“But his mother is perfectly wretched.”
“Perfectly?”
“I don’t think anyone on earth has worked as hard to perfect their wretchedness as Lady Fredrick.”
Kenzi almost snorted cocoa out her nose. Hattie leaned back to avoid the possible spray, which was such a grown-up move that it made Kenzi’s already suffering heart clench.
“Neither of them deserved Hattie.”
“Agreed” Kenzi clinked her cup against Lunette’s.
Hattie perked up. “Me too.” She lifted her cup, the marshmallows wobbling inside. Kenzi touched their mugs. Then Hattie wanted to do it with her mom. Then Kenzi again.
“Drink up before it gets cold,” Lunette encouraged her.
Hattie settled back into making a chocolate mustache.
Lunette sipped delicately at her cocoa. “So, what happened to wedded bliss? When I left town, you were moon-eyed and ready to take over the world.”
Kenzi set her mug on the counter and traced the gingerbread man on the side. The mugs reminded her of their mother who loved all things Christmas. “I have a confession.”
Lunette hitched herself up on her elbows and supplied a mischievous grin. “Do tell.”
Kenzi mentally chewed her options and decided that she’d spill. Lunette hadn’t been involved in the fight over the company, and she was sober—probably more so than Kenzi had seen her in the last year. “I hired Nash to marry me.”
Lunette glanced at Hattie. “Is this PG?”
“Yes!” Kenzi glared. “You know about the clause in Dad’s will? Well, I found out about it a few days before, and I—” She faltered over how much she should reveal about Aunt Pamela and Harrison and BMB. In the end, she decided to leave Pamela’s business behind closed doors. “—found Nash and convinced him to marry me.”
“I doff my hat to you. That was genius.”
“Yeah, until I went and fell in love with him.”
“I caught that. I think that’s what makes it so delicious, because he fell for you, too. We could all see it.”
“Except he didn’t.”
“No?”
“No. I guess there was a stipulation—one Harrison neglected to inform me about—that made it possible for Nash to be voted CEO. I wasn’t the only one falling in love with him; the board proposed, and he is now the CEO of Hazel’s Dairy Delights…and I am nothing.” She pushed her mug of lukewarm chocolate away. “He was no better than Clyde, using me to get what he wanted.”
“Mama, I wanna play.”
Lunette cupped Hattie’s cheek. “Do you remember where the playroom is?”
Hattie nodded.
“Okay, I’ll be in soon.”
Hattie scampered off, unaware of the world crumbling around Kenzi.
Lunette watched her go, and then she spun around, her eyes sharp. “Nash is a hundred times better than Clyde. They aren’t even on the same scale.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lunette pulled out her phone, tapped the screen a couple times, and then shoved it across the bar to Kenzi. “Have you seen the quarterly report? Sales are up since he took over—35% up.”
“So he’s good at business.”
