34. Giving thanks
THIRTY-FOUR
GIVING THANKS
TROY
Denver is hosting Thanksgiving, which means he’s having the meal catered by a newly opened restaurant in Tennessee. My aunt Emmy Sue and Mom are in the kitchen on their phones and their third glass of wine, watching vanilla snippets of Denver’s latest celebrity porn video playing on every social media channel we turn to.
Remember the girl he brought here Thanksgiving some years ago who I didn’t like? Yeah, that one. She posted their private videos on a porn site, likely because she already got money for giving up pictures of her and my brother when they dated back in the day. Now my brother’s videos from when they dated in their twenties are all over the internet. Most of them are not decent.
Denver’s marketing team is working on taking down the main video from today, but that’s all they can do for now. Since my best friend, Amy, told me she downloaded it and watched it more than twice, I know many others have too, so the video might resurface again.
Denver’s handling the fame as best as he knows how, and hopefully, next year, the craze and novelty of it will get easier on him. Levi has taken over as the spokesman for the band. With honey-brown eyes and long, light-brown hair that looks naturally highlighted, Levi shines in the spotlight. Maybe by looking at Levi, their fans will forget Denver exists.
I’m sitting behind the kitchen counter, feeding Mira under a blanket and flipping through my e-reader searching for my next Mafia romance fix, when Mira stops suckling. I peek under the blanket to see her little mouth open and eyes closed.
Slowly, I move from the kitchen and into her bedroom, which used to be Denver and Levi’s old room. I put her down in her pink cot, then place the stupid toy shark near her because if I don’t, I feel like I’m robbing my baby of the presence of a man who cared enough about her to come visit her when she was born.
There are dads out there who never see their biological children. There are also moms who never do too. Shark has no obligation toward this little girl, but I love that he’s thought about her enough to come and see her. If I can’t have him in my life, at least I know he truly cared about her and me during the time we were together.
Maybe some people will find it’s wrong of me to hide the truth from her. And that’s okay. People can judge all they like. I think what I’m choosing with her and how I’m choosing to raise her is right. And you know what they say about mothers?
We know what’s best for us and our family.
I close Mira’s bedroom and enter the kitchen again to find my mom on the phone with one of my brothers. Her ear-to-ear smile tells me it’s probably Denver, and he’s calling to tell Mom he’s bringing over a girl.
“Sure, son, bring her, bring her. I can’t wait to meet her.” Mom hangs up and exchanges knowing looks with Aunt Emmy Sue.
I roll my eyes. “Mom, I can’t believe you’re okay with him bringing another girl over when the one he used to bring over is causing him problems.”
“This one seems special.”
“We’re hoping for a wedding,” Emmy Sue says.
“Five minutes ago, you guys were scrolling through his band page and saying he’s a whore.”
My mom gasps. “Troy Helena Montgomery, I never said that about your brother.”
I cock my hip, put my hand on it, and look at Aunt Emmy Sue with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, you did, Nancy,” my aunt confirms.
“Well,” Mom says, “then I better stop drinking.”
“Ya think?” I mumble on my way to get whoever’s ringing the bell. “Coming!” I shout as I pass by my dad on the couch, feet up on the table, football game blaring through the living room.
“Don’t get up to get the door, Dad.”
“Wasn’t going to.”
A pleasant-looking young man in a brown uniform smiles on the camera we have at the entrance.
I open the door. “Hi,” I greet him.
“Montgomery?”
“Yes, that’s us.” I look past him at the small army of people carrying Thanksgiving food from the van up the driveway and toward the house. I prop the door with a piece of wood. “Mom!” I shout. A second later, she’s telling the people where to place the items on the big table. Soon thereafter, she’s calling my brother Dakota, who comes out of his room and helps out. My other brothers, Carl and Simon, are in California together this year with Carl’s boyfriend’s family.
We’ll probably end up on a video call with them later.
It takes us about half an hour to set up the table, and I’m hoping baby Mira will nap long enough for me to eat. I plan to enjoy a glass of wine with my meal and one more after I put her down for the night, but not before I give her a nice bath. She loves her baths.
I’ve just set the last fork and knife beside a plate while Aunt Emmy Sue unwraps the rest of the side dishes over by the portable tables we’ve set up for our buffet style Thanksgiving when the door rings again.
