I clapped. “Yay, you survived your trip into what most Texans consider the armpit of the state and lived to tell. What do you want, a medal?”
“No.” He rounded on me, shifting his anger from his grandfather to me. His glare hit me smack-dab in the center of my chest. “I want to know what’s been going on. Why are there pictures of the Ido penguins trending on social media?”
The color drained from my face. I knew it because it all pooled in my gut, creating a woozy feeling in my stomach. But I tried to play it off. “What do you mean?”
He held his phone out, tipping it toward me. One of the families who had been through our penguin meet and greet stared back at me. There was Thelma, right in the middle. They’dtagged the Phillips House and hash tagged #PhillipsPenguins in their post.
“I guess you wouldn’t believe me if I said someone broke in to photobomb a feeding session?” My voice softened as the words drifted out of my mouth. I waited for a quirk of his lips, for that easygoing smile of his to appear.
“I can’t believe you did this.” He turned away, shaking his head.
“Hey, now.” Gramps stepped in. “It was my idea.”
“No, Morty. We’re both to blame. I guess I don’t see what the big deal is though. Thanks to Cyrus and that article in the paper, people already knew they were here. We made some people very happy and put a small dent in the amount it’s going to take to fix the roof of the shelter.”
“Part of my agreement with Munyon was that we’d keep the damn penguins under wraps as much as possible until right before the wedding. He’s the kind of guy who wants to make a splash. Now that it’s leaked, hell”—he paused to scrub a hand over the scruff on his chin—“the whole project might be at risk.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” My heart stopped for a moment. If the wedding fell apart, I’d lose out on the cash he’d promised to help pay the high deductible on the shelter. That wasn’t an option.
“I didn’t think I had to. What the hell were you thinking?”
Gramps moved closer to Alex. “We were thinking we had a good opportunity and we took it. We’re all to blame for this. You should have told us.”
“Who would have thought you’d turn them into a roadside attraction within twenty-four hours?”
I nodded to myself. “So it’s okay for you to make commitments like agreeing to move up the wedding date without talking to anyone about it, and taking on double thebirds, but we aren’t allowed to make any decisions without consulting you?”
“It’s not like that.” He’d turned to face me, his shoulders slumped.
“Fine, handle them how you see fit. You’re the one in charge, Mr. Sanders. From now on you can call all of the shots.” Before I said something I’d regret, I retreated to the back of the warehouse.
Alex didn’t come after me. I could hear him arguing with his grandfather. Maybe I’d been too quick to open myself up to the man candy with the gorgeous eyes. I’d thought he might be ready for change. Based on the way he’d overreacted, I was wrong.
CHAPTER 23
ALEX
I grabbedanother bucket of sardines. With the promise of fish and the sound of the clicker training tool I’d picked up at the pet supply store, I’d made fairly good progress on getting the birds to waddle down the red carpet I’d laid out as a makeshift aisle. Now all I needed to do was to get them to stand still when they reached the end. I hadn’t done much actual training of penguins since I’d spent summers at the marine life park. Even then, I’d only been an assistant.
“How’s it going?” Zeb peeked his head around the corner of the temporary shelves we’d set up.
“I’ve been better.” I dropped the bucket to my side. One of the penguins moseyed up and tried to stick her beak inside. “Hey, no fish yet for you.”
Zeb came closer, a cardboard box in his arms. “You got a package from someone named Chyna. Zina asked me to bring it over to you.”
Zina and I had yet to make up over my accusation about the penguin exploitation. Since she’d moved into the mansion, I’d gone from king of the primary suite to trying to fit my six-foot-three-inch frame onto the antique sofa in the formal living room.
“She say what it is?” I asked.
“Nope.” Zeb set the box down on a table. “Want me to open it for you?”
“Sure.” What would Chyna be sending me? I hadn’t heard much from the wedding planner in the past few days, although she seemed to appreciate the pictures I texted her of how the training was going.
“What’s this?” Zeb held up what appeared to be a string of glittery snowflakes. “There’s a note.”
I reached for it and scanned the handwritten card. Unbelievable. Seemed Chyna wanted the penguins to accessorize with snowflake necklaces and bow ties. What would she come up with next?
“Come here, Thelma.” I held out a sardine, capturing Thelma’s attention as I slid the necklace over her head. The bird didn’t seem to mind as she scarfed down her treat.
