Romance Rules for Werewolves (Charming Cove, #3)(76)

As far as I could tell, it was the entire town. And then I saw Rafe’s mother. And father. And that beautiful blond woman from the barbecue. His entire pack was here.

My head spun. They’d all come to help.

How could this be happening?

“It’s amazing,” a woman said from my left.

I turned to see Judith, who looked at the house, tears in her eyes.

“Judith.”

“You might as well call me Gran, if you don’t mind.”

I blinked at her, so confused and shocked and overwhelmed that I could barely string two thoughts together. “Gran?”

She nodded, then turned to me. Magic shimmered in front of her face, and the glamour fell away. In front of me stood my gran, about twenty years older than when I’d seen her last, but it was definitely her.

“I think I need to sit down.”

“You probably do.” She went to a bench by the wall of the boathouse and sat, then patted the place next to her. “I think this is a good spot. You can see your friends helping you. The house is fine, by the way. It likes all these people and knows they’re here to help.”

I couldn’t stop looking between her and the house as I walked toward her.

Gran is here. The town is fixing Lavender House. Rafe is here.

The words repeated themselves as a mantra inside my head, but I still couldn’t understand.

“Explain. Please.” The words came out as a croak.

“I’m not dead, for one.”

“I can see that.” And I was happy about it. Joyfully so. But I was also really confused.

“The terms of the will still stand, though. If you can fix up the house, it’s yours. And it looks like you’re going to manage it.” She grinned. “I’ve already been inside, and they’re almost finished. It’s incredible what people can do when they come together.”

I gave a little sob, unable to help myself. She reached a hand toward mine, then pulled back, clearly thinking better of it.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly.

She smiled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to.” She gave an awkward laugh. “Hold hands, at least. I haven’t been the best grandmother.”

“That’s past us now,” I said. “The first thing I thought when I heard you’d died was that I wished I’d tried harder to know you. I still have no idea what’s going on, but that stays the same.”

“Oh, dear.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t deserve you.”

“I’m not worried about that. But what the heck is going on? I really need to start understanding things, and fast.”

“Well, it’s all a bit convoluted, but I think my plan might have worked out quite nicely.” She smiled at me.

“Spit it out already, Gran.”

She nodded. “You know I wasn’t always the best grandmother. Quite distant, I know. I was obsessed with my own life—always trying to improve my magic, you see. I’ve never been much of a witch, but I wanted to be. And that made me too self-centered.”

Story of my life. But unlike Tommy, she seemed to be on a different track. “It sounds like you’ve had some real revelations.”

She laughed. “Age will do that,” she said, and sighed. “About five years ago, I realized that I wouldn’t live forever.” She tapped the wrinkles at the sides of her eyes. “It was when these started appearing, you see. A reminder every day in the mirror that I was mortal.”

I supposed it made sense.

“Anyway, I did the thing that many people do when they age. They think about their life and wonder if they did it right. For me, the immediate answer was no. First, I was distant with your mother. You’ve seen how she turned out, though I have a feeling that, too, might change as she ages. But you were never as cold and distant as we were.”

“No, I wasted my life on a miserable man instead.”

“Yes, he was awful. When I started checking up on you about a year ago and saw how terrible he was, I knew I needed to act. Then that lovely young man enquired about the boathouse, and the idea came to me.”

“You mean Rafe?”

“Yes, Rafe. I’ve kept tabs on Charming Cove since I still own Lavender House, even though I was never able to fix it up myself. That’s always bothered me, but that’s life. Then your uncle sold the boathouse to that handsome werewolf a year ago, and as soon as I saw him, I knew he was perfect for you.”

“I thought you owned the boathouse.”

“No, dear. I just told the solicitor to lie to you.”

I felt my jaw slacken. “Malcolm lied?”

“I know he doesn’t seem like the type. But when I described your situation and my plan, he agreed it was a worthy cause.”

“What was your plan?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I knew you had the power to fix up Lavender House in a way I never could. So I set you and the boatbuilder up and forced you to spend time together, fixing up the house under a deadline.”

Oh, that was clever. “But how could you possibly have known he would help me?”

“Psh, of course I could tell. I’m not great at magic, but I can read people. And I’m quite good at plotting and scheming.” She gave a pleased smile. “Though this all worked out much better than I’d hoped.” She gestured to Lavender House, which was still bustling with activity. “The whole town has come out to help you! Why, this could make an excellent TV movie. Even the big screen!”