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I laughed, though what came out was more of a sigh mixed in with a dry laugh. My life was such a mess, but compared to what Jill had gone through, it was going pretty well. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and joined her in the kitchen to plate some other food so she wouldn’t eat all the donuts.
Becca
The dinner wasready to go. Tonight, we would have about fifty people at Luigi’s. The only thing I was nervous about was Brandon meeting Thomas for the first time. Jill had put me in such a pickle that I kept messing up the list of who was bringing what. At one point, I realized I had half the people bringing pies, and I had to throw that list away and start over.
But now it was go-time, and I didn’t have an excuse not to go. Luigi relied on me to pull this dinner off. He had been hosting it for fifty years, and for some reason, I got roped in to help him plan and run it. Brandon always teased me that I secretly loved this role, and as always, he knew me well.
I pulled on the sweater dress I’d bought in the hopes of impressing Brandon tonight. It took me five tries before I was able to catch the clasp on my necklace. Three hosieries later and I was finally out the door, carrying my signature apple and pumpkin pies. During the whole drive to Luigi’s I couldn’t help but wonder what Brandon was going to think when he met Thomas.
Ringing the back door of Luigi’s, I smelled the waft of his wonderful lasagnas. Others would be bringing turkey, casseroles, stuffing, and all sorts of potatoes—twice baked, mashed, sweet—and I’d skipped lunch today to stuff myself silly tonight.
“Becca! My dear. So good to see you.” Luigi’s wife, Donna, opened the door for me, and I followed my nose to the three lasagnas sitting on the counter.
“Donna, I could eat a whole one by myself right now. They smell so good.”
“You can take one for yourself. There will be plenty of food.”
“I might take you up on that. How’s Luigi?”
“He’s doing better. His arm is healing nicely after only two days.”
“I can’t believe someone would try to steal something.”
“Don’t bother yourself about it. We will have a fun night tonight and that will raise his spirits.”
Donna showed me where to put my pies, and as we finished setting up the food table, people started trickling in. There were three turkeys, two big trays of stuffing, coleslaw, all sorts of potatoes, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, green bean casserole, green beans with shallots, lasagnas, and three different kinds of rolls. It was all I could do to not take a sample of everything that was set down.
At exactly six o’clock, Donna clinked her glass, and the room slowly settled. Even though I was used to standing in front of a group of people, when it came to the Thanksgiving dinner, I wished Donna would let me melt into the background.
Some people imagined everyone was naked in order to distract themselves from the butterflies, but I always looked for Brandon. I realized then it had become a habit. But I hadn’t seen him come in yet, and his delicious dish of candied apples was always my favorite dessert. Looking around the room, a surge of nervousness swept through me. At the same time I saw Thomas enter the room, holding his bowl of sweet potatoes. He took my breath away, and my brain required a few seconds to catch up to my body.But he’s not for you; Brandon is. Where is he?
“Becca, would you like to say something?”
I looked over and saw Donna looking at me. Shoot, I was never this out of it that I didn’t realize it was my turn to talk!
“So glad all of you could make it again to Luigi’s Thanksgiving meal,” I said, trying to refocus back on the event. A horde of clapping began, and I waited for it to subside before continuing. “This year, we have something even more to be thankful for. As you know, our friend, Luigi, was mugged two days ago right here in his own restaurant. Thank goodness he is recovering well and Donna wasn’t there.”
At this moment, Luigi himself stepped into the room. It was the first time I’d laid eyes on him since the mugging. My heart gave a jerk at the number of bruises covering his face. His right arm was also in a sling. But he was all smiles, as usual. That was Luigi. Nothing could bring him down. He always had a friendly face and a kind word for anyone. It hurt that someone would take advantage of him like this.
“Let’s everyone start eating, yeah?” Luigi said.
He wrapped me in a warm hug and hooked my hand through his, guiding me back into the kitchen.
When we were inside the room, he turned to me and said the last thing I thought he’d say at the beginning of his big dinner. “You and Brandon fighting?”
“What?”
“You heard me. You and Brandon fighting?”
“No, I . . .” I hung my head. “How come you’re asking?”
“He’s not coming to dinner.” Luigi huffed at this, and I was too dumbfounded to say anything at first.
Brandon wasn’t coming at all?I felt my resolve snap, and I almost fell over.
Luigi caught my arm. “What has happened between you two?”
“We’re not fighting. I just . . . I might have been too forward, and he might be awkward around me now.”
