Page 3 of The Grump

“I’m sorry. That’s true for everyone except family. You’re welcome to stay longer.”

“But then we’d be interrupting your meeting,” Isabeau countered.

“Yes, but it can wait.”

“Just promise me something,” Isabeau said. “You’ll go out to the LeBlanc-Broussard confectionery with an open mind and look at everything they’ve been doing. The business brings people joy.”

“I’ll keep an open mind,” I said, but it was more for their sake. There was no possibility of my seeing anything there thatwould tell another story than the financial one. “Are you heading to the Quarter? I can join you for drinks later.”

“We’re going back to the perfume shop, of course,” Celine said briskly.

“Of course you are.” I smiled at both of my grandmothers.

After retiring, the two of them opened a fragrance shop on Decatur Street. They spent most of their days there.

“If you’re buying, I can definitely take a walk around until everyone’s done with work,” David said cheerfully.

Unlike their other halves, he and Felix had decided that once they left the family business, they wanted to dedicate their entire retirement to fishing. Which they had so far.

“But seriously, Xander, you should get to know Avery and Bailey,” Celine said.

“I think you’ll quite like the LeCarre girls,” Isabeau added.

That was neither here nor there. Me liking or disliking the employees in charge of any of the businesses wasn’t going to sway my decision.

“Right. We’ll be going, then,“ Isabeau concluded.

Her tone was a little bit chillier than usual, but I was expecting that. I probably could’ve broken the news in a gentler manner, but I wasn’t very good at that. This was how I operated.

“You know, Bella won’t be very happy about it,” she continued. “She loves the pralines.”

Nowthatwas a low blow because I had a soft spot for my niece. She’d been the first baby in the family. Now my brother Chad had recently welcomed another baby girl—Simone—with his fiancée.

“I’ll make sure she still gets them,” I assured her as they left the office.

My family was tight-knit, and we were always honest with one another. It was what I always told Bella—no matter the situation, honesty would win.

That little girl had held my heart since the moment she was born, and now she was almost ten years old. Her two passions in life were beignets and Harry Potter. I couldn’t really do much about the latter, but I helped with the former as often as possible.

Isabeau’s words came back to me:“Bella won’t be very happy about it.”

Leave it to Isabeau to fight as dirty as possible. But she wasn’t going to sway me. Nothing would, not even meeting Avery and her sister, Bailey. Only the numbers mattered.

Chapter Two

Bailey

“And another batch done!” I exclaimed.

“You’re on a roll today,” Avery said.

I peeked at her table. We were always in a bit of a competition. “I cheated,” I said. “I put myself in a good mood—that always gives me an extra boost of energy.”

Avery laughed. “You think I didn’t realize that was your strategy when I came in this morning and you had carols playing already? It’s not even Thanksgiving, woman.”

I shrugged, mouthing the lyrics. I swear I knew the lyrics for every song ever written for Christmas. Personally, I found Christmas in New Orleans to be the best thing ever. Most people, tourists especially, came to the city for Mardi Gras, and that was spectacular as well. But it was extra magical around Christmas. It was also our busiest time, which meant I couldn’t fully enjoy the season the way I wanted to. But that was a good problem to have.

“Since I did such good work, I’m going to reward myself.” I took a praline from the tray in front of me, popped it into my mouth, and sighed. “I think this new recipe is going to be a success.”

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