Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
BE MY VALENTINE
Addison
“Did you tell Beckett that this is unnecessary?” Nana asked as we followed behind Beckett and Grams to our table on the patio.
It was Valentine’s Day weekend, and we were back at the same restaurant where we’d had our first date. We’d celebrated ourselves the night before at his house. I wanted to do something low-key, and that’s just what he’d planned.
He’d cooked, and we’d cuddled on the couch the rest of the night, watching movies and playing board games. Then he’d surprised me with a gift. I thought the night he’d put together was enough of a gift, but he had other ideas.
He’d slipped the little black jewelry box on my lap, and my heart skipped a beat for a moment, thinking it could be another piece of jewelry. Nervous excitement and unease whipped through me at the possibility, but I realized it couldn’t be. At least not yet.
What was actually in the box was a beautiful gold necklace with a small “B” charm outlined in even tinier diamonds. It was absolutely perfect, and when he put it on, I contemplated never taking it off.
“Yes, Nana, I told him he didn’t have to, but here we are,” I said. The staff had walked us through a particular part of the restaurant I hadn’t already seen. It was the easiest, most accessible way to the patio, which I was really thankful for with Nana’s wheelchair.
Since the beginning of the year, Nana’s health and mobility had taken a turn.
Her arthritis was making it hard for her to move around, and her hip wasn’t healing as quickly as we’d hoped.
She’d also developed a heart issue we were trying to get under control.
So, when we were outside of the house, she was in a wheelchair.
And I knew it was why Beckett had been so insistent that we included both Grams and Nana in a Valentine’s Day dinner. They hadn’t been out of the house in a while, and they were getting a little stir-crazy. It was also fun to get all dressed up and eat a good meal together.
“It’s such a fuss,” she murmured as I pushed her wheelchair through the door to the heated patio. And it really was as beautiful as Beckett made it out to be.
There were lights strung across the patio, hung between the branches of the tall oak trees surrounding us.
The air was crisp, but the heaters did their jobs.
It was pleasantly warm even with the cold chill.
And the view was worth it. It felt like we were back in the mountains with the little stream running through the property and grassy area.
Beckett helped Grams in her seat, and the host pulled away one of the chairs so I could push Nana’s wheelchair directly up to the table. After making sure she was settled, I took a step toward the chair next to her, but Beckett was there and pulled it out before I had the chance to.
He dipped his head down as I stepped forward and quietly reprimanded me. “You know better, baby girl,” he whispered where only I could hear him, and I tried to hide my smile. Luckily, Grams and Nana were more concerned with discussing the scenery than they were with me and Beckett.
“Well, Beckett, this place is beautiful. Good pick,” Grams said.
“It was actually where we had our first date,” I said, peering through the windows into the restaurant. I could almost see the table where we sat.
“And now you’re here with your grandmothers,” Nana quipped. She unrolled her napkin and set it in her lap as our waiter approached the table and took our drink orders.
I had been dreaming of the cocktail I’d ordered the first time we were there, so I didn’t hesitate to get it a second time. Beckett also ordered his usual, but I was surprised when Nana and Grams each ordered a glass of wine.
I wanted them to have a good time, especially Nana, so I tried to contain my concerned expression. But of course, I had never been very good at that. All of my thoughts played out directly on my face.
“One glass isn’t going to kill me, Addie Wren,” she chastised when the waiter walked away.
“I know, I know,” I said. “It’s just with your new medication—”
“I’m not supposed to drink in excess,” she interrupted. “One glass of wine is not in excess. It won’t make a difference.”
“And we’re celebrating, right?” Grams added, trying to cut the tension I hadn’t meant to create. I was just concerned about Nana. Like I always was.
Nana choked out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head. “And what exactly are we celebrating, Gabby?”
Beckett glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, but I just grabbed my menu and hid my face so I could smile at their antics without being called out once again.
Grams scoffed and over my menu, I saw her reach for Nana’s hand. Nana instantly softened, and my heart warmed at their affection.
“Love, Helen. We’re celebrating love.”
They smiled at one another, and I could feel their love. It was the best example of pure, unconditional dedication I could have had growing up.
