Page 149 of Broken Grump

“Is everything okay?” I’m not used to her being so serious, so I glue in and cross my arms.

“Oh, yeah. More than okay. Um. I just wanted to let you know that I’m actually going to move to L.A.”

“What? Are you kidding me?” I give her another big hug.

“Yeah! I’ve been thinking about it, and there’s just nothing for me back in Phoenix. Especially not without my girl.”

As if on cue, Luna then comes running up with a cake pop in her hand.

“Should we tell her?” Sam asks with a wink.

“Go ahead.”

By Luna’s squeals, I can tell that she is just as excited as I am about the news. And as much as I’d love to stick around and celebrate with them, I have an event to put on. Hayden told me that I shouldn’t put all of this pressure on myself, especially in my condition. But how can I not? This is my first venture in my new position with my grandfather’s subsidiary. Plus, it’s our freshman project together,andI genuinely care if this night is a success or not—it’s honoring Abuelo’s legacy, after all.

Oh, God.The stress is really getting to my head. However, like the knight in shining armor he’s been proving himself to be as of late, Hayden soon appears in front of me with an all-natural beef stick in his hand.

“Hungry, baby?”

I take it and start devouring it. “Starving. Thank you.”

Soon, Randall, Claire, and Teddy, the project manager Hayden and Abuelo worked with early on, approach us. And I try my best to conceal the fact that my mouth is full of jerky.

“Congratulations, Mama,” Claire says while rubbing my stomach.

“Thank you, thank you.” I’m so envious of the glasses of champagne in their hands. Claire’s youngest, Azariah, juststopped breastfeeding, so her body is her own again. I remember how liberating of a feeling that is.

“This event is wonderful,” Randall, her husband, remarks while looking around.

“Thank you,” I respond, after choking down the meat and sipping on a glass of refreshing, boring water in my hand.

Hayden squeezes me to the side. “Yeah, she knocked it out of the park.”

“Just like I knew she—and you two, together—would.”

“To be fair, my aunt was a huge help too.”

No one in our immediate circle seemed to hear me or acknowledge what I said before moseying over to admire the ice sculptures. Now those are all on my aunt. I thought having such immaculate pieces that could melt in the California heat was absolutely absurd. But she disagreed.

“Well?” she asks, bumping her shoulder against mine.

“They’re very nice.” I have to admit it, and she’s just lucky the air conditioning has remained on so far.

***

As the venue starts to fill up, I feel like I’m swimming through a pool of people. Although, it helps that each and everyone has only kind words to say about my abuelo and the new hotel.

For a while, it seems as though Hayden is distracted by the extensive wine menu he’d curated from his grandfather’s vineyard. But then I’m caught off guard after Carlos’s music suddenly stops, and I see the man I love up on the stage, holding a microphone.

“Is this thing on?” he jokes before laughing charmingly.

I can actually hear other women in the crowd swoon as he flashes his subtle dimples and green eyes.

“Anyway, I just wanted to thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for coming tonight. As you know, this has been somewhat of a passion project for me and my business partner a.k.a. love of my life, Addie Flores. Let’s give it up for her!”

Everyone erupts in applause, and I nervously wave around with my cheeks on fire.

As the sounds die down, he coughs to clear his throat before continuing, “Um, but that’s not the only purpose for tonight. Addie, sweetheart, would please join me up here?”

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