A Thanksgiving full of Gratitude by Katie Winters

Author:Katie Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: holiday christmas thanksgiving fiction, sisters fiction divorce fiction, women's fiction mother daughter, clean and wholesome fiction small town, small town fiction inspirational fiction
Publisher: Katie Winters
Published: 2021-09-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Listen, Henry. I’m still married to a dead man. My best friend is half out of her mind at a psychiatry facility. My daughter’s on a quest to ruin her life.” Janine gripped the steering wheel of her car as she hovered in the darkness outside of the Edgartown Fish Shack, the restaurant Henry had spontaneously requested. “There’s just a whole lot on my mind right now. And when you held me all night long...” She trailed off, too embarrassed even to say the words to herself. It was funny how far you could go with something— your emotional journey, your bravery and still feel like you hadn’t moved an inch, that you were still at the base of the mountain, looking up at the immense travel ahead.

Henry appeared at the front tip of her car. He wore a thick winter coat with an orange knitted hat, probably something he’d tugged out of his mother’s front closet, something previously worn a hundred or a thousand times. He gave her a sturdy wave. Janine hopped into the chill and shut her car door closed. They hovered a few feet away from one another, assessing each other like opponents might before a tennis match.

“I like the hat,” Janine complicated with a smile.

“Oh, thank you.” Henry’s cheeks burned crimson as he tugged it off. “I found it at my mother’s house. I wanted to look the part of a silly middle-aged man who didn’t care about his fashion sense.”

“What has this island done to you, Henry? You’ve lost that cynical New York City fashion sense,” Janine grinned, grateful she could trust herself to make the slightest of jokes.

“The artist community in Greenwich Village has already sent me a warning letter for a knitted sweater I wore last week,” Henry explained as they assembled themselves along the walkway that led to the bustling restaurant beyond. “I wanted to ask you. You didn’t tip them off, did you?”

Janine’s laughter was genuine, broad, and almost unrecognizable. “Henry, I don’t make the rules, but I do like to uphold them.”

“Shoot. I knew it,” Henry replied. “I never should have trusted you.”

These last words rang overly true. They sliced through Janine’s stomach as her smile faltered. By then, they reached the front door, which Henry pulled open, his face stitched into a scowl of his own. By the time they reached their assigned table, they’d fallen again into the dull creak of silence, made all the worse with the contrast from the vibrant conversations swirling from all corners.

What could Janine tell him? She pondered this as she tried to study her menu, but her thoughts took over once again. Henry, you’ve been a welcome reprieve from a horrible year. Henry, I want you in my life as much as possible— but I don’t know what that looks like for either of us. Henry. Henry. Just the sound of your name makes me shiver with longing. Henry...

Henry ordered them a bottle of wine. Afterward, Janine lifted her eyes and realized he was now studying her contemplatively.

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