Page 39

NINETEEN

TANNER

“Arlington National Cemetery, please.”

“You got it, pal.” The cab driver replied, zooming out into the D.C. traffic before I’d barely gotten the door shut. “You off to see JFK? Need to get there early.”

I shook my head. “I’m not, no.”

“Jackie O?”

“Nope. Not her either.”

“John Glenn?”

“Family. I’m visiting family,” I said, tugging on the rim of my cap, hoping it might shut him up.

I wasn’t one to avoid a chat with a cab driver, I loved cab drivers, they were some of the most interesting people I’d met. Even the non-Lions fans, and they always had a story. But this morning was not the morning I was looking to engage in conversation.

“Ah. Got it. Sorry, man.”

“It’s all good,” I assured him, checking my pockets for the hundredth time to make sure the box of jelly beans hadn’t fallen out somewhere between my hotel room and here. I was guarding them like precious jewels. “Thanks, though.”

I’d spotted the box of jelly beans in my hotel minibar last night, and a conversation I’d had months ago with Millie jogged my brain.

Her dad had liked the orange ones and she always took them to his gravestone.

I’d never had someone close to me die, and I didn’t really have an opinion either way as to what happened when you did.

But if there was a heaven, and he was looking down on us, I hoped it would go a little way to him giving me his blessing.

“D’you know where you need to go?” the driver asked.

“It’s fine, man, thanks. Drop me at the gates and I’ll make my way in,” I replied.

I wasn’t entirely sure where to go, but I’d found the location I needed on the Arlington Cemetery map, so I hoped it was easily signposted and wouldn’t take all morning to walk there.

The driver was correct about one thing, however, it was busy.

I hadn’t expected lines to be formed on a Monday in October, but I hadn’t accounted for all the out-of-season tourists.

Luckily, there was a separate section at the entrance for tour buses, which is where all these people seemed to have come from and, after flashing my ID, I made my way in without much of a wait.

The section where Millie’s dad was buried was off to the far right of the entrance, the opposite direction to where everyone else seemed to be heading.

I didn’t know whether it was the military aspect of Arlington—dressed soldiers dotted about and standing guard, the patriotism of flags flapping in the breeze, or the knowledge that every single white marble gravestone represented someone who had dedicated their life to our country—but every step I took deeper and deeper into the cemetery felt heavier and heavier.

All I did was hit a ball with a bat.

It was humbling to say the least.

Nerves were stopping me from walking any quicker than I currently was, nerves and a small voice telling me I shouldn’t be here.

That it wasn’t my place to visit without permission, that I’d crossed a line somehow and I should have told Millie I was coming.

But then I remembered the look on her face after we’d been shopping, when she’d talked about how painful it had been to lose her dad, and my promise to make her my future.

After another fifteen minutes of slow walking, I finally found the row I was looking for. And there, a little more than a third of the way down, was Brady Booker Robinson.

I stopped next to it. Now what?

Glancing around, I couldn’t see anyone else nearby for me to copy the etiquette.

Did I sit, did I stay standing, did I kneel?

There was enough space between the stones to create privacy, and the ground wasn’t wet.

After running through the options, I pulled the jelly beans from my pocket and decided to sit.

I tipped out a handful, picking through the colors and eating all but the orange ones, those I kept hold of.

Glancing at my watch, I’d already been gone an hour.

Technically we had free time in the mornings, but we always stayed at the hotel.

I hadn’t told anyone my plans, so if someone went looking for me and I wasn’t there, then Coach found out… I needed to hurry .

Staring at his name wasn’t helping. Did Millie find this as hard as I did?

I cleared my throat, removed my cap, and scratched through my hair.

“Hello, sir, you don’t know me, but my name is Tanner Simpson and I’m in love with your daughter, Millie.

” I rolled my eyes, of course he knew what her name was.

“I guess if you were here you’d want to know a little about me.

I’m twenty-five, I have three older siblings…

though one is my twin, so it doesn’t count…

and I play professional baseball. Shortstop.

My stats for the current season are—” Nope, he won’t care about that.

“Sorry…anyway…the most important thing you need to know about me is that I’m in love with your daughter.

I’ve loved her since the first time I laid eyes on her, even though I’m pretty sure she hated me on sight.

And let me tell you, she hasn’t been easy to win over either.

