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“You’re not too bad yourself.” He gives me a chaste kiss. “Are you ready?”
“Yep, let me just grab my purse.”
I turn and give my mom another hug good-bye. “Love you,” I say.
“Love you too, baby. Have fun.” She turns to Matthew. “Thanks again for inviting her.”
“You know she’s always welcome, and Justine told me to tell you one more time that she’ll have an extra place setting ready for you if you change your mind or just want to take a break.”
“Please tell her thank you, and I’ll gladly take the leftovers Hannah mentioned she’d send home.”
He tilts his hat to her. “Will do.”
We say our good-bye and head to Matthew’s truck. Before I hop in, he stops me and kisses me a little longer than the little pecks he gave me inside.
When he pulls back, I give him a questioning expression. “What was that for?”
“You look so beautiful. I couldn’t help myself.”
He gives me another kiss before helping me in, then going to his side of the truck.
After we park at their place, we walk into their home with a big, “Happy Thanksgiving!”
We all smile as we say our hellos and give hugs all around. Justine’s parents are joining us as well and have seemed to truly welcome Matthew into their lives as their own grandson.
When we sit down to dinner, Justine’s mom starts off the conversation when she asks, “So, Tucker, tell me about this performance you’ll be doing at the tree lighting. It’s on Tuesday, right?”
Justine instantly turns to me. Tucker and I have been practicing together, but I still want to keep it from Matthew. We both glance at Tucker, hoping he remembers that fact.
“It’s going good,” he says nonchalantly, making Justine and me both let out the breath we were holding as we glance at each other in relief.
Justine is thankfully quick to change the subject as she announces, “We have to listen to our song!” She fumbles with her phone. “So, it’s called ‘Alice’s Restaurant,’ but you have to listen to the story Arlo Guthrie tells. It’s about a guy who is arrested for littering on Thanksgiving, but really, he just has to pay fifty dollars and pick up garbage.” She mimics what I’m thinking is a part of the song. “A few years later, he is going into the draft for Vietnam and is told to go to the Group W Bench when the recruiters find out he’s been arrested.”
She points to a bench next to her with a chuckle. I haven’t seen it here before, and I didn’t notice until now that engraved in the wood are the wordsGroup W.
We listen to the song, and it’s obvious it’s a big deal by the way her parents and she mimic certain parts like, “I meeeean,” and, “Kids, this piece of paper’s got forty-seven words, thirty-seven sentences.” Then, they all try to keep up with how fast he talks, acting like a drill sergeant.
No matter how odd I think the song is, seeing their faces light up at certain parts and laugh at others makes me smile.
My mom and I don’t really have family moments like this since it’s just us and she works around the clock to make sure we have a roof over our heads. Remembering she’s at work while I’m here with Matthew’s family puts a damper on the night, for sure.
* * *
The tree lighting comes faster than I thought, as we’ve been busy, preparing for the event. I feel bad, keeping what I’ve been up to from Matthew, but my reasoning has changed.
At first, I was embarrassed to admit that I wanted to sing, but now, I’m super excited to surprise him and show him just how good I’ve gotten. Tucker has been a great mentor, and I’ve learned so much from him in this short time.
Matthew asked that I come to the festival with him and the only way I got out of it was by saying I had bad cramps and would rather stay home. I hope he forgives me for lying to him about all of this.
The show starts as I sit behind the stage and wait. Tucker and the band do a few of their own Christmas songs before he makes the big announcement.
“We have something special for you tonight,” he says, and everyone claps.
I glance out at the audience to see Matthew sitting with Justine and her parents. He looks slightly bored, and I try to stifle a laugh, thinking how I’m going to surprise him in just a few seconds and hopefully make this show a little more memorable for him.
“I wanted to do some Christmas songs by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, but you see, I had one problem. I needed a female to sing Dolly’s parts,” Tucker says to the crowd.
This piques Matthew’s attention as he glances toward the stage.
