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He leans forward and lightly kisses my lips, just softly enough that he leaves me aching for more. “Let’s do it.” He says, leaning his forehead against mine.
I sigh and climb out of the truck, waiting for him to join me before we walk up to the door. He grabs my hand and squeezes it gently.
We approach the house and I knock on the wood entry door. It swings open quickly and my dad is standing in the doorway, beaming at us. I smile as I take in the sight of him. The heart attack was the wake up call he didn’t know he needed. Thanks to being a bit more selective of what he eats, and taking evening walks with my mom, he already looks healthier. His face is thinning out and even his waistline is hanging over his pants less and less every time I see him.
“Ty!” He says, about three notches too loudly. “Come on in here.”
“Hi Dad.” I say as I move in to give him a hug. “This is Andrew. Andrew, this is my dad, Jerry.”
“Hello, sir,” Andrew says, leaning forward to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, Andrew. What’s your last name?”
“Hayes.” He replies.
“Hayes. Who’s your dad?”
My stomach flip flops. We haven’t even made it into the living room yet and Andrew is already on the spot with questions about his difficult family dynamic.
“He’s actually not from around here. You might know my late grandpa, though. His name was Charlie Hayes.” Andrew says, changing the subject, following my dad into the front room.
“Ole Charlie Hayes,” Dad says with a bit of a sparkle in his eyes. “He was the mail carrier at one time, wasn’t he?” He pauses for Andrew to nod yes. “He was a good man. Sorry to hear about his passing.” Dad says.
“Thanks. Yes, he really was a good one.” Andrew says, taking a seat on the couch, as I follow. As soon as my body touches the sofa, my mother’s voice from the kitchen causes me to bolt right back up.
“Tyler! Is that you?” My mom’s voice carries through the house.
“I’ve been summoned.” I say with a nervous laugh. “Be right back.”
I round the doorway into the kitchen and I am taken aback just a little as I see the kitchen counters covered dish after dish of food. “Wow, Mom. Happy Thanksgiving.” I say. Food has always been her love language, and she is expressing her love loudly today.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she says, waving her potholder in my direction.
“Mom. This is a lot of food. How many people did you invite over?” I ask, moving closer to inspect what she had made. The counter is covered in matching dishes full of pulled pork, coleslaw, mac and cheese, roasted potatoes, rolls, and peach cobbler.
“Just the four of us. I just felt like cooking today.” She says, pulling her towel off of her shoulder and then wiping her hands as she examines the buffet in front of her. “I… might have gone a little overboard. I suppose.”
I put my arm around her shoulder and hug her from the side. “Just a little. It looks and smells amazing, though.”
“Did you bring Andrew?” She asks, wringing her hands as though she just needs something to do.
“I did.” I nod. “He’s in the living room with Dad if you want to meet him.”
“I’ve been asking around about him. No one seems to have anything bad to say about him.”
“Well, that’s promising.” I say, stealing a roasted potato from the pan and popping it into my mouth. “They must not have seen him in the cop car with me last night.”
Mom rolls her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh. “Let’s eat, you felon.”
I shake my head and follow her towards the living room to retrieve the boys. However, when we enter the living room, there’s no one to be found.
“Jerry! Where’d you go?” Mom yells down the empty hallway.
Mom and I exchange a look, both fully aware of where they’ve disappeared to.
I move towards the den and pull open the door to find both men leaning over a folding card table, with a gun laying in front of them. My dad turns at the sound of us entering the space and smiles brightly.
“It’s dinnertime.” Mom says with a smirk.
