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“Young love. You two should have been together a long time ago. So much time wasted.”
Tears threatened to fall. “It’s not meant to be, Luigi.”
He lifted my chin to look into my eyes. “Itismeant to be.” Before I could reply, he turned and gestured for me to follow. “Now, we must be hosts for our extended family.”
I sighed. Everyone was Luigi’s family—families who lived nearby, families who had moved away, lunch workers, teenagers looking for a safe place from home—the list went on, but anyone who needed love and help were welcome. If it was up to Luigi, he would have invited everyone in the world to his Thanksgiving dinner, but the restaurant could only hold so many people, so Donna and I had persuaded him to invite only those he was really close with. It had been first come, first served.
Luigi moved into the crowd while I stood by the kitchen door, watching everyone plate up and chat with old friends; some they only saw at this Thanksgiving dinner. It was a wonderful sight to see. Plates were piled high with sweet and savory aromas, but I couldn’t eat just yet. I felt nauseous, my stomach twisting. Every moment was a reminder of who wasn’t here.
I willed my feet to move and mingled with the crowd, making sure everyone was happy and had found what they needed. I also made sure people who didn’t like each other were not fighting over seats. Speaking of which, I made a beeline straight to Ms. Godrik and very gently peeled her away from the table of other elderly ladies who refused to befriend her. Ms. Godrik could talk anyone’s ear off, not letting anyone else speak, but she was a kind lady, and I gave her some of my time while I sat with her until she found some friends that had arrived late. When she started a conversation with one of her friends, I was able to walk away to focus on the others, making sure people who wanted seconds were able to help themselves.
At one point, someone started singing Luigi’s praises, followed by more speeches on how Luigi had helped them get back on their feet. Soon, the whole room was standing and cheering Luigi, which made me so happy to see.
“They should be praising you as well,” a deep voice said from behind me.
The smell was Brandon. I whirled, ready to give him a big hug and hoping we could go back to the way things were when I realized it was Thomas, and he was holding out a tray of food for me.
“I saw you hadn’t eaten, so I made a plate for you,” he said with his bright smile.
“Oh, that’s so nice of you.”But if only you were Brandon.
“You really do run the show, don’t you?”
“I guess so. Luigi and Donna are getting up in age, and I love doing this for them since they’ve taken care of me since college.”
“Wonderful to have people like that in your life.”
“Sure is.”
“Why don’t you sit, and I can keep you company for a bit?”
I glanced around. “I should really keep checking up on people.”
“Everyone’s doing great. You should eat before you miss out,” he encouraged. “And if you want, I can go around and see if anyone needs help?”
“No. No, that’s okay.” That was the last thing I wanted him to do. He shouldn’t be working when he was invited as a guest!
I was so confused. His smell was driving me crazy. How could he smell the same as Brandon? And now that I was slowing down, where was Jill?
“Here, sit,” he suddenly ordered.
I turned my attention back to Thomas and saw he was holding out a chair for me.
“Thanks.” I sat down and slowly dug into the food he’d piled on my plate while looking around to see if everything was going smoothly. Thomas was sitting quite close, and I felt ashamed at how much I liked his proximity.
Thank goodness a girl I’d never seen before came by and sat down in a huff.
“Parties are not supposed to be stressful,” she said.
Thomas and I looked at each other before I ventured to ask, “Why is that?”
“Oh, it’s probably just me. My sister dragged me here to have fun, and now she’s up and left. I have no idea where she went. Been trying to reach her and nothing. Not even a ‘see you later.’”
“That’s awful! You can hang out with us,” I offered.
“Yeah,” Thomas agreed, though it sounded like he was a little disappointed. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“That’s wonderful of you. I’m Millie, by the way.”
