucker a little longer than necessary.

My eyes burned a hole into her, and I was pretty sure if looks could kill, she’d be on the ground.

“That’s Noelle Douglas. She’s one of Lily’s work friends. Her mother and their parents are pretty tight from what Lily has told me. I’ve gone out with them both a couple times for girls’ night out.”

My brows lifted. “Why didn’t I go?”

Terri chuckled next to me. “Seriously? Because every time we asked you out, you were too busy working. Once Noelle and Tucker started dating, we stopped asking you on the nights we went out with her. Lily thought it might upset you to hear her talking about Tucker.”

Folding my arms over my chest, I watched the exchange. Jealousy slowly built while I attempted to push it away. I did a piss-poor job of it.

“They dated?”

I could feel Terri’s eyes on Tucker and Noelle. “Yep.”

The sick feeling in my stomach had me dropping my arms. Tucker looked down at Noelle and smiled. It was the first smile I’d seen on his face since his father’s death.

Noelle’s hand went to Tucker’s arm and stayed there while they talked. “How long did they date?” I asked, swallowing the bile that was now sitting at the base of my throat. I may be pissed at Tucker, but he was still mine.

Wasn’t he?

“I’m not sure. Lily knows, you can ask her.”

“No, thanks,” I said, turning and walking more out into the yard and away from the sight in front of me.

Note to self: Take the name Noelle off my short list of baby names. Damn it, I really liked that name too.

Terri must have sensed my need to be alone for a few minutes because she didn’t follow me. I made my way down into the vast garden and started walking on the trails. A few turns left and right and I was soon lost. I needed it, though. My head was clearing, and I knew Terri was right. How could Tucker and I come back from this? I needed to find out, but not right now. Now he needed to deal with his father’s death.

“Shit,” I hissed. How in the hell did I not notice how big this garden was? I could barely hear the sounds of voices. Closing my eyes, I tried to listen to the direction they were coming. Once I got what I thought was my bearings, I headed back down a familiar path that I knew I had walked on not only a few minutes ago.

Emerging from the garden and back into the large backyard, I saw my group of friends. Only this time, Tucker sat there between Nash and Blake. No, wait, Blake was standing and Noelle was sitting next to Tucker. As I got closer, I tensed when I saw her hand on his leg. Tucker sat back in the chair, a beer in his hand and a far-off look on his face. Did he even know she was attempting to feel him up at his own father’s wake?

Lily saw me walking up and smiled. “Hey, there you are,” she said softly, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I tried not to look over to Tucker. “Where did you go?”

“For a walk.”

Lily smiled a bit more. “I wish I had known; I’d have gone with you. I could use a few minutes away.”

My heart pulled with hurt, and I wanted to draw my friend into my arms and tell her the pain gets better. Not a whole lot better, but each day it eased some.

Right then, I could feel his eyes on me, so I refused to look his way. The sound of Noelle’s voice filled my head and right then I decided I didn’t like her voice. It was high pitched and grated my nerves.

Then I heard Tucker chuckle. Knowing this woman had made him smile and laugh did something to me. I was the stupid one who had walked away from him the other night. I’d told him I hated him, and at the time, I had. I was hurt, but deep down I knew I was just as much to blame for this mess.

Stealing a peek in their direction, she was resting her hand on Tucker’s shoulder, whispering something into his ear. Tucker’s eyes looked my way, and a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Asshole.

I guess he enjoyed his ex hanging all over him. Fine. Let him move on. I didn’t have to stand there and watch it.

When I turned back to Lily, she was staring off, but not in the direction of her brother—at Nash.

“I’m sorry Lily, I’m going to have to run.”

My best friend’s face fell. “You do?”

I nodded and before I could stop myself, I looked at Tucker again. He stared at me, a beer in his hand and Noelle at his side. She was saying something to him, but it didn’t look like he was paying any attention. Then he dropped his gaze in her direction. When her hand lifted and pushed a piece of his dark hair from his eyes, I knew I needed to leave. Tucker looked emotionless though, and that was the only thing keeping me from losing my shit.

“If you need anything,” I started to say to Lily while reaching for my purse, “you let me know. Okay?”

Her eyes darted from me to Tucker, then to Noelle, and back to me again.

“Charlie, it’s not what it looks like,” she whispered.

