“Not a big deal, Dad. We can celebrate early. And at least Grams and Grandpa are travelling with you this time so you won’t be all alone on the holiday.”
Like my dad said, he tried to be home for Thanksgiving, but I understood how important his job was and that he had to do it. Grams and Grandpa decided to go with him, only after they knew I was spending Thanksgiving with Justin’s family. I know just the three of us would’ve been perfect, too, but I was looking forward to spending it with Justin. Whom was I kidding? I looked forward to every second I could spend with him, and was miserable whenever he wasn’t around. I know that sounded a little depressing, but I just couldn’t help myself. I wanted all of him that I could get.
All of the girls gathered in the kitchen to help Grams prep the rest of the food for dinner, even Mia. I wasn’t sure if she ever even stepped foot in a kitchen before, since Gerald tended to spoil the hell out of her, but she seemed up for anything, even the job I hated most—peeling the potatoes. Yes, I had gotten used to having maids around, too, after we moved into Gerald’s, but Grams made sure to teach me my way around the kitchen at a very early age and it luckily stuck.
Callie elbowed me in the side as she started slicing up vegetables. “So, Grams has the hots for Justin? That boy has way too much going for him. Has she gotten to see him in his uniform yet, though?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, as I grabbed a platter to arrange the vegetables on from the top cabinet. The girls had already gone into a very lengthy discussion about Justin in his police uniform. I mean, I was his girlfriend and the way they were talking about him made me blush. They begged me to get him over there again as soon as possible. I’m sure Justin would think it was funny and find it flattering. They were probably hoping for a little stripping action or something, but that would remain for my eyes only.
“Well, that’s probably a good idea.” She pointed her knife at Grams who was busy teaching Zoey how to make an apple pie. Zoey seemed about ready to run for the nearest door. The kitchen wasn’t exactly her favorite spot.
“Why’s that?” I asked absentmindedly, taking the potatoes that Mia peeled, and quartering them before adding them into a huge pot of water sitting on the stove.
“Because she would have a freaking heart attack if she saw that boy in his uniform,” she said to me out of the side of her mouth, and I snorted loudly.
“You’re probably right.”
Grams really outdid herself with all of the food. Instead of preparing enough for eight people, she could have fed about twenty. The eighth person to show up? Nash. I hadn’t seen him since the day Mariah told me the news about the baby. I found him, depressed as hell and not really wanting to talk to anyone. We had spoken on the phone since then, but that was it. I felt guilty but school and work took up all of my time, and when I wasn’t busy with those things, I wanted to spend it with Justin.
“So, how are you doing with everything?” I sat down next to Nash on the davenport, as Grams liked to call it, picking at the plate of dessert Grams had piled high for me, shoving it into my hands and nudging me toward Nash. Don’t get me wrong, Grams was all for Team Justin but she always had a soft spot in her heart for Nash.
Nash blew out a breath, raking both hands through his sandy brown hair that looked like it was in major need of a cut. “I really don’t want to talk about that shit, Della. Something else, anything else, but that. All right?”
I nodded, definitely understanding not wanting to discuss something that could cause so much pain. But at the same time, it wasn’t always best to keep it bottled up inside. Eventually everything would explode all at once and that was never a good thing.
“So, we should hang out soon. You seem like you’re always so busy whenever we talk. Are you too busy for me?” His lips quirked up slightly and it was nice to see a little bit of the old Nash peek through.
“No.” I squirmed in my seat, not exactly wanting to explain why I was so busy lately. I hadn’t told him that Justin and I were back together. I wasn’t ashamed or anything—far from it—it just never came up. Nash had way too much going on to worry about my love life. “Maybe we can hang out this weekend before school starts back up.”
“That sounds awesome.”
After we all pitched in to clean up the kitchen, we played a few games of cards, and then everyone started to slowly clear out. I was staying the night so I could spend a little more time with my family before they left. Grams couldn’t have been happier.