Page 8 of The Grump Who Stole Christmas
Paul glared at me across the table. “They were machine-screwed-on lug nuts.”
“If that’s the story you’re sticking to,” I mumbled.
“You do know your hair looks like a rat slept in it last night.”
“I don’t worry about hair until after coffee,” I told him.
I wouldn’t be hair shamed. Not by the likes of him. Although I did reach a hand up to pat it. Yep, pretty bad. I had thick, curly brown hair that, on its best day, was usually out of control. First thing in the morning, it had a will of its own.
“Okay, Pops,” Paul said, as he stood up from the table. “I’m off to the farm. You need any chores done before I go?”
I raised my eyebrow over my lame coffee mug. “You call him Pops?”
“Everyone calls him Pops.”
People in town did, but still. “You live in my house, you call my dad Pops. What are you, angling for adoption?”
“That depends. How much did your parents let your brothers get away with picking on you?”
“I’m the oldest. And the best at revenge. My brothers knew not to mess with me.”
“Hmm. I’ll make a note. You’re going to clean up since I did the cooking?”
“Of course,” I said. “Then I plan to head over to the inn. Check things out.”
“Why?” my dad asked. “There’s nothing that needs to be done over there I can’t handle.”
“Dad, are you kidding? We’re coming into Christmas season. It’s our busiest time of the year. There’s no way you can handle the inn on one leg.”
“I’ve been doing just fine,” he said, clearly irritated with me.
“What do you mean you’ve been doing? What about Rhonda?”
Rhonda was the woman who basically ran the show. She worked the check-in desk, ordered all the supplies, kept tabs on the cleaning staff. She basically was the Kringle Inn.
“She quit.”
“What?” I asked, suddenly very awake.
“Said she wanted to spend more time with her grandchildren. I said I wouldn’t know about grandchildren seeing as I don’t have any…”
“Geezus, Dad. Not now,” I groaned. “And not in front of company.”
“Paul’s not company, he runs the tree farm. He’s part of the family business now. Best get used to it.”
My dad looked like he was about to get up, and Paul was immediately there with the crutches. Like a routine the two of them had already established. It bothered me I hadn’t acted faster.
“You clean up, princess, and then you can head over to the inn. You’ll see everything is fine. A young lady named Tiffani is helping us out when I can’t do it myself. Ethan hired her. Now I best get to work.”
My dad left the room and I felt Paul was watching me, even as I was watching my dad.
“What?” I asked him. “You want to make a comment about my childless state too?”
“No. Don’t be ridiculous. I would never do that with someone I just met. I was just going to point out your pajama top is on inside out.”
I felt for the tag at my neck. Yep, it was sticking out.
“Anything else?”
