“Hush, now. You aren’t to blame for what those men did.” Maple looked at Grandma, who sat quietly watching them.
He shifted his body a little. “Not directly, no, but it was my fault. I lost my job six months ago. Corporate downsizing. Would you believe it’s harder for a fifty-six-year-old man with a lifetime of experience to get a job than kids fresh out of school these days?”
Maple didn’t know what to say. All that time, she’d thought he’d been irresponsible and shafted her with the bills.
He turned his attention to Grandma. “I’m sorry for not telling you, but I didn’t want you to worry. I’ll find more work. I promise you that.”
Grandma nodded. “Everything will be fine. Finish your story, son.”
Uncle Peter took a fortifying breath and closed his eyes. “Thinking I’d find work quickly, I borrowed some money from someone I shouldn’t have. When it came time to pay up and I still had no job, they started making demands. They wanted our land. I told them no and that it wasn’t mine to give. I thought they’d accepted the fact that it would take a while longer to settle my debt, but then…” He opened his eyes and waved the hand that wasn’t attached to a tube down the length of his body.
Grandma tsked and shook her head. “You’re right, you should have said something. And so should you have, young lady,” she admonished Maple right along with her uncle.
“What did I do?” Maple asked.
“Don’t take me for a fool. If Peter wasn’t helping financially, then it was all on you. No wonder you’re working yourself to death in that horrid place.”
The last thing Maple wanted was for her grandmother to worry about money. “It’s not so bad. I can manage fine until uncle Peter can find another job.”
Grandma clapped her hands together once, silencing her. Her brows drew down, and her lips firmed. “You listen to me, and you listen good, baby. This stops at once. I’m moving. Period.”
“Grandma, no. You love it there.”
“I do, but not nearly as much as I love it here. Did you know they have a lovely senior residence in Dexter? I applied for a first-floor apartment at the Wassookeag Villa. They’d said there was a waiting list, but then called yesterday to say I was approved and one had opened up. It’s fate.”
Maple sat there, speechless. Grandma was moving to Dexter?
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
Maple’s heart beat double-time. “What? How? When did you do this?”
“The day you called, I did a search online. Mr. Hunter has a laptop in his room and was kind enough to help me out. I have an appointment to see the place this afternoon, but if the pictures of it online are any indication, I’m going to love it. It’s a fraction of the cost of the place in New York, and my old heart yearns for home. Now, before you start making plans, I’ve already arranged for Niko to bring me to see it. You, young lady, have other things to deal with.”
“But—”
“But nothing. Am I wrong in thinking that you’d like to stay?”
Maple shook her head, her heart filling with hope. She did a mental breakdown of her meager savings, liking what she came up with. “I can keep us afloat until I find work here. I might even be able to keep my job at the firm and work remotely,” she said as an afterthought. She didn’t need to be in an office to crunch numbers. The money she’d set aside for the next few months of rent at the Golden Oasis would go a lot farther in Dexter.
“It’s settled, then. Once you’re released from the hospital, you can live at the cabin until you’re on your feet again,” Grandma told uncle Peter, who had remained quiet throughout. “We’ll figure out the rest as we go.”
With the possibilities of her new life running rampant in her head, only one thing stood out. She needed to see Jaxon.
***
“Are you listening?” Emmet growled for the third time since he’d arrived at the shop. Niko and Luca watched the exchange, wisely keeping their mouths shut. He hadn’t wanted to go home and find it empty with her scent still lingering in the air, and it was too early in the day for the stiff drink he needed.
Fuck. His wolf paced just below the surface. He needed to get out of there, otherwise, his brother and packmates would bear the brunt of his grief. As cathartic as beating the shit out of someone sounded, they didn’t deserve that.
“Yeah. The wolves were from the pack that attacked us a couple of years ago. There might be more threats coming. I’ll deal with it,” he said, snarling as he gave the cliff notes version of all that Emmet had said. And he would deal with it. Just not today.
“That’s not what Niko was saying,” Emmet said, clearly exasperated.
“I have to get out of here.” Whatever else was going on, it would wait. If not, Emmet could handle it.
Without waiting to see what the others had to say about it, he headed out the door. He was about to pull out of the driveway when his phone pinged.
“We need to talk. Meet me at the cabin?”
Dread pooled in his gut, making his wolf want to howl. What was there to be said? She hadn’t spoken a word after her shower. She hadn’t needed to. Her eyes and nose had been red and puffy, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze. He’d tried opening a conversation with her on the way to the hospital, but she’d kept staring out the window, answering his questions with short, clipped answers until he’d given up.
“On my way.” He didn’t know how he’d survive the coming conversation or the months and years to come, but he’d deal with those, too.
The past few days replayed themselves in his
