Page 9 of The Fangirl and the Grump

It’s going to be a good month.

Leaning back in my chair, I drain the rest of my coffee before looking at the framed photo hanging on the wall to my left. My ten-year-old self stares back at me with a big, snaggle-toothed grin. Next to me in the photo is my grandfather.

God, I miss him.

He raised my sister and me. Willow was only three-and-a-half when our parents took off for aquick getawayand never came back. I was only sixteen, so Grandpa took over and loved us like a parent issupposedto love his children. A couple of years later, we found out our mother and father died in an accident after driving away from a bar where they’d spent all day drinking and gambling their welfare checks away in Las Vegas.

Willow was far better off being raised by Grandpa. She doesn’t remember our parents, at all, but I do. I remember the shouted slurs and ringing slaps. I know Grandpa loved his daughter, but when she married my dad, she turned into someone Grandpa didn’t recognize. And when she took off with my father, he stepped in and made sure Willow and I had a good life.

I miss him desperately. He died a few years ago, leaving me the inn, the rentals, and our family home in his will. He also owned the building that houses Moonstone Mystic, and he left only that to Willow so she could live out her dream as an independent business owner without the weight of other investments on her shoulders. He knew I’d never leave her or let her want for anything. He trusted me to carry on the family legacy.

Which is, in addition to not wanting to leave Willow, the reason I can never leave Evening Shade. I’ve had a few investors sniffing around, feeling me out to see if I’d be willing to sell.

And if I was, I would stand to make a fortune. The offers I’ve received are fucking outrageous.

I’ve seen the books from before the movie-mania and before this place became The Quarter Moon Inn. The motel was barely staying afloat. Grandpa was smart, leaning into the wolf theme when tourism picked up. He used his savings to buy a few properties before the market got out of control, and they quickly started paying off.

Grandpa made it very clear to me that he did all of it for Willow and me, and for the future generations of Bardins. His dream was that I pass his properties to my kids someday, the way he did for me.

I close my eyes and tilt my head back as I take a deep breath. I know I’m letting him down in that respect.

I’m thirty-nine, single, and have exactly zero intentions of ever getting married and starting a family. My parents’ desertion left me with deep-rooted trust issues. If the two people who are supposed to love me the most can just drive away and never look back, how can I expect anyone else to stick around?

Plus, I’m not exactly approachable or, for that matter,likable. I know this about myself, and I fully admit it. I’m set in my ways, cranky most of the time, and overwhelmingly introverted. It would take a strong-willed woman to crack my shell, and she’d have to be some kind of miracle worker to earn my trust completely enough for me to be willing to make a commitment.

No, the properties won’t be going to my own offspring. When Willow settles down and starts a family, I’ll either sign them over to her or keep them, leaving them toherkids in my estate. That’s the only way to keep Grandpa’s dream alive.

And, fuck, I think that coffee gave me heartburn. Why else would my chest suddenly ache like this?

Pulling open the middle desk drawer, I pull out the roll of antacids I keep stashed there and pop two of the chalky tablets into my mouth. As I chew, I look back over at the photo.

Grandpa always shot down my insistence that I’d never get married. He was sure the right woman would come along eventually and would, in his words, knock my pecker off.

A chuckle bursts out of me as I remember the first time he said that. My horrified expression made him cackle with glee as he slapped a hand against his knee.

Just you wait, son. One day you’ll meet Ms. Right, and you’ll never know what hit ya. It was that way with your grandma and me. Knocked my pecker right off, that one. Married her up as soon as I could and never regretted it for a second.

I shake my head and smile at the memory, and the burning in my chest eases.

I knew it was the coffee. Those antacids certainly did the trick.

ChapterFive

Keegan

Despite the grouchy company, I had so much fun on the tour. We got to see all the buildings featured in the movies, and though we couldn’t actually go inside, I got pictures in front of all of them. We got off the bus twice for hikes into the woods––one to find the infamous cemetery location and once to hike the trail Lucas ran the first time he shifted into a wolf. It ended at a gorgeous lake, and most of us took our shoes and socks off to wade into the cool water.

And by most of us, I mean everyone but Madison.

Even Sloan participated, even though she complained the whole time about the squishy mud on the lake’s floor.

I even saw the infamous “Wolf Daddy” from the tavern after we loaded onto the bus this morning. Pressley pointed him out with a laugh, noting how he was walking all stiff and angry just like Joseph Lumin did in the movie when he found out Lucas was spending time with a human.

I have to admit, he really does look like the actor who played Joseph, from the stocky, muscular build to the dark hair and beard. Some of the women on the tour bus even gasped and took pictures of him through the windows.

God, that must be annoying for him. Even I can see that. I feel kind of bad for calling him out last night, even if I don’t really remember it.

We’re all exhausted from the hiking today, so we decide to stay in, order pizzas, and watch all three movies back to back.

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