Page 27 of Babies for the Christmas Grump
“Don’t mind her,” I say, forcing myself to straighten up. “She’s passionate about the hotel’s holiday theme. It’s part of the charm, I guess.”
“Uh-huh,” Lawrence says flatly. He shifts in his chair, leaning back slightly as if the whole thing’s left a bad taste in his mouth. “Listen, Ryder, I’m all for creative energy, but this? This place needs structure. Professionalism. Right now, it’s all over the place. I’m not sure I can back this. When Evie was running the place…”
I nod, biting the inside of my cheek. “I understand. But if you give me the chance, I can assure you, we’re moving in the right direction. The numbers might not look great right now, but they’ll get there. I have a plan. I just need time.”
“I need results, Ryder,” he responds, his tone sharpening. “And what I’m seeing here is instability. If you want my money, that’s the last thing you can afford.”
After Lawrence leaves, I stand in the conference room for a moment, his words still pressing down on me. I’d hoped for more, but this place has a way of deflating expectations.
The investor’s reluctance is palpable. There’s no mistaking it: The Garland Rose is hanging by a thread, and no amount of polished pitches will save it if I don’t pull something out of my back pocket soon.
I hear the soft clatter of the door closing, and I twist to see Sunny there, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
“You’re hiding things from me now?” she snaps. “Really?”
I freeze for a second. The last thing I need is another confrontation, especially after the blow I just took from Lawrence. But Sunny’s not backing down.
“Investor? Lawrence is an investor? And you didn’t tell me about my business?”
“You overheard, didn’t you?” I ask, trying to keep my voice calm.
Her eyes flash with indignation. “Of course, I overheard. You think I’m going to let you negotiate behind my back?”
I exhale, fighting the urge to snap. “It’s not like that. This is my job, Sunny. You don’t get to walk in here,” I gesture around the room, “and change what I’ve been doing with Evie’s backing.”
“I don’tgetto? You’re treating me like I’m a fucking outsider. You didn’t tell me about the investor meeting. You’re makingdecisions that affect me. I’m trying to help save this hotel, Ryder. I’m not just here for some holiday gimmick.”
My jaw clenches, but I can’t look away from her. “It’s not justyou, Sunny. There are big decisions to be made here. You’re not ready for the hard parts. The numbers don’t lie. The hotel is in the red, and that’s where my focus needs to be.”
She doesn’t flinch, doesn’t retreat. Instead, she steps closer, her face inches from mine.
“I care more than you do,” she spits out, rougher now, a raw wound she’s forcing open. “This hotel is my shot at building something real. I’m not just going through the motions for the paycheck, Ryder. I don’t have the luxury of that.”
Her words hit harder than they should. They land somewhere deep. A place I’ve been ignoring for too long. The way she says “shot” makes it clear that for all her joking, her chaos, this place is her dream.
Maybe it’s all she has left to hold on to.
I feel everything shift in the room. A pressure building that wasn’t there before.
I take a step back, my chest tightening.
“Don’t talk to me about luxury,” I snap, suddenly angry at the way she’s making this personal. “You think I don’t know what’s at stake here? This isn’t just about you, Sunny. This is my job, my reputation. My career.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” she snaps back. “Maybe you’re so focused on saving your reputation that you can’t see what’s happening here. This hotel, this place… this is my heart, Ryder. It’s all I’ve got. And I’m not going to stand by and let you run it into the ground because you’re too scared to take a risk.”
I freeze, the words hanging in the air between us. My throat tightens, but I don’t speak right away. I’ve spent my life burying my emotions under a pile of spreadsheets and figures, butthere’s something about the way she looks at me now, so raw, so unguarded, that makes me feel exposed in a way I can’t shake.
I should say something, anything, to shut this down, but instead, I stand there, knowing I’m losing control of everything. Her voice still lingers in my mind, the fire in her eyes, the sincerity of it all.
She turns away, her shoulders tight as she walks toward the door, but stops before she reaches the handle. “You want to keep playing it safe, Ryder? Fine. But don’t act like I don’t know what I’m doing. I might not have your spreadsheets, but I have something you clearly don’t. Passion. The willingness to fight for this place.”
The door clicks shut behind her, and I stand there for a moment, staring at the spot where she was. Her words echo in my head, and for the first time in a long time, I feel my chest constrict. It’s gnawing at the back of my mind.
Maybe it’s the way she’s always right, even when she’s completely wrong.
I sit back down at the table, but I’m not looking at the papers in front of me anymore. I’m thinking about her, the fire, the conviction in her voice.
I tell myself I can’t afford to get distracted by any of this. But as the minutes tick by, what she said doesn’t let go.
