Chapter Seven
Thanksgiving at Claudia’s was a mad house.
That was the only way Maggie knew to describe it.
There were people everywhere. People and food.
Every surface in the kitchen was covered with a casserole dish, crockpot, or some type of bowl.
Desserts had been set up in another room entirely due to no space.
Delicious smells wafted through the house, as did chatter.
Everyone seemed happy and genuinely glad to see each other.
Maggie was awestruck at the whole thing.
Probably because they were both single, Joshua sought out her company.
She’d let him for the sole reason that he was surprisingly talkative to where she didn’t have to say much back, just occasionally make a noncommittal comment, which freed her to keep an eye on everyone else.
Bodie had worked the first part of the day to where he could be at dinner, and he never ventured far from Sarah’s side.
All of the Butterflies were in attendance except Ruby.
Apparently, she had a large family gathering at her house each year, rather than attend Claudia’s.
When they went through line to prepare their plates, Joshua got hung up talking with Claudia’s husband, George, about a recent trip the man had taken with his wife to Ireland.
Rather than take one of the main house tables, Maggie chose one of the mismatched-cloth-covered tables set up in Claudia’s garage.
Each long table had a festive Thanksgiving themed centerpiece.
There were a few people already there, chatting.
Not knowing them, Maggie chose an empty cornucopia centerpiece table that was in the garage’s back corner.
Sarah would have a fit if she knew Maggie wasn’t in the thick of things, but Maggie liked the break.
Her break was short lived, though. Walker entered the room carrying a heaping-full plate and red plastic cup.
As it always did upon his nearness, her breath caught.
The man had presence. Glancing around the makeshift dining area, he spotted her alone in the back corner, hesitated just long enough that Maggie knew he was weighing his options.
She averted her gaze, but it was too late.
Their eyes made contact and her heart instantly thundered.
Had William ever made her insides malfunction so?
She didn’t recall him doing so, but perhaps she’d blocked his effect to help recover from his betrayal.
She’d been crazy about the up-and-coming first lieutenant, and he’d hurt her badly.
Walker carried his dinner to her table. “Is it okay if I sit here?”
No. It would be better if he didn’t.
Maggie swallowed. “If you want.”
Walker put his plate on the table, then sat down. “Can you believe all this food? I’ve never seen the likes of all this.”
Maggie knew what he meant. With all the dishes Sarah had made, she’d thought her hostess must be making most of the meal, but she’d been wrong. There was enough food to feed half the town. Almost that many were there.
Walker picked up a piece of the turkey that Lou had smoked, took a bite, and sighed. “Lou should put this on the diner’s menu.”
“Being a good cook must be a requirement for Pine Hill citizenship.”
“You may be right.” Walker laughed, forked a bite of the dumplings Sarah had made, then nodded his approval. “Excellent. How about you? Are you a great cook, Maggie?”
“Food has always been more about survival than pleasure. Sarah is doing her best to teach me otherwise, though.”
“Undoing everything Uncle Sam taught you?”
Maggie started to correct him to say that food being for survival had been a lesson she’d learned long before enlisting but held her tongue.
The less Walker knew about her, the better.
Sarah was undoing things, though. Such as that now Maggie enjoyed the richness of flavors in the food Sarah served.
In Pine Hill, food went far beyond survival. It was an expression of affection.
“Where’s your daughter?” she asked to change the subject.
“Maybelle has her. She insisted upon watching her while I ate. I couldn’t have pried her away if I’d tried. Zoie has Maybelle wrapped around her finger.”
“Jeannie too.” Because for all her high-handedness, Maybelle Kirby was a total softie when it came to Sarah’s daughter.
Walker took another bite from the smoked turkey. “She’s my favorite Butterfly.”
“Are we supposed to have a favorite?”
He shrugged. “It would probably be wise for me not to admit such things out loud.”
A couple came into the garage. Maggie recognized the woman as his sister and the man as his coworker. They were laughing at each other in a very flirty way, their eyes meeting and smiles flashing back and forth. Walker frowned.
“You don’t approve?”
“Of them?” He shook his head. “They aren’t dating.”
Maggie glanced back at the couple. “You sure about that?”
His sister and coworker sat down at a table with another couple already there.
