Page 6 of The Grump

“Exactly,” I said. I was having trouble processing this at the moment, and it had nothing to do with the sherry.

“But he insists that it would make more sense to simply buy pralines from somewhere else instead of producing them.”

I couldn’t breathe. I pressed a hand on my chest and tried again, but somehow, air wouldn’t come into my lungs.

“I see,” Avery said. “That’s very unfortunate.” My sister glanced at me, and I could see my own sadness reflected in her eyes.

“It is,” Celine replied. “We’ve tried to persuade him not to do it. He’ll be around here sometime soon to take a look. Nothing is set in stone.”

“Except his heart,” Isabeau muttered.

Celine cut her eyes to Isabeau, then went on. “Xander is very stubborn, but I think you could change his mind.”

“I might not have met Xander, but I’ve heard stories about him,” I confessed. “He doesn’t seem like the type who changes his mind once he decides on something.”

“That’s just the thing,” Celine said. “We’re not sure if he’s actually decided or is just toying with the idea.”

“Oh, Celine, tell the girls the truth,” Isabeau admonished, then turned to me. “He did seem pretty firm with his decision.”

“But you told him that most of our business is for charity, right?” I pleaded.

“Yes, he knows,” Celine said. “He insists that we can continue doing our charity even with buying the pralines somewhere else.”

“But we have unique recipes,” I countered. “Some of the favorites can’t even be found anywhere else.”

“We didn’t get into specifics with him,” Isabeau said, “but I’m certain you two can.”

“He’s never been here before, so maybe once he sees this place, he’ll cherish it as much as we do,” Celine added, but she sounded as if she didn’t believe herself either.

My heart was pounding fast in my chest. “Did he say when he’s planning to do all this?”

“After Christmas,” Isabeau said. “He said that any potential buyer will be busy during the holiday season. But I do think he’ll drop by soon.”

I let out a breath of relief. “So at least we have this Christmas season. That’s good because I’ve promised the staff at the children’s hospital that we’ll drop by with some of their favorites. I’d hate to disappoint them.”

“I think this Christmas is safe,” Isabeau assured us.

“Just a word of warning,” Celine said. “Xander is a bit of a grump.”

“Celine, why aren’t you being straightforward with these two today? He’s very much a grump, nothing ‘a bit’ about it. He’s allabout the numbers, if something is profitable, yada, yada, yada. But he’s very good at what he does, and he’s very loyal to the family. We love him to bits, but he’s a bit too calculated for his own good.”

“Or ours,” Avery murmured under her breath.

“Girls, you have nothing to worry about. We’ll write stellar recommendations for you, if it comes to that,” Isabeau promised.

“I’m sure you’ll find fantastic jobs... if necessary,” Celine added.

“Yes, even within our restaurants as pastry chefs. We’ll figure out something for you ladies.”

“Thank you,” Avery said politely.

I couldn’t properly form words. Of course I was grateful, but neither of us truly wanted that.

Neither my sister nor I had a traditional pastry chef’s education. We’d actually both been software developers up until a few years ago. I threw all I had into building my career, and then one day, it simply got to be too much. I took a break, assuming that after a few months, I’d start job hunting again. One day, I saw a conversion course for pastry chefs. I signed up for it mostly for fun and discovered I absolutely loved it. I’d been hooked ever since.

Avery signed up with me at the same time even though she was still working back then. Isabeau was our teacher, and on the last day of the course, she told us about the confectionery and how the old chefs were retiring. I couldn’t even remember how she convinced us to stop by, but we did. We were charmed by everything: the thick willow tree in front of the building; the cozy feeling of baking; the fact that we only had to make pralines, which wouldn’t require too much experience.

The salary hadn’t been much to brag about, but we’d started a business on the side, making online videos for amateur bakers—an online academy of sorts. Between the two, I was making a very good income. I even bought my own house.

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