Working for Love

Thanksgiving (15)

The much-dreaded Thanksgiving was here.

Somehow, Mom convinced everyone to show up. That was one thing my family always did. We always got together for holidays—even Carl took a bus to get here. We had it at my place since Mom didn't want to travel, which meant I had to do a bunch of running around to get everything set up. Emmalynn and her family came early to help me out; Langdon's family arrived right on time; Delilah and Aaron came almost the same time Carl showed up, which was a little late.

When I finally got a moment, I sat in one of the kitchen chairs, giving the legs I have been standing on a break. My phone made a noise, so I dredged it out of my pocket. It was a text from Viveca.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You too :)

She was spending Thanksgiving with her family in France. A lot of the Ashdown employees were. Her boyfriend was with her. They made up two weeks after being separated, had a great talk to sort out their problems, and seemed happy now as ever before. I hoped they were. Viveca seemed pretty dead set on marrying him.

I had gotten a lot closer to Milly since I started working with her. She was very pleasant and sweet, constantly checking in on me and making sure I didn't need anything. She was very devoted to Damon, they were close friends, but happily married to another vampire named Hector. She and I had gotten coffee at lunch break a few times. She was a great storyteller, so I was always eager to hear another tale from her past.

Damon had actually left me alone for the most part. He still flirted when he saw me but didn't intentionally seek me out unless he actually needed something. I missed his company more than I thought I would, but still didn't know if I could handle anything beside a friendship with him at this point.

But how will I know when I'm ready? Will I just feel it? Will there be a sign, like Langdon gets a new job, or Del declares a truce? How will I tell Damon if that moment comes? Will he still want to date me? What if I've already missed my chance?

Kendal, Emmalynn's husband, touched my shoulder. "You ready to eat? It's almost done." It sounded like he was passing on the news, not actually reporting it for himself.

I glanced up at him and nodded, forcing myself to stand on my weary legs. "Let me see if I can dredge up some potholders." It only took a moment to find them and space them around the table so the hot dishes could rest without hurting the wood. Mom, Em, and I put the food on the adult table—we had another one set up for the kids—, then set out plates and silverware.

"Dinner!" Mom called when we were done.

Carl was the first one up over to the table. He looked just like Dad: brown hair, brown eyes with a hint of green, weak jaw but an endearing smile to make up for it. Too bad his personality wasn't nearly as endearing. "Is it still hot? Took forever to make."

I closed my eyes to take in a slow breath. Annoying as ever. None of us said anything though. He was the oldest, despite never acting like it. There was a certain, invisible hierarchy in place that none of us really wanted to cross, despite Carl being a lacking older brother. I wonder what it's like to be the oldest. Did he used to feel a burden from that when he was younger before his conscience took a trip down south? Did he feel protective? Having a big brother seems like such a great thing until they're not there for you at all.

We made unimportant, strained conversations around the dinner table. Carl tried to sit at the couch to watch the game, but Mom put her foot down, so he stayed with the rest of us. I couldn't hardly look at Delilah still. I hadn't forgiven her for trying to convince Mom to join a retirement home. I wouldn't be surprised if one day she called an assisted living or something to take Mom sometime. I just hoped I would be home if that happened because Mom might not tell me about it. She absolutely wouldn't go with them, but she wouldn't want to cause more trouble between my sister and I.