Page 146 of Bridesmaid Undercover
“Oh, yes, for the dip—” I pause. “Hold on, are you coming with me?”
“Yes,” he says, exasperated.
“But…why?”
“Because I’m not going to make you do it alone.”
“You’re not making me do anything,” I say. “I told you I could handle it. So, no need to help. Now can I drop you off at your car? Possibly take you to Urgent Care?”
He exhales loudly and then turns as much as he can in his seat to look me in the eyes. “I’m not going to battle over this with you, Everly. I said I’m helping, so take me to the goddamn grocery store before I lose my shit.”
Yikes!
Okay.
So…clearly not in the best of moods. Not sure why. I mean, the knife-hand probably didn’t help, but he started off in a bad mood. I just pushed him deeper into the darkness. Does this mean he and Maple didn’t get together?Is he angry at me because my advice was wrong?After all, I did suggest he had the green light to go ahead with her.Shit.
He’s giving off the vibe that he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I’m not going to push. Which means…we’re going to the grocery store.
I wasn’t intending to actually make any dips tonight, so I need to come up with a plan and quick.
“Sorry about that,”I say as I walk back up to Hardy, who’s standing in the middle of the cracker aisle with our cart. He has placed come Club crackers in the cart along with some Triscuits. Not sure what he has planned for those, but we’re not going to need them. “That was the caterer,” I say.
“Oh?” he asks.
“Yup, the manager actually. He called to apologize about the miscommunication—they’re actually going to make all of the dips, so…looks like we don’t need to worry about any of that.” I slap my hands together as if dusting them off. “Easy peasy.”
Gripping the cart handle, he stares at me. “So…we don’t have to make dips?”
“Doesn’t look like it. What a relief, huh? I don’t think I even have enough room in my fridge for all those dips. I would have had to bring all the groceries to the office and make them there and, I’ll be honest, I think there might be a ghost in that building because I don’t like being there at night by myself. So, yeah, close call. No ghost encounters tonight.” I smile up at him, but he doesn’t return the gesture.
Instead, he pulls on the back of his neck and turns away.
Okay, I thought he’d be relieved, but if anything, he just looks more miffed.God, he must wish I never came to his office this afternoon.And now he’s stuck with me until I drop him back at his car.
“But, you know, if you want to make some dips, we can totally do that too. Just warning you, if things are a little off at the office, I told you about the possible ghost.”
Instead of answering, he picks up the boxes of crackers and puts them back on the shelf, then he directs the cart down the aisle and makes a left.
Uhh…
I chase after him, following him through the grocery store until we reach the frozen foods section.
He moves right in front of the pints of ice cream and opens the door.
“Oh, in the mood for some ice cream? Don’t blame you—I love a good pint for dinner every once in a while.”
He grabs a coffee-flavored ice cream and sets it in the cart. Then he gestures to me. “Pick what you want.”
“Oh, that’s okay?—”
“Grab a pint, Everly,” he says in a tone I really haven’t heard him use before.
What the hell has happened to the fun, easygoing Hardy?
I feel like I barely know this man.
Same body, same face, but the attitude, all grumpy and growly? Someone’s replaced him with another person, and I need to find out who did this.
