My dad sipped his decaf coffee and eyed me. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression you didn’t think much of this girl.”
That was an understatement, as I hadn’t ever hidden my opinion from him. He’d experienced the full power of my past anger toward the James family.
I’d thought about that a lot lately. What I’d concluded, I wasn’t too proud of.
All these years, I’d blamed Magnolia for my mother’s downward spiral. That had been wrong for two reasons: one, Magnolia had never accused my mother of stealing her ring; therefore she wasn’t responsible for my mom being fired. Two, my mom was ultimately responsible for her own mental health and wellness. She’d been wronged without a doubt, but bad things happened in life, and it was up to each of us to come out stronger after challenges. If that meant getting extra help, then that’s what we had to do. Sadly, my mom hadn’t found a way to do that in spite of a family who loved her and tried everything to help her. She’d refused counseling and hadn’t been good about taking her medications.
“I recently learned it was all her father behind Mom’s employment issues.” I glanced at Addie to find her paying full attention. “I was wrong about Magnolia.”
“Gotta admit it’s no surprise about the father,” my dad said.
“So can she, Pops?” Addie said.
“Can she what?” my dad asked.
“Can Magnolia come for Thanksgiving?”
“I got no problem with it,” he said, “as long as she understands that’s opening night for trees, and our day revolves around that.”
“Yay!” Addie’s eyes sparkled as she scooped up another bite of spaghetti and sauce.
My dad narrowed his eyes at me. “Been a good bit since you brought a woman home for dinner,” my dad said.
“Been a good bit since I’ve liked one enough,” I answered.
The truth was, I hadn’t ever had feelings like this. Even Addie’s mom… There’d been attraction and chemistry and eventually love, but Magnolia was different. We’d grown up together, had a special bond that I’d been stupid enough to ruin, and now we miraculously had a second chance. I wasn’t going to screw it up this time. I was all in with Magnolia James.
Now I just had to hope Magnolia would get there too.
Step one was convincing her to spend the holiday with us.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Magnolia
Something I’d never told a living soul before: little kids made me nervous.
As an adult, I hadn’t spent much time with them. I’d never babysat as a teenager. Basically I kept my distance whenever possible.
But here I was, on my way to have Thanksgiving dinner with Luke, his dad, and his little girl. She was six, he’d told me. First grade.
As if that gave me any context.
If I was going to be involved with Luke, his daughter was part of the package. I needed to not only get along with her but also hopefully get her to like me.
I had no idea how to do that, so I’d asked Presley for advice. She’d suggested bribery.
I’d stopped in at A Novel Place and asked Maeve for suggestions. I’d come away with two Magic Tree House books—one about Thanksgiving and one about llamas.
Armed with the books wrapped up for Addie, a box of chocolates for Luke’s dad, a dish of corn casserole, and a pecan pie—my first ever—I drove out to the farm. My fingers were crossed that the pie was edible, but I had a can of whipped cream just in case I needed to mask anything.
I was nervous enough about spending time with Luke’s daughter, but on top of that, his dad would be there too. His dad, who’d been married to his mom, who my not-father had fired because of a blatant lie. I’d never met Luke’s dad, but I really hoped he didn’t hold me accountable for Felix’s actions.
I knocked on the door, shaking inside with nervousness. It was cold today, so I was wearing my winter coat. I regretted that decision as I waited, sweating hard.
The door opened, and to my relief, Luke stood smiling at me.
“Hey, Mags.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Happy Thanksgiving. Welcome to our humble home.”
