“Mm-hmm.”
I stand and begin pacing with the same itchy, fidgety energy that I only know how to soothe by shifting into fox form and finding a soft place to land. Only, in this world, the soft spaces are few and far between.
“That sound contains a massive amount of judgment, Gran.”
Her smile softens. “Maxwell.”
I groan. Gran only says my full name when she’s about to say something annoyingly insightful.
“It’s time.”
I stop pacing, and my shoulders tense. I know exactly which conversation we’re about to have. Again.
“No.”
“Maxwell,” she sighs.
“No.”
“You’re twenty-seven.”
I run my hand through my white-blond waves. “Last time I checked.”
“It’s time to stop living out of boxes.”
My gaze drifts toward the pile occupying the center of my living room. When I moved in, I unpacked a duffel bag with enough clothes to see to my minimal needs and a toiletry kit that’s been accompanying me around the country for years. The cottage came furnished. The kitchen came stocked with most of the basics. Plus, I’ve never needed much.
“Maxwell, it’s time to put down roots.”
I can’t bring myself to look at her.
Most people hearput down rootsand think of gardens, community, home. I hear it and think about loss. About planting something and watching it grow, only to tear it out of the ground before it has the chance to bloom.
“Gran—”
“You’ll feel better settled.”
“I am settled,” I say far too quickly.
She raises one frosty white eyebrow. “You can make friends.”
I bristle. “I have friends.”
“Friends who live within five miles of you? Even fifty?”
I open my mouth and close it just as fast.
Gran tilts her head to the side, studying me. “Perhaps you’ll even find your mate.”
My fox practically bolts upright beneath my skin.
Mate! Yes, agreed. Mate.
“Let’s not get carried away.”
“Give yourself a chance to grow into a place.” Her voice softens. “Into yourself instead of running.”
My chest tightens, and I start pacing again. This time the movement doesn’t help—nothing helps—because she’s shining a spotlight directly at the thing I spend my life trying not to look at.
