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“What? Well, you had no trouble hearing that”

“Very funny, Dane He was speaking loudly! You know your father can wake up the dead when he raises those pipes of his”

Dane grinned in spite of the gravity of the situation

“And he’s also talking about this bucket list”

“Bucket list?” Dane raked his fingers through his hair He thought he’d heard it all, but now this Since when did his old s like bucket lists?

“Yes, Dane But that’s not all” Maya’s voice sounded ot that old antique brass bucket in the study with hirandfather—your great-grandfather, used to wash hotel s before he opened his own after the war Oh, Dane He’s really gone-”

“I’ll be right there, Aunt Maya Don’t worry about a thing” Dane hung up the phone He then keyed in the extension to make a quick call to his secretary

Antique brass bucket frorandfather?

Bucket list? Was his old ?

“Yes, boss?” Stella Ward answered the intercohts She was their versatile office temp anted to learn about the hospitality industry But she was also an aspiring food, travel and culture journalist studying part time She’d applied for an internship at the Belazine publication

“I need you to take all ency”

“Sure thing, boss Is everything okay?”

Dane hesitated for awill be fine!”

Was that a promise he could even keep? Dane had already lost a parent He wasn’t ready to lose another Not after he’d just become reacquainted with a family he didn’t know existed

Dane and Jonah hadn’t gotten along when they’d first met When Dane’s uy when he found out he was his biological father and what he’d done to his mother But he’d soon learned that hate was a toxic, useless e ahead in life and trying to prove he was a good person

The holiday season was always difficult for Dane It was at this tio when he’d lost his mother He could still re lot outside of another hotel She’d been working a double shift between two of her jobs and the police ruled her death as carbonShe’d taken a nap in her car between her jobs and left the ured she’d wanted to keep warm But if that hadn’t killed her, exhaustion would have She’d wanted to buy the boys a present if she could afford it so they wouldn’t have another Christifts out of cardboard and their collective iination

She shouldn’t have had to struggle between t-paying jobs It wasn’t fair

That was the reason, once successful, Dane earned a reputation in the hotel industry for being a fair employer—one who paid his staff way more than any other staff in the country in co back That would never bring his mother back from the dead, nor would it heal the broken heart he’d endured fro hat life dealt him

God, he hated holidays He loathed the togetherness obligation that came with them What if you just wanted to be alone? Non-couples were nificant others to be with No wonder rates of depression skyrocketed That’s why Dane loved to work Work kept his mind active and shielded from pain

Yeah, the pain of heartbreak

Dane picked up the phone again as he logged off his computer He had to at least alert his brother—if Aunt Maya hadn’t done so already He was grateful to have his father’s side of the fa relatives on his mother’s side

It seemed as if those relatives were destined to be unsuccessful in love He, too, knew the stabbing feeling of having his heart broken The girl ho recently moved out and went back to her ex

Iht for getting involved with a rebounder She’d just co-term relationship and it took hione right back to her ex after Dane helped her get sober Of course, she had no idea, neither did he, that he was one of the lost heirs to the Belet back with him when she found out about his fortune but he didn’t bother to return her calls

Relationships God, he hated theain Especially one as e up like his ex had been