The Saddest Song

Chapter 15

Rainey

I opened my eyes Thanksgiving morning and was welcomed by the sight of my clock flashing red. Smiling, I whispered, “I love you Garrett.” It felt good. I had got used to my signs that he was still around. Of course today he would know we would need him. No doubt, his family would also receive proof that he was there.

I dressed in sweats and a t-shirt and went down to help my mom with her dinner preparations. By midmorning we had finished the dressing, cranberry sauce, my dad’s favorite green bean casserole and the praline yams. Dad was just seasoning the turkey before he put it in the oven when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” I said, grabbing a towel to wipe my hands. I opened the door to see Caitlynn standing there, a covered pie dish in her hands.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” She grinned, “Mom sent you one of her famous Caramel Apple Pies.”

“Yum!” I said, taking it from her. “It smells wonderful! Come on in.”

”Hello Caitlynn! Happy Thanksgiving!” Mom greeted her with a hug. Dad followed close behind.

“Caitlynn, join us for dinner. My turkey is a work of art!”

“I hate to miss it Mr. Martin, but I have to get home, my cousins are coming over. Hey Rainey, do you think I could borrow your blue sweater?”

“Sure, come up to my room.” We ran up the stairs and while she plopped on my bed I dug through the closet for the sweater.

“Rainey, Hudson invited me to have dessert with his family tonight.”

“Whoa, are you going? That sounds kind of serious, meeting the family on a big holiday.” I sat down next to her and folded the sweater.

“I know, that’s why I need the sweater. I can’t find anything in my closet that I want to wear. Mom made a pie for me to take over too. She told me to say I made it myself.”

I laughed, “That will impress them. Your mom should open a pie shop.”

“Don’t laugh. She would love that. Hudson’s mom actually knows mine. They worked together on the fall fundraiser at school. Mom says she is super nice.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Not about meeting his parents, I’m good with parents. Hudson makes me nervous.”

“What? He’s great, why are you nervous?”

“It’s just the way he treats me. He acts like I am fragile or something. He is so considerate of everything I do or say. It’s just that he’s so intense.”

“He has it bad, that’s all. You like him too, huh?”

She nodded and laughed. “Let’s change the subject. How are you doing today? Has it been tough?”

“No, not yet. The McKinley’s are coming over, that will be the hard part.”

“Are they coming for dinner?”

“Yeah, actually they came last year too. So my mom felt they had to be invited this year. I was worried it would be too much for them, but they said yes.”

“What do you miss most?”

Trying to keep things light, I said, “well, today I miss Garrett and his appetite! He loved to eat so much.”

I felt the ache moving into my throat, and my heart felt heavy. This was never going to get easy, I thought.

Sensing my eminent breakdown, Cait stood up and picked up the folded sweater. “You are going to be fine, Rainey. Garrett would be so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” I said hugging her, “and Cait?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really thankful for you.”

“I love you Rainey.” She hugged me again and waved as she headed out the door. I stayed behind to get ready for Max and his folks, thankful that if I couldn’t spend Thanksgiving with my boyfriend, I got to spend it with his family.





Max

I texted Rainey and told her to make the cocktails strong, we would see her in a few minutes. I was only half kidding, and she would know it. She would also know the drinks weren’t for me. It had been a rough morning around our house.

My mom’s family was Danish so our traditional Thanksgiving breakfast was to have Kringles. Kringles are flaky pastries shaped into a large ring with different fillings. As far back as I could recall we would have pecan, cherry and raspberry. My parents loved the pecan, I loved the Raspberry and Garrett, the cherry.

Well, Mom always ordered them from a special bakery in Wisconsin. They shipped them overnight and on Thanksgiving morning she just put them into the oven to warm. When I walked into the kitchen, it smelled great and the table was set with glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice for me, coffee for mom and dad. Mom was actually smiling as she cut and served the Kringle. As soon as I took a bite I realized that there had been a mistake. Mom had ordered Garrett’s flavor instead of mine. No big deal. I would just eat it and nobody would be the wiser. Only two things were wrong with this plan. One, I hate cherry anything, and two, my mom could read me like a book, even when I was trying to fake it. I saw her eyes widen in concern and then she put two and two together.

“Oh no! Is that Cherry?” She reached over and pulled my plate closer to examine the filling that spilled from the pastry. She had a look of horror on her face.

I took a big gulp of juice, “Mom, it’s okay, please don’t worry about it. This is great.”

“Max Alexander, you hate Cherry and we both know it. I am so sorry sweetheart, I must have ordered the wrong one. I know you love the Raspberry.”

Yeah, I loved it, but it wasn’t going to ruin my day. That is until mom burst in to tears and dad’s eyes welled up as he comforted her. Then we all three just kind of stared at Garrett’s empty chair. At that exact moment, the fire alarms began to go off all over the house. Jumping up, I knocked my chair to the floor and shouted “I’ll check upstairs!” Dad headed toward the garage as mom began checking the downstairs. No sooner had I got to the master bedroom, the alarms silenced and my dad yelled that it was all clear in the garage. I still checked all of our bedrooms and baths, going into Garrett’s room last. I jumped when I saw his Television was on, his favorite video game on the screen. “Uh, Mom! Dad! I think Garrett’s home!”

The two of them came running and stood staring at the TV while trying to catch their breath. “Garrett!” Mom said, “I am so glad you are here baby!” Dad said nothing.

I said, “Mom likes you better! She got you your Cherry Kringle!” Then, the insanity of the moment took over and the three of us laughed until we could barely breathe.

Dad wiped tears from his eyes and said, “He always did want to be the center of attention.” He turned towards my mom and put his arm around her shoulders, “Come on honey, I’ll help clean the kitchen while you bake your pies to take to the Martin’s.”

I stayed behind and sat on Garrett’s bed watching the TV to see when he would turn it off. He didn’t, so a half hour later I turned it off myself and went to take a shower and get ready to go to Rainey’s.

The Martin’s house was a nice change from ours. Everyone was in a festive mood, even Rainey. She looked really pretty. She was wearing a short red dress I had never seen before and had her hair pulled up in a loose bun. She looked older. Mr. Martin had a tray of martini glasses filled with something he called Pilgrim Punch. Looked like Cranberry to me. Rainey gave me a wink and grabbed my hand, “Come help me decide what to drink.” We went over to the bar and I saw they had a huge assortment of alcohol, mixers and garnishes. We made virgin Pina Coladas and Rainey topped hers with several cherries. But not mine. Rainey knew full well that I hated cherries.

The rest of our Thanksgiving was completely normal and pleasant. The food was great as was the conversation. We made no mention of my brother’s visit knowing that only Rainey would think we weren’t crazy. I would tell her tomorrow on the drive. We all talked about our trip and our parents gave us a lot of warnings about driving in snow and being sure to check in often. We said goodnight and I hugged both Mr. and Mrs. McKinley. When I got to Rainey she kissed my cheek, hugged me tightly and whispered, “I am so thankful that I have you Max. I don’t know how I would survive without you.”

“Ditto,” I whispered back. I drove my tipsy parent’s home, a strange feeling making butterflies swirl in my stomach. It was only after I had packed and set my alarm that I realized what it was. I was excited. It had been a while since I had felt that way. The weekend away was just what I needed.