“Okay, I’ll text you to confirm,” I said.
We both fell silent again.
“I need to run, my mom’s got a full house on the way,” he said as he started back toward Crush.
“Lucky you.” It slipped out before I could stop myself.
Andrew paused, like he could sniff out the sadness in me. “How are you celebrating today, other than working?”
I didn’t want to get into it, but the way he was looking at me made it feel like Ihadto tell him the truth. It all tumbled out of me before I could stop myself. “I was supposed to go to my sister’s for the day, but her kitchen flooded. And my mom and aunt were supposed to go too, but they both have the flu, so I’m on my own.” I shrugged and tried to play it off, even though the more I thought about it the worse I felt.
“Oh, no way. That sucks.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll keep busy.” I pointed at my backpack again. “Anyway, happy Thanksgiving.” I headed for my car.
“Higs.”
Andrew’s shout stopped me cold.
“You’re coming to Thanksgiving with me.”
chapter twenty-four
The fact that I was seated beside Andrew at a long, crowded dining room table was proof of his powers of persuasion.
Patricia had folded me into a hug when I arrived and welcomed me like I belonged, when the truth was I was an extra plate to fill at an already overflowing celebration. She’d introduced me as the “goat whisperer” to the sixteen or so family members and friends gathered in their living room and within a few minutes I was absorbed into the group, eating appetizers and laughing along with them as she told the story about getting headbutted into the mud.
I’d expected to feel out of place, a charity case, but by mealtime I was right at home sitting down at the table with Gerard at one end, Patricia opposite him, and the rest of us jammed elbow-to-elbow between them.
The tight quarters meant that the chairs were nearly locked in place at the table. Andrew had given his chair from the dining room set to one of his mom’s friends, leaving him in a wobbly little folding thing that made him look like a giant in adollhouse. I watched him load his plate up with mashed potatoes before passing by his cousin on the other side of him.
“I see I’m not the only one who’s hungry.” I nodded toward his overfull plate.
“Yup. Good food and good people. I’m going to enjoy every bite.”
His eyes lingered on me a second too long, causing me to add an extra spoonful of unfortunate-looking corn pudding on my plate.
He leaned closer to me and pointed at the yellow pile taking up too much real estate on my plate. “You’re going to regret that. Aunt Barb always overcooks it.”
I poked at it. “It’s a cornbrick,” I whispered.
“And now you’ve got to eat it or face the wrath of Barb. She watches everyone’s plate. Trust me, you don’t want to get on her bad side.”
I sampled a tiny bite and followed up with a gulp of wine. “Looks like I’m taking one for the team today.”
Andrew gave me a satisfied nod. “Your mom raised you right.”
“Hey, what’s going on with the Redskins, Andrew?” His uncle Teddy, a ruddy-faced guy who seemed to want to be the center of attention, shouted down the table. “You keep in touch with those guys?”
Andrew winced. “They’re the Commanders now, remember?” He lowered his voice so only I could hear him. “Of all days to use the old team name.”
“Whatever you call ’em.” Teddy waved off the correction. “Do you miss it? I bet old Millville can’t compete with those perks.”
“It’s not a competition,” Andrew responded. He looked aroundthe table as he spoke and I realized that we shared the “it’s time to listen to me” instructor voice required for anyone who taught people. “I loved my time with the Commanders, but my new direction with Crush is exactly what I want to do. And it’s going great, thanks.”
“He’s always been entrepreneurial,” Patricia said, beaming at Andrew. “He set up a lemonade stand at the end of our driveway all by himself when he was seven!”
Gerard chuckled and leaned forward on his elbows so that everyone focused on him. “Yes, but unfortunately he was too young to understand that Cedarhurst Lane gets an average of three cars per day. The poor boy didn’t have a single customer. Let’s hope his business acumen has improved since then.”
