Page 128 of Suck My Puck

“We used to travel to see him play, but now that we’re older, traveling that much is hard on the old body.” Harold pats his knees. “But we FaceTime every week, and that helps us feel close. And we always watch his games on TV.”

I glance over to the kitchen, where Braden is heating up water in a tea kettle on the stove. His mom bends down to take something out of the oven, but he grabs the pot holders out of her hands and takes over for her. She smiles and shakes her head, patting his shoulder.

Warm and fuzzies fly through my chest. It’s so sweet the way he takes care of his family.

A few minutes later, Braden returns with a tray of tea mugs, an assortment of tea bags, and a small ceramic pitcher of milk. His mom sets a charcuterie board and sliced veggies on the table.

“A little pre-dinner snack while we visit,” she says. She pats Braden’s hand. “Be sure to eat extra veggies. You need all the nutrition you can get for your game tomorrow.”

Braden rolls his eyes good-naturedly and drops a bunch of veggies on his plate.

“You two still on your black tea kick?” he asks. His grandparents say yes as they finish up their card game.

Braden drops the tea bags into their mugs and pours hot water into them. He slides his grandpa a trio of pills and takes the chair next to me.

We sip on our drinks and snack on the charcuterie board. Braden asks his mom how things with the house are.

“Everything’s perfect, honey.” Her smile is loving as she looks at him. She turns to me. “Did Braden tell you that he bought this house for me for my birthday a handful of years ago?”

My mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”

His cheeks flush and he looks down, like he’s embarrassed.

“Braden, that’s so generous,” I say.

“It really was,” Cynthia says, beaming at her son. “I wanted to move to this neighborhood for years, but it was so expensive. But my amazing son made it happen.”

He rubs the back of his neck. “Mom, it was nothing.”

She waves a hand. “Honey, you’re so modest. It was a dream come true.” She turns to me. “I was trying to find a place with enough room for my folks to live with me, but things are so expensive here in Victoria. I looked for months and found a great little duplex that would have worked just fine, but Braden wouldn’t hear of it.”

He shakes his head. “You deserve better than that, Mom. You too, Nana and Pop Pop.”

They all smile warmly at him.

“We can’t believe we get to live in this big, beautiful house. All because of our wonderful grandson,” Ruth says.

Braden leans over and pulls her into a hug.

“Wonderful grandsonanda damn fine goalie too,” Harold says.

Braden’s flashes a flustered smile and runs a hand through his sandy blond hair. “You’re too kind, Pop Pop.”

“Just speaking the truth. You’re a superstar. Especially these last couple of months. You’ve been playing like a beast.”

Braden looks at me. “That’s all because of Bella. Meeting her got me out of my slump.”

My insides go gooey hearing him say that.

Cynthia rests a hand on her chest and smiles lovingly as she looks between us. She heads to the kitchen. I stand up and follow her.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I ask.

“Oh that would be wonderful, Bella. Here, could you grab the plates and silverware and set them on the table?”

I tell her no problem and take the stack of white porcelain plates from the counter. Before I can head back into the dining room, she stops me with a hand on my shoulder.

“I hope it’s okay for me to say this, but I’ve never seen my son look so happy. I can tell he’s so in love with you,” she says warmly.

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