The Mountain Between Us by Cindy Myers

Author:Cindy Myers [Myers, Cindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2013-10-03T16:00:00+00:00

Thanksgiving morning, Olivia, Lucas, and Lucille carried four foil turkey pans full of mashed potatoes to the school. The kitchen was filled with volunteers setting out dishes, heating gravy and rolls, and preparing the meats. Olivia was surprised to see D. J. in his black watch cap and a long white apron, basting a turkey at the giant oven. He looked so at home there, so a part of things.

He was even newer to town than she was, yet he’d fit right in, transforming himself from city dweller to rugged mountain man seemingly effortlessly. You’d have thought he’d been born hunting his own food and splitting firewood, while she still felt out of place much of the time. When people bragged about surviving rugged winters, digging themselves out of blizzards and thawing frozen pipes, it didn’t sound exciting and memorable to her—it made her want to pack her bags and flee south.

“Is D. J. a good cook?” Lucille asked.

“He made turkey for us last year.” Lucas waved across the room. “Hey, D. J.! We’ll save you a seat.”

No! Olivia thought. But she couldn’t voice her protest without upsetting Lucas and drawing a lot of unwanted attention. Maybe D. J. would be too busy cooking to sit with them.

Having deposited their contributions to the meal, she and Lucille followed Lucas back into the cafeteria. The cavernous room was filled with children scurrying about handing out name tags or decorating the butcher paper tablecloths with crayons. Mothers settled infants into high chairs borrowed from the Last Dollar for the occasion, while a group of old men claimed the spots closest to the serving line. The Elks Club and the Elks Auxiliary, dressed in crisp white aprons with red trim, took their places behind the serving dishes, and a half-dozen high-school girls scurried around with pitchers of tea, water, and lemonade, filling glasses.

Promptly at noon Bob climbed onto a chair and clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “We’re going to get started in just a minute here,” he said. “But before we do, I wanted to give y’all a little history on Thanksgiving in Eureka County. The first one of these here dinners was back in 1883, when the first miners came here. They were from Cornwall, England, from Ireland and Wales and Germany, and from the eastern states. They didn’t have a lot in common but a thirst for adventure and gold. But they wanted to settle in to their new homeland, and they’d heard about this American custom of Thanksgiving.

“But there weren’t a lot of women with them to cook a fancy meal, and they didn’t have all that much food anyway. They decided to pool the things they had and have dinner together, to enjoy a little fellowship and toast their good fortune in coming to this beautiful place, where they all hoped to make their fortunes.”

Someone started to applaud, but Bob shushed them.

“Come on, Bob, we’re hungry!”

“Shut your trap, I’m almost done.” He scowled at the assembled crowd until everyone quieted down again.

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