Page 93 of The Grump I Got Stuck With

“Everyone in Braeburn has told the media where to stick it,” I continued. “Especially Jo. I don’t think they can even air some of the things she’s been saying.”

Alistair huffed a sound that was almost a laugh. “After all this time, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the town’s support, but I admit I was. And I’m grateful for it.”

“I’m glad you’re finally realizing you don’t have to do this alone. And that you can trust the town.” I sucked in a sharp breath. There had been something I’d been meaning to talk to him about, and now seemed as good a time as ever. “On that note, I’ve been talking to Shannon O’Keefe. I don’t know if you’re familiar with her, but she runs a small nursery program in town. They rent the space on the other side of the bakery.”

His expression shifted, his eyebrows knotting together. I plowed on.

“Anyway, she mentioned she’ll have room to accommodate Kenna after the Easter break in a few weeks. I think it would be good for Kenna to start there. She needs more socializing with children in town, especially since she’ll be old enough to start primary school in August.”

Alistair simply blinked in response.

“It would require some rearranging of your schedule, but it should be doable for you to get your usual day of work in while Kenna’s at the program.”

He gave his head a little shake. “And where will you be?”

That knot in my stomach tightened. “I think it’s time for me to move on,” I said. “There are other places I want to visit in Scotland—I told you that when I first got here. I just need to figure out what comes next. Where I belong.”

He licked his lips like he meant to say something, but no words came.

“If I don’t find it in Scotland,” I continued, “then I’ll probably head back to the States. It’s been months since I left, and I can’t…” The words burned in my throat. “I can’t put my real life on hold forever.”

Because none of this had been real, had it? I’d been playing around in a fairy tale. I should have known that the moment I broke into a castle.

“I thought you felt settled in Braeburn,” Alistair finally said, his words a little choked. “You seemed so at home here.”

I shook my head, cutting him off before either of us got mixed up. “I was never at home here. It was just a temporary pit stop.”

ALISTAIR

I didn’t quite know what to do with the idea of Madison leaving in a few weeks. The moment we’d ended things, I knew it was a possibility—perhaps even an inevitability—that we’d go our separate ways, but I never actually stopped to consider what it would feel like to have to say goodbye forever.

As she walked off, I stared after her, oddly stunned. Actually, I felt a little ill. It’s not like I assumed she’d never move on from being Kenna’s nanny; I just hadn’t expected for her to also be leaving Braeburn when she quit.

No, not just Braeburn. She was talking about leaving Scotland to go back to the US. From what she’d said to me at other times, I’d have thought that was the last thing she wanted. I frowned, replaying her words in my head. Temporary pit stop. Was that really how she felt? And why did that thought sting so badly? Logically, I knew I was the one who’d pushed her away. But when I imagined her walking out of mine and Kenna’s life next month, that hollow space behind my ribs started aching. I turned around, knuckling my chest as I wandered back in the direction of my office.

I didn’t even make it to the end of the hall before Florence came flying around the corner, snorting like a raging bull. I came to a hard stop, staring down at her. For the first time in our acquaintance, the woman put her hands on her hips and glowered at me.

“Don’t be daft and tell me you’re letting that woman go just like that?” she demanded.

My jaw fell open. I was completely taken aback at her anger. “I⁠—”

“You built an entire company from the ground up.” She gestured after Madison. “You can’t possibly be that big of a fool!”

“If she wants to go, I can’t exactly stop her,” I muttered, feeling like a schoolboy being told off by the principal.

“Like hell you can’t.” The wrinkles around Florence’s mouth tightened as she pursed her lips. “People have been giving you grace and understanding because they know how badly you were treated by that awful woman who stole from you, but that doesn’t mean everyone will wait around forever for you to get your head out of your arse.”

“She doesn’t want to be here with me.”

“Because you’ve done nothing to show her that this is where she belongs. What do you think the woman is, a bloody mind reader?” Florence shook her head, stropping off before I even had a chance to reply.

For the second time in the last fifteen minutes, I stared down the hall, completely stunned. When I finally made my way back to my office, I sank down in my chair, rattled and properly chastised.

Because she was right. Every single thing she’d said had been right, not just about Madison but about other people who’d also shown me way more grace than I’d deserved when I’d been busy acting like a horse’s arse.

I picked up my phone and called Weston. I wondered if he’d send me straight to voicemail after the way I’d treated him and Locke the other day, but he picked up right away.

“All right?” he asked me.