Chase stopped in the act of opening the fridge, turning around to look at me. “What exactly do you think you have to feel guilty for?”
“If it weren’t for Marshall and me, the deal wouldn’t have fallen through.” I didn’t know if I should be sharing this with them, but it felt good to get it off my chest. “Yesterday, he seemed a bit off when he came home. He usually talks to me about everything, but he was a bit distant.”
“That’s just the way my brother is when he’s got a problem. He fixates on it until he solves it,” Chase said as he resumed putting groceries in the fridge.
“Right.” That explanation did make sense, but I still couldn’t help wondering if Griffin was mad at me or something. I couldn’t bring myself to share that he’d slept in a different bedroom, though. That was too personal.
“You’ll see. He’ll show up here later as if nothing happened, back to his old self,” Chase assured me.
“All right!” Hannah exclaimed, looking at the table. “I think we should focus on our to-dos, of which there are many. I still haven’t made the bed.”
“I’ll do that,” I replied, grateful for the chance to be useful.
“Let’s finish putting the food away first.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Whatever doesn’t go in the fridge belongs there.” She pointed at the cabinets above the sink.
“I’ll grill something for us,” Chase said.
“Oh, but I wanted to treat you guys to something,” I said. “Maybe order in.”
“Grilling is my pleasure,” he replied. “And I’m fast when I only have to do it for a few people.”
Hannah clapped her hands. “Okay, we have a plan. We’ll put the food away, Phoebe will make the bed, and I’ll help you with the grill. And I’m just putting it out there that after dinner, we can also have s’mores. And pop open the bottle of wine.”
“Now that’s my kind of evening,” I said with a grin.
CHAPTER 35
GRIFFIN
I couldn’t rememberthe last time I’d been so sleep-deprived. Last night, I stayed up until very late, brainstorming for my pitch to Jude. As I headed to bed, I was so restless that I knew I would toss and turn the entire night, so I ended up crashing in Jeremy’s bedroom.
This morning, I woke up at six o’clock sharp. I’d gone through the motions at the office the whole day. Not even my team approached me. They could clearly see from a mile away that I was in a shitty mood.
Stella found out that was Jude was playing golf tonight, which was why I showed up at one of the most prestigious country clubs in San Diego at six o’clock sharp.
Frankly, I was surprised that he liked to play the game. I’d tried it once because it was a good way to do business—people liked to talk shop while swinging clubs—but I found it boring as shit.
The parking lot was full, but that wasn’t a problem because they had a valet service. I dropped off my keys, and they took care of everything.
A club employee approached me the second I stepped inside. “Good evening, Mr. Sterling. We’re ready for you.”
The guy was too hyper, but I didn’t have the energy to shut down his enthusiasm. No one could come here without an appointment. Stella had taken care of that, and now they thought I wanted to be a member.
“I’m simply here to meet an acquaintance,” I informed him.
His face fell. He was holding a notepad. I was betting my ass that there was some sort of form on it that he’d expect me to fill out.
“Right. Who is that person?”
“Jude Carson.”
“He’s still playing, but he should be done in about ten to fifteen minutes. Are you joining him on the golf course?”
“No.” I wanted to catch up with him after he’d finished.
