Chapter 4
That night, Callie made everyone wait to eat until Sasha and Mallory returned home.
She figured they’d both appreciate having a nice warm meal after a long day, although she hadn’t taken into consideration the general animosity between them.
The tension was palpable from the moment everyone took their seats, but what was even more strange was that her other kids seemed uncomfortable too.
When everyone finished eating, Callie planned on cornering one of her kids to get some answers.
However, all three of them got up from the table abruptly with their own excuses for rushing off.
Sasha offered to help Callie and David clean up, but Callie told her to rest. It was obvious from her sleepy eyes and sluggish way of carrying herself that she was exhausted from being on her feet all day.
“Are you sure?” Sasha asked before yawning. “I feel like I should do something after you brought me lunch and made us all dinner.”
“Positive,” Callie said. “We’ve got it.”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine.” David smiled. “Why don’t you go hang out with the kids? I think they ended up going out onto the porch for a drink… even though it’s freezing.”
“That’s okay,” Sasha said. “I don’t think they really want me out there.”
David furrowed his brow, but she walked out of the room before he could say anything else. Once they were alone, he turned to Callie with a confused expression. “What was that all about?”
“The dinner?”
“Just all of it.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Why is everyone acting so strange today? I thought for sure the kids would’ve gotten over their apprehension at this point.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Callie said with a shrug.
“I never understood why they were so apprehensive to begin with.” She sighed over the sink full of dishes.
“But to be honest, I don’t have the energy to try and figure out what’s going on with our children right now.
If they feel like talking to us, then great, but if they want to keep acting weird and giving Sasha the cold shoulder, that’s on them.
I can’t keep scolding them for something three adults should know better than to do. ”
“Fair enough,” David said. “I just hope everything calms down a little before Thanksgiving.”
“Yeah, well… I’m not gonna hold my breath.”
“Sasha said you brought her lunch? That was nice of you.”
“I was in town anyway,” Callie fibbed. “She and Kate have both been working hard getting ready for the weekend. I had a feeling Sasha probably wasn’t doing a great job of remembering to eat, so I just brought them some food from that Mexican restaurant we used to go to.”
“Mmm, now I’m jealous. I haven’t eaten there in forever.”
“Maybe after the holidays are over we can go,” she said casually. “You can invite Patricia. That’s your friend’s name, right?”
“Yeah, but most people just call her Sia.” He smiled. “But yeah, I’ll think about it for sure. It’s probably about time the two of you met anyway.”
*
On Wednesday, disaster struck.
After going through her mental list of recipes and gathering all the ingredients she needed for her pumpkin pie, Callie realized that most of the vegetables she’d purchased over the weekend had spoiled.
“Ah, no way!” She whined as she plucked moldy green beans, yellow brussels sprouts, and dripping wet spinach from the drawer at the bottom of the fridge. “How did this happen?”
“Is everything okay?” Sasha came into the kitchen looking worried.
“I’m not sure what to say to that,” Callie said. “I think the freezer is leaking water into the fridge or something, because all these veggies went bad in just a couple days!”
“Oh no.” Sasha made a face as she picked up the bag of brussels sprouts. “These aren’t really wet, they just look like they spoiled faster than usual. Is it possible they were already going yellow when you bought them?”
Callie shook her head. “Not really. My friend from the farmer’s market helped me pick out the best ones.”
“Joshua?”
Callie could feel Sasha’s eyes on her, but she was too overwhelmed to be concerned with whatever Sasha was thinking.
“Yes, Joshua,” Callie confirmed. “We ran into each other at the grocery store, and I asked for his help, since he’s the expert.
” She clicked her tongue at the sight of all the spoiled food.
“This is such a mess, and everything at the grocery store is going to be picked over at this point. Thanksgiving is tomorrow.”
“What are you going to do?”
Callie chewed on the inside of her lip. “I don’t know.
I’ll have to see what’s at the store. Maybe some of my recipes can be salvaged, but I was really counting on having fresh veggies for a couple of the dishes.
” Callie put a hand to her head and closed her eyes, staving off a headache.
Thankfully, the coffee machine was finally finished brewing, so Callie was able to pour herself a cup.
“I wish I could help you,” she said. “But I have to go to work early.”
“That’s okay,” Callie said. “You go ahead. Work is more important for sure, and I’ll be able to figure it out on my own.”
