A Very Venom Christmas - Kristine Allen Page 0,1

the door as she exited, reached down for the folding stool, and followed her to the truck. She was only pissed because I was going with her to get the info firsthand from the doctor about her condition and needs.

After setting up the stool and helping her into the truck, we hit the McDonald’s drive-thru, then got on the road.

She literally didn’t speak for the first twenty minutes. Then she swiveled her head in my direction and stared for a moment. “So, you meet a nice woman yet?”

“Grams,” I started in warning. We’d had this discussion over and over.

“Decker, you’re not getting any younger. Is that more gray in your beard? You’re going to be a grumpy old lonely man one day. I’d like some great-grandbabies before I’m too old to enjoy them, too.” I practically choked.

“I’m not having kids, and I don’t want a woman,” I muttered.

Her stare bored into the side of my head. Finally, she ominously spelled out, “Famous… last… words.”

That time I did roll my eyes.

“I don’t,” I insisted.

She huffed, then moved on. “Why didn’t you bring that handsome boy with you? What was his name? Adrien?” she asked, knowing damn well what Raptor’s name was.

“Because he’s running the club while I’m up here,” I said, full of exasperation.

“What’s to run? There’s snow all over! You can’t ride those motorbikes in this,” she scoffed as she crossed her arms.

I sucked a breath in deeply and let it out in a rush before I attempted to change the subject. “We still have a business that runs year-round.”

“I still think you should bring me one of those little piglets. I hear they make great pets. Smarter than a dog and everything,” she said as she dug through her purse for something.

“Grams. These aren’t pets. They’re full-size hogs for eating. You’re talking about those damn potbelly things.” I shuddered because I thought they were the creepiest-looking things I’d ever seen.

“Same thing.” She waved my argument away. She’d found what she was looking for in her purse and flipped down the visor to use the mirror to apply her lipstick.

“Nothing the same about it. A potbelly one weighs maybe one hundred to two-fifty. Farm pigs weigh up to nine hundred damn pounds. That’s a huge difference,” I argued further.

“Hmpf,” she said but didn’t say anything more.

“Besides, you can’t have pets in the retirement apartments,” I added.

“Well, Peggie Waters has a parakeet, and no one says anything.”

“Really?” I shot her a deadpan glance before returning my eyes to the road.

The rest of the trip was filled with more random hints about me settling down and gossip to catch me up on my hometown. Not that I really cared, but I humored her with appropriate nodding and murmured replies.

“Luke comes to see me more than you do, you know,” she added in between gossip. I gave her a sidelong glance.

“He lives in town, Grams. Of course you see him more than you see me. If you’d move down by me, you’d see me more,” I argued. Luke, also known as Snow in his club, the Demented Sons, had been my best friend growing up.

“This is my home, Decker. I have Bunco nights with the girls here.”

“You could play Bunco in Ankeny,” I countered.

“I don’t know anyone there. What if they’re a bunch of cheaters down there?”

I snorted out a laugh. “I doubt it.”

It was her turn to huff. “You have no idea what they might be like.”

“Well, I’ll help you vet them,” I offered, but she simply rolled her eyes at me.

We arrived at the clinic, and after checking in sat in the waiting room. I shot off a few text messages to check in with the boys, then they were calling us back to an exam room.

The appointment was enlightening for me and disgruntling for my grandmother. She was pissed the whole way home.

She was going to be even madder when she heard my ultimatum. Her doctor had already told her she needed the heart surgery, which was what I’d suspected. Today he’d told her the sooner the better, and it was either going to get done there or in Des Moines. Either way, she would have a fairly extensive recuperation.

Life was about to change for me, but I’d prepared myself for it.

Or at least I thought I had.

“Shatter Me”—Lindsey Stirling (feat. Lzzy Hale)

“Delivery order ready!” Webster called out. I went up to the counter to see where I was headed. A smile curled my lips when I saw the address,