to focus on my cousin. He was sliding the pan into the oven, and I was still standing there doing nothing.
“Sorry, what? I was thinking.”
“I can tell. You want to share what’s on your mind?”
Did I? I wasn’t sure. Ford and I had never really discussed details of our relationship before. Hell, was I even in one with Sawyer? We hadn’t really discussed things yet. Well, beyond the fact that I’d told him I wanted more than sex. I wanted to see where things went. Okay, so we had discussed it?
“How about this?” Ford said as he touched my arm. I looked at my cousin’s hand on my bicep before meeting his gaze.
“Huh?”
“Go call him. He’s probably driving though and might not be in an area he gets good signal.”
Which was why I hadn’t already.
“I’ll see him tomorrow.”
“Yes, but I’m thinking you need to talk to him today. It’s Thanksgiving. Go give him a call.”
It was tempting, but this was only the second Thanksgiving Ford and I had spent without Grandma. We were going to spend time together, avoiding the outside world.
“Go,” Ford insisted and went so far as to shove my phone toward me. I took the hint and went to my bedroom to give him a quick call. Most likely, he wasn’t even available. I hit the button after I found his contact and was surprised when he picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Hudson. Everything okay?” Sawyer said.
I could tell he was driving because the ambient sound was a bit loud.
“Yeah, everything is fine. How are you? I know I shouldn’t be bothering you. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay?”
Sawyer laughed. “Yeah, well, if driving a sixteen-foot moving truck through the mountains in Colorado is what you’d call okay, then yep. I’m peachy.”
I winced. That didn’t sound like fun.
“I won’t keep you. I didn’t mean to distract you.”
“Naw, keep me company. I’m hands-free. You’re going through my Bluetooth that I had for work. We should be pulling into Pleasant Grove in about an hour.”
“Really? That’s great. Did you want help unloading stuff? I mean, I know you have Chris there, right?”
“He’s in front of me, yeah. I’m following him. We took his SUV because he was more comfortable driving it back. But I don’t want to take you away from family on Thanksgiving to unload my stuff. Thanks though.”
He was actually coming back. Which was something I’d been a bit concerned about honestly. Sawyer called yesterday, upset, but he said he didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. Now I just had to wait for him to get back and for the insanity of tomorrow to die down before I could talk to him most likely.
“Nonsense,” I told him. Ford and I aren’t doing anything except making Thanksgiving dinner for two. It’s an odd thing, really.”
“How so?”
“Well, you see, since Grandma died, we both agreed that since it was just the two of us, we would each make our one favorite dish, and then we’d have a nontraditional meal to go with it.”
“All right. Sounds interesting. Whatcha having?”
“Turkey, green bean casserole, and pumpkin cake.”
That was met with silence. “Umm, Hudson?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s a very traditional Thanksgiving meal.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. Ford’s favorite dish is green bean casserole. Mine is pumpkin cake, and it just didn’t seem right without turkey, so we’re fixing one of those.”
More laughter came through the line. “Well, whatever works. Chris and I have leftovers from yesterday to reheat, but for lunch we had drive-through. Let’s just say that Thanksgiving is a crummy day to hit the drive-through.”
“I would imagine so. Actually, is any day a good day for fast food?”
“No, but when you’re busy and on the road, we’re not given much choice. And there were weeks that I wouldn’t have eaten if it weren’t for fast-food burgers and fries.”
I hated knowing that. Especially since he was with his family every single day and it appeared that none of them were worried about his health.
“Well, when should we be there to help unload the truck?” I was going to be insistent. He’d said that it should be an hour. Did that mean show up in an hour? Or should we wait a little longer?
“You don’t have to help. There’s not that much stuff really.”
“You said sixteen-foot truck.”
“Yeah, but only because they wouldn’t let me drive the twelve-foot van one way. My apartment was only four hundred square feet. I don’t have much really.”
Okay, that was small. My place