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“Oh, thank you, Holden.” Lynnie gripped my arm. “I’m walking like I’m twenty years older than I am, but when I first moved here, I fell in the parking lot of the grocery store and broke my leg. A broken leg in winter. Ugh.” She shuddered. “I’m so paranoid now.”
Quick bootsteps crunched past us and Mom grunted. She walked like it was the middle of June and she had special shoes with extra-grippy tread.
I pretended like I hadn’t heard, and I hoped Lynnie hadn’t either. “No worries at all. Best to be careful.”
Inside, Nora greeted Emery with a hug. “So glad you came. Ooh, is this the Lynnie I’ve heard so many good things about?”
Pride could’ve punctured my chest. How could my sister be so sweet when she was raised by a mom like ours? Stetson told me once that I should take credit for it, but I didn’t see it that way. I’d left for college when Nora was ten and came home on the weekends and holidays. When I moved back, she was in high school and Mom had given up on her. Nora had been constantly under the weather as a kid, but she’d learned to take care of herself.
Now Nora never wanted anyone to feel unwelcome like Mom had often made her feel.
She engaged Emery and Lynnie in conversation while Stetson and I got the turkeys ready. Willow always hustled into the kitchen and never left on a holiday. I suspected it was her safe spot. She’d been married to Bruce for decades, and she’d learned to navigate his siblings, but that didn’t mean she wanted to.
Before the food was served, Cameron, Naomi, and Isla arrived. Isla carried in a plate of cookies and jumped into the chat with Emery and her mom. Naomi had a couple bottles of wine. She coolly took in the crowd as she wove through the main area to the island.
“Do you have a wine opener, Holden?”
She asked every year. Every time she was in my house. It didn’t matter how many times I told her to help herself, she wouldn’t.
“Sure thing.” By the time I got the cork out, Naomi had been absorbed into introductions with Emery.
Cameron appeared by my side and took over opening the wine. “Still have some corn in the fields?”
It was the same conversation every Thanksgiving. I didn’t recall ever discussing anything personal with Uncle Cameron. It was the ranch side of business or the farming side. It was a new pickup or whether I should upgrade one of the tractors. When I was in high school, Cameron had sometimes asked about football, but that was the extent of him getting personal.
“Yeah, there’s no reason to let it sit at the elevator. How about you?” It wasn’t like we went to different grain elevators or farmed in separate states. Mom’s property and Cameron’s used to be one large chunk.
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “You’ll have to ask Stetson about that. This is the first year I haven’t done much.”
“Busy at the refinery?”
He nodded, but something flickered in his gaze. I couldn’t identify it. Usually, Uncle Cameron was as unflappable as his wife. Today he looked tired. There were faint rings under his eyes that weren’t there before, and the lines that fanned from the corners were just a little bit deeper.
I almost asked him if he was feeling alright, but I knew the answer. He could be crawling into his deathbed and he’d confidently reply that he was fine.
When it was time to eat, I made sure Emery and her mom were next to me. I had an open floor plan, but seating eleven people wasn’t easy. Nora and Isla sat at the island, murmuring to each other. Cameron and Bruce took seats on the couch and used the end tables for their plates as they discussed weather and what Bruce was going to do through the winter.
If Stetson wasn’t at the table, it’d be awkward as hell, but he had turned his personality on. This was the Stetson from the bar, the guy who made everyone feel comfortable and welcome, the guy who cracked jokes. He did what he was best at and kept the peace.
Until Emery’s phone buzzed. She shifted in her chair but ignored it and shot me an apologetic smile.
“It’s okay to answer,” I said quietly.
My mom was across the table from us. She chewed and watched us, her expression flat as if she was ready for an eye roll or anI told you solook. She was territorial. She’d been that way as a rancher and as a mom, like she wanted me and Nora to be as lonely as her.
“The kids are with their dad. You and Mom are here. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Her phone buzzed again. She bit the bottom of her lip and discreetly pulled the device out of her pocket. “Oh. It’s Henry.”
“Think everything’s okay?”
“I hope so.” She sighed and pushed her chair back. “Since he’s calling again, I’d better make sure.”
I lifted my chin in the direction of my bedroom. “You can go in my room.”
“Thank you.” She hurried away.
Mom speared a piece of turkey. “She talk to her ex a lot?”
