Page 70 of The Grump

Nothing could’ve shocked me more.

“Let’s start another way. What do you know?”

“Xander, that’s not how this works.”

“I’m a grown-ass man, Isabeau—sorry for the language. You don’t get to just question me about relationship matters.”

“I usually wouldn’t. You know for a fact that I’ve never asked what you do with your personal life.”

“That’s right.”

“But I care about Bailey.”

That shocked me yet again. “Okaaay,” I said.

“She and her sister have been doing marvelously with the confectionery over the years. I don’t know who else would give that business such love and devotion. I’m very fond of Avery and Bailey, and I wouldn’t want them to get hurt.”

I realized a split second later that my own grandmother was warning me. “I don’t plan to hurt either of them.”

“Sometimes in business decisions, you have collateral damage. And now you’re mixing business with personal, as far as I’ve heard.”

“Which comes back to my question. What do you know?” She was fishing for information. Someone must have told her something.

“I knew something was going on at the open house. She was red in the face half the evening, and it was definitely not from the nonalcoholic eggnog. You two were constantly looking at each other throughout the event. I kept waiting for someone to tell me what was going on.”

“And now you’ve lost your patience.” I finally understood.

“I wanted to be sure, but I couldn’t be. And I wanted to have this conversation with you. Bailey is a wonderful woman, but if you plan to go ahead with a sale or closing down the operation, then be careful not to hurt her. She cares a lot about the business.”

“I know.”

“How do you feel about Bailey?”

I scoffed. “Way to put me on the spot.”

“You and I are very much alike, Xander. We call things like we see them.”

“True.” A trait I was passing on to Bella. It was one of my finest achievements. “I don’t actually know how to answer that.”

It was the truth.

“This is wonderful,” Isabeau exclaimed.

I frowned. “Did you hear what I just said?” Maybe she’d misunderstood.

“Yes. This is so unlike you. Oh, Xander, you’re young, and I can’t possibly explain to you.”

Ah, now I get it.There was the reasonable side to Isabeau, and then there was the other side, the one that insisted her perfumes had powers. I had an inkling that the other side had come out for this call.

“Some things in life aren’t straightforward,” she continued. “You can’t see where the path ends unless you actually walk down it. Anyway, I won’t keep bothering you. I’m sure you’ve got a million things to do, and I’ve got all the information I need.”

That was alarming because I hadn’t really shared much with her.

“Isabeau, are you sure you’re not imagining things?” I double-checked.

“Xander, don’t insult me. When have I ever done that?”

That was a fair question. The answer was never, but still...

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