Danielle’s a little bit tipsy right now, but if there was any night to drink, it would be tonight, celebrating the wedding and everything that has happened between us. I feel like celebrating at least.
“Danielle,” someone calls, and Danielle looks over, making a face. She’s not very good at hiding her emotions as is, and is even worse when she’s been drinking. It’s fucking adorable.
“It’s Grandma.” Danielle takes another big gulp of her drink and puts on a fake smile, turning to give her grandmother a hug.
“Hi, Grandma, how are you?”
“Still getting used to this time change,” her grandma replies, gently patting Danielle on the back. “And right when I get used to it, I’ll go home to Hartford and have to get used to that time change all over again.”
“Yeah, it’s an adjustment.”
“How’s grad school treating you?”
“Grandma, you know I’m not going anymore. It wasn’t for me,” Danielle starts, having more patience than I would have.
“You know who says that? Quitters. And the Crosses aren’t quitters.”
Danielle takes another drink. “If anything, quitting was harder than going.”
“What kind of crazy talk is that? Quitting is the easy way out.”
Danielle just smiles and nods, going back to her drink. I know exactly what she means. Quitting meant finally veering off the path that had been laid out for her. It meant telling her father she wanted to do something different with her life.
Danielle’s eyes are getting a little bloodshot. Over the years of tending and then owning a bar, it’s easy to spot people who are getting close to their limits of what they can handle. Danielle’s always cut herself off before she’s gotten to that point, but with her family around…who knows? I place my hand on the small of her back. She doesn’t have to worry about it tonight. I’ll take care of her.
“Well, at least introduce me to this handsome fellow.” Grandma Cross eyes me up and down. “At least you’re doing something right, Dani.”
“This is my friend, Logan,” Danielle introduces. “And Logan—”
“Friend? Just a friend?” Grandma cross grabs Danielle’s hand and brings it to her face. “That’s not what I heard.”
“R-right,” Danielle stammers.
“What she means,” I start, wrapping my arm around her, “is that we were friends first and then started dating. She still is my friend, and now I can’t wait for her to be my wife.”
The closer I get to Danielle, the more I hate lying. Even after finally hooking up, the lies feel wrong, like it’s cheapening what we have between us.
“Friendship is a good foundation to build a marriage on.” Grandma Cross pats Danielle’s arm. “Best of luck to the both of you, and Danielle, when you change your mind about grad school, you let me know. Some of the women in my gardening club have husbands in high places.”
Danielle tries to fake a smile but can’t hide the sour look on her face. She knows it too and covers it up by bringing her drink to her lips. She pokes herself in the face with her straw.
“Let’s dance,” I say, taking the drink out of her hand.
“You just want to put your hands on me.” Her eyebrows go up.
“I do.” I take a sip and then set the glasses down on a table, moving back to Danielle. Both hands land on her hips, and she leans up to kiss me. “I still think we should try to sneak out of here.”
She nods, and then a song comes on that she likes. Grabbing my hand, she turns and drags me to the dance floor. We drink and dance, stealing kisses and copping feels just to make each other laugh.
When Danielle steps away to use the bathroom, I go back to our table to get a drink of water. I sit down and pull my phone out of my pocket. I’m surprised to see not one, but two missed calls from Weston. I don’t remember the last time we actually spoke on the phone, and it was most likely Jackson, my nephew, calling to say hi and ask about Hawaii. The last call was from only seven minutes ago, so I call back.
“Hello?” Weston answers.
“Hey, Wes. Did Jackson call?”
“No, I did.”
“Is everything okay? Jackson—”
“He’s fine.”
“Emma?”
“Fine too.”
I lean back in the chair. “Then why are you calling?” Wes hates talking on the phone. He never calls. Hell, he rarely responds to the group text we’ve had going on for years with Owen and Dean.
“Are you with Danielle?”
“No, I came all the way to Hawaii, and we parted ways.” I swallow hard. “Why?”
“Her grandpa,” he starts. “He had a heart attack.”
“Fuck. Is he…he’s alive, right?”
“Yeah. I responded to the call, and he’s at the hospital now. I was able to get a hold of the doctor, and he couldn’t tell me much, but he said Danielle should come home. Now.”