The Comeback (book 1 of the Miller Family)

3. Gran

Adam's P.O.V.

I stepped into the hallway of the quaint, weathered house that belonged to my grandmother, a place that held countless memories from my own childhood. Back in the day, I hadn’t known death in my life. When Pops was still alive, along with both of my parents.

“Well, it’s always nice to have you here, my boy. I’ve been waiting for you to bring some excitement into this old and smelly house.” She smiled, looking around as if the walls could talk. I chuckled, happy to see my grandmother.

“Well, I couldn’t miss the chance to start the new year without your infectious energy, now could I?” I asked her as she patted my cheek affectionately before we walked into the living room.

“Well, you certainly know how to charm an old lady. Now, sit down and tell me all about your adventures at the bar last night.” She grinned, making me roll my eyes at her.

“Gran, it’s not even noon…” I sighed, wondering who the hell had already spilled the beans on her.

“And this is still a small town that we live in, Adam. You shouldn’t even act surprised in all honesty, you’ve lived here long enough to understand that whenever something happens, it stirs up the entire town. Especially when it concerns someone of the Miller family.” Nana answered matter-of-factly, sitting down on the big green sofa while I followed her. This house was massive, some day long ago it had been a busy place around here when my Nana was still deeply in love with my Pops and they were raising my mother and her sisters, who later on in life had all moved out of state to be with their husbands or mates, as we wolves would call them. Later on in life, when she would babysit me or my siblings, this used to be our place to hang out. But now, with my grandfather and parents all gone, the place almost seemed scary big, and silent.

“So,” She spoke, clearly not waiting for me to do the talking.

“Dancing on tables, is that a new hobby of yours apart from being a gym teacher now?” She grinned at me, to which I groaned again, letting my head drop back on the sofa.

“I had too much to drink. That’s all.” I answered her, swallowing because telling my grandmother that I had been drunk somehow felt awkward as hell to me. No matter how modern the woman was and no matter how old I was.

“Well, I hope you were drunk, I would be worried even more if you danced on tables being completely sober.” She laughed, clearly loving this story about little old me.

she might enjoy it…

that doesn’t mean I have to…

“Now, let me impart some wisdom into the mix,” Nana spoke, clearing her throat as she scooted a little closer to me and she placed her hand on my knee as she would always do whenever she wanted to give me some advice in life.

“Adam, my dear, the fact that you danced on a table is completely fine by me, it’s the fact that you had no one to pull you off of the table that worries me. I mean, I would have done it myself, but I was already in bed by nine.” She shrugged, making me laugh as I shook my head in shame.

“Meaning?” I asked her, already knowing in what direction she was steering this conversation. It was the subject of all of our conversations these days.

“Meaning, that I won’t be around forever and that before I go, I need to see you settled down with a lovely wife and some great grandbabies for me to spoil rotten now that I still have the chance to do so.” She told me as my eyes widened at the thought of me and a baby.

“Nana, don’t tell me I came all this way for you to start your matchmaking on me once again.” I groaned, running a hand through my hair. I mean, the woman had tried matching me up… time and time again. I guessed that by now, the woman was growing quite desperate. And ever since I had turned thirty years old, she had practically been pushing every single woman in my direction that she could find. Within a couple of years, she would probably be selling me on the black market, looking for a bride in exchange for a couple of sheep if need be. But Gran just chuckled, shaking her head.

“Oh, my dear, you know me. I wouldn’t dare interfere with your love life. But a gentle reminder never hurts. The clock is ticking, you know. Before you know it, your swimmers will be out of power.” She added, making me choke on my own saliva with her bold statement, to which she gently patted me on the back while I couched as if she hadn’t noticed my awkwardness.

“You don’t interfere in my love life? You practically throw single women my way.” I told her once I was able to breathe again.

“Which surprises me even more that you’re still single to this day. I mean, you are my grandson, but I can still see that you’re a very handsome man. And I know for a fact that you’re not dumb either. So, I honestly don’t get it. You should have been married by now.” She shrugged, to which I sighed deeply.

“I have gone out on dates,” I told her, remembering the last time I had gone out on a date, and the fiasco it had been. Damn… that woman had been so boring I had almost fallen asleep in my bowl of soup.

Sorry ladies,

but no man cares about what happened in Grey’s Anatomy season eight episode five,

believe me!

But I sighed deeply as I looked up, staring at the wall in front of me that was covered in family photos. My grandparents were werewolves as well, and so were my mother and later on in life my father, once my mother had turned him after their mating. But I still remembered conversations with my mother and how she would tell me about finding your person, your one true mate as she had called it, your soulmate sort of speak, that one special person that every werewolf had out there in the world. My mother had told me how your whole world would turn upside down from the moment you would find your one true mate, how you would die for them within a heartbeat, and how you would do anything to protect them and keep them safe. How your wolf would show you when you would have found the right person for you. And how you would do anything in your power in order to make that person want you as well.

