Page 35 of Loving Words
I put up a finger. “Let me think.” Moving to the kitchen, I peered around, and out the window, I spotted the log Harrison and I had rested on in between cuts. “There’s a hole on the side of that log I can widen so it looks like he’s... having sex with it.” Forcing my eyes toward hers, I did my best not to feel embarrassed in front of the woman who’d become like a grandmother to me during the short trip.
Hers widened with excitement. “That’s a fantastic idea!” She hurried to a drawer and pulled out a serrated knife. “This should work!”
Sometime later, Gran set a steaming mug of tea on the coffee table as I finished adding a log to the fire. “Here, this will warm you up. I can’t thank you enough for your help.” She sat with her own cup between her hands. “I know better, but I guess I was working under the excitement of the alcohol at the lodge.”
I sat and opened my laptop. “I’m just glad you didn’t break your neck on that step stool.”
She waved my concern away. “I’ve climbed taller things than that.”
My laugh caught in my throat as I recognized an email from my agent.
“What’s the matter?” Gran asked, lowering her tea to her lap.
I shook my head. “I-I’m not sure. Maybe nothing. It’s an email,” I muttered. Nervous energy infused my muscles.
She scoffed and brought her cup to her lips. “Emails don’t bite, dear. Just open it. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
After clicking and scrolling to the body of text, I tensed before rereading it. “Oh my God! It’s an offer!” I said, excitement chasing away my nerves as I met her waiting gaze.
“An offer for what? Drugs? Sex? Murder for hire? I mean, it could be anything.”
I cocked my head as I processed her words. The woman was something else for sure. “Murder for hire?”
She shrugged. “You never know.”
A moment passed, and I realized she was pulling my leg. “A few months ago, I pitched a series to a publisher. I got the idea from all the stories Harrison had told me about Norina. It sounded like this magical place to grow up in, versus the city experience I had.”
Gran scooted forward, giddy with happiness. “That’s wonderful! You’re going to accept it, right?”
Grinning, I nodded. “Absolutely!”
“Then it’s settled,” she said, as if I’d been privy to whatever had been going on in her head. “You’re going to come stay with me while you write the series.”
I opened and shut my mouth a few times. Being in the town would do wonders for my writing, especially if I got to experience the charm myself. “I wouldn’t want to impose. I’ll have my PA set me up in a long-term rental.”
“Nonsense! You’ll stay with me, and when you’re not writing, I’ll show you around town, and maybe you can help me with some of my bigger Puck ideas.”
Torn between not wanting to be a burden and genuinely enjoying my time around Gran, I read the rest of the email. It gave me no better clarity on my situation. Thinking about my own grandparents and how they’d both since passed and the little memories I had with them, I found myself nodding. “If you’re sure?”
Gran grinned. “You’d make this lady the talk of the town, and how I do miss riling up the town gossips.”
“Let’s make those tongues wag.”
She pushed to her feet and waved her arms in the air above her head. “I cannot wait! And on that happy note, I’m going to take these old bones to bed. Thank you for your help tonight.”
With her cup in hand, Gran kissed the top of my head. I took the cup from her before she could take a step toward the kitchen. “I’ve got this. Good night, Gran.”
She patted my cheek. “You’re such a good man, Jack Halliday.”
I took her cup to the sink and chuckled at the gnome fucking the wood in the distance. Gran was filled with spice and everything nice. If I had a camera I could hide to capture the look on Kennedy’s and Harrison’s faces, I would.
After I set the cup on the drying rack, I returned to my now-cool mug. The heat from the fire had chased away the cold from my bones. Staring into the flames, I drank as the past hour washed over me. Not only was Gran an epic prankster, but my series proposal had been accepted, and it seemed I was now moving to Norina.
I placed the empty mug on the table, grabbed my notes, and flipped to the section I’d reserved for the series. As I read through them, I jotted more details to what I had. Excitement bubbled up within me, and I knew as soon as I was done with the current book, the series would take all my energy.
Sometime later, I reread my notes and shook my head. Kennedy had become an inspiration for my heroine without conscious thought. I didn’t hate it at all. The woman was fascinating, and no matter how inconvenient a long-distance relationship could be, I was seriously considering it, if she agreed.
I grabbed my laptop and shot my personal assistant an email about the series acceptance and to let her know I’d need my apartment packed up. I’d be moving to Norina with the grandmother to both my best friend and the woman I was falling in love with.
