card. They had been keeping vigil over Noah for days and this was the first time she had given him her contact information.
“The hospital knows how to reach me, but can you call me if anything changes?”
Derek accepted the card and glanced at it before returning his attention to her. He had to be careful around her. Those eyes, accented with long eyelashes, could do a brother more harm than good.
“Will do.” He slid the card into the front pocket of his pants, his gaze following her as she headed for the door. She had the type of body, curvy without being too skinny or fat, that typically made him take a second glance. She was always casually dressed whenever he saw her, but he could tell that beneath the clothing was a hot body.
He shook his head and chastised himself for allowing his mind to even go there. He didn’t need that type of distraction right now.
“You can stop faking sleep, old man,” he said when he approached Noah’s bed. “She’s gone.”
“Nobody likes...a smart-ass,” Noah said in a voice just above a whisper.
Derek smiled. He hadn’t been sure Noah was awake and had spoken the words just for the hell of it.
He took in the older man’s appearance. His once-full head of gray, wavy hair was very thin, and his sunken eyes made him almost unrecognizable. Once a large man, Noah barely tilted the scale at a hundred and forty pounds now, and the realization that he was looking weaker by the day unsettled Derek.
“Look out...for her.”
Noah’s words pulled Derek back to the present. “Excuse me?” He leaned in close.
“You heard...me.” Noah’s voice suddenly seemed stronger and he met Derek’s gaze for the first time in days.
Derek hesitated. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for his mentor, but he wasn’t exactly sure what Noah was expecting of him when it came to Macy. He knew they were close, but there was just so much Derek could do for her when he lived thousands of miles away.
“Macy seems pretty independent.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets and leaned his hip against the side of the bed. “I’m sure she’s going to be fine. Besides, you know I live in Cincinnati. Between my architecture business and Jason, I don’t have much time for anything else.” Derek shrugged. “I honestly don’t think you have to worry about Macy. She’s sharp. She’ll be all right.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“It’s time...start living.” Noah’s wheezy cough sounded as if it was painful, making his whole body shake. “That ex-wife did a number...on you,” he rasped. “But it’s time...to move on.”
Derek groaned and rubbed the back of his neck and strolled over to the single window that was on the other side of the room. Staring out into the night, the last thing he wanted to talk about was his ex-wife. The day she walked out on him and his son was the day he’d vowed to stay clear of emotional entanglements with women.
“Son...I’m tired,” Noah said. Derek glanced over his shoulder. Noah looked as if he had aged in only a few minutes. “I need to know...the two of you will be okay when I’m gone.”
Derek pushed away from the window and went to stand next to the bed. Yes, he knew Noah was dying. Yet he still couldn’t accept the idea of not having him around.
“Promise me...you’ll look after Macy. And that you...will start living again.” When Derek hesitated, Noah continued, “Promise...me.” His voice was almost haunting. Foreboding crept up Derek’s spine. “Promise me.”
Derek swallowed hard. “Yeah. Yeah, I promise.”
Three days after Noah’s memorial service, Derek sat in his mentor’s lawyer’s office in shock. “He left me Price Architecture?” he said to himself.
No matter how many times Derek said the words out loud, he still couldn’t believe it. He rested his head against the high-back leather conference-room chair, trying to process all that Drew Ashton, Noah’s attorney, had told him. Noah and his wife had never had children and more than once, Noah had told him that he was like the son he’d never had. Derek now had a good idea just how Noah had felt about him.
Drew had gone through the specifics of the will as it related to Derek. Not only had Noah left him enough cash to live comfortably for years, but he had also bequeathed him a house in one of Atlanta’s suburbs. It was the knowledge that Noah had entrusted him with his multimillion-dollar company, his baby, that had Derek’s mind reeling, though. Never would he have expected to inherit the company. Sure, he had worked alongside Noah during the summers while in college and even occasionally after graduating, but Derek never expected he would one day be the CEO of the organization.
“Sorry about that.” Drew walked back into the luxury conference room and closed the door. The space looked as if the law office had spared no expense in its decor. The wall-to-wall bookshelves against deep taupe walls with dark wood trim gave the room a cozy feel, like a home library, fireplace and all.
Drew reclaimed his seat next to Derek at the round table. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I’m here to answer any questions you might have.” He opened the folder that he had brought back into the room with him. “You knew Noah well enough to know that the will comes with a number of stipulations.”
“I’m sure it does,” Derek said dryly, feeling a little overwhelmed with all that had happened since losing Noah. Overseeing the memorial service was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. There were moments in the days since then when he still couldn’t believe he was gone. Noah had always seemed bigger than life and Derek had no idea how his life would play out without having his friend and confidant in it.
Derek’s gaze dropped to the photo in his hands of the home that Noah had left him. Actually, it was more like a mini mansion. The two-story, five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom, colonial-style brick house with tall, mature trees and a manicured yard was breathtaking, even on paper.
“As I mentioned, within the next three weeks, you would be required to relocate to Atlanta and live in that house for a minimum of one year. And as for the company, you must agree to take the reins of CEO and maintain ownership of the firm for no less than a year.”
“I would never sell Price,” Derek said, not meaning to voice his thought aloud. He was honored that Noah trusted him enough to oversee the company. For years, he had tried to get Derek to move to Atlanta and be his right-hand man. Derek hated that it took Noah’s death to get him to play a role in the firm.
“Glad to hear that.” Drew broke into his thoughts. “I know I don’t have to tell you that Noah poured his heart and soul into the company. His staff is more like family, and I think you will find them quite helpful as you get settled in your new role. As a matter of fact, based on what I know of you through Noah, you’re the perfect person to take the firm to the next level.”
“Thank you.” Derek met Drew’s gray-eyed gaze before diverting his eyes back to the papers in front of him. He had heard of people becoming millionaires overnight, but never had he imagined it could happen
