Page 15 of The Holidays with Mr. Mitchell
“Did Avery threaten to take off your balls with the turkey carving knife if we’re a second late to dinner?”
“No,” I smirked, texting Avery and my girls on a group chat as the Bentley pulled out of the private airport.
Jim: We’re on the ground, in the car, and on the way!
Addy: Hurry up, Dad. We can’t eat until you bozos get here.
Avery: Can’t wait. Turkey’s almost done!
Jim: Me too! How’s Izzy Bear?
Addy: Mad she doesn’t have a cell phone and can’t text.
“Remind me to get Izzy a cell phone this year for Christmas,” I told Spence with a soft chuckle.
“Breaking yourno cell phones until thirteen years oldrule already? You’re getting soft in your old age.”
I slid my phone into my coat pocket. “Nah, I just love hearing from the girls while I’m away on business, and unless Avery hands her phone to Izzy, then I don’t get to hear from her until I get home.”
“Quintessential old-age softness, like I said,” Spence pressed. “But the way you pulled the dick-CEO routine on the flight crew and shoved your luggage at Alastair to toss in the trunk for your entitled ass, proves you haven’t fully aged into a softie just yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. They’re all my employees, and they understand things get a little impersonal at times while working for me.” I said it confidently, but after thinking it over, I kind of felt like shit about my behavior. They might’ve been my employees, but they worked hard to meet my high standards, and they deserved better from me. “Alastair, please forgive my lack of manners,” I announced from the back seat. “I deeply appreciate your timely pickup and handling of my things.”
“Never a problem, sir,” my driver said, focused more on the traffic jam we’d just driven into on the 405 than on me being concerned about being a dickhead on Thanksgiving Day. “Apologies for the traffic,” he said, glancing in the rearview mirror, his thick accent floating over the partition.
I exhaled and looked at Spence, “I need to ensure the airline staff is compensated above and beyond for their stellar services in getting us home today, and also because they nearly missed Thanksgiving because of our overworked, sorry asses.”
“Already handled, Jimmy,” Spencer said, scrolling through emails on his phone. “I slipped the captain a healthy gratuity for him and the crew.”
I nodded. “I swear everything this year has been going non-fucking-stop,” I exhaled, reclining further into my seat. “How the hell are we even at Thanksgiving already?”
He dropped his phone into his lap and smirked at me. “Don’t tell me you want to be back at Halloween, dealing with Collin and Jake dressed up as Woody and Buzz Lightyear again?”
“Lord,” I chuckled at the memory, “those clowns have more fun on that damn holiday than the kids do.”
“Why did they dress up as Toy Story characters?”
“I stopped asking questions about those two long ago, my friend,” I said with a laugh. “Alastair, perhaps this exit will avoid the endless brake lights. Can we take side streets?”
“Apologies, sir,” Alastair’s calm voice floated back. “This is the only reasonable route to the venue.”
I scowled. “Venue? Avery said it was dinner at the house…” I looked over at Spence, “Justclose friends.”
Spencer’s mouth twitched as he returned to scrolling through his phone. “Maybe she upgraded the definition ofclose.”
I leaned back against the leather, fingers tapping restlessly on my knee. “We’ve been gone too long, Spence. I just want a quiet night with her. With the girls. That’s all.”
“Mm,” he drawled, not even glancing up. “And you believe Avery when she says she’s planning somethingquiet?”
“Fair point.”
The Bentley inched forward, trapped in the sea of traffic, and my patience thinned with every yard we crawled. The glow of red lights reflected across the windshield, painting Spencer in hellfire as he chuckled under his breath.
“What the hell’s so funny?” I asked, agitated.
He finally set his phone down, grinning. “You. All buttoned-up and sweating bullets because you’re about to walk into another one of Avery’s ambushes.”
I shook my head. “She said the house. Just us at the house.”
