“I really wish you wouldn’t have invited him without talking to me. Things aren’t going well, and now I have more mouths to feed.”
“And everything will be fine. I’ll come over there and help you. How about that?”
Sighing, I knew she would have to if I had any hope of pulling this dinner off. “Alright. Can you pick up some things for me?”
“Honey, what have I always told you?”
I rolled my eyes, waiting for the inevitable lecture.
“Do your shopping a week in advance, and then get anything you still need the day before.”
“I did my shopping yesterday, but something came up.”
“Yes.” I could hear the judgment in her voice. “I heard all about what happened, and how you had to be carried out of The Beaver and Boot last night.”
Perfect. Just another thing for us to argue about when she came over. I dearly loved my family, but my mother had a way of making her opinions known when they weren’t wanted. And cooking with her wasn’t exactly a treat. I always found her looking over my shoulder, waiting to tell me I wasn’t doing it right.
Still, it was Thanksgiving, and I loved spending time with them at the holidays. This would be good, even if I did have to put up with Austin Callahan.
“I’ll send you a list.”
“Perfect. And I’ll bring the wine.”
My stomach rolled at the thought, but I thanked her and hung up, getting back to work before I got so far behind that we’d have a midnight feast.
Thank God Sam didn’t accept my invitation. He was right. We needed to keep things quiet between us. If he was here at the same time as Austin, I could only imagine the chaos that would ensue.
My hair wasa hot mess by the time three o’clock rolled around. I’d been so busy getting dinner together and then getting the appetizers ready that I hadn’t had time to even make myself look presentable.
The doorbell rang just as I finished putting the cheese and crackers on the table. Mom brushed past me with a bowl of olives, beaming as she ran a hand over her perfectly coiffed hair.
“I think this dinner will be very nice.” She cast an eye over my ragged appearance and frowned. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll greet our guests.”
“Thank you.” I breathed a sigh of relief, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “You’re a lifesaver.”
The fact that I didn’t have to see Austin for a further ten minutes was only a bonus. I quickly picked out a different outfit, then rushed into the bathroom and fixed my face and tucked my hair up in a bun. It wasn’t what I would have normally done for Thanksgiving, but at least my hair wasn’t a frizzy mess by the time I was done with it.
Opening the bedroom door, I gasped in surprise when I found Austin lurking on the other side.
“Oh, um…hello. Did you need something?”
His eyes scanned my body before settling on my bedroom. “Nope,” he answered, taking a step back. “Just headed to the bathroom. Wrong door.”
There was something about the way he was standing there, leering at me, that had me wishing I could slam the door and lock it in his face. But that was silly. Austin was creepy, but that didn’t mean I could abandon my family on Thanksgiving.
Even if he was staring at my breasts instead of my face.
Shivers skated down my spine, but I shoved it aside and pulled the door closed behind me as I directed him to the very open, very obvious door to the bathroom.
“Right in there.”
“Got it. You look good, Cassidy.”
I would have been glad for the compliment if it weren’t for the lecherous look in his eyes. There was just something about Austin that set me on edge, and even after all this time, when I hardly saw him anymore, I just couldn’t stand to be around him.
Quickly shoving past him, I made my way into the living room and smiled as I greeted my guests, feeling rather awkward since I never spent any time with them.
“John, it’s good to see you again. Thank you for getting the groceries over here.”
