Free Red and the Tiger (BBW Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance) (Shifters Everafter Book 2) by Lola Kidd

One
    “Your grandmother still isn’t answering her phone.” Cindy Redding twisted the phone cord around her fingers and bit her lip.
    “No need to worry. I’m sure she’s just in the shower,” Suzy Redding assured her mother. “You know Gran loves to take long baths with her books. Could you help me with these meatballs? They aren’t sticking together.”
    Cindy put the phone cord down and came to analyze the meatballs.
    Distracting her mom was always the easiest way to get her mind off her worries. Suzy’s grandmother was the cause of the stress seventy percent of the time. Gran Redding could never stay in one place for long. She and Cindy were the exact opposite and were at each other’s throats all the time over it. Gran could never understand how Cindy had spent the last ten years in the house. Cindy couldn’t understand why Gran would risk her life for a little card playing.
    It was Suzy’s duty to mediate between the two women. Truth be told, she could never understand why her grandmother would want to go to such dangerous places and be around rough men. The whole thing was just asking for trouble. More than a few times, she’d had to go out searching for her beloved grandmother. So far, she’d been able to find Gran at the local bar playing the poker or at a friend’s house playing poker. There weren’t many places to gamble legally in their small New England town.
    This time was different. Suzy was actually worried that her grandmother might have gotten herself into some real trouble. They hadn’t heard from her in more than ten days. She’d never been gone for that long before. Once, three years ago, she’d been gone for five days, but she’d called every day to let Cindy and Suzy know where she was and how she was doing. Gran had won a lot of money that holiday week, and had come home with lots of presents for Cindy and Suzy. There had been no calls this week.
    “This should do it.” Cindy cracked another egg into the meat mixture and blended it in. “You put them in the sauce and I’ll wash up.”
    “Thanks, Mom.” Suzy quickly shaped the meat into a dozen meatballs and dropped them into the marinara.
    “I think she’s done it this time.” Cindy filled the sink with water. “She’s gone to the Wasteland and gotten one of those shifters mad at her.”
    “She wouldn’t go to the Wasteland again,” Suzy said without conviction. She’d been thinking the same thing but hadn’t wanted to worry her mom.
    Gran had been talking about the big gambling tournament she’d heard about. She’d said she wasn’t going to go since it was in shifter territory. Suzy was starting to hope her Gran had gone to the tournament. At least then they’d know where she was. If not, they wouldn’t have the slightest idea where to look.
    “Maybe we should ask Roger for help,” Cindy said.
    “Absolutely not!” Suzy slammed the lid back on the pot she’d been stirring. “We aren’t going to ask him for anything. We can handle this. I’ll go look for her if she’s still MIA tomorrow morning.”
    Cindy dropped the glass she’d been washing. It fell back into the sink and splashed water onto the floor. She turned to her daughter with tear-filled eyes. “I don’t know what you have against Roger, but you can’t go out there too. Look at what happened to Jessica!”
    “She left on her own, Mom,” Suzy said for the millionth time. “She wanted to leave with her bodyguard, and they’re very happy. I’ve seen pictures.”
    Cindy shook her head. “That’s a lie. She has no choice but to live with those animals now. No human man would have her anymore, and her father has disowned her.”
    “Because that’s how a loving father acts.” Suzy said hotly. “And Jess doesn’t need a human man. She has her big, strong, handsome shifter husband.”
    “Susan!” Cindy put her hand over her heart. “The way you’re talking, I would think you wanted to run off with one of those things too.”
    Suzy