Braxton strolled in. The weeks’ worth of growth that had been on his face was now cleanly shaven. He’d shucked the sweats he’d been wearing exclusively and stood before them in jeans and a dress shirt, holding an envelope.
Paisley’s eyes rose to find his. She had been expecting to see the defeated look she’d observed for weeks, only it wasn’t there any longer. His bright blue eyes twinkled back at her. It was as if a new man was before her, rejuvenated and ready to live again.
Paxton took the seat beside his sister. They both stayed silent.
“Brax?” Paisley prompted him. She was sitting on the edge of her chair, waiting for an answer.
Her eyes fixated on the corners of his lips turning into a smile as he held out the envelope toward her and her brother, waiting for one of them to take it from him. She couldn’t bring herself to move. But without hesitation, Paxton retrieved the manila envelope and opened it. Paisley waited patiently as he pulled the papers from between the folds. LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
“Brax, what is this about?”
Braxton slid out one of the remaining vacant chairs at the table and took a seat. His smile resembled that of the Cheshire cat. “This is my future. No, scratch that—our future.”
Paisley glanced at Paxton, whose brows were drawn together, mirroring her expression. When had Braxton’s parents’ last will and testament become their future too?
“Don’t look so confused.” Braxton spoke animatedly. “You’d thought I’d lost it. Didn’t you?”
When he looked directly at Paisley, she nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, I guess the first week I pretty much did.” Braxton reached out and took Paisley’s hand in his. “Thank you for being there for me, butterfly.” Braxton then turned to Paxton. “Both of you.” He stretched across the table and placed a hand on Paxton’s hand. “Without you two, I’m not sure how I would have dealt with this. But this week I realized that my parents would be disappointed in me. Sure they would expect me to grieve, but they’d also want me to move on.”
Paisley could just hear Mrs. Michaels cheering her son on. “Don’t waste your life on what could have been. Live for tomorrow and never look back.” Both of his parents had been so driven.
Braxton smirked at them. “So, you all thought I was watching those god-awful reruns, but I was contemplating what I should do next. We were planning a future for ourselves and our business when this happened. I know my mom would have wanted us to follow through on that, so that is what I was doing. I was thinking through what that would look like for us and then it hit me.”
Paxton had been half-listening to Braxton while flipping through page after page of the Michaels’ will. “Dude, you just inherited a shit ton of money.” Her brother blanched and said hurriedly, “Shit, I’m sorry. That came out wrong, buddy. I didn’t mean to sound so callous.”
“Don’t sweat it. I know what you meant and that you weren’t being offensive.” Braxton stood before walking toward Paxton and slugging him in the arm. “Though you are quite obnoxious at times.”
He began to pace in front of the table for a brief moment and then he paused, giving his undivided attention to his friends. “Yeah, I did inherit quite a bit. This means we won’t have to deplete our savings or take out loans to get our business up and running.” Braxton lifted his head slightly. “I think my parents are looking down on us from above, giving us the thumbs-up, and telling us it’s time to make our dreams come true.”
Chapter 11 New Year’s Eve 2017
“We’ve got a lot to celebrate tonight.” Paxton lifted his glass and reached toward the center of the table. “Michaels and Associates is a year and a half into being the best management company this side of the Mississippi.”
Their glasses clanked together, and Braxton smiled at his best friend. He had been perfectly fine with Reed, Michaels, and Reed. He had said back then that it didn’t matter the name as long as they were together. But after the loss of his parents and the money to get their business running coming from his inheritance, Paisley came up with a new name for their venture. She had been insistent that it be called Michaels and Associates. Of course, Braxton hadn’t argued with them.
Shortly after they’d gone into business Paxton’s former employer came after Michaels and Associates sighting that Paxton broke his non-compete clause. Even though the claims were false, the threesome had known they would need strong representation if they were going to fight a mega operation like GSM&S. And after talking about it, they’d agreed Alissa was the right fit for their company. She’d had the skills they required.
Now it only seemed fitting that since there were two Reeds at Michaels and Associates, there should be two Michaels. And Braxton planned to propose to Alissa tonight.
Braxton raised his glass and began to clear his throat, but he was quickly interrupted.
“I’m not done toasting.” Paxton smiled when he looked at Megan, sitting to his left. “Megan has agreed to move in with me, so I’d say that in itself is worth celebrating.”
Megan raised her shoulders slightly and then let them fall while smiling sheepishly. It wasn’t too long ago that Paxton, the self-proclaimed bachelor, had lost his man card to this pint-sized Irish publicist. He had met her at one of the company parties earlier that year and had instantly known she was the one. Braxton had been trying to convince Megan that Michaels and Associates needed her on their staff, which had led the way for Paxton to begin working on claiming her for himself.
“What can I say?” Megan beamed. “He finally wore me down. I couldn’t take his whining anymore.” Her smile became more radiant as she continued, “It was getting pathetic.”
“Ah, come on. It wasn’t that bad,
