Page 83 of The Grump

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Hi, Bailey.”

“Listen, I’m at the—”

“Children’s hospital,” I finished for her.

“How do you...? Oh, the spreadsheet.”

“Are you going to be there for long?”

“Yes. Tim is actually reading to us from his favorite storybook. It’s going to take a while until we make the rounds.”

“Mind if I join you?”

“At the hospital?”

“Yes. You’re delivering pralines to the kids, right?”

“Yes, and the staff.”

“Could you use another pair of hands?”

“Definitely.” She sounded relieved. “It’s only me and Avery tonight. Gustav was supposed to come, too, but he was coming down with a cold, and I didn’t want him to get anyone sick. But wait, aren’t you spending the evening with Bella?”

“Later. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Where can I find you?”

“Just text me when you’re here. I don’t know if we’ll have moved on by then.”

“Sure.”

As soon as I hung up, I grabbed my coat and headed down to my car, aiming to get the children’s hospital as quickly as possible.

Another crazy thing about the last Friday before Christmas? Traffic. It took me a whole fucking forty-five minutes to get there. I kept texting Bailey on the way, and she assured me that they were still there. Just as I arrived, she told me they’d moved on to the second floor, and I went straight there.

When I stepped on the second level, I heard Bailey’s and Avery’s voices coming from one of the rooms. Following the sound, I stepped inside a room with five kids. Three had their parents next to them, but two were alone. Bailey was sitting on one of their beds, Avery on the other one.

“You’re here,” Bailey said, smiling at me. “We were just telling stories about you.”

“Yeah, you’re Mr. Grinch,” the boy next to Bailey said. He looked pale and had dark circles under his eyes.

“The Grinch who stole Christmas,” another one of the kids said.

Ordinarily, I’d pretend to at least be mad about this, but these kids seemed to enjoy meeting the Grinch.

“Yep. Here I am, the Grinch at your disposal. How might I ruin Christmas this year?”

Bailey’s eyes flew open. Even Avery gave me an appreciative smile. I had no idea where that came from, but clearly it did the trick, because all the kids were clapping and laughing.

“We’ve never met the Grinch before. Please don’t steal Christmas this year, please, please,” a girl said. “I need it morethan ever. I told Santa to bring Mom and Dad some money so we can pay for the food.”

My whole body felt like I’d been punched by a professional boxer. Avery’s smile faded. Bailey simply glanced down at her hands.

“All right. Because you asked me, I will not steal Christmas this year.”

“Yes!” All the kids clapped again.

“But I make no promises for next year.”

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