CHAPTER 21
RHODES
The scent of bacon and coffee has me popping open my eyes and I’m confused for a moment. It’s not until I reach for Helen and find her side of the bed empty and I realize what is going on. I give myself a moment and lay back in bed with a huge grin on my face.
I can’t believe my best friends ambushed us last night at dinner. Well, I guess I can believe it, but they didn’t have to basically dive bomb us. Most people hold back at first.
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised they didn’t. Trial by fire is sometimes the way to go.
The longer I’m awake, the more I want to see my woman. I don’t know how I’m going to hold back from telling her how I feel about her and call it love, but I’m not sure she’s ready for those words. Not quite yet.
I jump out of bed and get ready for the day before striding into the kitchen. I can’t help but stand in the doorway and admire my woman. She’s singing softly to herself while swaying gently as she scrambles some eggs.
Seeing her here—in my kitchen, wearing my shirt, and in the home that I want to share with her—always feels special. But it’s also right. I never want to get used to it or take it for granted.
My footsteps are silent as I slide into place behind her without stopping her movement and swaying with her. Our bodies fit together in a way which has peace settling around me.
Just having her near is all I need.
“Morning,” I murmur as my lips skate along the curve of her neck. “I’ve gotta admit,” my voice goes soft, “I don’t like waking up without you in bed with me, Sweetheart.”
“I woke up and saw an opportunity to make breakfast for you.” She turns in my arms, her head tipping up until her brown eyes bore into me. “You’re always taking care of me, but you deserve the same.”
“You aren’t going to be able to make me into a passenger princess,” I tease her.
She chuckles while shaking her head and starts to turn back toward the stove. When I grip her hip and hold her in place, she gives me a startled look.
“You’re forgetting something,” my voice is husky and it has nothing to do with me still waking up.
Her eyebrows furrow before I see recognition dawn and she tips up and kisses me softly. She pulls away far too quickly and I let out a growl of annoyance. All she does is giggle and go right back to her eggs which she immediately pulls off the burner and turns it off.
“You almost distracted me into ruining the eggs,” she pouts.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have gotten out of bed without me. I will not be chastised for kisses,” I tease her.
Even though she tries to hide her smile, I see it. I kiss the side of her head before getting a cup of coffee for myself while glaring at the iced coffee my woman is already drinking.
I watch her plate up our breakfast, and it feels so damn right to have her here. I’m barely holding back from asking her to move in with me right now.
Would she say yes? I’m not sure. I want to take things slow for her if it’s what she needs. I’ll never rush her even though I wish I could.
Because I know what this is.
She’s mine.
I’m hers.
We’re forever.
We sit side by side at the island and steal little glances at each other the entire time. There’s something sweet about this moment which I desperately want to protect.
I gently hit my shoulder against hers, my voice thick with all the emotions I’m trying to hold back because I don’t want to scare her, “Thanks for making breakfast, Sweetheart.”
The smile that blooms across her face is blinding and I almost want to look away. It feels kind of like looking into an eclipse. I find myself taking the risk and soaking in just how splendid she is.
“You’re welcome,” she whispers with pink cheeks and her eyes shining with the words we haven’t spoken yet.
When we’re done eating, I move our plates away from us, scoot back and lift my woman off her stool and place her on the island in front of me. Helen’s hands shoot out and grip my shoulders, her eyes wide with shock as she stares at me.
“What are you doing?” She gasps the words and is so damn adorable it takes my breath away.
I stand up and wedge my body between her thighs. My hands cup her face and stare into her eyes.
“I’m not used to having someone take care of me,” I admit. “It won’t be easy, but I have a feeling you won’t let me get away with it.”
“You would be correct,” she chirps back haughtily with a saucy look on her face.
I take her mouth in a gentle kiss, but it heats up very quickly. It always does with us.
My hands clamp down on her bare thighs, and I let out a groan at the feel of just how soft she is. I love touching her. Fuck, I just love this woman.