“That must be Denver and Levi,” my dad says like some butler who won’t get the door.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Dad.” I roll my eyes and get the door for Levi, who walks in first.
He spreads his arms. “How’s my favorite girl doing?” His smile drops instantly. “Oh, never mind. Where’s Mira?”
“Jeez, she’s sleeping.” I step aside and get a pathetic peck on the cheek.
Denver comes in next. He’s all pooped out, probably because of the scandal.
“Hey,” I greet him. “You okay?”
“Not really, no,” he says. “But let’s say that I am.”
“Is it the news?” I ask quietly. His bandmates and the girl he brought stand behind him, so I get out of the way and take everyone’s coats. As the band comes in, the atmosphere becomes loud and cheerful. My hands are full of coats I need to hang. I do that beside the door and go to close it when I notice a man still outside.
“Oh, hey, sorry about that. I thought everyone came in. Welcome,” I say, hoping that’ll move him inside. It’s November, and the cold breeze is blowing into the house, but the man stands on the doorstep, hands in his pockets, gaze down. Long brown hair is tucked behind his ears, and a beard covers his face. A black sweater and jeans over black cowboy boots look kind of hot on this dude.
“Mike, is that you?” my dad calls out.
The man looks up.
I know those brown eyes. They’re warm and kind as they look at me and arrest my breath. I know those hands and how they’re tucked inside his pockets the way Shark often did because he would never encroach into my space unless invited. I’m standing there and he’s standing there, and I don’t know what to do.
That’s not true. I know what to do, but I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to pretend I’ve never met this man before and invite him into the house as if we’re strangers. I want to throw myself at him and bury my nose into the crook of his neck and inhale the familiar scent of his soap. I want him to wrap his arms around me and hold me tight, so tight that I feel like we’ll never part again.
I touch my now-flat belly and wiggle my fingers. His gaze drops to the ring he put on my finger, which I never took off. Not even when my dad asked me why I’m still wearing it. I told him I’m saving it for Mira. It’s too pretty and too expensive to sit in the chest on my dresser.
Shark gives me a small nod. I don’t know how this man can remain chill when I want to burst out of my skin, but he does.
“Mike?” Dad says from behind me. I startle, then move aside for Mike to walk in. Dad closes the door behind Shark and shakes his hand. “Glad you could make it, pal.”
“Thanks for the invite,” Shark says as he shrugs off his jacket.
I extend my hand. “I’ll take that, sir.”
Shark smirks and hands me the jacket while my dad throws an arm over my shoulders and pulls me into his side, then kisses the top of my head. “This my baby girl, Troy. Apple of my eye. I have five sons, but this one I love the most.”
“Thanks for that,” Levi pitches from the table.
“You touch that pie, Levi, and I’ll cut off your finger,” my aunt says on her way from the kitchen. She drops the basket of fresh-baked rolls on the buffet table and turns to sit down, but remains standing when she sees Shark. A blush of pink appears on her cheeks, and she fluffs up her hair.
Shit’s about to get awkward, y’all.
“Howdy,” she says. “And who might you be?”
“This is our new neighbor, Mike,” Dad says, even though nobody asked him anything.
“How nice to meet you, Mike. I’m Emmy Sue, Carl’s sister-in-law.”
“My aunt,” I say with a big smile.
She offers him her hand, and Shark shakes it while my aunt uses the opportunity of offered contact to pull him toward the table. “You can sit next to me, dear, and tell me about yourself. I’m recently divorced. How about you?” She slides her hand up his arm and grips his biceps. Her eyes widen. “Oh my.”
Now she’s really into him, and I don’t blame her. I know how firm his biceps are and what all he can do with his hands and agile fingers.
Shark doesn’t protest when my aunt makes him sit with her. He doesn’t make her feel unwanted when she starts to chat him up, offering him beers and talking about herself even as she tells him to talk more about himself. He sits there and pretends to listen, but I’m sure he’s not listening. I’m sure of it because I catch his reflection in the window watching me smell the collar of his jacket before I hang it by the door.
I take a seat across from him for two reasons. I want to look at him the entire time we eat because I can’t touch him, and if I sit on the other side of him, I’ll touch him. I won’t be able to help myself. This would be very bad, because if my dad catches us, he’ll shoot Shark and go to jail.
