Free Red And The Bear (Grimm Bears 1) by Natalie Kristen

CHAPTER
ONE

    Rose Redwood waltzed into the
kitchen, pirouetting like a ballerina before setting the laden trays
down on the counter top. She heard a sharp intake of breath behind
her and she chuckled.
    “Don't pile so many
plates and cups onto your tray. There's no need for these
gravity-defying stunts. This is a restaurant, not a circus,”
Nan tsked and stirred the bubbling pot on the stove furiously.
“Just carry one tray at a time. Be more careful, Rose. One of
these days...” Nan clucked her tongue, narrowing her eyes at
Rose over the top of her glasses.
    Rose laughed. “Don't
worry, Nan, I can do this with my eyes closed! Watch!”
    “Don't you dare,”
Nan scolded, but Rose heard the laughter in her great-grandmother's
voice.
    Rose had been helping Nan in
her little restaurant, The Cottage In The Woods, since she was a
little girl. She knew everything about running the restaurant, and
she knew every inch of the cozy little establishment like the back of
her hand. She could cook all the dishes on the menu, and she knew
all the regulars who frequented their restaurant. Some of the
sturdy, antique furniture in the restaurant was as old as her. After
the close of business each day, while Nan cleaned up in the kitchen,
Rose would tidy up the restaurant and polish every piece of well-worn
furniture with tender, loving care.
    Rose glanced at the kitchen
clock. Lunch time was almost over. Most of the customers had
finished their meal and left, and only old Mr Grayson remained at his
usual table by the window, slurping his soup and reading the papers.
    Redcape Grove was a small,
sleepy town. Rose had grown up here, and she had never left Redcape
Grove in all her twenty-one years. Nan was her only family, and Rose
loved Nan with all her heart. Nan was the only one who had opened
her heart and home to Rose's mother when everyone else shunned her
and turned their backs on her.
    Rose turned to stare at the
back of Nan's head. Nan and Rose used to have the same wild, flaming
hair, but now Nan's hair was completely silver. Nan wore her hair in
a long braid which reached down to her waist, and she stood straight
and proud in front of the stove, like a maestro conducting an
orchestra of simmering, sizzling pots and pans.
    Rose went to her and took the
ladle gently from her hand. “I'll take over,” Rose said.
“You go sit down and have a nice cup of tea. Or you could go
chat with Mr Grayson and catch up on the latest gossip.”
    “All right then.”
Nan huffed and wiped her hands on her red apron. “I'll go out
and straighten up the place a bit. We can open early for dinner
today if we get everything ready by four o'clock.”
    Nan ambled out of the
kitchen, and Rose turned her attention to the stove. Stirring
slowly, her eyes drifted to the shelf by the back door of the
kitchen. There was a thin book lying on the shelf. The book cover
showed a girl in a bright red hood and a big bad wolf.
    Little Red Riding Hood.
    Rose blew out a breath.
Little Red Riding Hood was a well-known, well-loved story.
    Everyone thought that the
story was just an innocent fairy tale, a cautionary story with a
happy ending.
    But Rose knew the real ending
of Little Red Riding Hood.
    Only Nan, Rose and a few of
the older inhabitants in Redcape Grove knew the truth behind the
fairy tale.
    It wasn't just a fairy tale.
    It was the story of Rose's
mother.
    Little Red Riding Hood, the
innocent girl in the story, was Rose's mother.
    Nan had never lied to Rose
about her background. Rose's mother had died giving birth to Rose,
but Nan kept her granddaughter's memory alive by telling Rose all
about her beautiful, brave mother.
    “She loved you,”
Nan had told her. “Your mother held you in her arms before she
died and she gave you your name.”
    Rose looked away from her
great-grandmother's yellowed copy of Little Red Riding Hood.
    Nan was the grandmother in
that story. But Nan never encountered the big bad wolf. Rose knew
that Nan sometimes wished that