Chapter 20 Luna
Chapter Twenty
LUNA
“You really think I should do that?”
My grandmother blew a puff of air out of her lips, expertly moving a lock of her silver hair out of her eyes. “Of course you should do it.”
“You don’t seem surprised,” I pointed out.
“Janet asked me about it. We are good friends, after all. She thinks of Willow Brook as her family in a way, and you are special to her. She asked me if I thought she should suggest it to you. I think it’s perfect.
You’re about the age Janet was when she started the café.
It was right about when—” My grandmother shook her head, her eyes going a little misty.
“She married Dan straight out of high school. Young love and all that. He loved being a trucker. When the town decided to build the new fire station and the old building went up for sale, she and Dan bought it. At the time, we didn’t have a single coffee shop in town. ”
“It’s still the only coffee shop in town,” I pointed out.
“Exactly why it’s a great plan for you to take over.
” My grandmother beamed at this. “Anyway, she told me she planned to give it to you outright. The building’s paid off.
She doesn’t have any loans on the business.
She makes pretty good money. She’s only in her sixties, and her health is good.
But setting the plan in motion now means she can get you up to speed while she can still work. She doesn’t need the money anymore.”
Emotion rose inside of me as I looked at my grandmother. “I would love it. You don’t feel like it’s too much?”
“Luna, honey, Janet loves you. She thinks of you as a granddaughter.” Her lips twisted to the side.
“She knows you need something for yourself. You’ve got me, but I’m not getting any younger.
Your mom and dad can live their life, but they haven’t set up anything to leave to you.
You know I have feelings about them choosing to drag you along with them, but that’s over.
You’re an adult now, you’ve been doing life on your own for a while.
You’re gonna be okay. All of my property will eventually be yours. ”
“But I feel like that’s too much!” I burst out.
“What’s too much?”
“You planning to give me your property, and Janet planning to give me a business!”
My grandmother rolled her eyes. “Luna, you are a hard worker. I don’t sleep all that great, so I know you are up and rolling out of that driveway, usually around three or four in the morning, to start baking.
I know you don’t make a ton of money. You don’t ask for a lot.
Every single one of your days is a long country mile with that kind of schedule.
Life isn’t a calculator. Some people get lucky, if you will.
That’s a privilege. The café will be something you can slip into.
But don’t fool yourself, you’re gonna have to work your tail off. ”
I didn’t feel the tears slipping out until she shoved the stack of napkins in the center of the kitchen table over to me. “I hope those are happy tears.”
Laughing softly, I swiped my cheeks and blew my nose. “They are. All right, I’ll talk to Janet about it. I want to do it, but I don’t want to take anything from her.”
“You’re not. She’s been worrying about this for a while. This will make her feel good about it. She can rest easy. She loves that café. Hell, that café is her baby in a way.”
“How come she didn’t have kids?” I couldn’t help my curiosity.
Sadness passed through my grandmother’s gaze. “She had more miscarriages than I think she would want to share. She’s well past that stage of life now. That was back in the day when there weren’t as many options to help with things like that. She made her peace with it years ago.”
“Oh,” I said softly. “That must’ve been hard.”
My grandmother nodded, her gaze warm. “Yes, but she made it through. That’s one thing getting old teaches you.
Hurtful and hard things happen and you keep going.
Before you know it, you find a little pocket of peace inside.
” She was not one to dwell on any topic and moved right along.
“Next time you see Janet, let her know you and I chatted about it. This feels new to you, but once you moved back last year, she told me right off she felt like it was for you.”
I took a shaky breath, swiping away my tears again. I reached over and grabbed my grandmother’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thank you.”
She squeezed back. “Whatever for, Luna girl?”
“Helping me when I moved away from Mom and Dad. Making sure I had a place to land when I was ready to come to Willow Brook. Pretty much everything.” My heart felt like it might crack open from the fullness of emotion inside.
Her weathered face crinkled all over with her smile. “It’s called love. You don’t need to thank me. Couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t help you. It’s what I wanted to do. It’s not even the slightest burden for me.”