No Ordinary Love - G.Callen NCIS L.A

Chapter 49

"I've been thinking," Dee said as they strolled in the direction of the vintage market.

Grisha put his sunglasses on and looked at her. "Are you sure I want to know?"

"I am."

They had decided on the vintage market and then lunch. Dee had picked a bistro nearby that she'd read rave reviews about but hadn't been to yet, and Grisha knew better than to argue.

Threading his fingers with hers, Grisha smiled. "Okay, let me have it."

"Why don't we let your dad live in the guesthouse? That way we can have a life, he can come and go as he pleases and he'll still be close enough to keep an eye on."

It stayed quiet as Grisha thought that over. "Let him live in the guesthouse?"

"Yeah. He's family. He's not getting any younger and I'm sure Hetty doesn't need to stay with us, especially now that she has Tom." Deja shifted her attention to a stall they passed. Not finding anything of interest, she turned back to Grisha.

"What do you think?"

"What about the workshop thing you were going to do?"

She shrugged. "I can always find a place with an extra back room to give workshops in. There's a place I'm going to scout tomorrow that I have a good feeling about, not too far from the house. It's a bit smaller than the one we had, but with an extra room of the side that could work for workshops. We don't need the guesthouse for ourselves. And I know you hate the idea of strange people in our yard." She stuck her tongue out. "Don't think I didn't sense that."

He sighed. So much for trying to keep an open mind that that idea. "All right. But what if your family wants to visit? What are we going to do with them?"

She frowned. "What we always do. Let them stay in a hotel. We don't have room for them now, we won't have room when we move to another house. Besides, I know for a fact that my parents prefer the hotel over staying with us."

Still, he wasn't entirely convinced. He was touched that she wanted to offer the guesthouse to his father, but he wasn't sure that was the right course of action. "Tell you what. You go scout that location, and if that ticks all the boxes you want it to, then we'll decide on what do to with the guesthouse. In the meantime, I'll think about it. That sound fair?"

She squeezed his hand. "Just know that he offer is on the table."

"Thank you. It's very generous of you to even consider giving up that space for my dad."

"I know it's early days, but I think you need to get used to him being around. Take baby steps. I have a gut feeling he's here to stay, so think about it. That's all I'm asking."

"Yeah." He did, too. Grisha wasn't sure how he felt about it, yet. Promising he would consider it, he switched subjects. "So, can we talk about our wedding, now?"

"Someone eager to get married, huh?" she laughed, nudging his shoulder. "What about our wedding?"

"Yesterday give you any ideas?"

"Other than that the beach is out of the question? Mmm... maybe. But let's hear what you want first, since this is your preferred topic of conversation."

He grimaced. "How about we don't elope? Would that be a terrible idea?"

"That depends on why you wouldn't want to elope."

Glancing at her, he shook his head. "You're going to make me say it?"

"You started it," she grinned.

"Well, since I plan to do this only once, yesterday made me realize that it's important to have the team there, with our parents. You know, something small and simple, but with the people that we cherish and find important."

It took him fifteen seconds to notice the shift in energy from her. Deja let go of his hand and swallowed hard. Biting her lower hip, she shook her head, as if that was going to stop the wave of emotions rushing up. Grisha connected the dots in another five seconds. Sighing, he wrapped his arms around her. How could he be so ignorant? It had been two months since she'd lost her best friend, and here he was blabbering about inviting the people they cared about to their wedding. But she couldn't invite her best friend because being with him had gotten her best friend killed. How could he have forgotten that she was still in the middle of a mourning process?

"Forgive me," he whispered in her hair. "That was utterly insensitive."

Breathing out, she shook her head. "No, it's not..."

"Yes, it is," he contradicted. "Here I go talking about inviting all the people that matter to us most, and it doesn't even cross my mind that you won't be able to." He held her closer. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

Bravely, she nodded. "I know." She sniffed. "It doesn't happen that often anymore... It's just... I miss her. Stupid as it sounds, I miss her when I'm looking at venues, and when we got engaged she was the second person I wanted to call other than my mom, and all those small things you normally share with your best friend. And she's not here to tell them to."

He remembered how she had cried her eyes out before she went to London. During their vacation he'd seen her grief in little things, but since he'd gone back to work, he hadn't really noticed. "It's not stupid to miss her. I'd be more worried if you didn't." Grisha pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Don't hesitate to tell me, okay? I'm sorry I haven't noticed."

"Last week, when I bought my dress, I was standing with my phone in hand, ready to call her, when it hit me that I couldn't share something trivial as a dress with her anymore. It keeps hitting me with those small things."

Grisha rubbed her back. "And the little things keep reminding you of her not being here anymore." He understood. It was an ongoing process of her missing her best friend. And planning their wedding was not going to help. "We can skip the wedding talk," he offered.

Deja wiped her face dry and shook her head. "No, the wedding talk is fine." The corners of her mouth pulled up in a small smile. "Expect me to break down like this more than I want to, though."

"You're entitled to all the break downs in the world." He would have understood if she was done talking about their wedding. But he admired her for wanting to plough through.

She sniffed. "To get back on topic: what exactly does small mean? A courthouse wedding? A wedding weekend with a group of twenty? No reception? How far have you thought this through?"

Apparently, not far enough. Grisha shrugged. "I haven't. Yesterday made me realize that I want them there. I haven't thought anything else through yet. Details like that are more your thing."

That made her laugh and shake her head. "Okay." She pulled her phone out. "Since this is confession time, I have one of my own. You are right. It wouldn't be right without our family there. But I'm not keen on inviting fifty or a hundred people."

No, he wasn't either. "We don't have to invite fifty. Fifty would be a bit much."

She turned the screen of her phone to him. "How's this? That enough?"

Silently, he studied the list. He frowned. "That list has more people on my side than it does on yours."

"It does." She nodded. "Much as I love my family, I'm not going to invite all of them over from Spain and London. Especially the Spanish side will expect a complete catholic ceremony in a church, and I'm more a non-religious ceremony kind of girl. I would love to have Nanna and Abuela there, but I'm not sure Nanna is up for the trip."

Still, Grisha wasn't convinced. "So, just your parents, Jess, and your grandmothers? Are you sure? You're the one who always says family is important."

"Well, your family is going to be my family, too. If we can convince Abuela and Nanna to attend, I'll be the happiest girl on the planet."

He was going to take her word for it. "Okay. Your parents, Abuela and Nanna, the team and my father."

"That's twenty-five at best."

"That's something we can work with."

"Right? Twenty-five would be perfect."