Page 18 of Holiday Wishes and Tentacle Dreams

“It’s fine, Gram. I didn’t bring anything to settle in, really. I haven’t had a chance to set up any holiday decorations yet.” Surveying the first floor, Jake considered where to move thefurniture in order to make room for the tree. Just the thought of it was exhausting.

“You love Christmas! And it’s already the middle of the first week of December. You don’t want to get depressed because you missed out on your favorite season.”

Jake sighed, running his right hand over the vibrant knots of the crocheted afghan. She wasn’t wrong, but his psyche was as tangled as the strands of yarn between his fingers.

This was his grandmother. He always told her the truth.

“I’m worried,” Jake whispered, closing his fist around a section of the handmade blanket.

“About what, sweetie?”

“That I’m getting sick again.” That wasn’t quite right. Hewassick. His medication and his attempts at exercise and meditation mitigated it, but… “That it’s getting bad again.”

“Do you want me to come up there?” Jake’s grandmother’s voice filled with a fierce determination. She had never doubted the seriousness of his mental illness, nor stopped believing in his ability to thrive despite it. “I can be there by seven.”

“No, Gram. I’m okay.” There was something about having someone else living with him when he was ill that made everything worse. He didn’t want awitnessto it. “I’ve just been sleeping a lot. And I lost a few hours staring out the window. Nothing so terrible.”

There was a pause as Jake’s grandmother parsed his words. When she spoke again, there was reluctance in her tone. “I’ll let you be. But if you need me, there’s not a thing in the fucking world that can keep me away. You know that, right?”

“I do.” Jake’s voice broke as he answered. He’d lost his mother at a young age, but he couldn’t have been luckier than to end up with his grandmother. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Everything will be fine. Now, tell me about Maine. Have you met anyone?”

Jake’s gaze went to the beach without him thinking about it. Nope. He wasn’t telling her about his awkward conversation with Doren. He didn’t need to soundmorelike a loser.

“This crazy lady came to the house.” Jake smiled at the memory of Dorothea’s recent visit. Shewasnuts, but she’d get along well with his grandmother.

“Crazy lady?”

“To welcome me to the neighborhood. Not sure how she knew I wasn’t just a tourist, other than the fact that no one vacations here in the winter. She said some weird stuff about sea monsters and tentacles. But she brought amazing blueberry pie.”

Gram snorted on the other end of the line, then broke into a loud braying laugh. “She’s one ofthoseassholes, huh? Monster watching is a cult in Linwood Falls. Charlie was one of ‘em, too.”

Jake blinked several times at her words. “Great-Uncle Charlie believed in sea monsters?”

“Oh yeah, he sure the fuck did.” There was humor in her tone, but also a slight tinge of bitterness. “He couldn’t be bothered to support his sister and great-nephew, but he had no problem buying thousands of dollars in high-tech binoculars and monitoring equipment. It’s all he talked about whenever we spoke.”

Huh. Jake stood and glanced around the house once more. Was all that equipment still around here somewhere? Maybe it was worth something. He hadn’t gone down into the basement yet.

“Do you think it got sold off when he died?”

“Don’t know. Maybe it’s still in the house. Or maybe he left it to the rest of those nutters.” There was a series of loud sounds as she sucked at the dregs of a fountain drink through a straw. “But, hold on. There’s something else you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”

Damn. Why was she so good at this? He could never hide anything from her—a poor grade, a fight with his friends, or a crush.

“Gram…”

“Just tell me, Jakey. I’m going to get it out of you eventually. Did you meet someone? Some handsome librarian?”

Jake groaned and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. No matter what he did, both his dreams and his grandmother were determined to keep Doren front of mind.

“It’s not a big deal. I ran into a surfer on the beach outside the house when I first got here. They grabbed Miranda Priestly when she escaped.”

Gram sputtered on the other end of the line. “A cute surfer! What more do you want? Those long, lean surfing muscles? All that big dick energy?”

“Gram! Stop!” Blood rushed to Jake’s neck and face at her words. Did all the elderly people in his life have to keep talking about sex?

“Come on, Jakey. A surfer hottie is the perfect rebound from Jackass.”