Prisoners aren’t very kind to cops in jail.
For the sake of my family, I keep my distance as everyone else sits down. My mom comes in last, and Shark stands when she comes over to introduce herself and remains standing until she sits down.
My dad claps him on the shoulder when he sits. “You’ve got some good manners there, but don’t be too formal. Nancy and I want you to come over whenever you’re feelin’ like you need company. We’re grateful you let Dakota draw the plans for your house.” Dakota is autistic and has a gift for drawing spaces. Architecture is his jam.
“Thank you, Carl. I’ll take you up on that offer and come often.”
Oh God, I’m not gonna be able to eat. After all these months I spent caring for my baby and wishing I could see her daddy, he’s finally here, and I just want to cry, I’m so darn happy. But I can’t, because that’ll raise questions. I fist my hands in my lap.
From next to me, Denver leans in and whispers, “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I turn toward him. “How’s it going with you?”
“I’m taking a break from music for a while. Roll?”
Oh no. “Those scandals will pass. Give it a week or two, and another scandal will take over. Don’t let them get to you.”
“It’s not that. I don’t care about that. If anything, it’ll sell our songs even more.”
“Then why?” I spread butter over my roll.
“Honestly?” he asks. I’m starting to feel bad that I never greeted his girlfriend, who is sitting next to him, quietly observing us all. Her plate is empty, and I nudge Denver. “Put a roll on her plate.”
“She’s a big girl.”
“Maybe she’s shy. Denver, come on.”
“Serves her right.”
Damn. “If you don’t like her, why did you bring her to see Mom and Dad?”
“Levi insisted.”
“Levi?” I say a little louder.
“What?” Levi says from a spot next to my aunt and across from Denver’s girlfriend.
“Nothing,” I say.
Levi shrugs and throws a roll at Denver’s girlfriend.
She catches it with a smile that makes her face glow. Levi winks at her.
Now, Levi is flirtatious and a playboy, but even he wouldn’t “make eyes” with Denver’s girlfriend at our Thanksgiving table. I glance at Denver, who looks at me dead in the eye. “Our girlfriend. Our business.”
GOOD LORD.
Just when I thought my life was interesting, Denver tells me he shares a girlfriend with Levi.
Denver picks up my buttered roll and shoves it into my gaping mouth. “Eat.”
I chew like a good doggy, still stuck on the our girlfriend part but he’s moving on.
“We’re thinking about renting one of Mike’s new cabins, but,” Denver whispers, “he looks familiar. I can’t put my finger on it, but that’s making me hesitate for some reason.”
Oh no. Have they met? Of course they met! I forgot. They had to have met since they both arrived in the same van under the bridge. I don’t know why Denver doesn’t recognize Shark.
I prop my hand under my chin, pretending I’m looking at Mike. “He looks like a…dude. Many guys look like him.” And that’s Shark’s ruse. Shark wants to appear as an everyday man who lives an average life integrated with his new community. He’s a newcomer who is having dinner with the family next door. These are all the things he didn’t have growing up as a child.
As my aunt chats him up, he strokes his beard. It’s the beard! And the hair. Denver can’t recognize the hitman he might’ve met back then because they look nothing alike. This man is a completely different person, with warm brown eyes and steady, strong demeanor. Hell, if I hadn’t seen Shark when he grows his beard and hair, I wouldn’t recognize him either.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Denver says. “Hey, Mike, how long before you have a cabin ready?”
“In the spring.”
That’s music to my ears. “Which property did you buy?” I ask. There’s so much land around here, but it’s all bought up, and we know who owns what.
“Mom’s and Pop’s,” my dad says. “Bought the whole farm.”
My breath catches in my throat. My parents have been trying to sell my grandparents’ property for years. They were going to use the money to help Denver and Levi with their music, but when they couldn’t sell it, I took Falena up on his offer. The fact that Shark bought my grandparents’ old farm just makes me love him even more.
“I’m so glad that space isn’t going to waste,” I say, barely able to hold back my emotions.
“Me too,” he says.
“Me three,” Dad says. “Of course, now that Denver doesn’t need the money from the sale, we don’t know what to do with the cash.”
“I know,” Levi says. “You can give it to me.”
Dad shakes his head. “You have enough. We’ll build something for your sister, since the deadbeat who knocked her up won’t help with their daughter.”
