Her Boss: Braxton Brothers Series Book One

by Meyer, Anne-Marie

  Beth nodded, a laugh escaping her lips. “I can do that.”

  Josh grabbed his keys off the hook next to the door. He twisted them around his fingers. “Well, I should be back by five. We’re remodeling a few Honey Grove homes.”

  Beth nodded again, and then felt like an idiot. Couldn’t she come up with any other reaction when he spoke? “No worries. Whenever you get home, you get home. I’m sure we’ll have a blast.”

  Josh studied her for a moment longer, and then he smiled. “Thanks for doing this, Beth. I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

  Beth shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Really. Besides, you’re helping me out. I’ve been looking for a job, and to have one so close to home…” She pinched her lips together. What was the matter with her? Was she crazy? Ten minutes in and she was about to spill everything to Josh. She cleared her throat and forced a relaxed look—or a semblance of one. “It’s just good to have a plan.”

  Josh held her gaze, and, for a moment, she could see that he wasn’t sure if he believed her. But the last thing she wanted to do was break her promise to her mom, so she just smiled.

  “You should probably get going. You don’t want to be late on your first day.” She nodded at the door. There was a tug of war going on inside of her. She wanted him to stay but feared what she might say if he did. It was better for everyone if he just left.

  Josh’s gaze flicked over to the clock on the microwave, and he nodded. “Yeah. I should go.” He turned and went over to the couch, where he dipped down and pressed his lips to the top of Jordan’s head. “I’m leaving, squirt. Beth’s here. Listen to her.”

  Jordan shifted and complained about being interrupted. Josh tousled his hair and then made his way over to the door. “Call if you need me. My number’s on the fridge.”

  Beth glanced over at the fridge to see that a piece of torn paper had been tacked to it. She nodded. “Got it. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  Josh smiled, pulled open the door, and gave her one final wave. Once he was gone, the only sound that filled the air was the TV.

  Not sure what to do, Beth paced back and forth before finding herself over at the couch. “Hungry?” she asked.

  Jordan looked up at her for a brief moment before returning his attention to the TV. “Yeah. But I need my Reese’s Puffs.”

  “Reese’s Puffs,” Beth repeated as she moved over to the kitchen and pulled open the cupboards. Besides some condiment packs, she found no food.

  Not sure what to do, she sighed. “Have you guys gone grocery shopping?” she asked to the top of Jordan’s head.

  When he didn’t answer, she assumed he either didn’t know or didn’t care. He was only five after all. But mayonnaise and ketchup packets weren’t going to suffice as breakfast. She walked over to the TV and stood next to it.

  “How about we go into town today? We can get you guys some groceries and maybe stop at the park?”

  Jordan ignored her until she said park. Suddenly, she was much more interesting than the hamburger that was dancing across the screen. “Does it have a slide?”

  Beth was pretty sure it did. But it’d been a while since she’d been there. Most parks had slides, right?

  “Yes.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “And swings?”

  “Yes,” she said not meaning to drag out every letter of the word. If she was wrong, she’d feel bad.

  Jordan studied her for a moment longer before he shrugged and scooted off the couch. “I guess I’ll go.”

  Grateful that she wasn’t going to have to drag him from the apartment, Beth walked over to the door and slipped on her sandals.

  A few minutes later, Jordan returned wearing an orange t-shirt and shorts. He grabbed his flip-flops and wiggled his toes until they were on.

  Beth slung her purse onto her shoulder and reached out to grab the door handle.

  “Wait,” Jordan said and ran into the back bedroom.

  Beth paused as she watched him disappear. It didn’t take long for him to return with a stuffed gorilla in one arm.

  “Can Captain come?” he asked as he hugged the animal to his chest.

  Beth smiled. “Sure.” After she opened the door, she waved Jordan through.

  The warming morning air surrounded her as she stepped out after him. She pulled the door closed and followed Jordan down the stairs. Beth walked next to Jordan on the driveway as she led him to her car.

  “Where are you two off to?” Sondra’s voice made Beth yelp. She glanced over to see Josh’s mom standing there with two brown paper bags.

