Chapter 10 – Tristan #2
“Yes.” She pulls back and holds my face in her hands. “You look good. A little thin maybe, but—”
“Mom!”
She laughs. “Fine. I’ll stop pestering you, but only because you brought someone special for me to meet.”
“Yes, hi Mom,” Braxton says, and she laughs and smacks at him.
“I’ll get to you in a minute.” She goes for Waverly, who is hovering slightly behind me.
“You must be Waverly.” My mother doesn’t do handshakes.
She’s big on hugs and extra love. She goes right for Waverly and brings her in for a huge hug.
“I’m Francine. Tristan has told me a lot about you over the years. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”
That still strikes me as odd. I had no memory of ever mentioning her, let alone to my mother, but when I told her it was Waverly I was dating, she blew a gasket and told me she knew I must have loved her all along since she’s the only woman I’ve ever talked about to her.
Waverly throws me a raised eyebrow over my mother’s shoulder as she hugs her back. “It’s lovely to meet you. Thank you for having me in your home. I’ve really been looking forward to this. Here.” She steps back and hands my mother the flowers. “These are for you.”
“Oh, honey, they’re beautiful. And I see chocolates too. Nice choice.”
Waverly preens a bit. “I had help picking them out.”
“Now you.” She grabs Braxton and gives him an enormous hug, his eyes closing as if this hug means just as much to him as it does to my mom. It hits a soft spot just beneath my cold heart, and Waverly catches it, giving me a secret smile.
She returns to Waverly, holding her by the shoulders. “Well, you are gorgeous, aren’t you? I see my son has impeccable taste, though he wouldn’t tell us much more about you. You’ll have to fill us in with every detail.”
Waverly blushes and looks down.
“Alain!” my mother yells out. “Get over here. Tristan is home, and he brought an angel for us to meet.”
“Aw, you’re sweet to think of me that way.”
My mother giggles at Braxton just as my grand-mère calls out in French. “Bring them in here. I’m too old and too out of breath to get up.”
I go into the sitting room that’s right off the entryway and find Grand-mère exactly where I knew she’d be. In front of the fireplace and reading a book, her nasal cannula from her oxygen tank half hanging out of her nose because she hates how it feels.
“Hi, Grand-mère.” I drop to my knees in front of her so she doesn’t have to stand and give the tiny firecracker of a woman a hug and kisses on both cheeks.
“You spoiled all my plans, boy. I had six different ladies lined up to meet you, and all of them were crushed when I told them you were bringing home a woman that you’re in love with.”
In love? Shit.
“Only six?” I quip.
She smacks my shoulder as only a grandmother can.
I chuckle and give her forehead a kiss before I extend my hand to Waverly, who is hovering by the entrance. “This is my girlfriend, Waverly Dobbs. Waverly, this is my grand-mère. You can only call her Grand-mère or Mrs. Ouest because I’m not sure I even know her real name.”
Waverly doesn’t hesitate before she comes straight over to her, dropping to her knees the same way I did. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Ouest.” She extends her hand, and my grand-mère shakes it firmly, eyeing her and sizing her up like she’s a horse before a race.
“Where are you from?” my grandmother asks in accented English.
“Needham, Massachusetts.”
“Hmm. You have a pretty voice and a slight accent to go with it. Do you have family still there?”
Waverly looks away and clears her throat. “Not really.”
“And now you’re with Tristan. Did you know he’s worth a lot of money and owns his own company?”
Waverly grins. “Yes, ma’am, I do. I’m his primary assistant, and he’s the absolute worst boss ever.
If I didn’t love him, I’d hate him for sure.
As for his money…” She shrugs. “Well, I grew up believing in family and that money doesn’t buy you happiness or love, so I don’t want anything to do with his money. ”
My grand-mère studies her, scrutinizing her level of sincerity. “I like you.” She turns to me. “I like her,” she repeats in French.
“I knew you would.” It’s why I brought her, I don’t say.
“She works for you?” she asks.
“Both of us actually,” I tell her, gesturing to Braxton, who is hovering in the background. “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t take advantage. We work long hours and have been doing so together for two years. It was inevitable.”
As I say the words, part of me questions how true that is. If whatever has been brewing between us is a byproduct of that, and if there’s a way to stop it before this thing grows arms and legs and a mind of its own.
“Don’t let him fool you,” Brax teases. “He made it so there was no way she could say no to him.”
I flip him off from behind my back.
“Come here.” She waves a hand at Brax, and he walks over and gives her a big hug. “You’ve grown or I’ve shrunk.”
“I’ve grown,” he teases.
“When are you going to settle down?”
He pulls back, and something flickers across his face. “I’m planning to soon.”
Hell. He’s serious.
“Are those chocolates for me?”
“They’re from Waverly, but I helped her pick them out,” Brax explains.
“Good man.”
“Why don’t you all get settled before supper?” my mother suggests. “Waverly, we instructed the bellhops to have your things brought to the suite with Tristan and Braxton.”
Oh shit.