43. Bella
Chapter 43
Bella
“ D on’t be nervous. My mom is going to love you.”
Braden gives my hand a gentle squeeze as we walk up the driveway of his mom’s house on the outskirts of Victoria. It’s a beautiful sprawling modern farmhouse-style home with vertical white siding. It must have cost a fortune.
“You really think so?” I say, nerves cracking in my stomach.
We stop at the front door, and he turns to look at me. He smiles, then gently touches my face before dropping a soft kiss to my lips.
“I know so,” he says.
I can feel my nerves dying down a bit. His voice is so calm and reassuring.
I take in the warm look in his eyes. My stomach dips.
I think back to last night with Braden. That was the hottest sex we’ve ever had, hands-down.
It also felt different. More passionate, more emotional. More meaningful.
I remember the way he looked at me. There was this fiery, intense look in his eyes the whole time. Like maybe it felt different for him too.
It didn’t feel like just sex. It felt more like…making love.
Just thinking about that makes my heart beat faster. Because how crazy would it be for me to be in love with Braden after just a couple of months of knowing him?
But that’s exactly how I feel.
He’s the most amazing guy I’ve ever met. So kind and thoughtful and generous and protective of me. He always pays attention to how I feel and goes out of his way to make sure I’m comfortable.
He’s so proud of all the work I’m doing with my coffee business. I’ve never felt so supported. He’s my biggest cheerleader.
I think about how I initially wrote him off as a jerkoff hockey player. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Because Braden is my dream guy. Everything I ever wanted in a partner, he’s it.
I gaze up at him, emotion bubbling up in my chest thinking about my feelings for him. I almost told Braden that I loved him last night while we cuddled in bed, but I held off. It’s too soon. If I had said the “L” word, I bet he would have freaked out.
So I decided to keep it to myself and wait a little bit longer before I tell him.
He flashes that sexy smile at me and drops another quick kiss to my mouth. “Come on.”
He opens the door and steps inside. “Mom, we’re here.”
I hold his hand and follow him as we walk through the entryway of the house. I set down the small gift bag I brought on the nearby table.
I’m instantly hit with the aroma of roasting meat. I inhale and my mouth starts to water .
Braden’s mom appears, big smile on her face.
“Braden, honey! Oh, it’s so good to see you!”
I let go of his hand so he can give her a hug. She has sandy blonde hair like his and the same soft blue eyes. She’s taller than me by a couple of inches, but she’s still swallowed up by Braden’s tall, broad frame.
“It’s good to see you too, Mom,” Braden says as he hugs her tight.
When they break apart, she turns to me, excited smile on her face. “And this must be your girlfriend.”
“I’m Bella. It’s lovely to meet you.” I hold out my hand, but she waves it off and pull me into a hug.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m a hugger. I’m Cynthia.”
I chuckle.
“Way to ease her into it, Mom,” Braden says.
“It’s okay. I like hugs.” When she lets me go, I smile at her. “Thank you so much for having me.”
“It’s my pleasure. And I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you are beautiful.”
I let out a flustered chuckle. “You’re so sweet, thank you. This is for you,” I hand her the gift bag. “Braden mentioned you’re a coffee drinker, so I thought you might like some freshly roasted beans.”
“Oh this is so thoughtful, thank you!”
“Bella has her own coffee roasting and delivery business,” Braden says. “People go nuts for her coffee.”
“It does okay,” I say.
“More than okay. She’s opening up her own coffee shop too. That’s how much people love her and her coffee.”
I blush at the way Braden talks me up.
“That’s amazing, opening up your own business at your age,” Cynthia says to me .
“Everyone says it’s the best coffee they’ve ever had. Me included. Just wait till you try it,” Braden says to his mom.
She beams at me. “I can’t wait. I’ll brew a pot of coffee when we have dessert.”
We follow her to the dining room, where Braden’s grandparents are sitting playing cards.
“Hey, Nana and Pop Pop.” Braden hugs them both and introduces me to his grandparents, Ruth and Harold. They hug me and thank me for joining them for Thanksgiving.
Braden glances at their empty tea mugs. “I’ll get you two a refill,” he says. He pats his grandpa’s shoulder. “Have you taken your meds yet today?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet. Too busy getting my butt kicked by your grandmother in gin rummy. I swear she’s cheating.” He flashes her a teasing smile.