I played like I had no idea what she was talking about. “What? I’m just feeling a little sentimental about my folks.”

Which was half the truth.

“And I’ve got a fire burning at work I need to take care of.”

Lily’s face screwed up in a look of disappointment. “Of course you do.”

My eyes widened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She sighed. “It means it’s always about work with you.” Her voice raised, causing our small group to all turn their attention on both of us.

“What?” I asked, surprised and a little hurt by her sudden outburst.

“It’s always about that damn job of yours. You’ve walked away from everything and ruined things with you and Tucker because of that stupid job of yours. Well, I hope it’s worth it when you’re all alone in life with no one there to love you. Oh, wait. CMI will be there for you.”

I took a step back, my hand coming up to my throat. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. I knew the signs of grief, and Lily was in the pissedoff-at-the-world stage. It still hurt that she lashed out at me.

Nash stood and walked up to Lily. “Lil, now is not the time to bring this up.”

Snapping my head over to him, I gave him an incredulous look. Was this something Lily had felt for a long time? Did she honestly think I put my job before her? Before our friendship?

Lily let out a defeated sigh and looked from Nash to Tucker, and finally back to me. “Just go, Charlie. It’s better for you to not be here anyway.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, then turned to look at Tucker. I didn’t know why I thought he would stop his sister from spewing out hurtful words. All he did was lift his beer and finish it off while he ignored me.

“Lily!” Terri said, standing at my side. “It’s okay,” I forced out. My voice sounded weak, and I hated that. Taking in a deep breath to settle myself, I spoke in a steady voice while trying to remain compassionate. “I’ll go so I don’t upset Lily. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

For some reason, my response pissed off my best friend. She shook her head slowly and scoffed. She then quietly said, “Always the cool and calm one, aren’t you? You’re not in a goddamn boardroom, Charlie! For once in your life, can you show emotion? Tell Tucker how you’re feeling!”

My eyes darted toward him. He didn’t move; he just sat there. Now Noelle looked at me with a smug expression.

Lily wasn’t finished with me though. She got in one more jab and went for the kill. “You didn’t even cry at your own parents’ funeral, Charlie. That says a lot about what’s important to you in your life.”

Terri stepped up to Lily. “That’s enough,” she said sharply.

Anger pulsed through my veins. She was angry and filled with grief, but that didn’t give her the right to take it out on me or mention my parents. My eyes burned, and I was too emotionally exhausted to fight it anymore.

A single tear slipped from my eye and trailed down my cheek. Blake stood and walked over to me.

“Charlie,” he whispered. The tenderness in his voice moved me, but again it made Lily angry.

She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a deep voice.

“Knock it off, Lily,” Tucker finally said. When I turned to him, his eyes grew watery and he stood. He took a step toward me, and for a moment I thought he was going to walk up to me. Instead he stopped when Blake cupped my face in his hands.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded and took a step back, breaking his contact.

Swallowing hard, I pulled my eyes from him and landed my gaze onto Lily, who now wore a look of regret on her face.

Clearing my throat the best I could, I spoke softly. “I’m glad to know how you feel, Lily.”

Her eyes closed. “Charlie, I didn’t mean any of that. Don’t leave.”

I didn’t give her a chance to finish. I stepped around her, wiped my face clear of any tears, and walked over to their mother as I forced my voice to stay steady.

“Mrs. Middleton, I’m so sorry for your loss. If there’s anything you need, or if you’d like to talk, I’m here.”

Patty smiled at me and then pulled me in for a hug. She didn’t say anything, but when she pushed me at arm’s length to look at me, she opened her mouth to speak. She then closed her eyes for a few moments before looking back at me.

“Charleston, thank you sweetie. I know how hard this has also been for you.”

Forcing a small grin, I remained quiet. If I spoke, I knew I would break down into tears. I needed to get out of here.

Patty’s eyes moved to the group outside and she frowned. “Please don’t be angry with him. He cares very much about you and you’ve both lost … you’ve lost… .”

Before she could finish, she covered her mouth, turned on her heels and walked off.

I can’t deal with this shit.

When I reached my car, I jumped in and dropped my head down onto the steering wheel. Everything was spiraling out of my control, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Well, not everything. My father’s company was still very much in my control.

Too bad that didn’t make me even one ounce happy.