Page 67 of Grump and Grumpier

“Any allergies?” Derek asks Stella, who shakes her head. “We’ll be right back,” he says as he and Jansen start toward the store.

“Does he have kids?” Stella asks after they’re a distance away. When I tell her he doesn’t, she looks surprised. “I’ve met several parents who don’t think to ask about allergies.”

“They’re full of surprises today,” I say grimly before quickly changing the subject. “So what happened with your mom and stepdad?”

She shakes her head, looking about as angry as I was for a good part of the day. “Things have been escalating for weeks. There’ve been a lot of arguments—about my parenting, about money, about shit from ten years ago—and today something just snapped. There was no reasoning with them.”

No reasoning with someone?That sounds familiar, but I don’t say anything about the arguments I’m in the middle of.

As we’re talking, the men reappear with severalbags in hand. As Jansen hands one to me, Derek says, “Snacks plus coffee, to help you stay awake on the road.”

I reach in and pull out a bottle from that huge national brand that was part of our fake acquisition story to catch Charles. “Starlight coffee?”

Derek shrugs. “It was the best we could do.”

“Maybe you should look into getting your coffee bottled,” I say, though I’m not sure why I’m still trying to help their business. “Anyway, thanks.”

“We’ll follow you,” Jansen says. “Text or call if you need anything or you plan to stop.”

Stella offers Jessie a choice between two of the non-sugary snacks, makes sure she’s strapped in properly, and then we’re ready to go. We listen to lively kids music as Jessie munches on pretzels and hummus, and when she’s done, she sings along.

I smile both at her adorable singing voice, and the way the song reminds me of Rob singing “Baby Shark” at the office.

Gradually, Jessie’s singing grows quieter, until it stops completely, and I look back to find her head lolled against the carseat and her stuffed toy tucked against her chest.

“She’s asleep,” I tell Stella, who nods and takes a sip of coffee.

“So, who exactly are those guys?” she asks.

“They’re my bosses. I mean, theyweremy bosses.Until today. I quit, but I don’t really want to get into it right now.”

“They’re obviously more than your bosses.” When I give her a look, she says, “Typical bosses wouldn’t drive you all the way here when you’re perfectly capable of driving yourself. Typical bosses wouldn’t look at you the way those two do.”

I look again to make sure Jessie is definitely asleep. “What, like they want to tear my clothes off?”

“No, like they’re in love with you.”

“What?” That’s not at all what I expected her to say.

“You can’t tell?” When I shake my head, she says, “You were always the wisest among us. How are you missing this?”

“If you’re right and they love me, they have a horrible way of showing it.”

“Why? What did they do?”

I fill her in on what happened today, adding all the backstory necessary to get her up to speed. When I tell her why and how I quit, she shakes her head from side to side, looking sympathetic.

“Wow, that sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“So why did they come up here with you? Did you ask them to bring you here?”

“No, I don’t know. Maybe they’re feeling guilty about today—which they should. And they wereworried about how things would go with your parents, even though I told them I probably wasn’t going to see them.”

“They’re very protective of you.”

“I suppose.” My mind is spinning about the men, especially after recounting my history with them, but my focus should be on Stella and Jessie right now. My own problems can wait.

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