I’m still not entirely sure I have, I fully expect to be trying for the rest of my life. And I will.

“I have an older sister, not Holiday, my twin, but another one, and I remember this guy she dated in high school, and she brought him home. It was the first time my parents had met him…what I’m trying to say is, I guess if you met me…

” Argh, this was so hard. “What I’m trying to say is, I know Millie’s mom wasn’t happy about her being pregnant, and I just wanted you to know that you don’t need to worry…

your sons have got you covered on the kicking my ass part.

I guess I should be grateful neither of them seem as competent in the spy game as you were, however.

” I barked out a loud laugh, before I figured I shouldn’t be laughing in a cemetery and shut my mouth.

“But I can promise you that Millie and the baby will want for nothing, and?—”

A shadow fell over the stone.

I’d been so deep in my thoughts, trying to convey my feelings, I hadn’t noticed or sensed anyone approaching.

Scrambling to my feet, I found myself face to face with a woman staring curiously.

“Let me guess? Tanner Simpson.”

I didn’t need any guesses to know who she was. Same light brown eyes and button nose, high cheekbones, and full mouth. Even if I hadn’t seen a couple of pictures of Millie’s mom around the apartment, I’d have known her anywhere. They were carbon copies.

Picking up my baseball cap I’d left on the ground, I went to put it back on before wondering if it was disrespectful, so I kept it in my grip.

“Mrs. Robinson, yes, ma’am, I’m Tanner Simpson.”

“What are you doing here?” Her eyes dropped to the box of jelly beans I’d also left on the ground. “Does Millie know you’re here?”

I shook my head. “No, no, ma’am. She doesn’t.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

Well…” I tugged on the back of my neck. Scratch everything I said before, it was way harder addressing a person over a slab of marble, especially when they were looking at me like Millie’s mom was looking at me.

“I figured if your husband was alive, I’d be coming to talk to both of you, but still wanted to pay him the respect to ask. ”

“Ask what?”

My gaze flicked back to the headstone. I hadn’t gotten to that part yet, the entire reason for my visit .

“Um…I, uh …I was planning to talk to you next, I don’t want you to think I wasn’t or you didn’t matter…” A lump grew in my throat, and I swallowed hard. “I wanted to ask permission to, um , ask Millie to marry me, rather to let you know my intentions to marry her.”

Her eyes narrowed, reminding me of the way Millie used to look at me. “And this is because of the baby?”

“Marrying her?”

She nodded.

“No, ma’am. This is because I’m in love with her. The baby is an added bonus, but”—I chuckled nervously—“I can’t lie and say it’s not helped me speed up the process. As I was saying to your husband, she’s not easily won over.”

“Sounds like you know my daughter well.” She huffed a laugh.

“I’m getting there, ma’am.”

“And you’re together now?”

I paused, I didn’t know how much Millie had told her mom about us. But I figured seeing as she was coming to the game tonight to meet me, and given I’d just told her I wanted to marry her daughter then it wouldn’t be a total surprise if I told her the truth.

“We’re taking things slow.”

She nodded and silently ran her fingers along the headstone, tracing over the grooves of Brady’s name. “Millie told me you want to name the baby after her father, if it’s a boy.”

“Yes, ma’am. Brady. I thought it would be a good way to remember him, but we’ll find out for sure what we’re having in a couple of weeks.”

“Do you want a boy?”

“Truthfully, I don’t care either way. I just want a healthy baby with a healthy mom.”

The way she nodded again made me think I must have answered right.

“I guess Millie told you where her dad worked? What he did?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Being married to someone who works for the government in that capacity,” she paused, “you’re always prepared for the knock on the door, so it wasn’t such a shock to me.

I was grateful for the time we had together, but Millie was barely seventeen.

She’d always been a daddy’s girl, and I think she took it the hardest of all of us.

It’s like she lost herself that day, as well as him. ”

I took a deep breath. “I have no idea how that must have been for you all, or the pain it’s caused. I can’t bring him back, obviously, but I can promise to love Millie with all my heart and care for our baby as your husband did for your kids.”

She wiped away an unshed tear that was threatening to fall. “Do you have a plan to propose?”

“No, not yet.”

“When you decide, come to me first. I have a ring her father gave me, she’s always loved it. If you want it, it’s yours.”