Chapter 32
Danny
Gracie looks like mine.
The lack of weather-appropriate clothing in her backpack led to her reluctantly accepting my eager offer to wear my Mustangs hoodie, which completely swallows the top of her blue jeans.
She’s pulled her red curls into a loose braid, but a few stubborn strands peek out.
I clench my hand, stopping myself from brushing them back.
I spent too much time upstairs, debating what to wear, until I frantically texted Tessa some options and received an excited “which one matches her energy?” With that in mind, I threw on a light blue half-zip athletic shirt and jeans.
I don’t usually take advantage of the team’s car service, but I did tonight. Gracie joked that I must not have wanted her to suffer through more of my driving. In actuality, I’m hoping to hold her hand while cuddled up in the backseat on the way home.
The driver takes the scenic route to a little bar in Windsor Terrace called Anemone.
The front half of the building is an active flower shop with an abundance of all different types of unique flowers.
As we walk in, a variety of reeds, greenery, baby’s breath, and ferns line the walls.
Acoustic guitar music is playing softly over the speakers, and there’s a warm glow from mismatched lamps throughout the shop.
In the center of the space are several round tables with cut, colorful flowers displayed in glass jars of varying heights.
I turn to face Gracie. Her head tilts to the side in surprise, eyes wide, as she takes it all in. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” She walks further into the shop and gently touches a few of the garden figurines. “I thought we were going to trivia.”
“We are. This is actually a combination flower shop and bar. We’ll head back to the bar area soon. You always enjoyed flowers, although I don’t know if that’s changed, I guess.”
“It hasn’t,” she says softly. “I love it here.”
After all this time, hearing Gracie say the word “love” feels like a luxury. I almost say it back with a different meaning attached.
“Ah, DT. You called about the red tulips!” an older woman, who must be the shop owner, shouts from behind the cashier’s desk. She’s wearing khakis, a shirt that says Daffodil With It, and a nametag reading “Betty” as she putters over to us.
“Red tulips?” Gracie asks.
If she’s wondering whether her favorite flowers are currently available in the dead of winter…they’re not.
“I’m so sorry our tulips aren’t in season yet, but like I mentioned, I hope this makes up for it.” Betty hands Gracie a white porcelain vase with hand-painted red tulips crawling up the sides.
Gracie gives a small gasp as she turns the vase in her hands. “I…wow. This is beautiful.”
“We’re known for our hand-painted vases, but we keep them all in the back. Too many accidents over the years,” Betty explains.
Gracie lifts her chin, staring into my eyes with warmth and affection. “Danny, thank you so much. This is incredibly thoughtful. I’ll treasure it.”
I smile, happy and relieved she loves it. “When Betty sent me a picture, it reminded me of you. Now you can have red tulips all year long.”
Gracie returns my smile with a blinding one of her own as she hugs the vase to her body.
Now I wish I was the vase.
“Okay, well. We don’t want to be late for trivia. Thanks for everything, Betty.”
“Anytime, dear. Go Mustangs!”
With my hand on the small of her back, I guide Gracie through the hallway that connects the flower shop and the bar, wrapped in the scent of her coconut and vanilla perfume. It all feels so surreal.
As we approach the end of the hallway, she abruptly turns around. “Before we get back there, there’s something you should know about me.”
“Okay…”
She cringes. “I’ve only gotten more competitive over the past ten years.”
“Jesus, Gracie. How can you get more competitive?”
She drums her nails against the vase. “I wasn’t that competitive before.”
“You made Tessie cry when we watched Kids Jeopardy! together. She was ten.”
“I’m sorry!” She gestures wildly. “It’s hard for me to pretend not to know things!”
I try to find the door at the end of the hallway very interesting, so as to not laugh in her face.
“Anyway, I hate to say it, but just let me do the talking.” She takes a small step forward, having said her piece.
“You don’t want me to answer any questions?” I ask, my voice dripping with exaggerated innocence.
“I want to win.” She throws the statement over her shoulder.
I give a long, low whistle. “Wow. I thought this would be a roman–um, friendship hang, but you’re leaving me in the dust.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Roman Friendship Hang, huh? Sounds very Italian.”
“Fine, Gracie. Silence me.”
She pats me on the arm a few times. “Great. It’s animal trivia, Danny,” she explains, like her reasoning is obvious. “You understand.”
