Page 49 of The Fake Husband Play
“I sure did,chère,” I assure her as she pulls back to smile at me. “Loudest cheer in the whole arena.”
“She did her best to give our section hearing loss,” Elly says with a laugh. “I was so proud of her. And of you! God, that second period when you were dead on your feet but stayed out for that whole shift! That’s what won this game, for real. It was so good, Grammercy. So, so good. Just beautiful hockey and so much fun.”
Her cheeks are flushed from cheering and the joy of a great game, and all I can think is…God, how lucky am I?To have found a woman who loves this sport as much as I do?
“Seriously, you guys could not have delivered a better season open,” she adds in a giddy voice, and then her arms are suddenly around both me and Mimi, and the joy of the night is complete.
She smells like arena popcorn and her sweet magnolia perfume, and all I want to do is keep her here. Right here, by my side, with our happy little girl giggling between us as she hugs us tight.
It feels so right, so precious, so much like family that I’m not really surprised when a voice calls out in a very familiar drawl,“Grammercy Germaine Graves, où tu es, mon garçon? Ça c’est mon bébé! Maman est fière à mourir!”
I pull back from the hug, beaming as I spot my little mama, hustling through the gathering crowd of family and friends like a tiny hurricane in a Voodoo jersey, as “proud to death” as she always is when I play.
Even when my team loses.
Beanie is loyal to the center of her hard-loving heart.
Bernadette Graves—Beanie to her friends, and she’ll make you her friend as soon as you stand still long enough—is five feet nothing of Creole determination wrapped in purple and green. She’s pale like her father, but her salt-and-pepper curls are Haitian through and through. Now, her signature mop is practically electrified with pride and excitement, forming a halo around her grinning face.
“Hey there, Mama!” I set Mimi down and step forward, lifting an arm to catch Beanie’s eye. “Get over here and let me hug you hard,ti maman!”
I swoop her up, giving her a spin before setting her back on her feet, where she laughs as she babbles, “Magnifique, mon bébé! Tres magnifique!” She pulls me down so she can kiss both my cheeks with a proud Cajun mama’s enthusiasm. “But don’t be so sweet next time. Remember,chère, being a gentleman is only for?—”
“Off the ice,” I finish with a smile. She’s been saying the same thing since my brother and I were in Peewee leagues.
“Exactement.” Her sharp eyes dart past me, finding Elly and Mimi. I haven’t told her much about them except that Elly and I have been dating for a while and just moved in together, making it serious enough that it’s time for them to meet the family.
Past time, my mother will say I have no doubt, though I’ve yet to get feedback on my timing.
I deliberately waited to say anything about Elly and Mimi to my mother until this morning, knowing Beanie wouldn’t risk throwing me off my game on opening night by reading me the riot act for keeping my long-term girlfriend a secret.
But I’m sure to get an earful later, a suspicion my mama confirms as she mutters a soft warning for me to prepare myself to apologize for being a “secret keeper with snake manners” in French before adding in English, “And you must be Elly and Mimi! I’m so happy to meet you both. Oh, you’re even prettier than Grammercy said. Such beautiful, sweet ladies. Hearts of gold and sugar and fire, I can tell. Just from a glance.”
Mimi’s eyes widen, an awed smile spreading across her face as Beanie folds her into a loving embrace. “I like that!” she says as Mama pulls back. “A heart of gold and sugar and fire…”
“Well, good,” Beanie says, cupping Mimi’s cheek with a tenderness that assures me she’s already falling hard. “Because that’s what you have. And magic. I think you have some magic, too.”
“I think you both do,” Elly says as she steps forward, anxiety and warmth mixing in her expression as she graciously accepts one of Beanie’s too-hard hugs. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Ms. Graves. I’ve heard so many wonderful things. Thank you for raising such a wonderful man.”
My mama pulls back, beaming up at her. “Oh, sweetheart, call me Beanie. All my friends do, and I can already tell we’re going to be friends. We mamas have to stick together.” She loops her arm through Elly’s like they’ve been partners in crime for a decade, then takes Mimi’s hand with her free one. “Come on, ladies. Let’s go get some sweets for the sweet and talk all night. Or at least until ourpetite bébéhas to go home to get her beauty sleep before school tomorrow. I made reservations for four at The Midnight Melody, where they have the best ice cream desserts and coffee desserts, and puffpastries.” She winks as she adds, “And Café Brûlot for proud mamas who want a little kick in their sweet after a night like this. My treat!”
“Oh, Beanie, thank you, I love ice cream so much,” Mimi says, bouncing along beside my mother as she heads for the exit, completely charmed. “This is the best night ever!”
And just like that, we’re off, swept into my mother’s hurricane of love and fun and shameless sticking-her-nose-as-deep-into-my-business as possible. By the time we’re settled at our table at The Midnight Melody, Beanie knows Elly’s entire work history, Mimi’s favorite subjects in school, her art teacher’s name, and has all of us on lock for Sunday lunch next week.
“I would do this Sunday, but I have my tennis club competition and they’re hopeless without me. Not to brag, but this boy gets all his athletic skill from his mama,” she says, making Elly laugh. “But next Sunday will be good, too. Maybe even better. We might finally have a cool afternoon by then, and a cool afternoon is always best for spicy gumbo.”
“She makes the best gumbo in Louisiana,” I confirm. “The first time I tried gumbo at a restaurant, I was so disappointed.”
“It’s true,” Beanie says proudly. “Mine is the very best.” She pulls a face. “Well, except for my friend, Adelaide, but she cheats. She uses store-bought roux and some fancy French sausage you can’t get in Louisiana, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Uh-oh, shots fired,” I tease from across the table, where Mimi and I are trying to decide which two desserts we want to share so we can try more of the goodness Midnight Melody has to offer.
“Not at all,” Beanie says sweetly. “It’s only shots fired if I said something I wouldn’t say to Adelaide’s face. She knows exactly how I feel about her cheating. I’m an open book,chère, you know that.” Shifting Elly’s way, she adds, “Speaking of open books, I went back to school when Grammercy was a little boy. That’s when I got my nursing degree. It isn’t easy, but I’m sure you could do it. And I can help. I’ve cutting back to three days a week at work, and I’ll be retiring completely soon. That’ll give me extra time to help out with babysitting.”
“That is so kind, but I… I haven’t even decided which school or if I’m really going to apply yet,” Elly says, seeming flustered by how quickly all of this is moving.
But that’s what my mother does. She’s the sweetest steamroller in the world, but she’s still a steamroller.
