Page 29 of The Grump I Loathe (The Lockhart Brothers #3)

I hummed, thinking back, laughing a bit. “God, it was probably when Liam’s company started to take off. I think he took all of us out to dinner in LA to celebrate. I still remember being shocked by the bill at the end of the night. I almost dumped my champagne in my lap.”

Eddie sipped her wine, smiling at the story.

“So,” I said, shifting topics. “I noticed it was the nanny who greeted us when I dropped Grace off. You really weren’t exaggerating about Valentina working late, were you?”

Eddie shrugged, embarrassed. “She’s basically become Alannah’s new playdate since the separation. For all of Valentina’s complaints about Dad, it’s not like she does a better job of spending time with Alannah. Honestly, I’m sure everyone will be happy to have Grace spend the evening.”

“How are things going with the divorce?” I knew it was a touchy subject, and I tried not to pry, but on the other hand, if Eddie needed help—help I could give her—I wanted to know.

“Well,” she sighed, “My dad is still refusing to fight for custody, and Alannah is very upset. She’s distracted, even at gymnastics, and that’s making things more difficult since gymnastics was always where she felt she had control, you know?

She fell really hard on the mat last week, and the only person she had with her was the nanny. ”

I frowned, hating how upset Eddie sounded. “You said she did really well in the citywide competition?”

Eddie nodded, a proud little smile lighting up her face.

“First place in her age division. She’s really good.

Like Olympics-bound good. It just sucks because now it feels like the only reason Dad and Valentina talk to Alannah is to remind her about how hard she needs to keep working, and boy, if that isn’t a blast from the past. After their divorce, my parents used to do the same thing.

Ignore each other and put way too much pressure on me. ”

My hand tightened around my fork as two lines appeared between Eddie’s eyebrows. “I’m sorry you dealt with that.”

Eddie shrugged, stabbing her dessert. “Old news. I just hate that Alannah’s having to go through it.

She doesn’t need the stress before the regional competition.

Despite how hard they push her, I know Alannah genuinely likes gymnastics.

But they’re gonna ruin it for her. I wish I could do more, I just… don’t know where to start.”

“I’m sure Alannah appreciates all the support you do give her. When I was going through my divorce, my brothers were my rocks. I don’t know what I would have done if they weren’t around to support me and Grace. ”

“I’m glad you’re so close,” Eddie said. “That you had them. I’m a little jealous.

I wished for siblings all the time growing up.

Someone else to sit with me through all the mess and keep me company.

And now I finally have one, and Valentina wants to drag her to the other side of the country.

” She took a long dreg of her wine. “The ridiculous thing is I’m still sitting here wishing for a big family, when clearly that isn’t meant to be. ”

“It’s not ridiculous to want that,” I said. “I wanted Grace to have a big family, too. Well, maybe not huge , but I always wanted siblings for her. I still think about that even knowing how horribly things ended with Ali.”

“She’d be an awesome big sister,” Eddie said.

I smiled. “Well, at any rate, she’ll have younger cousins.”

Eddie’s smile turned sad, and I wanted to offer my family up to her. I knew how quickly she’d win them over, the way she had Grace, and— whoa!

Hold on.

I couldn’t be thinking like that . Because that was dangerous.

That was inviting the idea that this was serious and lasting.

I couldn’t want her like that. I knew how destructive that kind of want could be.

It would only bring instability to my life.

To Grace’s. To the company. I cleared my throat.

“Well, I know it doesn’t make up for the lack of family, but I think you’ve got quite the crew at the office. You’re good at collecting people.”

She smirked. “It’s all the chocolate I keep stocked in my cubicle. But, no, if anyone’s good at collecting people, it’s you.”

“Last time I checked, you told me people were afraid of me.”

“Not afraid, intimidated . They look up to you, and they don’t want to disappoint you because of how well you look after them. ”

“I just think people shouldn’t have to fight so hard for basic things.

Decent, affordable health care. A paycheck that does more than cover their living expenses.

Time off. Growing up with my mom’s health being so unpredictable was rough, and I wished we’d had more support.

I feel like that’s the bare minimum I can provide LockMill’s staff. ”

I chuckled under my breath. “It’s funny. I didn’t even want to work in this industry in the first place, and now I’m locked in.”

Eddie frowned. “How’d you end up in gaming, then?”

