25
GWEN
A FEW WEEKS LATER
This was my first major holiday at the ranch.
I’d arrived just after the new year. So grateful to be out of the position I was in, I’d never given much thought to what the festivities here would look like. Now that I was witnessing it, only one word could describe it: magical.
So many women filled the cafeteria, our Thanksgiving was like a concert for the world’s biggest pop star. Sebastian and Lizzie met me at the doors. Simone saved a table big enough for all of us—Delilah, Rhiannon, Axel, Junie, Sebastian, Lizzie, and me. Once Sebastian, Lizzie, and I filled plates with the basics for the table—turkey, mac & cheese, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie—we weaved through the crowd to join the rest of them.
Honey sat at Simone’s feet, giving her a look I knew well. One that said,See? I’m waiting patiently for my next snack.
“Aw, no drinks?” Junie asked, surveying our smorgasbord.
Sebastian grumbled something under his breath, barely able to juggle the mound of turkey and mac & cheese he already held.
Laughing, I sat across from her. “Didn’t you bring your juice boxes?”
“Yeah, but Mommy shared them with everybody.” She crossed her arms against her chest. “And mine’s empty.”
“Everybody else shares with you.” Simone tugged her in and planted a kiss above her braided pigtails. “It’s not empty yet anyway. Finish it off, then we’ll go and find another drink.”
Junie pouted some more, picking at the mac & cheese Sebastian laid before her.
“Hey, Rhiannon?” Delilah poked her head around Axel, looking for her at the head of the table. “Is it okay if I brought a dish? I wasn’t sure if that was allowed. It’s not enough for everyone, but I eat it every Thanksgiving, and I wanted you guys to try it.”
“Of course it’s okay.” Rhiannon propped her elbows on the table, lined with a paper cloth decorated in hand turkeys and cornucopias. I hoped they were cornucopias, anyway. The kids at the daycare had created the masterpiece. “What is it, honey?”
Grinning ear to ear, Delilah stretched below her into an insulated shopping bag. She came back up with an aluminum dish covered in a plastic lid. “Just my grandma’s pecan pie. It’s nothing special, really.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Lizzie stretched across the table for it.
As Lizzie cut into it with a plastic knife, Rhiannon said, “I’m sure it’s amazing, sweetheart. Thanks for bringing it.”
Cheeks bright red, Delilah waved her off. “It’s the least I can do. I’m just so grateful to be here. Thank you again. For everything.”
“I think the point of today is to thank any and everyone.” Simone swayed around Axel to meet Delilah’s gaze. “So thank you for the pie and thank you for joining us.”
Delilah’s blush stayed in place, but she smiled as she rubbed her hands over her arms.
“I could go for a beer,” Sebastian said, spooning some mashed potatoes onto his plate.
“You and me both.” Axel covered his mouth between chews. “If you’re getting up, mind getting me one?”
“And some extra plates,” Lizzie said, struggling to cut through the pecan crust. “Maybe a real knife too. Oh, and a couple of napkins? Preferably some wet ones?”
Shoulders sinking, Sebastian grunted with annoyance. “Anything else, your highness?”
I laughed and started to stand. “Come on. Four hands are better than two.”
He ushered me back down. “No, no. You sit. I’ll just grab one of those carts from the back.” Standing, he looked around the table. “Anybody else need anything?”
“Well, if you’re getting a cart…” Smiling, I batted my eyelashes. Already defeated, he smiled and waited for me to go on. “Glass of wine, please?”
“Red or white?”
“Red. And sweet.”