Underneath the table, Beckett’s hand wrapped around my thigh and squeezed once. I laced our fingers together, and we descended into conversation. Nana’s attitude was much improved, especially when she got her one glass of wine. She even made us toast to love.
The heaters were doing their job, warming the patio enough that I had to shrug off my jacket and hang it on the back of my chair. I readjusted the tight cap sleeves of my pink dress and made sure my cleavage was still tasteful.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Beckett’s attention on me. He lifted his tumbler of whiskey to his lips, and I tried to contain my blush. But it was pointless. I felt it spread over my cheeks and down my chest.
Even in a short moment, I could read all the dirty, depraved thoughts behind his warm, hazel gaze. And although I was caught up in imagining everything he might be thinking, Beckett didn’t skip a beat.
“That was your first Valentine’s Day together?” he asked. I blinked a few times and took a sip of my own drink as I tuned back in to the conversation.
Nana and Grams were smiling at one another conspiratorially as our waiter dropped off our appetizers and a fresh basket of bread.
“Yes, we were both newly single, and I don’t know how it happened, but our first date happened to be on Valentine’s Day,” Grams explained.
“I know how it happened,” Nana chimed in.
“I didn’t want to wait an extra day to go on a date with you.
” She turned to Beckett—since I’d already heard the story several times—and tapped the table between us, making sure he was paying attention.
“She had only ever dated men before me, so I didn’t want to give her an opportunity to overthink it and back out. ”
As she always did, Grams rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I wouldn’t have backed out.”
Nana wasn’t convinced, though. So many decades later, and she still didn’t believe that Grams wouldn’t have changed her mind given the opportunity.
“Back then? Being attracted to another woman wasn’t as widely accepted as it is today. Or accepted at all, really. We had to be so careful, especially in public, and if asked, pretend like we were just friends. I had to make you fall in love with me before you came to your senses.”
Another sweet smile passed between them, and I imagined how different their lives would be if maybe Nana hadn’t been so insistent. How different all our lives might have been.
“But had you known I was pregnant, would you really have been so insistent about the date?”
“Yes,” Nana said without argument.
Glancing over at Beckett, he had barely reacted to the new information.
A slight widening of his eyes was all I caught, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist asking a follow-up question.
Hell, I wouldn’t have been able to resist either.
We’d never discussed the details of Grams and Nana’s life, or my parents’ lives.
Everything that happened before I was born.
“So, you were pregnant with Addison’s mother when you two began dating?”
“Yes, she was,” Nana said. Grams grabbed a piece of bread and spread butter on it with a knowing smile tilting her lips. I knew what was coming next. “She’d gotten herself knocked up and then made me fall for her, so now it was our baby.”
“And we wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Grams said, to which Nana automatically agreed.
“Oh, wow. That’s incredible,” Beckett muttered, mostly to me.
“Yeah, Grams was pregnant with my mom on their first date. She didn’t know yet, though. It wasn’t until a few weeks into their relationship that she realized it. And like they said, at that point, it was too late to go back.”
“Nine months later, we had Wren.”
Understanding dawned, and Beckett looked back at me. “Your middle name…”
“Is my mom’s name, yeah,” I finished for him. On top of the table, he slid his hand over mine, and I wasn’t sure why, but tears sprang to my eyes. I’d lived with the name my entire life, so it was obviously nothing new to me.
Sometimes I thought they liked to repeat my middle name just as a reminder of the daughter they’d lost.
But I guess there was something special about sharing more about my past, about my parents, with Beckett that made emotions stir to life. As much as I trusted Beckett, it was hard to muster the courage to talk about them. I didn’t like how much it hurt.
“I remember when Addie was born, her father thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world. He would just stare and stare at you,” Grams said, and I swallowed thickly around the emotion sitting heavy in my throat, willing those stupid tears not to fall.
“So, he said they had to name you after the most beautiful person he’d ever met, your mama. ”
I sucked in a breath, and Beckett ran his thumb in soothing patterns across the back of my hand, which only made me want to cry more. But just before I lost it, the waiter returned, and we all straightened.
We ordered our food, and I was thankful that the conversation moved on to lighter topics. But the entire time, Beckett held my hand like he would never let go.