“Are you wearing panties, Helen,” I grind out the words, my jaw clenching with the effort of holding back.
“I don’t remember if I slipped them on this morning or not,” she muses innocently in a way that makes me harder for her.
As if I wasn’t already. My sweatpants don’t hide it either.
Her hands sweep over my chest, and I shudder at the contact. “You don’t remember, hum?” There’s a challenge in my voice as I arch an eyebrow at her.
She shrugs while looking up at me from underneath her lashes. One of my hands slides into her hair and tangles the strands around my fingers to hold her in place. My other hand slides up the inside of her thigh.
Just as I’m about to find out if she’s bare under my shirt, I hear my front door swing open and I jerk in surprise.
G-Bet’s voice rings out from the front door, “Rhodes? Where are you?”
Helen’s eyes are wide and round like dinner plates. She quickly bats my hand away from her thigh while trying to push me back. The way she tries to wiggle to the edge of the island tells me she’s planning on jumping down.
Hell no.
Before Helen can put any distance between us, my grandmother sweeps into the room. She takes in the scene in front of her, which, from her angle, probably looks a lot worse than it is.
G-Bets covers her eyes but doesn’t turn around and leave.
“Good morning, to the both of you. I heard about my grandson having a very public date at The Goose last night. Last I heard nothing was official and figured it was best for me to stop by and see what’s what.”
Helen pushes at my chest again and hisses, “Rhodes Wilder, if you don’t let me down right now, you are not going to like the consequences.”
Since G-Bets is trying to appear serious and stoic, only one side of her mouth twitches, but I know she’s fighting a smile. When Helen pushes me again, I grip her hips and lift her off the counter and then steady her on her feet.
Helen’s fingers twist in the hem of my shirt and she looks between my grandmother and me with pleading eyes. My grandmother clapping has both of our heads whipping in her direction.
Her shrewd eyes assess my woman, but there’s no malice in her gaze. I know my G-Bets, and she would never do anything to hurt me. Not treating my woman well would hurt me.
Helen mutters, “I can’t believe I’m meeting your grandmother without pants on.” Her eyes widen and she covers her mouth with her hand before she looks up at me slow and asks, “I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”
I nod and my grandmother cackles.
The next thing I know my woman is being enveloped in my grandmother’s arms and being given a hug so tight it might pop her head clean off. Helen lets out an oof.
“I would save you, Sweetheart, but I know prying her hold off you would be next to impossible,” I tease her.
She wheezes, “Didn’t you say you’d protect me?”
I chuckle before patting my grandmother’s shoulder and reminding the woman who has never let me down. “How about you let her breathe,” I suggest gently.
G-Bets lets out a huff and slowly releases Helen who looks more than a little dazed. I get it; Betty Wilder has that effect on people.
“I like you,” G-Bets states, her tone matter of fact. “You’ll be good for him, and he’ll give you the stars in the sky like they’re gumdrops, if you let him.”
Helen’s face softens and her eyes glaze over with unshed tears. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Wilder. Rhodes has told me so much about you.”
“He lies,” she responds breezily. After gripping her hand, she pats it twice. “And you’ll call me G-Bets just like my Rhodes does.”
Helen bites her lip before blurting, “Why G-Bets and not Grandma or Mimi or something like that? I was curious when Rhodes told me about it but didn’t get the chance to ask.”
“Oh,” my grandmother’s voice is indulgent, “that’s easy. I’m too young to be a grandmother.” She leans closer to Helen, her voice turning conspiratorial, “At least I was.” With a shrug, she adds, “We landed on G-Bets as a play on Grandma Betsy.”
Helen nods slowly before tilting her head slightly. “You are the coolest grandma I’ve ever met.”
G-Bets’s eyes sparkle. “I know, my dear, and I’ve only gotten better with age.”
While my woman giggles, I run a hand down my face and let out a groan. “Please don’t start with that,” I plead.