“Carl,” my mom says. “Let us enjoy our meal.”
“I’m enjoying it very much,” Shark tells her.
“I’m curious,” Aunt Emmy Sue says. “Why still wear that loafer’s ring?”
“Because it’s a Nino ring,” Denver and Levi’s girlfriend says. “Sorry. It’s just that I work as a jewelry appraiser, with diamonds specifically, and I couldn’t help but notice her Nino ring.” Her pretty blue eyes light up when she leans over to catch my gaze. “There are only nine of those in circulation, hence the name. If you want to sell it, I could probably get you a couple hundred thousand for it.”
“A couple hundred thousand!” my aunt says.
“Exactly,” I say. “Not a deadbeat just a…dead man.”
Shark’s eyebrows shoot up as silence blankets the table. He compresses his lips as if holding back a smile, then crosses himself. “May he rest in peace.”
We all cross ourselves. “May he rest in peace.”
“I’m so sorry, baby girl,” my dad says, “you didn’t tell us he’d passed away.”
“I only heard last week. It made me sad to talk about it.”
My mom gets up to hug me. “Aw, honey, I’m so sorry.”
It’s official. I am the worst person at this table right now. Also, I’m befriending my brothers’ girlfriend. I want to be friends with a girl who, after hearing a man left me with a baby, wanted to help me instead of feel sorry for me. The woman suggested I sell his ring.
“Will you be staying with us tonight?” I ask her.
Denver pinches my thigh.
Ouch! I stomp on his toe.
“I’m not sure yet,” she says. I forgot her name. That’s what I get for not listening when Denver introduced her.
“We don’t have a spare room, but I could put the baby with me,” I propose.
“I don’t want to inconvenience you,” she says. “Thank you. I’m serious about the ring too. If you need cash…”
“I’m fine,” I say. “I’m looking for work.” I’m not. Not yet, anyway.
“What kind of work are you looking for?” she asks. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
I wish I’d sat next to her. “Not at all. And I’m not sure yet. Something remote so I can stay with Mira a little longer.”
“Denver.” Dad’s voice booms across the table. “Switch seats with your sister so she can talk without straining over the table and hurting her neck.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” I look pointedly at Denver, who mumbles something under his breath but gets up so I can sit next to his girlfriend. She’s wearing a white sweater over dark blue jeans and natural light-brown leather boots. With straight black hair pulled up in a high ponytail, stunningly large dark eyes, and glossy, blemish-free skin, she looks like a doll. She smells like cherry blossoms. Fresh and friendly. I can see why neither of my brothers could resist.
“I’m really enjoying myself as a stay-at-home mom right now,” I say. “My baby is only a few months old.”
“Oh, I see. That’s nice.”
“What’s nicer are her songs,” Denver says.
“You’re a songwriter?” Her eyes light up. “Sorry again. That sounds like I’m surprised. I’m not since the music gene seems to run in the family.”
I shake my head because I don’t want to talk about writing songs.
“That’s Troy,” Levi says, emphasizing my name.
The moment it hits her that Troy from their bestselling worldwide-phenomenon song is me, she fists her hands as if that will contain her. “I thought the song was about his ex or a high school sweetheart.”
“You misunderstand,” Denver corrects her rather forcefully. “My sister wrote the song. I just changed the name in the song along with two other words.”
“Wow, that’s… I thought the band wrote all their music. That’s what you said in the interviews, Denver.”
My brother sighs. “I said that because my sister is part of the band. Aren’t you, Troy?”
“You know I can’t make music anymore.”
“This is why you’re taking a break,” she concludes, looking at my brother.
“Is it?” I ask him. When he doesn’t answer, I push. “Denver, why are you taking a break? You’re out of new songs?”
Denver nods. “Pretty much. If we want to move to the next level, I need fresh songs to get excited about. To be fair, I missed this house. I missed watching you and Levi embarrass yourselves trying to sing the words. I’m looking for that again.”
“This?” Levi tosses a roll at Denver’s head.
It bounces and lands on his plate. Mom warns my brothers against shenanigans. I continue chatting with their girlfriend. Her name’s Sabina.
That’s how Thanksgiving happened. A cop and the hitman who banged his daughter sat side by side and talked about kitchen cabinets. Only in America, y’all.