The vee between Walker’s brows deepened. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
When he went to stand, Maggie put her hand on his arm. “As a general rule, I don’t get involved in other people’s business, but I don’t think you should go over there.”
Walker’s gaze dropped to where Maggie touched his arm. The feel of his warm flesh beneath her fingertips had her pulling away, but not before she looked up to see if he’d felt the zings she had. Perhaps so, as even in his upset state, his gaze shifted to look to her eyes.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a guest at a holiday meal and I suspect you’d regret making a scene.” She hadn’t stopped him in a protective gesture toward him, she assured herself, but toward maintaining the happy vibe of the evening. She’d done it for Sarah and nothing to do with Walker.
His gaze going back to his sister and coworker, Walker hesitated. “You’re not one for making a scene?”
“There is a time and place for addressing what you’re feeling. Now, while upset, while here, isn’t that time or place.”
Listen to her giving advice. The therapist she’d seen during her rehabilitation would be so proud.
Settling back in his chair, Walker sighed. “Fine. I won’t talk to them. Not here. But I will talk to them, because they aren’t right for each other.”
“That’s not for you to decide.” Why had she said that? The whole situation was none of her business.
“As Amy’s brother, it is.” There was no doubt in his tone.
Maggie studied the tightness of his jawline, the protectiveness in the way he glanced over at his sister. If his coworker made one wrong move, Walker would go chivalrous and call out the guy in some outdated duel.
“If this is how you are with your sister, poor Zoie will never date.”
“I’m okay with that.” Then meeting Maggie’s seriously reaction, he relented. “Not really. I want my daughter, and my sister, to be happy. If that means dating, then I want them to date.”
“Just not your coworker.” Maggie’s gaze went to the man who had just said something to Amy that had made the young woman laugh. “Don’t you like him?”
“That’s not it.” Walker sighed. “Ben’s a great guy, but he’s known to date women for a short time then to move on to the next. Amy’s not had a lot of experience with dating. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“Is she aware of Ben’s dating history?”
He nodded. “She is, but she doesn’t care. I’d hate to get fired for having set my coworker straight because he hurt my sister.”
Having been in the military, Maggie was used to men who were more bluff than buff. With Walker, she suspected he would act if someone hurt Amy.
“Like I said, if this is how you are with your sister, then poor Zoie.” Or lucky Zoie to have someone who would protect her.
Maggie sure hadn’t. Fortunately, that had led her to learning to take care of herself at an early age. Ultimately, in life, one could only count on oneself anyway.
“Did you have an overbearing big brother or dad?”
“No brother that I’m aware of and no overbearing dad.” She hadn’t even known who her dad was.
Her mother might not have known, either. Maggie had few memories of the woman who’d lost custody of her due to repeated drug abuse. The ones she had all included different men in her mother’s life.
“Okay, no brother and no overbearing dad.” Walker glanced back toward Amy and Ben, then pulled his gaze back to Maggie. Was he using her to try to distract himself from the young couple? “Any sisters?”
“None that I am aware of.”
He eyed her. “I sense that your wording is intentional.”
“You sense correctly.” She didn’t know.
Having become a ward of the state, she’d gone into foster care at an early age.
It was possible there had been other children prior to her mother’s overdose when Maggie had been in her teens.
The state hadn’t told her anything other than that her mother had passed, and she was now free to be adopted.
Only, no one had wanted to adopt a quiet, gangly teenaged girl who’d gone from one foster home to the next.
“Are you going to elaborate?” Walker asked when she didn’t say anything further.
“I wasn’t planning to.” The less she thought about her beginnings, that ultimately, the apple hadn’t fallen so far from the tree, the better.
She winced. She was not that person. She wasn’t, not even when, wanting to forget, she’d tried to numb herself.
Yes, she’d hit rock bottom, but she’d gotten back on her feet and was on her way back to a good life.
Walker studied her. “I’ll be grateful to have learned that you have no known siblings. It’s a start.”
A start to what?
She gave him a wry look. “I’m sure you can think of something better to be thankful for on Thanksgiving than that.”
“I’m thankful for many things, Maggie. God has blessed me with Zoie, Amy, my job, Pine Hill, the wonderful people here who have welcomed us. I’m a grateful man for the life I have.” He pinned her with those golden eyes. “How about you? What are you thankful for tonight?”