Chapter 13
DEREK WAS nervous and kept going over his checklist for Thanksgiving dinner. “Why are you so wound up?” Suzanne asked as she stood out of the way.
“Because I’m making dinner for you and Harm’s family. And because you didn’t get here until late and he had to work yesterday, so you didn’t get to meet him yet.” He glared at her. “How come you’re not nervous? It’s just mean of you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Get it together. I’m sure I’m going to like Harm, so relax. It’s just dinner. There isn’t any reason to get your panties in a wad. Unless… you aren’t planning to ask him to marry you, right?”
“No, I’m not.” He was yell signing.
Suzanne gently touched his shoulder for a moment.
“Then stop all of the worry and just have a good time. You’ve got enough food to feed an army, and if nothing else we can all drink until we get the giggles and pass out.
You’ve told me that Harm is a nice man, and his dads are as well.
” She leaned back against the counter. “You’re worried about the communication logistics, aren’t you? ”
“Yes. So I created a group chat.” He invited Suzanne to the group.
“I figured that then everyone could talk to everyone else, and I wasn’t going to have to interpret sign for everyone.
But signing directly with Harm is good. He needs to practice.
He’s been learning for maybe a month now and he’s really eager.
It’s how we communicate between the two of us…
sort of. We use a combination of speech and sign right now, because he can hear me. ”
“The woman who developed the materials you’re using was wondering if signing was used differently with a speech loss. Would it be okay if I had her contact you? She’s very curious, and it might be something that could help her dissertation.”
“Of course,” Derek said as the doorbell rang.
He hurried to the front door, only to stop dead in his tracks.
William stood on his doorstep holding a casserole dish.
“What?” He was speechless. “William, what are you doing here?” He stood in the door and…
holy hell, had William’s feverishly crazy mind imagined some sort of dinner invitation?
“I took your advice and found someone else.” He held the casserole dish without offering it. This situation was weird, and the more Derek tried to figure it out, the more his head hurt.
“Good. I really hope you have a great day with them. Enjoy the holiday, and I hope it’s everything you wanted.
” He smiled and closed the door before William could offer him whatever he was carrying.
Derek didn’t want anything from William, and he was afraid that if he offered something and Derek took it, that might be enough encouragement for William to start following him again.
“Who was that?” Suzanne signed as soon as he turned around.
“My stalker,” he answered. “I have no idea why he showed up today, but I had to shut him down fast. He said he found someone else, and I hope it’s true, but I also hope it’s real and he hasn’t just found someone else to stalk.”
“What about the break-in? Did he have anything to do with it?” Suzanne asked, and Derek groaned.
“The burglar is still in jail as far as I know. Red, the police officer who helped with the call, says that the guy who broke in had been in the Gingerbread downtown, and he had heard that there was no one home here. So he apparently got it into his head to break in and rob the place for drug money. Red said that the guy was high as a kite when he broke in, and that it took some time before they were able to get anything coherent out of him.”
Suzanne hit him with one of her steely stares.
“I know. William could have been the one to spread it around that we were gone, Lord knows. Or they could have been talking about a different house and this guy broke into mine. I don’t know and I can’t prove anything.
The police patrol the street more than they used to, so that’s good.
But as far as a link from the burglar to William, there isn’t much.
” He signed as he shrugged and lowered his hands.
“It sucks,” he added and went to check on the turkey.
The bell rang again, and this time it was Harm with his dads. Derek greeted Harm with a kiss and got a hug from Joe and Larry. “Why are there bits of noodle, chicken, and glass out on the sidewalk?” Joe asked as Derek closed the door.
Derek decided he wasn’t going to go there, but it seemed that William had truly lost his mind.
He refused to let William ruin his Thanksgiving.
“Because my stalker showed up and expected to be invited to Thanksgiving… I think.” Harm looked alarmed, but Derek did his best to kiss that away.
“It’s okay. We’ll deal with him later.” The idea of sparing a moment for that crazy fuck made his head want to explode.
What else could he do? Derek took their coats and introduced them to Suzanne. “Okay, I know this is going to be a little different. But I set up a group chat. Did you all get the invitations?”
“Yes, we did, and we accepted them,” Joe confirmed. Derek checked the group and found everyone was there.
“Great. Suzanne is unable to hear anything, so I thought it would be best to use the text group. That way all messages go to everyone, and we can carry on conversations that include all of us. Suzanne does read lips.”
“The chat group is a great idea,” Harm texted, making all their phones chime or vibrate. Soon they had all responded, and the chat turned lively.
“What do you do, Suzanne?” Joe asked, setting their phones buzzing. Harm suggested that they all silence them and stop the vibration.
“I’m a dentist.”
Joe nodded. “I have to ask because I’m a nosy old man. Was it difficult for you?”
“It was. I live in Rochester, which has a sizable deaf community, but it took a lot of work for me. Practicals were difficult because I couldn’t just listen, but I had to watch my patient and pay attention to the person signing instructions.
I eventually developed techniques for getting the information I needed.
I did work with a lot of deaf patients because they felt comfortable coming to me, so that actually worked in my favor. ”
“Do you have a lot of deaf patients now?”
Suzanne nodded as she answered. “I do. I also have plenty of hearing ones. They seem to like that I get my work done without a lot of chit-chat. I’m also very in tune with pain and their reactions.
Since I can’t hear them, I watch more closely than others might.
It’s helped in a number of situations. What do you do?
” And the conversation went on like that.
The chat group was very busy, which was good.
Derek excused himself and went to check on dinner.
He left the others to talk and got the turkey out of the oven.
It was done, and the last thing he wanted was a dried-out bird.
Derek covered it in foil to keep the heat in and worked to finish the potatoes and other dishes. He kept an eye on the chat, adding a few comments when needed, but otherwise it seemed everyone was having a good time and was included.
“Help?” Harm asked, and Derek set him to getting the cold items out of the refrigerator and onto the table. Then he started dishing up the beans and Brussels sprouts. Finally he got the turkey carved and on a platter.
“Dinner is ready,” he sent to the group, and they all came into the dining room.
“This is lovely,” Suzanne signed to him. “I can’t believe you did all this.” Derek flipped her off, and she laughed. It was a sound she didn’t make very often because she was self-conscious about it.
“I made pecan pie using Mom’s recipe, but just for that, you can’t have any.” He stuck his tongue out, and Suzanne had the grace to look wounded before they grinned at each other.
Harm took the platter into the dining area, and Derek made sure he had everything before joining the others.
They all took their seats and passed plates around so he could serve the turkey.
He knew Suzanne liked dark meat, so he got her some of that first and then served everyone else before the rest of the dishes were passed.
“THANK YOU,” Harm told him later once dinner was done and the pie tins had been picked clean.
Apparently the pecan pie was really good, because there was nothing left.
The pumpkin had a single slice in the pan, and Suzanne had already claimed it for tomorrow.
Derek cleaned up the kitchen with Harm’s help while Suzanne, Joe, and Larry continued a chat conversation that seemed to show no signs of slowing down.
“They like her,” Harm signed.
Derek nodded. “It’s really nice. I had hoped that everyone would get along, and it seems to have happened.
” He set the turkey roasting pan to soak and started the dishwasher before wiping the counters and turning off the lights.
As far as he was concerned, the kitchen was closed, and if folks got hungry, he had the number for Chinese takeout.
He took Harm’s hand and grabbed a bottle of white wine, heading into the living room. He opened the bottle and offered refills before sitting down with a sigh.
“What’s the story with this stalker? And why is he bringing food?” Suzanne texted to the group.