  Beth smiled. “We’re heading into town. Josh has no groceries, and Jordan wants to play at the park.”

  Sondra reached out and smothered Jordan in hugs and kisses. Jordan didn’t seem to appreciate that. He was wiggling and pushing away from her. Beth was having a hard time trying to keep from laughing at Jordan’s scrunched nose and stuck out tongue.

  “Nana,” he said when he finally pulled free.

  Sondra just shrugged and turned to Beth. “Josh and Mr. Braxton forgot their lunch. Could you be a dear and bring these to them?”

  Beth’s heart began to beat harder at the thought of seeing Josh again. It was ridiculous. She needed to get a handle on this, especially if she was going to be working for him. Realizing that she was taking way too long to respond to Mrs. Braxton, Beth nodded and held out her hand for the bags.

  There was no way she wanted to give the busy-body of Honey Grove any inclination that she had a crush on her son. “Yeah. Sure. Do you know where they are working today?”

  Sondra furrowed her brow. “I think they are remodeling Tricia Young’s house. Ever since that jerk left her, she’s been trying to erase everything he ever touched.”

  And there it was. When Sondra Braxton knew something about you, she had a tendency to spill it.

  Beth just nodded and slipped the paper bags into her purse. “Got it. We’ll stop by there on our way to the Pick ‘n Save.”

  Sondra nodded, a satisfied look on face. Like she’d just accomplished a secret task. Even though Beth wasn’t thrilled to see Tricia Young—the resident rich lady of Honey Grove and former homecoming queen—she knew that sticking around Mrs. Braxton always spelled trouble. And she didn’t want to dwell too much on dissecting Sondra’s alternative motive.

  Jordan had distracted himself over by the grass. When she got closer to him, she saw that he was studying a row of ants coming from a hill.

  “Ready?”

  Jordan glanced up and nodded. “Yep.”

  “I’ll see you later, Mrs. B.”

  “Of course,” Mrs. Braxton said with a wave.

  When Beth and Jordan got to the end of the driveway, Mrs. Braxton called out for her to stop. When Beth turned, she saw that Mrs. Braxton was carrying a booster seat in her hand. As Beth took it from her, Mrs. Braxton held onto it for a moment longer, locking her gaze with Beth’s. “Thanks for doing this. You’ve been a godsend to Josh.”

  Heat raced across her skin as Beth nodded. “No problem.”

  Then she held on to Jordan’s arm as they walked across the street and over to her car. Once Jordan was buckled in, Beth climbed into the driver’s seat and settled in.

  She took a deep breath as she started the engine. She needed to take a moment to prepare herself. It was what you needed to do when it came to Tricia Young.

  Chapter Five

  Josh took a deep breath as he turned off his truck and slipped his keys into the glove compartment. He’d been to enough jobsites to know that keeping his keys in his pocket was a recipe for disaster. Besides, this was Honey Grove. No one was going to steal his truck.

  He shifted in his seat as he opened the driver’s door and dropped to the ground. The beautiful log cabin in front of him sported the name Braxton Construction across the top. A feeling of nostalgia rose in his chest.

  He crossed the parking lot, the crunch of gravel filling his ears. Not much had changed—not even the material on the ground. H
e’d spent so many years here, helping his dad plot construction plans or waiting for his dad to finish so they could go to a jobsite. It was like reliving his childhood all over again.

  Cool air blasted from inside as he stepped into the small room where Tiffany Sounders sat. She was Johnathan’s best friend and had been working for Braxton Construction for the last few years.

  “Tiffany,” Josh shouted as he spread out his arms

  “Josh,” she exclaimed as she pushed away from the desk. She wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her up into a twirl. She’d been around so much growing up that he thought of her as a little sister.

  Once he set her back down, she slugged his shoulder. “So you came back,” she said, tucking her dark brown hair behind her ear.

  Josh shrugged. “Honey Grove is like the mother ship. Eventually all the little ships must return.”

  She pulled an exaggerated contemplative look. “I never thought of it like that.”