She playfully pats his hand. “Oh, stop your whining. You’re just terrible at this game, that’s all.”
We all laugh.
“Tea and meds coming right up,” Braden says before heading to the kitchen with his mom.
Ruth takes my hand in both of hers and gestures for me to take the chair next to her. I sit down. “Just look at you. Such a lovely thing. My grandson is a lucky young man.”
I blush. “Oh gosh, you’re so sweet. I feel like the lucky one. Braden is amazing.”
Her smile is warm. “He’s a sweetheart, that’s for sure. You know, when he was a kiddo and was living in the States, he’d write his grandpa and me a letter twice a month. And he taught us how to send emails so we could keep in touch when he started traveling a lot for hockey.”
Harold nods and holds up his smart phone. “He bought us these fancy new phones for us for Christmas a few years ago and taught us how to FaceTime so we could see each other face to face more often.”
Ruth chuckles. “That boy has the patience of a saint. We must have hung up on him a million times before we got the hang of it.”
I chuckle. “New technology can be difficult, that’s for sure.”
“We used to travel to see him play, but now that we’re older, traveling that much is hard on the old body.” Harold pats his knees. “But we FaceTime every week, and that helps us feel close. And we always watch his games on TV.”
I glance over to the kitchen, where Braden is heating up water in a tea kettle on the stove. His mom bends down to take something out of the oven, but he grabs the pot holders out of her hands and takes over for her. She smiles and shakes her head, patting his shoulder.
Warm and fuzzies fly through my chest. It’s so sweet the way he takes care of his family.
A few minutes later, Braden returns with a tray of tea mugs, an assortment of tea bags, and a small ceramic pitcher of milk. His mom sets a charcuterie board and sliced veggies on the table.
“A little pre-dinner snack while we visit,” she says. She pats Braden’s hand. “Be sure to eat extra veggies. You need all the nutrition you can get for your game tomorrow.”
Braden rolls his eyes good-naturedly and drops a bunch of veggies on his plate.
“You two still on your black tea kick?” he asks. His grandparents say yes as they finish up their card game.
Braden drops the tea bags into their mugs and pours hot water into them. He slides his grandpa a trio of pills and takes the chair next to me .
We sip on our drinks and snack on the charcuterie board. Braden asks his mom how things with the house are.
“Everything’s perfect, honey.” Her smile is loving as she looks at him. She turns to me. “Did Braden tell you that he bought this house for me for my birthday a handful of years ago?”
My mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”
His cheeks flush and he looks down, like he’s embarrassed.
“Braden, that’s so generous,” I say.
“It really was,” Cynthia says, beaming at her son. “I wanted to move to this neighborhood for years, but it was so expensive. But my amazing son made it happen.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “Mom, it was nothing.”
She waves a hand. “Honey, you’re so modest. It was a dream come true.” She turns to me. “I was trying to find a place with enough room for my folks to live with me, but things are so expensive here in Victoria. I looked for months and found a great little duplex that would have worked just fine, but Braden wouldn’t hear of it.”
He shakes his head. “You deserve better than that, Mom. You too, Nana and Pop Pop.”
They all smile warmly at him.
“We can’t believe we get to live in this big, beautiful house. All because of our wonderful grandson,” Ruth says.
Braden leans over and pulls her into a hug.
“Wonderful grandson and a damn fine goalie too,” Harold says.
Braden’s flashes a flustered smile and runs a hand through his sandy blond hair. “You’re too kind, Pop Pop.”
“Just speaking the truth. You’re a superstar. Especially these last couple of months. You’ve been playing like a beast. ”
Braden looks at me. “That’s all because of Bella. Meeting her got me out of my slump.”
My insides go gooey hearing him say that.
Cynthia rests a hand on her chest and smiles lovingly as she looks between us. She heads to the kitchen. I stand up and follow her.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” I ask.
“Oh that would be wonderful, Bella. Here, could you grab the plates and silverware and set them on the table?”
I tell her no problem and take the stack of white porcelain plates from the counter. Before I can head back into the dining room, she stops me with a hand on my shoulder.
“I hope it’s okay for me to say this, but I’ve never seen my son look so happy. I can tell he’s so in love with you,” she says warmly.
Tingles fly up my chest. “Really?”
She nods, beaming. She steps away to grab the food out of the oven. As I head back out into the dining room, I hope with everything in me that she’s right.