One Pucking Destiny (Crane Hockey #4)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER

SEVEN

ARI

“ H oney, I’m home!” I call out as I enter my mom’s new place—her husband’s condo.

My mom’s squeal can be heard from another room. Seconds later, she’s running down the hall with her arms outstretched and a huge smile on her face.

“I thought you’d never get here!” She pulls me into a hug. “I missed you,” she says as she peppers kisses against my head. “So much.”

I hug her tight. There’s nothing like falling into your mother’s embrace. No one on this earth loves me more. Her love has been the one constant in my life. It’s never wavered, not even for a second.

She squeezes my biceps and steps back, eyeing me up and down. “You look great, but have you lost weight?”

My shoulders lift in a shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t weigh myself, but I doubt it.”

“Well, are you eating?”

“Of course. I had several coffees today, and I might have had a granola bar for lunch.”

She sighs. “What does that mean? You don’t remember?”

I chuckle. “I seriously don’t. It was a busy day. Are you going to let me in or not?”

“Did you bring laundry?” She looks behind me.

I hitch my thumb back, pointing toward the door. “Three big bags. In the car.”

Mom turns and calls into the condo. “Beck! Can you grab Ari’s laundry from her car?”

A moment later, Beckett jogs down the hall. “Hey, Ari!”

“Hey, Stepdaddy!” I tease.

“Don’t even start with that.” Mom grins with a roll of her eyes.

I follow her into the condo as Beckett heads outside to retrieve my bags of clothes. “What? You marry a man five years older than me, and I’m not allowed to make any jokes. That hardly seems fair.”

She slaps my arm playfully. “Stop. So what should we do first?” She shakes her head. “Never mind. Eating. That’s what we’re doing first. You can’t survive off caffeine and a granola bar. What are you in the mood for? I can cook, or we can order in.”

“Chinese?” I follow her into the kitchen.

She nods and reaches for her phone. “Chinese it is. Beckett is going out with the team, so it’s just you and me tonight.”

Admittedly, that bit of information makes me very happy. Beckett is cool and all, but for twenty-one years of my life, it was just Mom and me. It will be nice not having to share her tonight.

Beckett joins us in the kitchen. He leans his elbows against the granite countertop of the island. “I put a load of darks in for you and used your favorite-smelling detergent.”

With a grin, I say, “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

“No problem. Anything for our girl.” He shoots my mom a wink, and the cuteness is nauseating. “What do you ladies have planned for tonight?”

“Girl time. Chinese. Good conversation. Maybe a show,” Mom answers.

He nods. “Sounds great. You two have a lot of catching up to do, I’m sure.”

The front door opening catches our attention, and the three of us look toward the hallway as a handful of the team joins us in the kitchen .

“Feltmore’s going out tonight!” One of the guys pumps his fist in the air.

“Sorry, Doc…but we’re keeping him out late,” another one says.

Beckett, totally amused, says, “You guys can’t just bust in here anymore. You gotta knock. Plus, soon there will be?—”

My mom cuts him off. “You should get going.”

“Oh right,” Beckett says with a sheepish grin.

One of the guys sets a plastic container of cookies on the countertop. “Cookie Monster wanted you to have these in case you were craving them,” he addresses Mom.

“No Cookie tonight?” Beckett asks.

“No, he’s spending the weekend with his family,” one of the guys answers.

“Someone on your team is named Cookie Monster?” I ask, my brows furrowed.

Beckett swipes his hand through the air. “We have a whole nickname thing going on. It’s a team thing.”

Another guy extends his hand. “I’m Heartbreaker, and this is J-man, TJ Maxx, Eddy, and Sean.”

“Eddy and Sean don’t get nicknames?” I ask.

Eddy shrugs. “I’m the equipment manager and have always just been called by my name.”

Sean shoots me a little smirk. “And my real name is actually Logan. ”

The absurdity causes me to laugh. “Okay then.”

“What’s yours?” Sean/Logan extends a hand to shake mine.

Beckett steps between us and pushes Sean’s hand away. “Off-limits is her name.”

The one who goes by J-man adds, “That’s his daughter, man. Not cool.”

Sean’s eyes go wide. “Oh, I didn’t…”

I throw my head back and laugh. “I am not his daughter!”

Beckett hurries around the island and pulls my mom off her feet, hugging her. “Call me if you need anything, and I’ll come right home. Okay?”

She circles her arms around his neck and presses her lips to his. “I’ll be fine. I have my girl. Go have fun with the guys. Don’t worry about us.”

“I love you,” he says.

“I love you,” Mom replies.

“Okay, but I’m serious. Call me.” He kisses her again before setting her down. As he follows the guys out, he looks over his shoulder. “Have fun.”

“You too!” I wave with an amused grin on my face. I turn to my mom. “How do they not drive you crazy?”

She looks toward the hallway and releases a contented sigh. “They grow on you. So you want your normal?” She eyes her phone where the Chinese restaurant’s website is pulled up .

“Yes, please. Chicken lo mein with a side of crab rangoons.”

“You got it.”

An hour later, we’ve finished our Chinese food, and I’ve talked my mom’s ear off, telling her about every patient I’ve worked with this past week. I could talk about animals nonstop.

We sit on the couch, facing one another. She places her hand on my knee. “I am so happy for you. You were born to be a veterinarian.”

