Page 127 of Suck My Puck

“It’s good to see you too, Mom,” Braden says as he hugs her tight.

When they break apart, she turns to me, excited smile on her face. “And this must be your girlfriend.”

“I’m Bella. It’s lovely to meet you.” I hold out my hand, but she waves it off and pull me into a hug.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m a hugger. I’m Cynthia.”

I chuckle.

“Way to ease her into it, Mom,” Braden says.

“It’s okay. I like hugs.” When she lets me go, I smile at her. “Thank you so much for having me.”

“It’s my pleasure. And I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you are beautiful.”

I let out a flustered chuckle. “You’re so sweet, thank you. This is for you,” I hand her the gift bag. “Braden mentioned you’re a coffee drinker, so I thought you might like some freshly roasted beans.”

“Oh this is so thoughtful, thank you!”

“Bella has her own coffee roasting and delivery business,” Braden says. “People go nuts for her coffee.”

“It does okay,” I say.

“More than okay. She’s opening up her own coffee shop too. That’s how much people love her and her coffee.”

I blush at the way Braden talks me up.

“That’s amazing, opening up your own business at your age,” Cynthia says to me.

“Everyone says it’s the best coffee they’ve ever had. Me included. Just wait till you try it,” Braden says to his mom.

She beams at me. “I can’t wait. I’ll brew a pot of coffee when we have dessert.”

We follow her to the dining room, where Braden’s grandparents are sitting playing cards.

“Hey, Nana and Pop Pop.” Braden hugs them both and introduces me to his grandparents, Ruth and Harold. They hug me and thank me for joining them for Thanksgiving.

Braden glances at their empty tea mugs. “I’ll get you two a refill,” he says. He pats his grandpa’s shoulder. “Have you taken your meds yet today?”

He shakes his head. “Not yet. Too busy getting my butt kicked by your grandmother in gin rummy. I swear she’s cheating.” He flashes her a teasing smile.

She playfully pats his hand. “Oh, stop your whining. You’re just terrible at this game, that’s all.”

We all laugh.

“Tea and meds coming right up,” Braden says before heading to the kitchen with his mom.

Ruth takes my hand in both of hers and gestures for me to take the chair next to her. I sit down. “Just look at you. Such a lovely thing. My grandson is a lucky young man.”

I blush. “Oh gosh, you’re so sweet. I feel like the lucky one. Braden is amazing.”

Her smile is warm. “He’s a sweetheart, that’s for sure. You know, when he was a kiddo and was living in the States, he’d write his grandpa and me a letter twice a month. And he taught us how to send emails so we could keep in touch when he started traveling a lot for hockey.”

Harold nods and holds up his smart phone. “He bought us these fancy new phones for us for Christmas a few yearsago and taught us how to FaceTime so we could see each other face to face more often.”

Ruth chuckles. “That boy has the patience of a saint. We must have hung up on him a million times before we got the hang of it.”

I chuckle. “New technology can be difficult, that’s for sure.”

---