Eight
Eight
Grace had never cared much for Valentine’s Day. Growing up, taking care of herself and avoiding her mother’s man of the month took priority over any holidays. A day focused on love, as someone who’d been raised without it, seemed like a cruel joke to a woman who felt alone for most of her life. Until she met Noah. There were a lot of things in her life she could say that about: until she met Noah.
Everly Dean, Chris’s fiancée, stood at Grace’s side, surveying their hard work. She was quiet and, if someone didn’t know her, might seem standoffish. Everly had severe social anxiety and preferred to avoid big crowds. After getting to know her better, Grace found that on the other side of Everly’s shyness and anxieties was an incredible listener with a big, cautious heart. She’d proved to Grace more than once that she cared deeply for the people around her once she let them in.
Everly and Grace, along with Hailey, who’d stepped out of the room to take a phone call, had spent the last hour decorating the dining room to perfection. They’d transformed the minimalist space with pink, silver, and white taper candles set atop the long, narrow, handcrafted buffet cabinet that matched the table and sat against one wall. The romantic light of the chandelier bounced off the shimmering hearts they’d hung, creating narrow fractals of color along the walls.
Noah and his brothers were picking up the food while the three women prepared the house. It was silly and fun, and Grace knew they were a bunch of lovesick fools, but it felt special. She’d spent a lot of her life feeling like she was on the outside looking in. This group of people made her feel like she was part of the equation. An important part. Creating traditions of their own solidified that sense of family Grace had always craved.
“We did good,” Hailey said, coming into the dining room.
Hailey Sharp was the most outgoing of the three of them. She’d moved from Hollywood to San Verde just over a year ago. In that time, she’d started over, opened a successful salad shop, and captured the last Jansen brother’s heart. She had an easy way with people that Grace sometimes envied. Where Everly was shy and reserved, Grace could be overly cautious when it came to doling out trust, which sometimes made her a little defensive.
“It really looks beautiful. It’s so elegant but also sweet,” Everly said. Her long brown hair hung over her shoulders. She wore a pale-pink dress with barely visible white flowers. She had big expressive eyes and a gentle softness about her that made people feel safe.
The large room off the kitchen usually had a cozy, modern feel with chair rail accents along the off-white walls. They had a long table with two extensions that accommodated their growing group and was why, when it was just Noah and Grace, they ate in the kitchen.
Having everyone over like this was something she constantly enjoyed. A place to host and a group of family who felt like friends was more than she’d dreamed of. She’d been working on the aesthetic for tonight for months, and seeing it all come together, with her friends beside her, filled her chest with happiness.
A few months back, she’d found a silver table runner at one of her favorite home decor shops. It looked perfect along the black linen tablecloth. White dishes and pink cloth napkins and little name-plates marked each person’s spot. The group included the three of them and their guys; Everly’s bestie, Stacey, and her boyfriend, Rob; plus Morty, Tilly, and Rosie and Josh. Not enough to make Everly hide in a bathroom but definitely enough to have a really great time. In Grace’s mind, it was the perfect group. Her people. Her chosen family.
When Grace glanced over at Everly, she saw a little smirk on her lips. She was looking at Hailey, who wore her reddish-brown hair back in an intricate French braid and had chosen a shiny, bright pink-top and a pair of dark jeans.
“What did Wes give you for Valentine’s?” Everly asked, adjusting one of the place cards so it sat straighter.
Hailey folded her arms over her chest and laughed. Grace joined in the laughter, remembering how Wes had surprised Hailey last year at Valentine’s, when they’d just started dating, with a bracelet from Tiffany’s. It had been far too expensive for that early stage in their relationship. Hailey was fiercely independent and wanted nothing more from Wes than for him to see her: who she really was and what she really needed.
The Jansen brothers were generous to a fault. Especially when the recipient was a fiercely independent woman who wanted to stand on her own two feet.
“A dozen roses, a box of brownies from Tara, and a spa day,” Hailey said.
“Chris got me a spa day too, but I’m not sure how I feel about having people touch me. I mentioned it a couple of times when my neck was bothering me and he thought it would help,” Everly said, now adjusting the silverware settings.
