Page 54 of Babies for the Christmas Grump

But of course, that’s exactly what I get.

I swipe the call, and his voice comes through, frantic and clipped. “Ryder, I need you down here. Now.”

I don’t even need to ask. My gut twists, and I’m already standing from the bed before he can say another word.

“What’s going on?”

Nolan’s silence stretches. “It’s… not good news.”

I grit my teeth together. “Nolan, what is it?”

“It’s… your mother. She’s here.”

My heart stutters, and for a moment, everything freezes. The ground beneath me seems to shift. My stomach twists into a knot so tight I can barely breathe.

Elaine. She can’t be here. Not now. Not when I’m trying to keep this hotel together. Not when I’ve finally found something worth fighting for.

I close my eyes for a second, trying to keep it together, but the air is suddenly suffocating, and I feel sweat beading on the back of my neck.

Nolan continues, barely above a whisper. “She’s arrived unannounced. At the hotel. We?—”

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, my hand instinctively gripping the edge of the desk hard.

My mind reels.

The flood of memories rushes in. A nightmare of her manipulations, her incessant need to control everything in her orbit. She was a storm I never asked to be caught in, but somehow, she found me every time.

I thought I was done with her. Figured I could escape the web of lies and expectations she wove around me. But here she is, crashing through the door again.

I stand there, unsure whether I want to scream or shut down completely. The reality is too much. Too fucking much.

“Shit.” I rub my temple, trying to stave off the headache already forming. “I’ll be down in five minutes. Keep her in the lobby.”

“Understood.”

I hang up without another word. I stand there for a moment, letting the situation sink in. The calm that I had just a minute ago evaporates.

This is not the day I planned.

I shove my hands into my pockets. The last thing I want to do is face her. I didn’t come here for this. I didn’t come here to be dragged back into the mess that she’s always been.

But I don’t have a choice.

I must deal with her. I have to deal with the one person in this world who has the power to unravel me in ways I can’t even explain.

And I have to do it all while pretending I’ve got it together.

It’s the price of the life I’ve built. A life I never asked for. A life that’s still just as fragile as the person I’ve always tried not to be.

I slip out of Sunny’s room as quietly as I can, the situation settles in the pit of my stomach. I could’ve stayed there forever, … breathing in the scent of her, pretending everything outside those four walls didn’t matter.

But then the phone rang. And everything came rushing back.

I take a deep breath, the decision hanging over me as I tiptoe out of the room. I can’t let her anywhere near Sunny. Not when things between us are still new and fragile.

I’ve had enough of her games and manipulations to last a lifetime, and I’ll be damned if I let her ruin something I’m starting to care about.

There she is.