me.”
“Holidays are for families and friends, simple as that.”
She placed a warm palm to my cheek, patted my cheek twice and when she smiled, I knew for sure she saw my vivid pain. She stepped back, allowed both Angie and I to finally enter and she gave her daughter a hug the same as she’d done to me, despite the fact Angie lived here and had only been gone less than a half hour.
“All right. There’re potatoes to peel and bread to cut for stuffing. You two can get started on that while I go make myself presentable, okay?”
Her voice changed, taking on a more militant tone and I quickly glanced at Angie.
She wasn’t the least bit surprised. “You got it, Mama. Go get beautified.”
“Beauty is on the inside, not outside,” Mara called back. “Josiah!” she shouted, which was quickly followed by a pounding on the door. “Get your butt moving, boy! Time to be thankful for all we have!”
I covered my laugh with a hand and glanced at Angie.
Shrugging, like shouting across the house was no big deal, she said, “I told you, everyone helps on Thanksgiving. Josiah will be out cooking too once Mom can drag him out of bed.”
I thought of the Valentines and what they’d be doing. Probably the same while being loud and having a few drinks and watching football. They’d definitely be watching football. But would they be laughing today? Talking about me? Would they be figuring out how to fix the mess they caused or discuss how to get rid of me completely now that their secret was out?
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. There was no point. All of a sudden, keeping my hands busy and my mind focused on a task seemed like the best thing.
“All right then.” I kicked off my shoes in the small entryway where there was already a pile of shoes. “Let’s cook.”
Angie grabbed my hand, dragged me to the kitchen, and showed me where everything was.
It was in the middle of peeling the third potato when something poked me in the thigh. I glanced down, right into the face of a little boy wearing a scowl, narrowed eyes, and lips pushed out into a pout. “Hi there.”
“Mikey. That’s not nice,” Angie chided in that way she thought he was adorable.
Adorable he was, dressed in a button-down white and tan plaid shirt and khaki pants with an elastic waistband.
“I’m Lilly.” I squatted down so I could be at his eye level. “Who are you?”
“I live here. You don’t. You answer first.”
I choked down my laughter and nodded. He had a point. “I’m Lilly, your sister’s friend. She invited me for dinner today. Is that okay?”
His full lips pushed out into a fuller pout before he grinned. “You pretty. You can stay.”
He turned, ran out of the kitchen on bare feet while shouting, “Vena, Vena! Pretty girl here! I kiss her soon!”
I laughed, tilted my head back to Angie who was shaking her head. Mikey looked about four years old. As I pushed to my feet, I said, “Boys in this house get started young?”
“What can I say? Between Mikey’s dad and Josiah, he’s gonna be a ladies’ man, or at least think he is.”
I’d seen Josiah a lot on campus. We didn’t have classes together, but ever since I first met Angie and she asked me to talk to him, I’d noticed him. Always with a crowd that looked like they’d rather be getting high in someone’s basement than hitting the books, but at least they were in school. They were trying. I couldn’t fault them for that.
“Speak of the devil,” Angie muttered, right before she turned back to dicing up bread for homemade stuffing.
“What?”
“Mornin’, Ang. Who’s your friend?”
I turned at the sound of a masculine voice and everything Angie had said became clear. Crystal. Josiah was there, shoulder against the doorframe to the small kitchen. He wore pajama pants and nothing else and you could tell, especially by the way he was rubbing his bare stomach that he didn’t only work hard for those abs he was trying to keep warm, he really enjoyed impressing women with them.
I arched two brows at him, unimpressed. “I’m Lilly. Nice to meet you, Josiah.”
I spun back to the counter, went back to peeling potatoes and ignored him.
I’d just spent hours running my hands all over Hudson’s body. Nothing was comparable to that, least of all a boy just turning into a man several years younger than me.