“Me too. They must have planned it together. Don’t worry, Evs. You can just choose the treatments you like. But trust me, once you get a massage, you’ll be addicted,” Grace said.
The doorbell rang. Grace smoothed out her own dress, which she’d found on clearance when she was shopping for candles. With its tight bodice and flared, knee-length skirt, it felt retro. The pale-pink pinstripes on black fabric made it feel feminine as well.
“Boys should be back soon,” Grace said, heading for the entryway. And then the party could begin.
There was so much laughter and chatting around the table that Grace almost couldn’t absorb it fast enough. These were her favorite moments with these people—when they were all talking over each other, adding to each other’s anecdotes and stories, laughing too hard to finish. It’s what she’d hoped for, secretly in the depths of her heart, when she’d been living in a run-down trailer with her mom.
Noah tapped his fork against his glass, getting everyone’s attention. They’d had a delicious dinner catered by a local restaurant. The brothers had ordered everyone’s favorites: pad thai, banh mi, spanakopita, In-N-Out burgers, and, of course, penne alfredo for Grace. She smiled at her fiancé, so in his element at the head of the table with the people he loved around him. Hard to believe that when she met him, she wasn’t sure she could be in the same room with him. Now, she didn’t want to be most places without him.
“Thank you, everyone, for joining us tonight. In the last couple of years, there’s been a lot of changes for all of us. When I followed Chris out here from New York, I never imagined all the doors it would open.” Noah looked at Grace, slid his hand across the table to cover hers. “I hadn’t even thought of the dreams that are currently coming true. Grace saying yes, working with my brothers, living somewhere I absolutely love and am proud to call my home. We’ve always had a lot. A lot of everything. But I think I speak for my brothers as well when I say, we’ve never had this.” He gestured around the table to all their closest friends. The kind of friends who were family even when they weren’t.
Noah cleared his throat. “It might be cliché but all of you are worth more than any amount of money.”
“Maybe you ought to try giving more of yours away to me and see if that holds true,” Morty said.
Everyone laughed, and Noah winked at Grace, squeezed her hand. “If I start to take Gracie for granted, you can have all of it.”
“You take Grace for granted, I’ll kick your ass,” Rosie said, breaking a roll in half and giving one piece to Josh.
“She could do it, too,” Josh said. “Noah hasn’t been keeping up with his regular workouts.”
Stacey’s boyfriend, Rob, who owned gyms, agreed loudly “All three Jansen brothers are going soft. Haven’t seen any of you there in a while.”
“Some of us have to do more than work out as a job,” Wes said, a smile on his face.
“You were incredibly busy today, fine-tuning the graphics on your video game,” Chris said, one hand on the back of Everly’s chair, the other picking up his wineglass to take a drink.
Noah grinned at his brothers.
“Oh boy, here we go. Let’s get the measuring sticks,” Tilly said with an exaggerated bounce of her newly dyed brown eyebrows. She had whitish-blond hair that she’d been fine with going “au naturel” as she called it. But according to Tilly, a woman needed darker eyebrows if she was going to make a statement.
Everly covered her laugh with her hand, Hailey outright belly laughed, and the guys snickered. Grace felt a strange sort of nostalgia—a veiled awareness that they wouldn’t always have moments like this, and an immense gratitude to have them now. In that moment, she realized she didn’t need all of the jars or the possibility of being on television. She needed these people. She looked at Noah. She needed this man. Him. As her husband. Tonight.
Now.
Noah stroked his fingers over Grace’s hand, leaned in to her, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love the way you look at me.”
“I want to marry you,” she whispered back.
He laughed. “I want to marry you too, Gracie.” He gave her a loud kiss.
Grace straightened her shoulders, sat up in her chair, and kept her gaze on him. “No. I mean, now. I want to marry you here. Right now. Tonight.”
As the idea spread warmth throughout her body, she watched Noah’s eyes widen as he realized she was completely serious. Today would be the day she’d marry her best friend. And, she thought, grinning, the day she’d finally rendered Noah Jansen speechless.