I gave her a brief overview of how Ali came to me with the investment opportunity and how just when the company took off and we’d agreed to part ways, Ali learned she was pregnant.

“Getting married and staying with the company so we could have that security was definitely a decision I made for Grace’s benefit at the time.

I thought we both did. Now I think Ali feels like I trapped her in this life with me even though all I ever wanted to do was?—”

“Take care of her,” Eddie said softly, running her fingers over the back of my hand. “You’re always taking care of people, from what I’ve seen. Grace. The LockMill employees. Your Mom. It’s what you do best.”

My chest twinged. No one had ever said that to me before. Not out loud. “I wish Ali wasn’t so angry with me. That she didn’t feel like I’d robbed her of years of happiness.”

“Is that how you feel?”

“I didn’t before, but now…I don’t know how I feel. We were never perfect, but I thought we were committed to making sure Grace was taken care of. And I was happy enough with that. Now I wonder if I did it all wrong. ”

Eddie tipped her head thoughtfully. “I think you make the best decisions you can at the time, and you have to work not to resent the fallout of those decisions. Sure, maybe you two would do things differently if you were able to do it over right now, but that’s only because you have a decade of perspective and hindsight to go off of.

It doesn’t feel very fair for Ali to blame you for a compromise you both made. ”

“I think I just wanted to make sure Grace had the stability I always craved as a kid.”

“You always want to be everyone’s rock,” Eddie said. “My parents would have loved having you as a kid. Solid. Dependable. They still wish I’d picked a more stable career. Those few months when I was contemplating leaving the industry were probably the happiest of their lives.”

“You thought about doing something else?” I asked.

“No…Well, not exactly. I was dating this guy in college. Things ended pretty badly, I was upset, and I wasn’t sure I saw a future in gaming anymore thanks to Ryker.”

“Wait…Ryker’s your ex?”

She nodded. “We were pretty serious in college. We started working together, developing a game in my junior year. It did fairly well in the indie circles.”

I frowned. “Wait, are you talking about Lethal Deception ? But Ryker always says he made it on his own. Why wasn’t it on your CV?” Her only personal credit had been Alterbot.

“Because when it premiered, he’d conveniently forgotten to put my name in the credits.”

What a fucking asshole . “And did he ever?— ”

“—fix it?” Eddie barked a laugh, taking another swig of her wine.

“No. He basically said if I wanted our relationship to work, I should let him have the win for his career. He oh-so-generously added that I could get credit for the next one. So, anyway, I broke up with him and now I try not to look back because if I do, I fall into that pit of regret.”

“Regret that it’s over?”

“Regret that I wasted my time on him in the first place. I thought I wanted him, so much so that I was willing to compromise on a lot. Then it blew up in my face, and if I chose to stay with him, it would mean giving up a part of myself.”

“You couldn’t have known how it would turn out,” I said, a hollow ache of understanding echoing inside me.

I could relate to more of Eddie’s story than I’d ever care to admit.

Truth was, staying with Ali, trying to make it work all these years, had demanded I give up part of myself.

But I’d been willing to do it for Grace.

“Just like you couldn’t have known how it would turn out with Ali,” she replied.

I reached for her hand, squeezing. “Now I’m glad you stopped me from meeting him that day at the con.”

A smile replaced her frown. It only looked the tiniest bit forced. “Told you I was saving your butt.”

“You were right.”

“The magic words,” she said, picking up her spoon. “Those will also get you far.” She glanced down at my plate. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Saving room,” I said.

“For what?”

“To take you home and devour you. ”

Her cheeks flushed. “Geez, at least let a girl finish her dessert first.”

I picked up my own spoon, diving into my dessert, holding her gaze as I licked my spoon clean.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said, glancing away.

I smirked as my phone buzzed. It was a text from my mother. X got the movie! He’s invited me to Italy for six weeks while they shoot!

Six weeks? My mood immediately plummeted.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asked.

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain the disappointment that welled inside me, wanting to explain the frustration I felt knowing X had waltzed into Mom’s life without any real idea of what he was dealing with.

He put her in situations that could be triggering, and hell if he had any clue how to protect her.

I did. I was the one who kept her safe. And how could I do that when she was being whisked away to the other side of the world? But as she smiled at me, I knew Eddie would just try to find the positive, and while that worked for some things, it wouldn’t for this.

“Nothing. All good.” I stuffed my phone away, reminding myself to have a serious talk with Mom when I got home.