Page 55 of The Anniversary Party

“No. He helped me out. That’s all.”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

The temperature in the room must’ve dropped twenty degrees. Leo imagined it was nearly as frosty inside as it was outside.

Sasha took advantage of the pause in the argument to wrest back control of the conversation. “Let’s stay focused. Tessa, you decided to talk to Grady about hiring Leeza today—on the Friday before New Year’s Eve, during a party?”

“Yeah. With the holidays, we hadn’t had a chance to talk in the office, and I wanted to give Leeza an answer this weekend. I mean, I’m sitting in her room venting about what a jerk Rex could be while her husband’s off running stupid errands for him in a snowstorm. It was awkward because we both knew if she came to work for me and Grady, Paul wouldn’t have to wait on Rex hand and foot anymore. But I couldn’t offer her the job without talking to Grady first.”

“Did you?” Leo asked.

“Did I what?”

“Talk to Grady?”

“Oh, no.”

“Why not?”

She flicked her eyes toward the corner of the room near the fireplace. Leo followed her line of vision.

“Someone was already talking to him.”

Leo waited. She cracked like a sheet of ice in under a minute.

“Chance. Okay? Chance was in there with him.”

Chance huffed out a breath like a horse. “Thanks a lot, Tess.”

She scrunched her shoulders up as if to say‘What was I supposed to do?’

“Care to share with the group?” Sasha asked.

“No, actually, I’d rather not.”

“You’d rather not,” she repeated.

Leo winced at his wife’s tone. It was one he knew—not well, thankfully. It meant that her patience was nearing its limits.

“Yeah. I’d rather not. I don’t want to discuss it.”

“That’s rich,” Joy scoffed. “Do you think any of us want any of this?”

Chance’s mouth was a thin, hard line. Before Leo could worry about Sasha’s reaction, Bethany laid into her husband.

“What were you talking to Grady about?” Bethany demanded, rounding on her husband.

Chance coughed.

“Chance, I asked you a question.”

“I went there to get some advice about … us.”

“Us?” she parroted.

“Yes.”

“As in our relationship?” Her voice was laced with venom.

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