Chapter Forty-one

Megan stepped off the plane in Toronto and headed to the luggage terminal. No one but Denise knew she was in town yet, and Denise only knew because Megan called to make sure they were in Toronto. She made the older woman promise not to say anything to the guys, and she would meet them at the hotel after the show. She needed some time alone.

Her time in Phoenix had been interesting, to say the least. Dana arrived to help her keep it together during the funeral. Reality had finally taken hold when Megan placed the rose on her mother’s casket and said good-bye. She cried for her mother for the first time in her life. After the funeral, they went directly to the offices of Charlene’s attorney for the reading of the will.

Megan shook her head, still wondering if that afternoon in that stuffy office had really happened, or if it was just some surreal dream. She patted her purse, feeling the bulk of all those official papers needing her signature and realized it hadn’t been a dream. She knew how she would handle the situation, but she first needed to speak with all five Backstreet Boys.

“Cab, miss?”

She jumped out of her haze and nodded at the man. He waved his fingers in the air and a yellow taxi pulled over. Once she was safely inside, she told the driver where she was going and sat back for the ride.

Dana had left Phoenix the day after the funeral for Paris. She was filling in for someone at a lingerie show.

“How can you prance around in your underwear for a room full of people?” Megan asked, shaking her head.

“It’s easy. Especially since I’m being paid really, really well,” Dana answered with a smile.

Megan arrived at the hotel, checked in, and went straight to AJ’s room to settle in. She fixed herself a drink and sat on the balcony, looking at the city below her. The beginnings of a headache began to throb at her temples as she thought about what she was going to do.

No one had been more shocked at the news of Charlene’s will than Megan herself. Everything she had was being left to her only daughter, and it turned out that was quite a bit.

Charlene had, through careful investing and who knows what else, acquired a great deal of money. Megan decided instantly that she didn’t want it and almost turned it over to Clayton before Dana stepped in with a suggestion. After thinking about it for several hours, Megan agreed.

Part of the money would be used to set up her own veterinary clinic, allowing her to leave the uneven partnership with Curt and Ally Lauter. She hadn’t been very happy there anyway, and this would give her the opportunity to work on her own terms. Part of it would go to the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization she’d been working with. Casey would be proud of her. The rest would go to the charities of each of the guy’s choosing, if they accepted it.