Page 106 of The Grump

“Avery, Bailey, let’s move away from these poseurs. We can go over next to Celine and Felix,” Xander said.

“You’re afraid of your own brothers tonight?” I teased him.

“He always is. He just doesn’t want to admit it,” Zachary said.

Celine and Felix chuckled. “Your brothers are on a roll tonight. In their defense, we all had a great laugh about it as we were rehearsing,” Felix said.

“Good to know.”

Celine handed him a music sheet. “I brought an extra for you.” She glanced at me. “You don’t need one, right?”

I shook my head vehemently. “I’m up-to-date with everything.”

She grinned. “Fantastic.”

I took my place in line, standing as close as possible to Xander. Not only because the place was crowded, but because Igenuinely craved the warmth of his body. I loved that we were sharing this together.

“You’re my favorite part of this whole evening,” he whispered, as though he’d read my thoughts.

“You Grinch,” I murmured back, then fell completely silent because the crowd started singing. I could hear the LeBlancs clearly. They were very good. I almost felt bad for not really rehearsing.

To my astonishment, I realized Xander was singing along, too, following his sheet carefully. He winked at me but didn’t stop singing.

I spotted Celine and Isabeau looking at him with wide eyes. Bella was bent at the waist, grinning. Then she glanced at me and gave me a thumbs-up.

I smiled even wider when I felt Xander’s arm around my waist, pressing me against him. Even the Grinch had joined us in caroling. This was truly a Christmas miracle.

Epilogue

Bailey

“Oh, yeah. Let’s turn the volume up just a bit,” I said to myself.

I shuffled through my playlist until it hit a song that reflected my mood. Then I indeed turned up the volume and began dancing through the confectionery’s kitchen.

Could life get any better?

The summer was in full swing. I had all the windows open because it was cooking inside even though the ovens were off and the last tray of pralines had cooled long ago. I was the last person here again, but only because Xander was picking me up. We were going out for another dinner at a secret restaurant. It had become a hobby of ours. Xander kept finding out about these spots, and it was always an adventure. Granted, not all of them were as good as D’s place, but we liked going nonetheless.

As I finished the very last box of pralines, I checked my messages. Zachary, Anthony, and Beckett were also stopping by.

Zachary had texted me today to ask if he could come and grab a special batch of pralines. He wouldn’t say what he needed them for, but he hadveryspecial instructions about the filling. I made them especially for him.

As we chatted, I told him that we’d gotten some shelves for the new warehouse and that Xander was also going to stop by later. Before I knew it, he, Anthony, and Beckett had offered to come set up the shelves. I wasn’t going to say no to that even though we now had a larger team. The confectionery had grown a bit over the past few months.

Xander had made deals for the pralines to be sold in several shops across the city, which meant we needed to make many more. We’d hired two kitchen helpers, and when Christmascame around, we’d have to see how we managed the charity season.

But I wasn’t worried about a thing. One way or another, it would work out. I liked that growing our production, so to speak, hadn’t taken the soul out of the pralines. The two women we hired were just as excited about pralines and everything we did as Avery and I were.

Since we were busier than ever with the confectionery, we didn’t have as much time for our online business, but we still kept it going. It was as much a source of income as a passion project, so why shut it down?

I smiled from ear to ear as the front gate opened. I knew it was Xander before he even said, “I’m a bit early.”

“That’s good,” I called back just as he entered the kitchen. It was so hot outside that he wasn’t wearing his suit jacket, only his shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows.

“That is my favorite look of yours,” I informed him with a grin.

He flashed a half smile. “Mine is you naked.”

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