“This was a good idea.” Tina motioned with a tilt of her chin to his employees mingling in front of them. “Especially since, starting next week, they’re going to have to work twice as hard to keep up with the release schedule.” She twirled a full wine glass in her other hand, smiling in acknowledgement as people waved hello from around the room.

“Can I leave yet?” Brecken asked. “Nobody wants to drink with the boss.”

His vice president and the most hardworking employee he’d ever hired tossed a sideways look his way.

“Absolutely not. They want to see you hanging out and having fun. Be a normal guy for one night. Smile and show them you’re approachable. I mean, look at them, they all dressed up in their suits tonight. It’s adorable.” Tina bit back a laugh.

Beer in hand, he glanced around the room and grimaced when he realized Tina was right. His engineers were indeed in suits. Bad suits.

Wishing he’d handed out bonuses instead of agreeing to a company party, he only half-heartedly picked apart Tina’s words. A normal guy? He’d never been one of those. He’d worked tirelessly every day of his adult life to be anything but normal.

“Where’s Nadia?” Tina’s head swiveled, adjusting her thick-rimmed glasses as she scanned the room. “I think she’s the only one not here.”

“She had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and wasn’t feeling up to it.”

Tina raised her eyebrows, and he smiled. Nothing got past her.

“She had lip injections, I think. I didn’t ask for a lot of details. Apparently, looking like a duck is all the rage.”

Tina chuckled quietly, and he turned, smiling and shaking his head as he stepped into the center of the room. His movement didn’t go unnoticed, and the conversations quieted as everyone turned their attention to him. “Thank you all for coming tonight. We are here to celebrate all your hard work that has led to the signing of another big client. As I was on my way here, I was also informed that Blackstone Software has been named one of the top five information technology companies in Denver for the third year in a row.”

Applause and hoots echoed through the room, and he took the moment to truly appreciate the people who shared his drive and vision and helped to make his own dreams a reality.

“Enjoy the food and drinks. Monday we get back to work.” He raised his glass and flashed his white smile. “Cheers.”

The noise in the room erupted as everyone clinked their glasses together in celebration. Tina smiled with an approving smirk.

After he took his place in the corner, his eyes looked for January at the bar. She was gone, probably to enjoy what was left of her birthday. His lips pulled into a half smile at the memory of her shocked face when she realized he was the reason her night had been ruined. She’d been right about one thing. This party was lame. And so was the idea of him hanging around and being “approachable”.

He let out a sigh as Tina turned to him. “The realtor called again about the ranch. I think she’s anxious to get the place on the market. It’s worth a killing, I’m sure.”

The idea of making money off the old family ranch should have had him calling her back. He was as excited to make that call as he was about being at this party.

“It’ll still be worth a killing in another month when things settle down at work.”

Tina shot him another disapproving look, but his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, giving him a reprieve from her questions. Though, after he saw who was calling, he wished he hadn’t looked. Henry had been calling nearly every day since their father had passed. He wasn’t sure what he could possibly want after all this time, but he wasn’t ready to find out, either.

Resigned, he said, “I gotta take this,” and walked toward the exit, but declined the call before putting his phone to his ear.

“Brecken!” Tina called after him, but he didn’t stop. He needed to get out of there, and he’d meant what he’d said earlier—no one was going to have any fun with the boss hanging around.

The cold air greeted him as he shoved the heavy bar door open, but he ignored the bite as he crossed the street to his car, climbed in, started the engine, and pulled into the late-night traffic.

He could keep delaying the inevitable, selling the ranch, which had its advantages. If he didn’t sell, then he didn’t have to go there and deal with all the memories and stuff left behind. On the other hand, he could buck up and deal and be done with it. The phone calls he’d been dodging would probably stop too.

He hung a right, gritting his teeth as he mulled over his next steps. Maybe he could task Tina with whatever was needed to get the ranch ready to sell. The sound of his own laughter filled the car as he imagined Tina telling him to go straight to hell.