“I’ll take my chances. I appreciate your character and your integrity. If you’re a little bit stubborn or grumpy, I’ll handle that and take that over a cheater any day.”
“You will never have cause to call me a cheater,” Gilbert said with certainty.
She knew that was true. Everyone had their faults, but that was not one of his, and it wasn’t one of hers either.
“Do you think you’re going to have enough energy to put the tree up tomorrow?” he asked.
“I think after I have a good night’s sleep, I’ll be able to be more enthusiastic about my yes.”
He laughed. “I can do it, or we can wait. I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want.”
“Oh, I definitely want it. This is a fun time of year, and I know the kids are going to enjoy it.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you if you left decorations up in the attic. I had seen there was a whole pile of stuff up there but didn’t go through any of it. And I know this is terrible, but I left all the decorations I had with Desire in the house when I sold it. I just didn’t have the gumption to go through all that stuff, not to mention I didn’t have anywhere to keep it.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, because I did the same thing when I sold the house. I left all the Christmas decorations right where they are. Up in the attic, packed away.”
“Perfect. I think you and I are more alike than what we think.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” she said, her eyes twinkling at him. He seemed to see that in the dark, and he laughed. She was thinking about the fact that they weren’t the slightest bit alike, since he was a man and she was a woman, and maybe he didn’t get that, but he got the gist of it.
“Daddy?” a voice said, and Summer squinted through the darkness to the door as a whitefigure came out.
Larissa in her nightgown.
“Can I sit with you guys for a little bit?”
“You sure can,” he said, and Summer slid over so that Larissa could climb up between them.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Is it bad that I was happier today, with the horse rides and with helping Summer cook, than I was the last time we had Thanksgiving with Mommy?”
Gilbert was quiet for a moment, and Summer waited to see what he would say. Sure, she had some counseling training, but at times like this, there might not be any right answer, or there might be several. But the idea was to let her feel what she needed to feel while knowing how to act correctly.
“I think that’s just fine,” Gilbert said. “I don’t want you to take this wrong, but I like today better too. Although, maybe it’s something that happens as you get older, but every year, I think on Thanksgiving that it’s my favorite Thanksgiving ever. Does that make sense?”
“Not really,” Larissa said, scrunching up her nose and wiggling deeper between them.
Summer reached over and took a hold of her hand, and Larissa grabbed it back, threading their fingers together and holding tight.
“Summer is nice to snuggle with.”
“I agree with that,” Gilbert said, sounding cautious.
“But I still miss Mommy,” Larissa said.
“I think that’s normal,” Gilbert said.
Summer noticed that he didn’t say that he missed her too. He’d already told her more than once that he really didn’t, although he wasn’t glad she had died. Of course not. And he felt guilty because at times he thought that that would have been a good solution. But he didn’t mean to make it so.
She knew that the guilt would probably be with him forever. After all, when a person wished something horrible, and then thathorrible thing came to pass, the person couldn’t help but feel guilty and somehow responsible. It was human nature.
That’s why Summer would always caution people to be very careful about what they wish for, because a person never knew when it might actually happen.
They sat on the swing, pushing back and forth, and finally Larissa said, sounding a little bit more sleepy, “I want to keep taking therapy from Summer. Even though she lives with us. I liked it when she let us work with horses.”
