Page 98 of The Grump

Well, that was an attitude, but if I were in his shoes, I’d be pissed off too.

The second he hung up, I called Bailey.Please pick up, Bailey. Pick up, pick up.

She didn’t, though. I didn’t blame her. Was she still at the confectionery, or had she headed home? I decided to go to the confectionery first. I should be there in about forty minutes.

Of course, I forgot that it being Christmas Eve. The entire city was absolute madness. Getting out of the business district alone took me just under an hour. I ran into congested streets at every turn. Throughout the drive, I kept calling Bailey, but she didn’t pick up. After five tries, I gave up. I wrote three long texts while I waited at red lights, then deleted all of them. Any explanation sounded completely stupid in writing. I needed to talk to her in person.

An hour and a half later, I finally made it to the confectionery. It was closed. The front door had five locks on it, which meant Bailey had gone home. I cursed, pushing at the gate for no reason before turning around and going back to the car.

I called Bailey again, to no avail. I could go straight to her house, but what if she wasn’t there?

Then I got another idea. I got in the car and called Avery’s number. To my intense relief, she answered.

“Hi, Avery, this is—”

“Xander, I know.”

“You sound upset.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Bailey told you about Trudeau’s visit?”

“Yes, and I can’t believe you. How could you let her be blindsided like that? She trusted you.”

“Avery, I’m going to need to get a word in.”

She huffed into the phone. “Fine. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I didn’t know the guy was coming.”

“He said he emailed you.”

I sighed. “I was with your sister when he emailed over the weekend, and I forgot to even look at it.”

“So, you didn’t know he was going to show up?” Her tone had softened a little.

“No.”

I heard her take a deep breath, then release it slowly, as though she was calming herself down. “Okay, now I’m ready to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“I want to talk to Bailey.”

“You have to get past me first.” I’d laugh, but this was typical sibling behavior. If anyone tried to put one over on any of my brothers, parents, or grandparents, I’d be even worse than Avery right now. “Why didn’t you tell her you were so close to selling? She’s so heartbroken.”

“Fuck. That was the last thing I wanted. Listen, long story short is that this guy contacted me a while ago. I’ve changed my views on many things in the meantime.”

“Such as?”

“This is something I‘d like to discuss with Bailey directly. Do you know where she is?”

Avery hesitated for a split second, then said, “Yeah, she’s with me.”

Of course.“May I speak with her?”

“And she’s upset.”

“I could be at your house—”

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