Crazy Ever After by Kelly Jamieson

Angeles. After that, he’d had to prove himself all over again to Parker, desperate to get back his approval, his trust. He remembered his fear when Parker had been so pissed off at him that he’d screwed up the only thing he’d ever accomplished in his life, and felt that fear again. He wasn’t going to lose it. This company was his, and he would run it. No question.
    “You just want the job for yourself,” she flung at him.
    “Yes,” he admitted, holding her gaze. “I want that job for myself. This is my company too, and I’m the most logical one to do it.” He glanced at Dayna. Her eyes moved back and forth between them, her fingers twisted together in her lap.
    “Travis...”
    He nodded to her then turned back to Samara. “It’s only logical, Sam. Parker and I were partners. It only makes sense that I would step into that role.”
    “Why should you have all the control?” She jumped to her feet and started pacing in front of the French doors. “You don’t hold all the shares in the company. Only forty percent.”
    He took a deep breath. That was only too true. “You’re right,” he agreed. “I can’t handle all the responsibilities of my job and Parker’s. We’re going to have to restructure our executive management. Maybe divide some things up differently.”
    “And where do I fit in there?”
    It was a helluva question, actually. He thrust a hand through his hair.
    She smiled at him. “Gotcha.”
    No effing way. Not only did he have a vested personal interest in this, he had to consider the good of the company. They couldn’t have a twenty-four-year-old inexperienced CEO taking over.
    His only consolation was that he knew there was no way the others would allow that to happen. And if it came to a vote, his forty percent plus their ten percent equaled fifty percent.
    Leaving fifty percent in the hands of Samara...and her mother.
     
     
    * * *
     
     
     
    Samara and her mother met with the minister, made arrangements with the caterer and answered the door to continual deliveries of floral arrangements, but frustration ate at her that she was running around attending to those things when where she really wanted to be was at the office.
    After hearing the news yesterday that she now owned her father’s shares in the company, it was crystal clear to her what she had to do. Ever since she’d arrived she’d felt a powerful need to go to the office, to step in, take charge, to know what the communications people were saying, to talk to staff and reassure them that their jobs were safe. But now she knew she had a right to step in. Not only a right, but a duty and an obligation. It was what her father would have wanted, she was sure of it, and she was filled with determination that she was going to take over.
    Meanwhile, Travis was the one who was at the office, taking control.
    She was not going to go back to San Francisco. She’d figure out what they’d do about her position there next week when she had time to sit down and think about it. They could easily cover her work in the short term, and for the longer term, well... Barry could be ready to move up.
    Dealing with Travis could be a problem. He clearly thought he was the one who’d take over for Dad. He did know a lot about the business. But she was family. She was the best one to know what her father would have wanted. Travis still affected her, but surely enough time had passed that she could deal with him on a business level and keep things professional. She’d done that for the last seven years, not letting people get too close to her. She’d had a few relationships, but they’d never progressed to anything lasting. Her business relationships were just that—business. She could do this.
    Except right now she was all tied up in the details of planning a funeral. For her father.
    More grief washed down through her, nearly overwhelming her, along with a feeling that was near anger at her father for doing this to them. But that only