  Josh laughed as he pointed toward his dad’s office. “He in there?”

  She nodded. “Yep. On the phone. He should be out in a minute. You guys are late for the Young remodel.”

  “Young?”

  “Yep. Tricia Young is remodeling her house. Again.” She stuck out her tongue.

  Tricia Young. Huh. Josh hadn’t thought about her since leaving Honey Grove. They’d been prom king and queen senior year, and half their graduating class had predicted they would end up married.

  But she married Marcus Young, the town’s rich kid, and Josh moved to Colorado. Funny how life can bring two people back together after so long.

  “She still married to Marcus?” Josh asked, settling into the chair that faced Tiffany’s desk.

  Tiffany sat back down and was fidgeting with a pen. “You didn’t hear?” she asked as she leaned in.

  “Hear what?”

  “Marcus left. Ditched her for some twenty-year-old nanny. Guess they had some non-cheat clause in their prenup, which he broke. She got the money and the house, and he got Barbie.” She pulled a disgusted face and Josh couldn’t help but laugh.

  And then he felt bad laughing about the misfortunes of the people in this town. Especially when it hit so close to home. “That’s terrible.”

  Tiffany gave him a no it’s not look. “Catch up with Tricia and then come back and tell me that.”

  Josh furrowed his brow. What did that mean? But before he could ask, his dad’s door opened and Jimmy stepped out. “Tiffany, call the Van Burens. The cupboards they sent us were all built an inch too short. We can’t use them. Tell them we demand a discount and I’ll need them by next week.”

  Josh glanced over at Tiffany, who was furiously taking notes. “On it, Boss,” she said as she picked up the phone, dialing before Jimmy could draw breath.

  “You made it,” his dad said, drawing Josh’s attention back over to him.

  Josh stood and crossed the room to shake his dad’s hand. “Of course. I’m ready to dive back into the family business. At least for a while.”

  Jimmy studied him for a moment before a huge smile spread across his lips. “I’m happy to have you back, son. We’re late for the Young residence, but let me show you what I’ve been working on.” He clapped his hand on Josh’s shoulder and led him into the office. “You’re going to love this.”

  * * *

  Josh had to wrangle Jimmy away from his plans so that they wouldn’t be any later than they already were. Jimmy didn’t seem to mind the fact that Tricia had called at least ten times asking where they were. He was perfectly content to sit there and talk shop.

  After he had to practically stuff Jimmy into the passenger side of his dad’s pickup, he climbed in and started up the engine. Tiffany stepped out of the office and gave them a final wave as he backed out of the parking lot.

  It was strange, driving the back roads of his home town. New buildings had come up, and yet, everything felt the same. It was a small town. You could drive from one side to the other in about fifteen minutes. Small shops lined the downtown roads, and Josh waved at a few people who were out sitting under the shade or watering their plants.

  They looked surprised to see him at first, then they shouted greetings, saying it was good he was home. Once they were through downtown, Josh started up the long roads to the richer parts of Honey Grove. Where Tricia lived.

  The roads began to wind, and the foliage crept up around them. It was hard to believe that the ocean was just a thirty-minute drive away. His GPS announced that they had arrived just as Josh pulled into a long, winding driveway. He came to a stop at the wrought iron gates, letting his truck idle there as he rolled his window down and pressed the button on the black box that was perched next to his window.

  He waited, and suddenly Tricia’s voice blared through the speaker. “Um, yes? Hello?”

  “Hey, Tricia, it’s Josh. We’re finally here,” he said. For some reason, the panic in her voice made him smile. Looking at her house, he wondered what on earth she had to feel panicked about.

  “Right. Josh,” she said, dragging out every letter of his name.

  He gave the speaker a funny look as he tried to decipher her intentions. He shifted in his seat. “We’d like to get started, so if you can open the gates, we’ll get to work.”

  “Right, of course. Come on in.” There was a buzzing sound as the gates began to swing open.