Well… let me be clear

Canin… never told me anything apart from women being boring…

“So, apart from you wanting a wife and kids for me, anything else I could help you with today before you throw me in a church in front of a priest?” I asked Nana, seeing how she seemed to doubt herself before she stood up and nodded at herself as if somehow, she had just decided on something important.

“Can you have a look at something for me, Adam?” She asked me, to which I nodded, standing up immediately.

“Yeah, sure,” I told her, following her into the kitchen. It was an old and retro, typical sixties kitchen. In here, it seemed as if time had stood still, and yet, this place truly felt like home to me, the home where we hadn’t been when the news about my parents had passed had gotten to us. This place was my happy home, not the house where I was living until this day, that was the sad home. The home that had glued me to the floor, making sure I would never be able to move anywhere else ever again. But I was pulled out of my daydream, as Nana picked up a flyer lying on her kitchen counter, and handed it over to me.

“What do you think about this place?” She asked me, making my eyes look down at what I was holding in my hands.

“The Garden?” I asked her, looking up in pure surprise.

“Why on earth am I looking at a flyer for a nursing home, Gran?” I asked her, seeing how she turned herself around, and simply shrugged.

“Because I’m thinking about moving over there.” She answered me, knocking out all the air from my lungs.

“Moving to The Garden? Why? Is there something you aren’t telling me? Are you sick?” I asked her, fear immediately rising in my heart.

“No.” Gran stopped me immediately, lifting her hand.

“But Adam, I’m not getting any younger here either. Quite frankly, this house has gotten way too big for me to be here all by myself. It was once my dream home, but now it just feels as if I’m lost in this big bunker. I think it’s time for me to move on and take the next step.” She stated, making me look down at the flyer again.

“Gran, it’s a thirty-minute drive away from here,” I told her, seeing how she shrugged again, the stubborn woman.

“I know.” She nodded.

“You won’t be able to let your wolf run freely,” I told her, raising my eyebrow at her, to which she snorted.

“Adam, I haven’t been able to shift in almost twenty years. Apart from my smell and being able to mind link to my fellow pack members which up until now are only my grandkids, I’m just as much human as anybody else living in Fairview.” She sighed deeply. And she was correct, once a wolf became too old, the process of shifting their body from human to wolf was just too painful, so after a certain age, most wolves wouldn’t be able to shift anymore.

“You know we won’t be able to come and visit you as often as we do right now,” I told her, already imagining every excuse in the book my siblings would come up with to use in order to not drive over to an elderly home.

“I know. But Mindy is going to, so…”

Aha!

here we go!

The cat’s out of the bag…

“Mindy, huh?” I asked her, grinning widely, seeing how she stuck her chin in the air.

“Yes, we both want to move and we want to be roomies.” She added, making me laugh.

“Gran, this is a nursing home, not a dorm house,” I told her, to which she sighed, lifting her hands in the air because something about my words had clearly pissed her off.

“I made up my mind, Adam. I want to go, so I am going. I have stayed here to help you whenever you needed me, but now, everyone is old enough to take care of themselves. Nobody needs me anymore. Soon, you will all start families of your own. And I will be left here in this castle all by myself. So yes, for this once, I want to do something that’s right for me. I want to go to ‘The Garden’ and I want to go along with Mindy. I like her, she is a dear friend of mine.” Nana spoke, to which I nodded because I understood. Mindy had been that one friend who had been there for my Grandmother ever since my parents had died, years after my grandfather had already passed. Mindy had been the friend to fill up the emptiness in my Gran’s heart in a way. Now, over the years of being best friends, they had basically become the new Thelma and Louise. And here I was, bitching to her about leaving while all she had ever done was erase herself and her own life in order to be there for all of us. Maybe it was time, maybe this was exactly what she needed.

“So… if you do this, what will happen to the house?” I asked her, to which she kept looking at me.

“We will have to see about that, I mean… we can sell it, you always loved this place.” She shrugged again as if it had become her new signature move. I looked around the place, feeling my heart sink into my stomach.

“You know how much I love this place, Gran, and you also know that I can’t buy it from you.” I sighed. I might be a teacher and a coach, but in no way did I have any money saved up, at least not enough to buy a house as big as this one, and have money left in order to bring this house into the right century. If I would make this place up to date, it would probably need to get stripped entirely.

“We’ll speak about it when we get there, at least be a good boy and tell me I have your blessing?” She asked me, batting her eyelashes a bit too hard in order to make it look dramatic. And I sighed, hating it, but still, doing what was right. And as the Alpha of this small pack, I needed to let go of one of my pack members.

“You have my blessing.” I nodded at her, seeing how she walked over to me, wrapping me into another one of her warm hugs, hugs I would probably have to start missing very soon.

“So… when are you planning to move?” I asked her, to which she looked around the kitchen again.

“It will take a couple of months. We have all the time in the world to settle to this new idea.” She smiled at me, to which I nodded. Trying to get to terms with the fact that once again, I would be forced to say goodbye to someone I cared for deeply, very, very soon.