CHAPTER 27 KAYLEE
Ben takes a phone call from one of the Aces coaches shortly after the pie comes out of the oven, and that leaves me alone with Gramma Jean.
“That boy is in love with you,” she says.
I smile. “I feel the same way.”
“He’s a special one.”
“I know he is,” I say softly.
“He’s a good boy. He takes care of me, calls me once a week, makes sure I know he’s thinking about me. I always prayed he’d find a good woman, and I think he has.”
A surprising bite of tears stings behind my eyes. “I appreciate you saying that.”
“He’s scared of the end, you know.”
I nod. “I am, too.”
She reaches across the table and pats my hand. “It doesn’t have to end.”
I press my lips together as that sting gets a little more intense. “We just…” I clear my throat. “I don’t know how much he’s told you, but we want different things. He doesn’t want children, but a big family is something that’s really important to me.”
“Listen up, sugar, because I’m about to drop some wisdom on you. Sometimes we think we know what we want, but things can happen that will change our minds.”
I know she’s right. Of course she is.
I’m just not sure if she’s talking about Ben or me.
“I’m afraid we’re both pretty stubborn on this,” I say.
“I understand. Has Benny told you much about his grandfather and me?” she asks.
“He hasn’t mentioned his grandfather at all,” I admit. “But he talks an awful lot about you. All good things.”
She offers a smile. “His grandfather passed when Ben was just a little boy. He probably doesn’t remember much about him, but he was a big man like Ben is.
In fact, I see a lot of him in Ben—big presence, big personality, physically tall and imposing.
Stubborn as a mule. And he was the love of my life.
From the moment I met him, he owned my heart. ”
“How’d you meet him?” I ask.
“He was born and raised on a farm and wanted to escape it for the big city. He ended up here in Great Falls, and he got a job cooking around the same time I got my first job as a waitress at the same diner. It just felt like we were written in the stars.”
The way she says it reminds me an awful lot of Ben and me, and I’m not sure why. We knew each other an entire decade before either of us showed any interest at all…and yet, now it feels like we were always meant to find our way to one another.
“We fell in love quickly,” she continues, “and we were married a month after we met. I fell pregnant, and I stayed home to raise the boys while he eventually went on to manage the diner. He’d come home with new recipe ideas and we’d try them out together and sing along with the radio.
He was the one who would change the words to the songs we were singing to include whatever we were cooking.
” She chuckles at the memory. “We spent many a date night right here in this kitchen. He was a wonderful chef, and we taught each other different tricks in the kitchen that I’ve tried my best to pass on down to Benny. ”
“That’s lovely,” I say.
She smiles at the memories, and then her eyes flick down to her hands that are folded on top of the table.
She stands and moves over to the sink, busying herself with a single coffee cup since we’ve already done all the dishes we dirtied after making the pie.
“Being married to him was the best thirty years of my life. He had a heart attack that took him from me far too soon.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, that sting getting so intense that a tear tips over my lashes and onto my cheek. I brush it away.
“Never did have any interest in finding someone else. I’ve got my boys, Jeb and Chevy, and Ben of course.
They’re all I need.” She wipes her hands on a towel and joins me back at the table.
“So I get it—wanting a family. I understand. But looking back on it, if something happened and I was unable to have children, sort of like my boy Chev and his Susan, well…what I had with Walter would’ve been enough to last my lifetime.
You talk to Chevy and ask him if he’d have changed things.
” She shakes her head. “He wouldn’t’ve.”
I get what she’s saying, but it’s also hard to make that claim when she does have the family.
She just said she’s got her boys, and they’re all she needs.
What happens down the road when I’m old and gray like Gramma and Ben leaves this earth before me if we stay together and decide not to have children? Who do I have then?
I’m the youngest in my family, and while it’s unlikely everyone I love lives to the same old age…I’ll be the only one left alone when they’re all gone. It’s morbid, but it’s also reality.
“And I see what you and Benny seem to have. Being around you two together fills this place with a warmth I don’t know I’ve ever seen in that boy.
On the other hand,” she continues, “maybe he will be the one to change his mind. I want you to know it means everything to me that you’re making him happy.
Just be patient with him, all right? He’s new at this commitment thing, but I sense a beautiful change in him, and I think it’s because of you.
He’s scared, and I need you to hold his hand and guide him through it. You think you can do that?”
“I hope so,” I whisper.
Ben comes back a few minutes later, and we laugh along with Gramma Jean for a while longer before Ben announces that it’s time for us to go. She sends us home with the entire pie, and I can’t wait to dig into it.
Her words still play in my mind. She gave me a lot to think about—things that were already on my mind, to be honest, but hearing from someone who knows Ben so well that she senses a change in him gives me the hope I need to hold on a while and see if we can make this work.
I’m ready to collapse on Ben’s couch for a few hours, but we don’t head toward home. Instead, Ben drives toward town. “I have a surprise for you.”
My brows furrow. “What is it?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He pulls in front of a salon and gets out then walks to my side. He opens my door and helps me out, and then he clutches my hand as he opens the door to the salon.
“Ben!” an older woman exclaims, and she wraps him up into a hug. “It’s so good to see you!”
“You too, Mrs. Howard.” He tugs my hand a little. “This is Kaylee.”
“Hello, my darling girl,” she says. “I’m Betty. Come have a seat.”
We follow her, but I narrow my eyes at Ben as I walk toward the chair she points to. I plop down into it when Betty gestures at me.
“We’re doing make-up and an updo, right?” she confirms with Ben, who nods.
“I’ll need about an hour,” Betty says to him, and they’re talking like I’m not sitting right here but it’s actually fine since I don’t know what’s going on anyway.
“Perfect. I’ll be back then,” Ben says.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
Ben winks, and then he leans down and kisses my cheek. “I’ll see you in an hour.”