Page 45 of The Grump

Xander: Hell yes, we will.

Chapter Twelve

Xander

“And then we baked another pecan pie. I’m even better than I was at the baking competition at school,” Bella exclaimed proudly. She’d chosen baking in the talent competition, and because she and Scarlett practiced thoroughly, she’d won. But my niece was a lot like me—she liked to be the very best at whatever she did. It was no wonder that she kept practicing even after the competition was over.

“Good for you. And pecan pie is still your favorite, huh?” I asked her.

She nodded vehemently. Bella had powdered sugar all over her mouth, chin, and even her cheeks. She’d always eaten beignets like this, literally with her whole face. “Yes, but beignets do come in a very close second. Or maybe they’re first and pecan pie is second,” she said, frowning at the beignet as if it was a hard decision. “But I want to try other pies as well, like apple pie. Maybe even cherry.”

“You want to become a baker?”

“No. I just like spending time with Scarlett. I like how she explains everything, and she never gets mad at me like Mommy.”

All right, I’d been mistaken. I thought she wanted to perfect her skills even more, but it turned out that she did it simply because it was an activity she enjoyed doing with Scarlett.

“Your dad says you haven’t been to your mom’s in a while,” I said carefully.

No one in the family truly liked Sarah. We’d all given her a fair shot in the beginning, and I personally didn’t have anything against her. Only after my brother Chad revealed that she’d been cheating did I completely change my opinion about her. Thatopinion only worsened when she started to show less and less interest in her daughter. But we all had an unspoken agreement to never badmouth her in front of Bella. I was simply trying to gauge if my impression from what Chad was relaying to the family was the right one.

“Mom travels a lot these days.”

I would never understand how the woman had so little desire to see her own flesh and blood.

“But I don’t care,” she continued. “I like staying home on weekends. Scarlett has lots of time because she doesn’t work brunch, so we do a lot together. We even started reading Harry Potter to my sister. Dad always pretends that he’s got work to do when we go to the reading room.”

I burst out laughing. “Yes, he told me that.”

“But we caught on to him. It’s okay, though. I like being with Scarlett. She’s really nice to me. I wonder if she’d like to be my mommy officially.”

I nearly dropped my beignet. This was a very delicate topic. I cleared my throat. “You would like that,” I stated more than asked.

“Yes, she’s amazing. And I don’t think Mommy would mind.” She didn’t seem upset about it.

“Have you spoken to your dad about it?” I asked.

“No.” She looked at me with big eyes. Putting down her beignet, she laced her fingers together in front of her. I immediately realized she was trying to copy Isabeau. She had the same serious expression too. Though with her face still covered with powdered sugar, it was hard for me not to laugh, but I was doing my best.

“Do you think that’s a good idea, Uncle Xander? Tell me the truth. You don’t pull punches.” Sometimes she spoke like a miniature adult, and it was hard to believe she was only ten.

“I think your dad would be happy to hear what you’ve got to say, and I’m sure Scarlett would too.”

“But what if she decides that she doesn’t want to be my mommy? What do we do then? What if she leaves? What if she moves to another house just with Simone?”

Jesus.I felt her words like a punch to the gut.

I moved my chair closer to hers and reached out to her cheeks, clearing off the sugar with a napkin. “That won’t happen, Bella. I promise.”

“How can you promise?”

She was right. How could I? This wasn’t my life. I had no business going around making promises. I also didn’t know how to explain to her that some adults were dependable, unlike her own mother. I’d seen Scarlett with Bella. She cared about the little girl as much as we did. She was attached to her.

“You’re right. It’s not my place to promise that. It’s something only your dad and Scarlett can do. But from what I’ve observed, I don’t think Scarlett will move anywhere else. She won’t leave you.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Bella said easily. And just like that, she went back to her beignet, her cheeks quickly covered in powdered sugar once more.

I took another bite of my own beignet, and then Bella shocked the hell out of me by asking, “Uncle Xander, did you ever think about asking a lady friend to live with you?”

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