Ignite (Wildwood 1)

“There, there.” Her

grandma patted her again before wrapping her hands around the large coffee mug sitting in front of her. “We all need to break free and try something on our own. Most of the time that involves not listening to what well-meaning people tell us. Unwanted and unasked-for advice is the worst, isn’t it?”

The absolute worst. She’d already dealt with the lecture from her mom and had been thankful her father hadn’t had much to say about it. She just wanted to move on and not focus on any of that anymore. What was done was done.

“When was your break-free moment?” Harper asked. If she said marrying Harper’s grandpa, she’d want to bang her own head against a wall. Her grandparents had the sweetest relationship in the world. Everyone aspired to be them, including Harper. She’d been incredibly close to her grandpa, spending most of her time with him when she was little, up until he died unexpectedly when she was fifteen. She’d been devastated. The entire Hill family had been in a state of shock over the sudden loss. Her grandmother had mourned properly then soldiered on, and even eventually opened her own business.

And they were sitting in the same business at this very moment.

“After your grandfather died, there were all sorts of people offering up every little bit of advice you could imagine. Most of my friends, my family, and especially your father.” Her eldest son. “They all wanted to tell me what to do next, how I should live my life, but I was still young! Despite being a grandma and settled, perfectly content in the life we’d created together, I knew I still had a lot of years in me. I wasn’t going to die along with my husband.”

Harper nodded, fighting the sadness that always threatened when they talked about her grandpa. She wished he were still here. He’d give her good advice about Roger. He’d give her good advice about anything and everything.

“Your grandpa died so quickly, it was shocking. And losing him like that immediately filled me with this sense of purpose I’d never felt before. I knew I had to stop worrying over what other people thought about me and do exactly what I wanted.” Grandma glanced around the room, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “So I opened this place.”

The Bigfoot Diner. It was the most kitschy, ridiculous restaurant in all of Wildwood, if not the entire county. An ode to her grandfather, who had loved anything and everything having to do with Bigfoot. He’d always said he wanted to open a restaurant that everyone would call the BFD. He’d talked about it for years, scoping out available restaurants when they were for sale, contemplating exactly how he would open one and what he would do. He’d even created a menu, giving the items creative Bigfoot-related names.

No one had taken him seriously. Except his wife.

No one thought it was a joke now. Everyone loved the Bigfoot Diner. It had the best hamburgers in town. All of the food was good. The restaurant’s Yelp rating was a solid 4.6 and it had over one thousand reviews. Her grandma had taken her late husband’s dream and turned it into a reality—and a total success.

“Your break-free moment was a positive one,” Harper pointed out.

“I had many, many others that weren’t so positive.” Her grandma smiled. “You have to remember I’ve been around a lot longer than you, dear. You’re still young. You still have many break-free moments to look forward to. Some of them will be mistakes, but don’t let them get you down. That’s just a part of life.”

Harper took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She hoped her grandma was right. Breaking up with Roger so quickly hadn’t allowed her much time to consider the other things that came with ending their relationship. Like . . . finding a new place to live. Finding a new job. She’d never describe herself as spontaneous, but this was by far the most spontaneous thing she’d ever done. “Do you mind if I stay with you for a while longer? Until I figure out what I’m going to do next?” she asked.

Her grandma gave her a look, one that said she was surprised at the question. “Well . . . I suppose. Though I hope you don’t cramp my style.”

Harper frowned. “Cramp your style? How could I do that?” Yes, fine, she knew her grandma had a better social life than she did, but how could she hold her back? Grandma did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to.

“I do have . . . friends. Of a . . . gentleman nature.” Her grandma’s lips screwed up into a little bright pink pout.

Harper kept her expression completely neutral. “I won’t interfere with your dates. I promise.”

“Not just dates.” Grandma leaned over the table, her voice lowering to a whisper. “Sometimes I have sleepovers too.”

Oh. She really tried not to look too scandalized, but she could feel her eyes growing wider. The last thing she wanted to think about was her grandma um . . . yeah. She couldn’t even go there in her own head. “Well, if you’re worried about me cramping your style, maybe I could stay at the condo?”

“Weston Gallagher lives there now, remember?” Grandma smiled.

No, Harper didn’t remember because no one had mentioned that he was the new resident in her grandma’s condo by the lake. “I didn’t know,” she mumbled.

“Oh, yes. He promised he’d fix the place up too. Nothing I like more than a man who’s good with his hands.”

Harper’s cheeks went hot. West was very good with his hands. She could personally testify to that statement. She couldn’t believe he lived there. She’d stayed at the condo before she moved in with Roger, so was he sleeping in her old bed, too? Most likely.

She hadn’t seen West since the Forks Bar a few nights ago. They’d flirted a little bit, but once Tate entered the bar, he’d monopolized West for the rest of the evening. They’d talked about work, and though at one point she’d sworn West looked a little pained over whatever they were chatting about, overall he and Tate seemed to get along just fine.

And for whatever reason, that had driven Wren crazy. She’d muttered about it to Harper the entire night, watching her brother and Tate far too closely. Harper noticed Tate kept looking over at them, offering up a sexy smile, his gaze only for . . .

Wren.

There was definitely something brewing between Wren and Tate, though Harper had no idea why Wren was fighting it so hard. Had Harper been so wrapped up in her own boring relationship she hadn’t noticed that her best friend and Tate had some sort of thing going on? Why hadn’t Wren ever mentioned it to her before? Why weren’t they acting on it? If Harper had a guy as hot as Tate salivating over her and she was single, she’d go for it, no question. Wren wasn’t attached and neither was Tate. So what was the big deal?

She swore she was going to find out. And soon.

“I’m guessing since West won’t be there much, what with work and all, maybe you could ask him if he needs a roommate. Then you could take the guest bedroom. What do you think?” her grandma asked.