“Have a good day, Greyson,” I said.
“Stella. Stop. Sit and eat. You look terrible. Have you been getting enough food?” he asked.
“Goodbye, Greyson,” I said.
I made my way to the front of the restaurant while Greyson huffed behind me. I shouldn’t have been shocked when I realized he didn’t follow me out of the restaurant, but it still didn’t ease the hurt when I turned around and didn’t find anyone there. No one supported me in what I knew was right. Not even the man I was dating. All of a sudden, I was struck with a terrifying thought.
I was completely alone.
I got into my car and started it up. I knew Daisy would be working at the retirement home today, so I wouldn’t be able to talk with her until later.
But, I didn’t want to go home. How could I walk into the house and pretend like none of this had happened? I was in no mood to go through my father’s things. I was single-handedly watching everyone back off from my father’s decision to destroy his company, and I wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
I wasn’t going to allow anyone to run what he had accomplished into the ground.
Not even my father himself.
That company was rightfully mine, that much I was sure of. There wasn’t a lawyer in this town, save for the one employed by my father’s company, that wouldn’t see it that way. Any lawyer within 20 miles of San Diego would understand exactly where I was coming from and believe in my case to take this company away from my stepbrother. Christian didn’t understand this company, he didn’t like this company, and he didn’t deserve this company. I was the one who went with my father to all the “take your kid to work” days. Every time my father invited him, Christian turned him down. Every single time my father asked him if he wanted to come sit on his lap and go through files, he would just sigh and roll his eyes.
I was the one going with him to the office. I was the one helping him crunch numbers. I was the one helping him with files and helping him make orders and memorizing his projects.
So now, after my entire life had been surrounded by this company, Christian thought he could just step in out of thin air, learn everything by osmosis, and take this company to greatness? My father had already brought greatness to his company. And now, it was time for his company to give back a bit to my father.
It was time this company was run in honor of my father instead of being run by my father.
And I was going to make sure it did just that. The first step was finding a way to get it back from a bratty, lackadaisical stepbrother who didn’t give a shit about it.
Chapter Seven
Christian
Wednesday
I rehearsed what I was going to say to Stella repeatedly as I drove to her house. I had called and talked to the accountant, and she gave me the go-ahead to speak with Stella about hiring her at Harte to Heart. During my conversation with the accountant, I
learned my stepfather operated without a vice president, so that would be the perfect position for Stella. We could negotiate her pay and benefits, and then the two of us could sit side by side in the new offices I wanted to build for us over the main supplies building.
Right now, my stepfather had it as storage, but if we moved things around, stocked the store fully to make it look nice, and used the two closets in the back for overflow, we could outfit that space into offices. I took a quick look at the books and realized the company was working at an incredible profit, so I felt comfortable bringing all this up to Stella.
I pulled into her driveway and took a deep breath before I went to knock on her door. The last time we’d seen each other, it didn’t go well, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause her any more grief than what she was already going through.
But, we really needed to talk. More importantly, however, was that she really needed to listen.
I knocked on her door and heard shuffling behind it, but when she opened the door, she looked almost disappointed that it was me.
“You’re not Daisy,” she said flatly.
“Expecting the best friend?” I asked.
“What are you doing here, Christian?” she asked.
“We really need to talk,” I said.
“We really don’t,” she said.
“Stella, I know you’re hurting. You miss your father, and you feel like you’ve been slighted. And I don’t blame you. But, I’m hurting, too. I lost my mother, the only woman on this planet that ever gave a shit about me.”
“Sorry your life sucks like mine,” she said. “What do you want?”