Chapter 1 Linc
LINC
It’s the first Tuesday of the month and like I do on every first Tuesday of the month, I head to Cedar Valley to pick up Grandma and her best friend, Bonnie, and together, the three of us head off to the local library for book club.
Yep, Lincoln Schofield is a reader, but not just any reader.
I’m a spicy, smutty romance reader. All thanks to my grandma.
Kelly Schofield may look sweet and innocent, but underneath her cardigans and silver hair is a dirty, dirty minx.
I mean, would you expect anything else from an ex-Vegas showgirl dancer?
For ninety-two, she’s still a spring chicken, and I reckon between her life in Vegas and Hollywood, she could pen a bestseller with all the things she’s seen … and done.
For as long as I can remember, Grandma and I have read together.
She and I may have started off with Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl, but as I got older, our material changed.
In high school, it was Danielle Steele and Jackie Collins with Stephen King and Patricia Cornwell thrown in for variety.
Now that I’m a sometimes-mature thirty-something adult, it’s Rebecca Barber and her cowboys, E.L.
James and her red room of pain, and Dean Koontz with his thrillers that blend elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire into one juicy novel.
To this day, his novel Intensity is my all-time favorite book.
“How’s my favorite grandson?” Grandma says when I walk into her room.
“As your only grandson, I’m great.”
“Marshall did well on the weekend.”
“He did yes.”
“That girl did wonders for him.” Grandma is referring to Marshall’s wife, Eloise. She came into his life right when the stubborn asshole needed her, and well, she needed him too, but that’s a whole other story. “When are you going to find a girl and settle down?”
“I just haven’t met her yet, Grandma.”
“Bonnie says Nikki is single again.” Grandma is always trying to set me up but, no offense to her, the people she knows, their kids and kids’ friends are—how do I put this nicely?—fucking crazy.
“Grandma, we all know Nikki is single again because she’s a—”
“Druggie whore,” Bonnie interrupts from the doorway. She shuffles into the room and stares daggers at Grandma. “Why would you even suggest that a lovely man like Linc here date my granddaughter?”
“Because maybe she just needs the right man to keep her clean.”
“That may be true, but I can tell you, it’s not Linc. Now, let’s get to book club. I can’t wait to discuss this week’s book, Obsessive Addiction by K.L. Donn because Crux Malcom is—”
“Unhinged, but in a good way,” Grandma interrupts Bonnie.
“I wouldn’t mind him being obsessed with me,” Bonnie adds, and I just laugh. I hope when I’m as old as these two that I still have the love for life they do.
“Ohhh, yes,” Grandma agrees, fanning herself. “I loved it when, well, you’ll just have to wait till we discuss it to find out, but I heard from the social face-thingie it’s K.L.’s personal fave.”
“I can see why,” Bonnie coos, then she looks to me. “You’re awfully quiet, Mr. Schofield.”
“Like you, I’m waiting for book club, but I can say, I loved Farren. Even though she’s broken, she has a strength about her, which is why Crux was so gaga for her.”
“You’re going to make some gal lucky one day,” Grandma says with a smile, then morosely adds, “I just hope I’m around to see it.”
“You will be, Grandma.” I hope. “We never know when she’s going to appear. Now, let’s go get our book on.”