Page 88 of Somebody to Save
“And we’re celebrating, right?” Grams added, trying to cut the tension I hadn’t meant to create. I was just concerned about Nana. Like I always was.
Nana choked out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head. “And what exactly are we celebrating, Gabby?”
Beckett glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, but I just grabbed my menu and hid my face so I could smile at their antics without being called out once again.
Grams scoffed and over my menu, I saw her reach for Nana’s hand. Nana instantly softened, and my heart warmed at their affection.
“Love, Helen. We’re celebratinglove.”
They smiled at one another, and I could feel their love. It was the best example of pure, unconditional dedication I could have had growing up.
Underneath the table, Beckett’s hand wrapped around my thigh and squeezed once. I laced our fingers together, and we descended into conversation. Nana’s attitude was much improved, especially when she got her one glass of wine. She even made us toast to love.
The heaters were doing their job, warming the patio enough that I had to shrug off my jacket and hang it on the back of my chair. I readjusted the tight cap sleeves of my pink dress and made sure my cleavage was still tasteful.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Beckett’s attention on me. He lifted his tumbler of whiskey to his lips, and I tried to contain my blush. But it was pointless. I felt it spread over my cheeks and down my chest.
Even in a short moment, I could read all the dirty, depraved thoughts behind his warm, hazel gaze. And although I was caught up in imagining everything he might be thinking, Beckett didn’t skip a beat.
“That was your first Valentine’s Day together?” he asked. I blinked a few times and took a sip of my own drink as I tuned back in to the conversation.
Nana and Grams were smiling at one another conspiratorially as our waiter dropped off our appetizers and a fresh basket of bread.
“Yes, we were both newly single, and I don’t know how it happened, but our first date happened to be on Valentine’s Day,” Grams explained.
“I know how it happened,” Nana chimed in. “I didn’t want to wait an extra day to go on a date with you.” She turned to Beckett—since I’d already heard the storyseveraltimes—and tapped the table between us, making sure he was paying attention. “She had only ever dated men before me, so I didn’t want to give her an opportunity to overthink it and back out.”
As she always did, Grams rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I wouldn’t have backed out.”
Nana wasn’t convinced, though. So many decades later, and she still didn’t believe that Grams wouldn’t have changed her mind given the opportunity.
“Back then? Being attracted to another woman wasn’t as widely accepted as it is today. Or accepted at all, really. We had to be so careful, especially in public, and if asked, pretend like we were just friends. I had to make you fall in love with me before you came to your senses.”
Another sweet smile passed between them, and I imagined how different their lives would be if maybe Nana hadn’t been so insistent. How different all our lives might have been.
“But had you known I was pregnant, would you really have been so insistent about the date?”
“Yes,” Nana said without argument.
Glancing over at Beckett, he had barely reacted to the new information. A slight widening of his eyes was all I caught, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist asking a follow-up question. Hell, I wouldn’t have been able to resist either. We’d never discussed the details of Grams and Nana’s life, or my parents’ lives. Everything that happened before I was born.
“So, you were pregnant with Addison’s mother when you two began dating?”
“Yes, she was,” Nana said. Grams grabbed a piece of bread and spread butter on it with a knowing smile tilting her lips. I knew what was coming next. “She’d gotten herself knocked up and then made me fall for her, so now it was our baby.”
“And we wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Grams said, to which Nana automatically agreed.
“Oh, wow. That’s incredible,” Beckett muttered, mostly to me.
“Yeah, Grams was pregnant with my mom on their first date.She didn’t know yet, though. It wasn’t until a few weeks into their relationship that she realized it. And like they said, at that point, it was too late to go back.”
“Nine months later, we had Wren.”
Understanding dawned, and Beckett looked back at me. “Your middle name…”
“Is my mom’s name, yeah,” I finished for him. On top of the table, he slid his hand over mine, and I wasn’t sure why, but tears sprang to my eyes. I’d lived with the name my entire life, so it was obviously nothing new to me.
Sometimes I thought they liked to repeat my middle name just as a reminder of the daughter they’d lost.
