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“I’m going to cut out early. My daughters, Mary and Sarah, and their families are coming in tonight from out of town.”
“Oh how nice. Have a good visit. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Ah, Elizabeth, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. The office is closed tomorrow, and Friday, remember? You are forbidden to come into the office until Monday,” he said with a smile as he shook his forefinger at her.
A tinge of embarrassment heated her face. “Oh yes, I momentarily forgot.”
Mr. Kent took another step toward her. “Don’t you have plans to spend the holiday with anyone?”
She fumbled a pen through her nervous fingers. “Yes, I have plans for the holiday.” She hated lying to him, but knew if she didn’t he’d worry about her.
His skeptical gaze stayed fixed on her for a brief moment. She figured he was debating whether or not she told the truth.
“Enjoy your visit with your daughters. I’ll see you on Monday,” Elizabeth added, hoping to send him on his way with no worries.
As he exited her office, she began to think about her day tomorrow. Holidays weren’t a big deal to her; they were just another day. As a child, Thanksgiving Day meant their cook would serve a turkey with all the fixings, and she and her parents would sit at the long, cold, formal dining room table and eat, mostly in silence. When the meal was done, the holiday was done. Holidays were never anything to look forward to, not even now.
As usual, Elizabeth was the last to leave the office. Most of the other employees had already left to get an early start on the holiday. Secretly, she wished she could stay in the office forever, it was where she felt most comfortable.
After parking her Lexus in the driveway. She retrieved her mail. As she walked up the driveway toward her front door, she heard a child’s voice call her name. She glanced in the direction of the Antonetti house to find Max and the dog walking toward her.
“Hello, Ms. Shaw. How is your hand? Is it all better? Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving and all of my cousins are coming over, and we don’t have school. What are you doing tomorrow?” The kid hardly took a breath between his questions and statements.
Ugh! She was tired, and she just wanted to be let alone. And of course her hand was better, the accident was weeks ago.
“Nothing,” Elizabeth replied coldly.
“You should come over to our house. It’ll be fun.” The child’s smile beamed.
She stood in her driveway somewhat stunned. How could a little boy be so thrilled about something as uneventful as a feasting holiday? And he looked at her as if she should be responding to him with the same amount of enthusiasm, but she didn’t know how to talk to little children. She couldn’t recall a time she’d actually done that before.
“Gross,” she yelped as the dog’s slimy, wet tongue slid across her hand, catapulting her out of her thought process. She swiped her spit-gobbed fingers across her jacket sleeve, and swallowed hard several times to tamp down the bile rising in her throat.
“It’s just Jake. He likes you,” Max assured with conviction.
“Well, I don’t care for dogs, or having their spit on me.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Joe quickly approaching.
“Max, are you bothering Ms. Shaw?”
“No, I’m just talking to her.”
Joe placed his hand on his son’s head and ruffled his hair. “Grab Jake and head inside. I’ll be along in a minute.”
“I’m sorry they bothered you. I’ll make sure he understands he and Jake need to stay in our yard,” Joe said before he simply turned and walked toward his house.
Hmm, I didn’t do anything, and now he’s being short with me. Elizabeth shrugged. Whatever, I don’t have time for this anyhow.
Though a holiday, Elizabeth woke early as usual. She ran her customary three miles on the treadmill and then sipped coffee as she ate her peanut butter covered toast while perusing client files. By 10:00 a.m. she was bored stiff, so she flipped on the TV. She scanned the channels only to find either football games or Thanksgiving Day parades. She had no interest in watching either, and wished the office was open.
A peek out her living room window showed a fairly nice day outside, especially for late November. She thought perhaps a walk would be nice, so she laced up her tennis shoes and slipped into a sweatshirt.
From the end of her driveway, she looked toward the narrow river and the woods that sat just beyond Joe’s house, then she glanced at the footbridge that crossed the river leading to a path into the woods. It looked inviting.
The woods were quiet and peaceful, not what she was accustomed to from her city-living life in New York. Inhaling deeply, she sucked in the earthy scent of the crisp, cool fall air. She’d never realized before how refreshing plain air could be. How had she never noticed this before?
She continued to walk the narrow path which circled through the woods and led back to the footbridge. By the time she passed by Joe’s house again, the earthy smell had been replaced by a mouthwatering food aroma. Her stomach growled.
