Page 23 of Season's Greetings
But he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold back his tears.
Daniel
The office had been quiet all day.
Earlier, when Jessica mentioned all the canceled appointments, Daniel suspected Claudia was behind it. He’d heard whispers of a boycott against Sanders & Sanders, but hadn’t paid them much credence.
Seconds later, Grady stormed into his office and slammed a flyer down on the desk.
“Have you seen this shit? We should fucking sue the bitch for defamation of character.”
Daniel looked down at the paper, read it twice, then leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.
“Doing that would play into her hands. And I, for one, won’t give the bitch the satisfaction.”
“So you just want to let her spread lies about us? Ruin our business? Try to run us out of town?”
“Now, I didn’t say that. I was thinking of a much more decisive approach.”
“That being?”
“We set Auntie on her…”
Grady blinked. “Ahhh, I like your thinking. But which one of us is going to tell her?”
“Oh, baby brother… what makes you think Auntie doesn’t already know?”
Before Grady could reply, Daniel’s phone vibrated on the desk. Their aunt’s name flashed up.
“Wow, she’s good,” Grady muttered as Daniel accepted the call and hit speaker.
“Daniel, your mate’s ex is spreading rumors about you on the web.”
“Hmm. Seems she’s going all out.”
“Myself and other North Star elders have issued statements denouncing her behavior. Let’s hope she sees sense soon and stops this ridiculousness before it gets out of hand.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. I think she’s getting a kick out of grinding her ax.”
“Well, don’t let her goad you. If she continues to be a pain, then I’ll deal with her.”
“Thanks, Auntie.”
“You don’t need to thank me. It would be my pleasure. No one calls into question the honor of the North Star Pack.”
With that, the line went dead.
Grady turned toward the door. “So… what do you think? Will it be enough to get her to back down?”
“You saw how she reacted in the courtroom. Now, with this boycott, I’m going to appeal to her better nature.”
“You sure she’s got one?”
“It’s worth a try.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll leave you to it.”
Daniel thought long and hard about what he wanted to say to Claudia.
