Page 3 of Overbooked at Dragon's Landing

“All right, I guess I’ve gotten all the mileage out of this I’m going to. We are having cake now because we are going to theDragon Festival for your actual birthday. Staying at Dragon’s Landing and—”

I leapt to my feet and came around the table to give him a big hug and pat on the back. “Are you kidding me? Dragon Festival? Where is this amazing event and why am I only just hearing about it? Why isn’t it plastered all over social media?” It sure seemed like my online dragon people would know.

“I didn’t see a lot either, so I wasn’t sure if it was anything good, then I landed on one message board and, well, here.” He pulled me down to sit in the chair beside him and dragged my cake closer. “Take my phone. I bookmarked everything I found after that, so you can see while you eat your cake before your ice cream melts.”

I did just as he said, ate my delicious ice cream and cake while looking at images of the most fun event I could imagine. The whole town seemed to be dragon-centric, and I wondered if I could move there immediately or if it all went away after the festival ended. Didn’t look like it, since so many businesses had dragon-related names as did the B&B. “I wish we could go there now.”

“Next week,” Ralph said. “The days will fly by.”

“They will crawl like slimy snails,” I grumbled. “But I sure have something to look forward to. What shall I wear? I might need a new T-shirt or two…”

“Or you can buy them there? Might be more expensive, though.”

I fist-pumped the air. “But worth it.”

Chapter Three

Trace

“I’m sorry for your loss.” They pushed a folder across his desk to me.

How many times had I heard that since my grandmother passed? Far too many. And yet, here was a lawyer giving me the same exact platitude as he handed me instructions for what I needed to do next.

My grandmother had recently passed and, when all the dust settled, a lawyer from her town reached out to me, asking for my lawyer’s contact information. At the time, I assumed it was to have me take on payment for any debts she might’ve had. But I soon found out they wanted me because my grandmother hadn’t made a formal will and, as her only living relative, that meant all that she had was mine, by default.

My grandmother had always lived a simple life. She had enough but never anything fancy. Her gifts to me growing up fostered my interests, but were never over the top. That’s why when they told me about her hoard, I was floored. My grandmother had a lot of money and a property, which meant this transfer wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d have liked.

She’d retired in Dragon’s Landing, wanting to be near other dragon shifters. It made sense. She’d been living in the city, near my parents. Sure, there were some shifters there, but places for her to let her wings out, not so many. When my parents died in a car accident, everything changed for both of us.

I’d been in college at the time, and I threw myself into my studies. My father had told me he was proud of all the hard work I did, and that fueled my work ethic to levels I’d never had before. My good grades became excellent grades, became a full ride for my masters and multiple job offers upon graduation.

My grandmother reacted very differently. My parents’ deaths had really thrown her into a spiral. I hadn’t seen it at the time, too wrapped up in my own pity party for one. But, in hindsight, it had been so obvious.

She needed out of the city and thought moving to Dragon’s Landing would give her a fresh start. When she asked my opinion, I was honest, telling her it seemed like a good idea. And it was—she liked her time there. But it wasn’t good for us as a family.

We were far apart, no longer a day trip. I saw her less and less as I immersed myself in my studies. Daily calls became weekly became monthly. And letters? They still came from here, but I wasn’t as great at sending one back.

I could’ve been a much better grandson, something I’d never be able to fix. It was too late.

There were three letters I still hadn’t responded to when she died. I’d been meaning to write one, but I hadn’t. And now? Now I never could.

The truth was, in a lot of ways, it had been too painful. Looking at my grandmother was like looking at my mom with gray hair—the two were nearly identical. And just like my mother had gone from my life, she’d left, too. It wasn’t fair to think of it that way, but at the time, it was as if I lost everyone who mattered to me in one fell swoop.

“Thank you.” I took the paper and walked out of the office, not looking back.

It wasn’t until I got home that I took a good look at it. I planned to sign the papers and then put the house up for sale. I didn’t need it. I had a good job here, I liked my place, and that house she lived in had never been mine. Heck, I’d only been there once.

I called the local lawyer to make the arrangements—not having a will was problematic. Maybe less problematic than apain in the ass, but same difference because, no matter how I framed it, it meant I couldn’t settle her estate with phone calls, emails, and notaries. I needed to be there, in person, thanks to some stupid local statute paired with old flight rules about hoards. Grams hadn’t been in a flight since she was a teen, but she’d never formally dissolved her membership. If I didn’t go and take care of things soon, they were going to get her estate, and I couldn’t have that.

It wasn’t that I either wanted or needed her earthly possessions. If anything, I wished I didn’t have to deal with them. But Grams left her flight because they wanted to force her to mate someone who wasn’t her true mate, and she wanted no part of that.

Good thing, since the first job that she applied for outside the flight was run by my gramps. Allowing them to get their life’s savings was a slap in the face to both of them and their love. I refused to allow that simply because I was inconvenienced by a stupid statute. Nope. I was going there and do everything by the book.

I was lucky in that both my mother and my grandmother not only waited for their true mates but that fate sent them to them young. I had five years on my parents and ten on my grandparents when they first met their one and only, and I was still as single as could be. I could date. It wasn’t that I never caught anyone’s eye, but why bother? Using them as a placeholder until the real deal was icky.

My grams had been very specific about not wanting a funeral of any kind. She wanted to be quietly buried by my gramps. Unlike with the will, she had all that paperwork all set up and in place. I didn’t get the call about her passing until it was done.

At first, I was pissed. How could she do that to me? But then I realized, it wasn’t about me. This was what she and my grandfather had wanted.

---