  Josh pulled in to the large roundabout driveway. A fountain sat in the middle of the grass, with water shooting from the mouth of four fish. He couldn’t help but shake his head. Tricia had some crazy money.

  “Get ready, son,” Jimmy said as he pulled his door open. “This lady can be a bit crazy.”

  Josh chuckled. Oh, he knew. She’d always been drama in high school, and he doubted that she’d be any different in her thirties. “It’s okay, Dad. I’m sure I can handle Tricia.”

  Jimmy just scoffed as he climbed out of the truck and slammed the door, muttering under his breath, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Josh got out and slammed the door, following his dad up to the doors, which opened almost instantly. Josh glanced over at his dad. He looked just as startled as Josh felt.

  “Josh Braxton,” Tricia said in a high-pitched, squealing voice. Suddenly, her arms wrapped around him, and he was sandwiched against her chest. Her hair was blonder and her tan deeper than he remembered. She was wearing a floral mini dress and four inch heels.

  “Hey, Tricia,” Josh said as he pulled back to look down at her.

  Her wide blue eyes peered up at him. “It’s so good to see you.” She dropped her arms, but not before she found his hand and squeezed it.

  Josh’s gaze dropped to their clasped hands, but, before he could do anything about it, she let go and stepped back. He ran his hand through his hair, forcing himself not to think about what had just happened.

  “So, you’re doing some remodeling?” he asked, not sure what he was supposed to say.

  “I’m going to go check on the work. Catch up with you later?” Jimmy asked as he took a step forward.

  Josh shot him a help me look but Jimmy just chuckled as he disappeared down one of the many halls.

  Tricia linked arms with Josh, clearly missing his discomfort, and began dragging him through the foyer and into the living room off to the left. Her heels clicked on the marble floor. Sunlight seeped through the large picture widows and glimmered off the chandelier above them. He couldn’t imagine how they could make this home better. It was breathtaking.

  “I’m having my pool redone, my kitchen expanded, and my master bedroom doubled in square footage. I’m tired of living in cramped quarters.”

  Josh couldn’t help the scoff that escaped his lips. He’d categorize this house as a lot of things, but cramped was not one of them. Tricia looked hurt as she glanced up at him. Not wanting to lose this job for his dad, Josh tried to backtrack.

  “What I mean is it’s a beautiful home. I can’t imagine how we could make it better.”


  She studied him before she giggled. “You’re right. But everything can be improved upon.” The way she flourished her hand in front of her body made Josh wonder if she was talking about the house or herself. He wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to respond to that.

  “Come on, let me show you the backyard.”

  She tugged on his arm and led him through the half torn down kitchen, through one of the three sliding doors, and out to a huge backyard. The pool was in shambles, and a very disgruntled boy sat in an inflatable pool in the yard with his arms folded.

  “Mom,” he whined, flicking water in her direction.

  “Not now, Tanner,” she said, shooting him a stern look and then turning to smile at Josh. “Sorry. Tanner is my son, and he’s not too happy with my choice of renovations.”

  Josh studied Tanner. He didn’t look any older than Jordan. “How old is he?”

  “Five. Going to kindergarten this year. I can’t wait.” She leaned into Josh and nudged his shoulder. “I mean, I normally have a nanny watch him, but she’s having surgery, and I can’t find a replacement.”

  Josh glanced over at her. Wow. He was grateful that he had Beth. Which reminded him, he should probably call and check in. He took out his phone to see if she’d tried to call him. No new notifications.

  “Why are you so interested in my son?” Tricia said, drawing his attention back to her.

  Josh shrugged. “No big reason.” He sighed as he pushed his hand through his hair. “I have a son as well.”

  The smile that emerged on Tricia’s lips both intrigued and scared him.

  “Really?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s fantastic.” She got a strange, far off look for a moment before snapping her gaze back to him. “I’m sorry.” Her expression turned sheepish. “I do that sometimes. Mom brain.”

  He nodded, not sure how to respond to anything Tricia said. She didn’t seem to notice, instead she just giggled. There was a nervous hint to it. “Well, I should get back inside. Phone calls won’t answer themselves.”