“Thanks. It’s pretty cool. So tell me about you. How’s married life?” I ask, and my mom’s smile fades. The pace of my heartbeat increases with anxiety. “Oh no. What is it?”

She squeezes my knee before leaning back against the arm of the couch. “Everything is great. I just have a lot I need to tell you, and it’s stuff I wanted to tell you in person.”

“Okay, but you’re okay?” I ask, still unsure.

“I’m fine. So…” She takes a moment and pulls in a breath. “Let’s start with my father.”

She hasn’t spoken about her father much over the years, but I know he wasn’t a good one. He turned his back on her when she was pregnant with me, forcing her to leave when she was eighteen.

My mother proceeds to tell me that he contacted her this summer, stating he was dying and she wouldn’t inherit anything unless she was married. The problem with that was that everything would go to her evil older cousin who hurt her when she was younger. Beckett stepped in and offered to marry her.

“So your marriage with Beckett isn’t real?” I ask in complete shock, trying to weigh what she’s telling me versus what I see. I can feel the love between them when they’re together.

“It’s always been legal, but it was just for show, and I couldn’t tell you because my father had to believe it. He had a private investigator follow me and Beckett, and I didn’t know if one was following you, too. I couldn’t risk him finding out it was all a ruse. I wanted to tell you. When we told you we were married, you were so hurt, and it broke my heart. I’m so sorry. And you know it wasn’t about the money for me. I’ve never been a materialistic person. It was about not letting my devil of a cousin get everything. I knew I could do actual good for so many people with my father’s money.” She gives me a few more details about the cousin and some of the things he did to her when she was a child, and my heart shatters.

Tears roll down my face. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Ma.” We come together, and I wrap my arms around her.

I find out that not only did my mom have a horrible childhood and unloving parents but she was also assaulted by her cousin when she was just a girl. My heart breaks for her and everything she’s gone through. I know she didn’t keep this secret from me for money. Growing up, we had very little money, but we were always happy. My mother has a huge heart, so I’m sure she’ll do amazing things with her inheritance.

Finally, my tears abate, and I lean back. “So you’re leaving Beckett?”

She smiles and shakes her head. “No, we actually did fall in love.”

“Oh, okay.” I sigh in relief. “Thank goodness. I knew you were in love. You’ve never been so happy.”

“Well, I did try to leave him last week after my dad died.”

“What?”

She fusses with a piece of lint on her leggings. “I had this stupid idea that I was holding him back or something, so I tried to give him an out.”

“But he wouldn’t take it?”

She shakes her head and smiles. “No, he wouldn’t.”

“Of course not because he loves you!”

She chuckles. “I know, and I believe him when he says that he does. But you know me. ”

I raise a brow. “You mean the stubborn part of you that doesn’t want to accept help from anyone and thinks you can do everything alone?”

She swats at my leg. “Hey.”

“You’ve been fighting your whole life. It’s your turn to be happy.”

She nods. “I know, and I am.”

“Good. As much as I tease you about Beckett and the age thing, you two are made to be together. The room radiates love when you’re together. It’s obvious to anyone around you that you two are the real deal.”

“Thank you for understanding, Ari. I just wanted to apologize for lying to you. I know that hurt you, and I’ll regret it forever.”

“Don’t. I’m over it. Trust me. You have nothing to apologize for. You did what you had to do. It’s fine. I promise.”

“Okay, good.” She wears a look of relief. “And there is one more thing I wanted to tell you.”

I look at her in anticipation.

“I’m pregnant.”

My eyes bulge, and my mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”

Her eyes fill with tears, and she nods her head.

“Oh my God!” We leap from the couch. We jump up and down, hugging, crying, and cheering. “This is amazing! ”

“I know! I never thought I’d get the chance to be a mother again, and now I get to do it with my husband.”

We stop jumping. Facing one another, we have our hands grasped between us. “Beckett’s happy?”

“Ecstatic!”

“He’s going to be a great dad.”

“I think so, too. Also, this doesn’t mean you’re any less important to me.”

“No,” I huff out an exaggerated groan. “Don’t even start.”

“I just want you to know how much I love you.”

I pull her into another embrace. “I know how much you love me. You being happy and having a kid with your husband will not change anything between us. It will just give us someone else to love. This is going to be great. So, so great.”

She holds me tight, and we rock from side to side. “I never thought this level of happiness was in the cards for me, you know? I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Beckett promises it won’t.”

“Believe him, Ma. You deserve to be this happy. If anyone does, it’s you.”

“Thank you, my love.”

We compose ourselves and sit back on the couch. I can’t stop smiling. “I can’t wait. When are you due? Are you going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl? ”

“June and no. I want it to be a surprise.”

I nod in approval. “It will be a good surprise.”

“I can’t say I’m not nervous about working full time, traveling with the team, and being pregnant at forty.”

“You’ll be tired, I’m sure, but you’ll be fine. You can do anything.” My words ring true. My mom has always been superwoman. I think back to some of the comments from earlier. “Oh, so the whole team knows. That’s what the comments about cookies and cravings were about.”

“Yeah, sorry. Beckett couldn’t wait a second to tell everyone. He’s just so excited. But I wanted to tell you in person.”

“Yeah, it was better that way.”

“I originally told Beckett that being with me meant no kids because I thought I was past the age when this was possible for me. He agreed to that, of course, but I knew he had always wanted to be a dad. So I’m just so happy I can give him this.”

“It was meant to be.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Life is good,” I say.

“It really is.”