Page 43 of The Grump I Loathe (The Lockhart Brothers #3)

CONNOR

“ D ad, did you bring my sweater?” Grace called from across the house. “The one with the turkey on it? Oh, never mind, found it!”

Turkey sweater. Pumpkin pie. Laser gun. All the Thanksgiving essentials. I exhaled slowly, trying to regulate my racing heart as the nerves slowly ate away at me.

Dammit! I just wanted to know if it had worked.

Hearing the word no from the love of your life hurt more than any slap to the face or punch to the gut ever could. I knew that now. Watching Eddie walk away from me in the aftermath of the keynote speech had left me floundering in a way I never had before.

When Ali had served me with divorce papers, it had been a shock. Losing my partner of that many years had been complicated and messy, especially when it came to worrying about Grace’s feelings, but it was nothing compared to the way it felt to lose Eddie.

In the wake of her rejection, there was a stark emptiness in my life, a void where her bubbly laughter and optimism and joy used to reside.

One I knew would never be filled no matter how much time passed.

Eddie had yanked my heart from my chest in that convention center, and the hollow left behind did nothing but ache.

Since that moment, the world had felt completely wrong.

It was no exaggeration that I’d been a shell of the man I was when she was in my life.

My brothers had threatened to do something drastic to get her attention long enough to let me grovel in her presence.

Max had offered to hack her Spotify account with a recording of my heartfelt apology I’d yet to give because Eddie wouldn’t stand still long enough to hear me out.

While I deserved her anger and her disappointment—I was disappointed in me too—I wasn’t sure my heart could take much more.

Even now, as I stood by the front door in Mom’s foyer, my pulse rushing in my ears, every nerve in my body felt tense.

“Dad!” Grace called again, her voice echoing. Closer now. “Is she here?”

“Not yet,” I tossed over my shoulder. And I didn’t know if she would come. I’d rather face the stinging heat of a thousand bottles of Dragon’s Exhale Chili Hot Sauce than this waiting. This wondering!

I’d spent the last couple of weeks trying to show her I was listening. That I’d heard everything she’d said to me. More than the institutional changes at LockMill. More than my support of her career and Alterbot .

Her.

But I had no idea if it had been enough to win her back or if I was about to kiss everything I wanted for my future goodbye. Footsteps thundered down the hall.

“Look what Uncle Finn got me!” Grace exclaimed, appearing at my side .

I looked down at her. Blinked. And blinked again. A smile crept onto my face in spite of myself. “Why are you dressed like a turkey?”

“It’s so great, isn’t it?” She wiggled. “Look at the feathers on my butt!”

“And there’s a matching hat!” Liam said, walking down the hall toward us to plunk it on my head.

I gave him a flat look.

“Just making sure you look your festive, holiday best,” he said, clapping me on the chest as he sipped his drink.

“Grace, you forgot your turkey feet!” Finn called from the kitchen. “Look at these claws!”

“Oh yeah!” Grace squealed, racing back to get them.

“Feeling okay?” Liam asked when we were alone.

I blew out a harsh breath. “Not really,” I admitted. It felt like I was about two seconds from bleeding out.

Liam nodded, the corner of his mouth quirking. “Glad to hear it.” When I glared at him, he added, “That’s how you know it’s real,” he said. “That disgustingly awful tension coiling in your gut.”

I slumped against the door, my gaze focused out the window.

“You know,” Liam started, “a watched pot never boils, and a watched street never?—”

“What?” I snorted. “Has a visitor?”

“Eh, maybe.” My brother understood what I was going through. Hell, they both did. It didn’t make it any easier. Just because they got their happily ever afters didn’t mean I would .

I swallowed hard. “I just don’t think I can handle it if she doesn’t turn up.”

After Eddie tore me to shreds at the conference, I took her words to heart and went back to the drawing board.

I repealed LockMill’s no-dating policy. I gave a press release stating that I’d broken it and had been wrong for instituting it in the first place.

When I’d instituted the policy, I’d thought it would eliminate any conflicts of interest in the company, but all it had done was kill the potential for love.

Actually, it did more than that. It created a wedge. More like a giant chasm I needed to build a bridge over.

“She never responded to the invitation Grace gave Alannah?” Liam asked.

I shook my head. But could I blame her? She had me blocked on her phone, and I suspected my emails were going to spam.

