Page 80 of The Grump I Loathe
I turned away, leaning against the bar as I pulled my phone out, scanning my emails. I opened one from my lawyer that had arrived fifteen minutes ago—that man never slept.
We can try to get Ali to agree to a more formal custody arrangement, Ben wrote,but we’d probably have to go back to court. If you’re prepared to start that process again, I’ll draw up the paperwork this week.
I sighed. I didn’t want to turn this into that kind of spectacle, but I didn’t see any other way forward.
I responded.Let’s go ahead with it.
I stuffed my phone away, trying to put that drama from my mind for the night. My focus for the evening was keeping Grace happy, which included letting her at the massive chocolate fountain Ali had ordered for the dessert table. A strange bout of frustration overwhelmed me as I glanced around, taking in the sheer lavishness of the event.
When Ali and I did this, it had been in a courthouse. I’d worn a goddamn tuxedo shirt Finn had laying around. It hadn’t had any of this…spectacle. Frankly, we hadn’t seen the need for it. We both knew it wasn’t a fairy-tale marriage, but we’d been okay with that. We’d made promises to each other for Grace’s sake. Maybe I’d been an idiot for ever thinking that would be enough.
Grace had disappeared from my side, and I scanned the floor again. My gaze drifted back and forth, finally spotting her at Ali’s table, tugging on her dress to get her attention. Ali shook her head, brushing her off, completely absorbed in catching up with some out-of-town friends. Grace made a disgruntled face, then slumped away, head down.
Anger gathered in my chest, burning as I downed my whiskey. I pulled out my phone again, messaging my lawyer.The sooner the better.
If I couldn’t convince Ali to prioritize Grace, maybe the law could. I returned to the floor and caught Grace by the arm, giving her a big smile as I swept her into another dance. Eddie had made her way to the floor, and we spun past her several times. Each time she was in the arms of a different LockMill employee, grinning and laughing and having fun she should have been having withme. That thought sent a spike of jealousy shooting through me.
“Can I get a snack?” Grace asked as the song ended.
I nodded. “Just go easy on the fondue station.”
She gave me a devilish grin. I snapped a photo, sending it off to Mom. I knew it was the middle of the night in Italy, but I’d hardly heard from her since they’d landed, nothing but a single picture from her this morning—Mom posed in front of a beautiful Italian vista.
Early morning on set with X.
She’d sent nothing since.
An hour later, I was back at the bar when Sawyer cornered me. He smelled overwhelmingly of woody aftershave, wore his blond hair slicked back, and had had a drink in his hand since the moment the minister finished talking.
He clapped me on the shoulder, fingers tightening in a way that had me straightening, my eyes narrowing. “Take your hand off me,” I said, an edge to my voice.
He held onto his smile, but there was nothing friendly about it. “Care to explain why Ali’s lawyer is calling her in the middle of her wedding?”
Shit. My hand automatically went to reach for my phone. When I’d said “the sooner the better,” I should have specified to my lawyer to wait until aftertonight. Okay, that was on me. I’d crossed a line. But nursing my third drink of the night, I was starting to think that maybe this was the wakeup call Ali needed.
“Did you really have to ruin things?” Sawyer said, his face shifting, revealing how pissed he was.
“Look,” I said. I had no intention of apologizing tohim. “I’ve been good about this for months, giving Ali the space to figure things out, plan her wedding, drop virtually all parental responsibility for Grace. But the wedding is sorted, and Gracemissesher. And your ‘not-stepdad material’ bullshit is making Ali throw Grace under the bus.”
Sawyer shook his head. “Grace has a father. She isn’t looking to me for that.”
“She also has amother, and it’s bullshit that you’re getting in the way of that relationship,” I growled.
Sawyer prodded me in the chest. “You just don’t like that she’s moved on.”
“Back off,” I warned.
“Get over it, Lockhart. Get overher.”
I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. Did he really think that was what this was about? “I could not give less of a shit about who Ali is with. I don’t want her to be my wife. I don’t want her to be my girlfriend. With the way she’s acting lately, I don’t even want her to be myfriend.But whether we like it or not, she is Grace’s mother, and it’s damn well time she got back to acting like it.”
Sawyer didn’t even hear me. He was like a bull who just couldn’t stop charging at the red flag. “I’m here to make sure Ali gets what’s best for her. And that’s not communication from her goddamn lawyer tonight of all nights.”
“Well, it’ll give her something to think about during the honeymoon.”
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “Call off the lawyer, Lockhart. At least until we get back from our honeymoon.”
“No,” I growled. I wasn’t going to be pushed around bythisguy.