Sasha offered her one more apology, poured herself some coffee to go, and left. Callie continued to stare at all the gross, soggy veggies, with a dejected expression. She took a sip from her mug and waited for the coffee to do its trick. After a minute or so, Mallory joined her in the kitchen.
“Hey stranger,” she said to her daughter, “I feel like I haven’t seen you much the last few days.”
“I’ve been busy.”
Callie refrained from asking what exactly was keeping her unemployed daughter busy, but the thought did cross her mind.
Mallory pointed at the food. “What’s all this?”
“Trash. Or at least, it belongs in the trash. I’m not going to be able to cook with any of it.
” She walked over her phone that was charging on the counter and searched for Joshua’s number in her contacts.
“Somehow, all of it went bad in the fridge. I’m going to call my friend who owns this cute little farm and see if he’s got any good veggies I can get. ”
“Hopefully he answers.” Mallory poured herself some coffee. “But if he doesn’t, I have no problem running into town and seeing what’s left at the store.”
“I’m sure he’ll answer.” Callie put the phone to her ear. “It’s not that early.”
“I just meant because of the holiday. A lot of people start celebrating early, you know? Or they take the whole week off.”
“Well, for one thing, I don’t know that farmers ever get to take a full week off after work,” she said. “And for another, he’s Native American, so he probably doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving...”
“Oh.” Mallory’s eyes widened and she nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Gosh, you don’t think I’ll offend him by asking for veggies to cook with, do you?” Callie drew in a sharp inhale. “Maybe I shouldn’t—”
The phone clicked and then Joshua’s voice came through the speaker. “Hello?”
“Oh—uh, hi! Joshua. It’s Callie.”
“Callie, hey! It’s so nice to hear from you.” She could hear him smiling through the phone. “How are things going with the family in town? Your kids are all back in Ferndale, right?”
“Yes, they are. It’s been good,” she said nervously.
Callie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making a huge mistake, that she was asking her friend something that would make him think of her as inconsiderate or ignorant.
“Uh—well—mostly good. I ran into a bit of a hiccup this morning while I was getting ready to start cooking. It seems there’s something wonky going on with our fridge and some of my veggies spoiled. ”
“Oof, yeah, that’ll do it.” He laughed. “This is the stuff I helped you pick out at the store over the weekend?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good news, at least, because I’ve got extra green beans and brussels sprouts with your name on them. The only thing I don’t have is spinach but send me a picture of the recipe you’re using it for. I can probably come up with an alternative for you.”
“Really?” Callie sighed with relief. “You’d let me come and take some of your veggies?”
“Of course! It’s not like I’m planning a big dinner this week.”
She half coughed, half laughed. “Right. That’s—um—is this weird?”
“Is what weird?”
“That I’m asking you to help me get ingredients for my Thanksgiving dinner? Uh—I mean, you probably don’t celebrate, but I wasn’t sure if the entire holiday was offensive to you or…” She paused, not knowing what she was even saying anymore.
“It’s fine,” he said without even a hint of anger in his voice.
“We don’t celebrate it on the reservation, and we definitely have a different understanding of that holiday than your average non-Native American, but I can separate your Thanksgiving celebration from the less peaceful historical context. ”
“Oh. Well. Good.” Callie felt like a fool and totally out of her depth, but there was no taking it all back now. “I really appreciate your help.”
“Anytime! You know I care more about you having good, fresh food and a nice time with your family than anything else.”
Anything else?
Callie’s heart fluttered and she turned away so Mallory wouldn’t see her blushing. “Thank you so much, Joshua. You’re saving the day. Are you at the farm right now? I can leave in about twenty minutes.”
“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll be here.”
They hung up the phone and Callie smiled at her daughter. “Okay, crisis averted. Joshua has replacement vegetables for me.”
“Great.”
“I’m going to change and then head over to the farm.”
“I’ll come with you,” Mallory said.
Callie paused. “Y–you want to come with me?”
“Sure, why not?” she said. “And then maybe you can drop me off in town on our way back.”
“Why don’t I drop you off on the way to the farm?” Callie suggested. “That way Joshua and I don’t bore you with all our vegetable talk.”
“No, I want to see the farm,” Mallory replied. “It’s local, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds cute. Plus, I gotta meet the man who saved Thanksgiving for us.” She smiled. “Go on and get dressed, or we’ll be late.”
Callie couldn’t come up with another reason why Mallory shouldn’t come with her, so she plastered on a smile and went to get dressed, despite the knot forming in her stomach.