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“What about your biological father? Refusing to sell helps him, at least according to your long-lost half sister.”

I’m not worried about Bethany or Barclay. “That can’t be helped. There’s no perfect solution. But the more I think about the situation, it would be hard to turn over the business I’ve built from the ground up. This year, we have twenty percent market penetration. Next year, we’re projected to top twenty-eight. We could be as high as thirty-four percent in the next three years. I know you’ve done the math on this; it’s your job. That’s a lot of return, especially since we’ve already done the majority of the capital investment. And when I think about keeping what’s mine versus letting an asshole potentially tear it apart… Well, I’ve already got a lot of money and a solid revenue stream. I don’t need his billion dollars.”

That makes Bas smile bigger than I’ve seen in months. He claps me on the back. “Look at you, thinking with something other than your logic.”

He’s right; I am thinking with my heart. “Why not? It seems to be working for me these days.”

“Damn straight. What does Nia think?”

“I asked her this morning. She seems more focused on our future and the baby than business.”

“So…she wants you to go through with the deal?”

I shrug. “She never came out and said that. But I think so. She told me once that she didn’t want things to change around the office for us. They already have. Even if I wanted to, I can’t undo any of that. So I’m not sure what to do.”

“And you’ve got twelve days to make up your mind?”

“Pretty much. Hey, want a beer? Maybe we can talk this out while I declutter my home office.”

“Sure. I’d love to watch you organize your crap while I take a break from jacking with mine.”

Laughing, I fetch us each a pale ale and toss one his way. “So you’re not going to help?”

“Think of me as moral support.” He twists off the cap as we make our way down the hall. “After all, what are friends for?”

“Strangling?”

We both chuckle as I settle behind the big desk, into the leather chair I’ve barely used in months. All of this can be sold off or donated since there’s a great home office with perfectly adequate furniture in the Maui house.

Sipping on my beer, I pull open the drawers on the left, where Becca kept her things. “You mostly packed up?”

“Getting there. Are you spending Christmas in Maui?”

With everything else going on, I’d forgotten about the holidays. Bas sometimes joins me since most of his family lives on the East Coast.

“Yeah. We’re going to spend the twenty-third at a party with some of her friends. Lorenzo and Guilia are hosting it. You’re welcome to join us.”

“Actually, I’m flying to my mom’s house this year, but thanks anyway. So…you finally get to meet Nia’s ex?”

I grit my teeth, then remind myself that I ended up with the woman, not Mateo. “Probably. I’m hoping that if I ignore him, the prick will leave us alone.”

Yeah, it’s probably wishful thinking, but I can’t beat up my hosts’ son for something he did to my wife before I married her. Though that doesn’t stop me from wanting to.

I try to distract myself by sorting through the few papers Becca kept in the desk. Some are invoices for her membership to a yoga studio. Shredder. Reading suggestions from a book club she joined a few years back. Trash. Receipts for the repair to the kitchen sink we needed a few weeks before her death. Keep for next owner. Then I find a file folder with business cards stapled on the inside flap. A hairdresser. A few potential nannies. A painter. I also find fabric swatches and a carpet sample. All can be tossed. Drawer one empty.

“You okay?” Bas asks.

I look up. His expression is tense. Almost…pained. “Fine. Are you?”

“It doesn’t bother you to see her handwriting one more time? To toss away things she collected and valued?”

His question strikes me as odd. “I don’t need them.”

Blowing out a breath, he eases back, staring at a note Becca jotted on the file folder about paint samples and a lead on someone who could create a great mural in the nursery. “Yeah. I guess…I’m just sentimental by nature. It’s still so shocking that she’s gone.”

“It felt that way to me for a while, but I’ve finally admitted that I didn’t love her. I’ve been able to let go of her and my guilt.”

He nods. “And you found someone else to help you with that.”