To Love & Protect (Bryant Brothers Book 2) by Tami Lund

Author:Tami Lund [Lund, Tami]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

“I’ve never experienced a ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving celebration,” Maecie called out from where she stood in the bathroom, pausing in the process of twisting fat ringlets into her hair to create air quotes around “traditional.”

Philip stepped into the open doorway. He was freshly showered and dressed, his hair combed, his beard trimmed. She’d watched him do it. He really was that good with a pair of clippers.

Propping his shoulder against the doorframe and sliding his hands into the pockets of his slacks, he said, “Really?”

She nodded and resumed curling her hair. “Every year, for as long as I can remember, all plans hinged on whether Mom was having a good run at the casino. If she was, Gran and I had a nice, quiet dinner together. Sometimes at Gran’s house and sometimes out at a restaurant. The last few years, as Gran’s health began to fail, those years eating out became more and more the norm.”

He watched her through the mirror, his expression open.

“There was no one else,” she continued. “My grandparents divorced before I was born, and Mom used to tell me all the time that her father was a no-good, deadbeat dad and they were all better off without him in their lives.”

“No extended family either?” Philip asked.

She shook her head, and her fresh ringlets bounced. “Gran sometimes talked about family out on the East Coast, but I’ve never met them and she had never gone out to visit as far as I was aware.”

“It feels like there’s more to this story.”

She sighed and blinked rapidly to chase away the tears so she could apply eye makeup. Some days the knowledge that her grandmother would never again wrap Maecie in her arms and affectionately kiss her cheek was harder to accept than others.

“Those were the good years. When Mom was winning and didn’t need us to put dinner on the table. It’s never been about spending time with family for her. It’s always about whether she had enough money or credits to be able to spend her holiday at the casino. If she didn’t, she would show up at Gran’s house fully expecting a Thanksgiving dinner to be laid out for her. Problem was, we never knew until a day or two beforehand whether she would make her presence known on what I consider an important family holiday.”

“I’m glad you feel that way despite your childhood. I feel that way too.”

She smiled, catching his eye in the mirror. “I’m glad you feel that way despite the distance you’ve put between yourself and your family.”

“So, if I hadn’t dragged you out to the middle of nowhere, what would you have made for dinner today?”

“Well, this year is the first time I would have had to deal with Mom without Gran’s support. And since turkeys are sold frozen and I hadn’t actually bought one, if Mom had shown up, I probably would have made a pork tenderloin. Or maybe steaks, although grilling is definitely not my forte.”

She was honestly more

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.