Page 1 of Can't Help Growling in Love
Chapter
One
ASHER
“Asher? You all right, kid?”
My head is ringing with the information that Stella just shared with me, so no, I’m not all right, and I don’t think I can form a coherent sentence either, so I just nod.
“You look pale,” my boss says, pressing her cool hand against my forehead like I’m a pup, like my mother used to do. “I’m sorry for springing the news on you, but there’s really no easy way of saying it. I get what that means for you, but we have options.Youhave options. And it’ll take me a while to find a buyer anyway. I’ll write you a glowing recommendation letter, you know that, right?”
“Yeah,” I rasp. “I know that. Um, don’t worry about me. I have a couple of things in the works, I’ll be fine.”
She cocks her head to the side, her gray braid swinging over her shoulders. “You do? So that business is going well, huh?”
Her disbelief is plain in her voice and her raised eyebrows, and fine, she has a point. I haven’t shared much about my most recent entrepreneurial venture with her. Four years ago, when I started working at the Monster Tunes Radio, I didn’t exactlygive off self-sufficiency vibes. Stella had to babysit me through every chore listed on the job description, and I don’t know why she didn’t fire me after that first week. A panic attack had me shaking under a table in the front office of her recording studio.
Probably because she pitied me and was too much of a good person to throw me out on the street. She knew I’d be fucked if she did, and gave me opportunity after opportunity to get my shit together.
And I did. Slowly, I pieced my fucked-up brain back together, did physical therapy once a week to fix my bum knee, and became excellent at the multitude of tasks that went into running a small indie radio station. She’d offered me a three-hour slot on air two years ago, and I’d nearly shat myself because it meant putting myself out there. But the studio didn’t burn down around me and listeners swarmed our social media accounts to tell us that they liked “the new guy’s voice.” I slowly got used to the idea that I could begoodat something other than?—
I stop my train of thought with an iron will. My therapist would be proud. I told him that my thoughts liked to run away from me, so he taught me to herd them back in, like a collie would do with a flock of unruly sheep. I’ve trained myself to be a goddamn prize-winning sheep dog, not that I love the canine analogy.
I’ll survive this, too.
But it still feels like Stella pulled the rug out from under my feet. She’s selling the business and the building that goes with it in order to enjoy her retirement, something I knew was looming ever closer but refused to think too much about. It’s a surprise, but not really. I expected it yet thought I had another year or two at least.
“Uh, yeah,” I tell her, realizing I never answered her question.
Now the elderly trolless is looking at me with undisguised concern. “Asher, I don’t want you to think that this has anything to do with you. Roman and I just want to spend more time with our grandbabies, and ever since Jessica moved to Maine, it’s been really hard to keep visiting them. I mean, it’s not alongdrive, but I want to be there for them, you know? Babysit the kids if Jess and Simon want to go on a date…”
She’s rambling, and it’s clear she’s feeling guilty over her decision. That’s not something I can stand. Stella has given me so much over the years. She deserves the world, let alone a cozy, peaceful retirement surrounded by her many grandkids.
“Hey, stop.” I gently nudge the toes of my sneaker against her boot. “It’s okay. You surprised me, and you know how that usually goes down with me.”
She offers me a smile. “You’re a lot better at it than you used to be, though. That’s why I felt that this is the right time. You don’t need me anymore.”
“And I’ll never forget everything you did for me.” I return my boss’ smile, the shock slowly wearing off. “But the business has really picked up in the last few months, and I won’t be left on the street if I stop working here. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Stella breathes a sigh of relief. “Yeah, well, I’m still going to expect a phone call every week to hear all the Harmony Glen gossip. I might complain about how noisy and crowded this place has gotten in the recent years, but I’ll miss the news. Once I have a house all fixed up, you’ll come visit, won’t you?”
Her gray eyes are suspiciously shiny now, so I reach over and give her hand a short, awkward pat. “Yeah, as long as you promise not to set me up on any dates in Maine. I’m not cut out for a long-distance relationship.”
She snorts and makes a cross sign over her heart. “Promise. As long as you give me your word that you won’t run from a good woman if you meet one.”
It’s an easy enough promise to give, especially since the chance of me meeting anyone new is slim—I’ve made certain of it.
“Sure. I’ll do my best.”
Chapter
Two
JUNE
“Perhaps you do not know: you may not have heard that my brother is lately married to—to the youngest—to Miss Lucy Steele.”
His words were echoed with unspeakable astonishment by all but Elinor, who sat with her head leaning over her work, in a state of such agitation as made her hardly know where she was.