“I’m not going to apologize about being a woman in my prime,” my grandmother lobs back at me.
All I can do is roll my eyes because I know there is no arguing with the woman. And I don’t really want to keep this conversation going.
I’m already on edge and was in need of some alone time with Helen. The last person I expected to interrupt was my grandmother.
But here we are.
Actually, that was my miscalculation. I should have known she would have heard about our public appearance and shown up here.
“Could I,” Helen’s voice is hesitant as she starts before she shakes her head and bites her lip.
My grandmother’s eyebrows furrow together. “What is it, my dear?”
“Could I get another hug?” Helen’s voice is small and I melt a little as I realize why.
She’s talked to me about how hard it was growing up without her mom. How there was always something missing, especially with the stark contrast of her father’s absence.
I understand that feeling of loss, it’s something I live with every day. G-Bets helped a lot with that. And her hugs were a big part of that.
My smile widens and my grandmother basically manhandles my woman into another tight hug.
This time, instead of being uncertain and nervous, Helen gives herself over to the love and acceptance I know G-Bets is offering freely and without conditions. All I can do is lean against the counter and watch my family grow. My heart clenches with the magnitude of it all.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about my grandmother accepting my woman with open arms. She did the same with me when she could have made a different decision, one that probably would have been easier.
Helen is released slowly and when she looks up at me, her smile is free and unguarded. I see a little bit of the pain which hides in my woman’s eyes ebb.
I’ll make sure that one day she looks at me without pain, without the memories of what everyone else thought she should have been, in the depth of her gaze. Then she won’t be held back by expectations which should never have been put on her shoulders.
My soul aches for a little girl who only wanted to be loved but knew she had to step up and be more for her family than was fair considering she was a child too.
“When will the great-grandchildren be arriving? I’m not getting any younger, even if I am getting better with age,” G-Bets throws the words out there almost carelessly, but I know her better than that.
Nothing this woman does is careless. Or said only in jest.
That’s not who she is.
I learned to be a straight shooter while hiding behind her skirts and listening to the way she navigated the world. She never made herself smaller to do it. And her loyalty has never been in question.
Working hard and doing your best were hallmarks in my house growing up and I’ve tried to live up to them since long before I really understood the depth of such commitments. But G-Bets wouldn’t have allowed less, even if I never understood the morality of effort.
Helen looks shocked and sputters a few times before I admonish my grandmother gently, “Don’t freak her out. You like her, remember? Why would you want to make her want to run in the other direction.”
“From where I stand, it’s inevitable.” She pats Helen’s cheek. “Best get used to it.”
Helen blinks a few times before laughter bubbles out of her, which is mostly amusement with an edge of hysteria.
“Uh-oh,” G-Bets whispers out of the side of her mouth, “did I break her?”
I pull Helen into my arms and love the way her body molds to mine. “You can’t rush a good thing,” I tell my grandmother.
“Babies take months to cook, I’m just thinking ahead,” she defends herself, but there’s no defensiveness in her tone. “I guess I can be patient,” G-Bets sighs. When she points between us, her voice is stern, “I do expect you both to be at Sunday dinners from now on. No more excuses.”
“Really? You want me to come to Sunday dinner? Isn’t that a family thing?”
My grandmother’s eyes sharpen slightly and her voice turns fierce, “What do you think you are?”
Helen’s mouth opens before she snaps it shut. “Family?”
“Exactly,” G-Bets agrees while stabbing the air with all the finality she can muster. “Now, tell me about yourself, Helen.”
As the two most important women in my life, put their heads together and chat I memorize the moment. Because it is valuable and one I never imagined I would have.
“Do you have embarrassing baby pictures of Rhodes, G-Bets?”
“Save me,” I groan without any real heat.
If they want to look at baby pictures of me and ooh and ahh over them, I won’t put up a real fight. I want Helen to be so at home here in Sweetwater Valley that she never wants to leave.
And now I feel like I’m one step closer to it happening.