It’s hard not to grin. Her casual touch, her offbeat logic, her comfortability to be her full, authentic self around me…this is what I missed.
She pushes the automatic door button as I respond in a warning tone, “But let me say this: If I know an answer, I will be buzzing in.”
“Sure, sure,” she brushes me off with a wave of her hand. “If you know one.”
We take a seat at the last remaining table in the bar.
I receive a few curious looks from patrons, which is an everyday occurrence for me in New York.
Strangers either try to place where they know me from or ask for a picture.
There are a few families here, which is even more dangerous.
A boy who looks to be about nine years old bounces in his seat and points to me.
His mom tries to gently push down his arm, but it’s no use.
The boy gets more animated, eagerly waving to me now.
“I forgot you were famous for a second,” Gracie says.
“Yeah, um, around these parts at least.” I shift uncomfortably in my seat.
She smiles at the boy. “You should go say hi to him.”
I shake my head, entirely focused on her. “I don’t have to; I’m here with you.”
She nods. “It would make his whole night.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’ll be fun for me to watch. I always thought this would be a cool part of your job. Being a hero to kids.”
“Hero is too big of a word, but I’ll venture over there and say hi to the little guy.” Giving Gracie one last look, I get up and make my way over to the table.
I always wondered what it would’ve been like to have Gracie by my side for the last ten years.
I’d try to convince myself it was for the best. Maybe she’d have been frustrated by all the interruptions, the picture requests, the downsides of fame.
She deserves a life of privacy. It’s probably good that she’s out of the public eye. Not with me.
I should’ve known my Gracie girl would only see the silver linings, the happy kids, the grateful families.
“DT!” The kid jumps up and hugs me around my waist.
“I’m so sorry about this,” his mom apologizes. “You’re his favorite player.”
I give his head a couple of pats, mussing his hair a little. “Really? That’s awesome, dude! Are you an athlete yourself?”
The kid nods shyly now, winding down from his initial overexcitement.
“I could tell, on account of all the muscles you have. What’s your name, big dog?”
Shaking his head, the kid blushes and keeps his mouth closed.
“It’s Charlie,” his mom interjects. “Your poster is on his wall. He plays the wide receiver position at his school.”
“Oh, man. I’m lucky I’ll be out of the league by the time you get there. You’re probably gonna break all my records, huh?”
That pulls a smile out of Charlie as he throws his mom an are you seeing this right now look (my favorite kind).
“Listen, I have to get back to my…my girlfriend over there, but I’d love to get a picture with you, if you wouldn’t mind? Just so I can say I knew you before you were famous?”
“That’s very kind of you.” His mom smiles and pulls out her phone, snapping a photo of us.
I fist bump Charlie and walk back to a beaming Gracie. “That was so cool. You’ve always been good with kids. With Tessa.”
“Yeah. She’s all grown up now, though. I’d love to, um, have kids of my own one day. If that was something that my partner was into.”
It’s barely audible, but I hear a soft, “Me too,” from her.
The air is thick between us, but before anything else can be said, a loudspeaker voice cuts through.
“Welcome to Trivia Night!” An MC, dressed in all black, with a septum ring and dark lipstick, walks up to the front of the room.
“Tonight is all about animals! The questions will cover all different types of animal-related topics. There’s a buzzer on each table.
If you know it, press the button to answer.
Whoever buzzes in first will get the first shot at answering.
Each question is worth one point, except the final question, which is worth five.
We’ll tally the points up here.” She points to the dry erase board on the wall. “Everyone ready to get started?”
A few half-hearted “woos” join the sound of tepid applause in response.
“Okay! First question: What is the largest living species of lizard?”
Gracie buzzes in immediately. The MC points to us. “Table two?”
“What is the Komodo Dragon!” Gracie unnecessarily shouts across the small space.
“Ding ding! First points on the board go to table two. But, um, you don’t have to say ‘what is’ before your answers.”
I snicker as Gracie mutters, “I was trying to be official,” under her breath.
“Question two: How many eyes does a honeybee have?”
I buzz in with the correct answer, shocked Gracie doesn’t push the button before me. “Five.” I turn toward her and smile. “Do you think Mae planted that question from Ohio?”
She gives an awkward smile and shrugs.