I’d resorted to sending everything through the mail, including the press release, and didn’t receive any acknowledgment.

I’d known it wasn’t the apology she was looking for, but I’d hoped it might be enough to get her to listen to me.

“She didn’t show up when I invited her to the bring-your-family potluck, either.”

“Ah, yes, the new annual LockMill tradition,” Liam said with a soft smile.

After repealing the no-dating policy, I’d organized a potluck with all current and former LockMill employees at my house, remembering the way Eddie had always pushed me outside my comfort zone, encouraging me to connect with people, to have fun.

That’s exactly what I’d done, but she hadn’t turned up, even after I’d begged Leigh to convince her.

“Do you feel like you did all you can do?” Liam asked .

“I thought I had,” I admitted, “but it was all too corporate.” Eddie’s words echoed in my head. This isn’t you telling the world you want me; this is you telling the world I was a good little employee. “That’s not what she needed from me.”

Grace ran past sporting giant turkey feet, holding a pair of binoculars.

“Finn said you set up an after-school program?” Liam said.

“I thought that might get Eddie’s attention.” I’d worked with LockMill’s outreach team to establish resources for local school children to start learning code and game design at the office on the weekends, resulting in a scholarship for five seniors every year.

I’d repurposed one of the infrequently used conference rooms and outfitted it with the latest tech to foster creativity and curiosity.

I’d even called it the Lock-Sheppard Protocol.

“She still didn’t have anything to say about that.

But this time, finally, I think I’ve gotten it right. I just wonder if I’m too late.”

Liam sighed, looking at me the way he always did when he was in big-brother mode. He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “She’ll come,” he said, sounding so sure of himself. “You’ll get your chance.”

Falling for Mia had made him believe in love the way he never had before.

And I wanted to believe him. When I’d learned that Eddie would be alone for Thanksgiving because Alannah was going to be out of town with Valentina, I’d arranged for Alannah to give her an invitation to the annual Lockhart family dinner with a tiny message at the bottom— laser gun required .

It was a Hail Mary, and if it didn’t work, I might have to call on Mr. Cheesers to help me out. How? I still didn’t know. But that rat had become a hit with everyone at the office, even the ones who’d been leery of him. Surely, she still felt the same .

In the meantime, I was hoping to pique her curiosity with the mention of a laser gun enough to get her here. Because like Liam said, all I needed was another chance. Just one more opportunity to tell her how wrong I’d been. To prove how right we could be—together.

“She’s here!” Grace bellowed, racing out of the living room, binoculars held over her head like a prize.

Holy shit! I turned to the window, my heart giving one great lurch as I recognized Beatrice at the end of the drive. She came.

She actually fucking came.

Grace lunged for the door. “I want to show her my hair!” The tips of Grace’s hair had been highlighted with a temporary purple dye.

As Eddie had suggested, she’d been getting a feel for the different colors and had settled on a bright lavender for the holiday.

Even I was sporting a lavender lock in solidarity of Grace’s new Eddie-inspired exploration. “She’s gonna love it!”

Liam caught her around the waist, scooping her up. “Why don’t you come hang out with me and Auntie Mia? See if we can’t get this baby out.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Have you tried asking?”

Liam snorted. “No, we went straight for the hot peppers.” He caught my eye. “Go get your girl.”

While Liam escorted a perturbed Grace down the hall, I sucked in a deep, steadying breath, then threw the door open.

Eddie stood by the car door, laser gun in hand, looking awkward. She wore a jean skirt and a dark orange sweater, her hair pulled back, showing off that long neck and an enticing bit of collar bone. She was effortlessly beautiful, and I could have spent the entire afternoon just staring at her .

Instead, I walked down the drive to meet her.

It took everything inside me not to sweep her into my arms. Not to grab her and pull her close, hold her until I’d memorized the shape of her body against mine.

But her being here meant she was willing to hear me out.

It did not mean she’d decided to forgive me.

So for the time being, I needed to keep my hands to myself.

“You brought one,” I said, smiling down at the laser gun.

“Had it lying around,” she said with a shrug. “Figured why not? Then again, I thought I might actually be being punked. Connor Lockhart, arranging something fun?” She arched her eyebrow as she stared at me. “Couldn’t be true.”