Page 19 of A Dye Hard Holiday
I repeated what Trent had said. Josh snorted when I got to the part where he butchered Wren’s name.
“Let’s go enjoy our first Thanksgiving dinner with our babies,” Josh said softly. “The nonsense with Trent doesn’t matter. I won’t be cutting his hair, and he can’t cause trouble if we don’t let him.”
“You’re right,” I told Josh, earning a shocked expression. “Hey, I admit when I’m wrong.”
“Uh huh.”
“It just happens so rarely that you can’t remember, Sunshine.”
All eyes were on us when we returned to the dining room—well, all except Trent’s. He kept his eyes on his plate of food while Dare looked worried and dejected beside him. I smiled at Dare so he’d know the things that transpired between Trent and me were not his fault. If anything, Dare was another victim of Trent’s narcissistic personality. Dare reminded me of a younger Josh, and I found it unlikely that Trent had a change of heart when it came to flamboyant men.But you did, the pesky voice in my head reminded me.Shut the fuck up,I shot back.
I felt terrible when I realized that our guests were waiting for us before they ate. Josh worked so hard to prepare the delicious meal, and it sat getting cold while I acted like a jackass. I reached for Josh and tugged him to me once more. “I’m sorry that I ruined your delicious dinner.”
“You didn’t ruin anything; you were just being you. Besides, how do you know it’s delicious?”
“You made it,” I said as a matter-of-fact. I looked around the room at our guests. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.” I received various looks in exchange. The knuckle draggers in the group understood where I was coming from, even if they didn’t realize the extent of Trent’s past with Josh. The rest of the adults were a little more level-headed and wore bemused expressions. I was happy that I didn’t see disappointment on our mothers’ faces. In fact, they looked almost proud of my assertiveness. My two favorite little faces smiled up at their papa like I did a great thing.
“Let’s say grace so we can eat,” Meredith said. We all joined hands and bowed our heads. “Heavenly Father, thank you for the bountiful blessings you’ve given each and every one of us. Thank you for the love you’ve brought into our lives, for it is the greatest gift of all time, and one that never stops giving. We ask for your continued blessings and guidance in our lives today and each new day that follows. Please help us to realize the beauty in the world so that hate will never dwell in our hearts. In Jesus’s name, we pray.”
“Amen,” we collectively said.
Then all talking ceased as we dove into our food like half-starved animals. I reached beneath the table and squeezed Josh’s knee to let him know how much I loved every bite I crammed into my mouth. By the second round, lips started to loosen up to include other activities like talking. No one was quite sure how to approach the topic that was on everyone’s minds. Okay, all but one.
“How do you know my son?” Bertie asked Trent.
“We met at college,” Trent said cordially.
“Oh? Josh never mentioned you,” she replied. I couldn’t have loved her more unless she pulled a gun out of her purse and shot the prick. Bertie was not a gun-toting mama, so that is one fantasy I knew wouldn’t come true.
Trent blushed because Bertie’s comment could’ve come across that Trent was so insignificant that Josh never mentioned him. I wanted that to be the case, but the truth was that Trent, following so closely after the horrible relationship with Billy I-Hate-Myself-For-Being-Gay Sampson, really did a number on Josh. It was like Josh had told me. Billy was ashamed of being gay, but Trent was ashamed of Josh. I might not be the most perfect man on the planet, but compared to those two dumb fucks, I was quite the catch.
“Well,” Trent said sheepishly, “I didn’t treat Josh very well, so it’s not surprising that he didn’t tell you about me.” Trent darted a quick glance in my direction before he looked at Josh. “It’s really my only regret in life.”Did he mean that losing Josh or mistreating him was his biggest regret?“I’m sorry, Josh.”
“Fucknugget! Fucknugget!” Savage squawked. The bird’s timing was impeccable as always.
“Please excuse Gabe’s bird. He has terrible manners,” Josh told Trent.Hey, at times like these, I’ll gladly take responsibility for Savage’s dirty mouth.
“Dirty Bird!” I said, but my voice lacked admonishment. I was in awe of my feathered friend.
“Bite me!” came Savage’s reply.
“Bad Bird!” Sassy squawked accusingly.
“Cockbadger!”
Trent’s slack-jawed expression was priceless, but the outlandish behavior barely got a response out of the rest of our guests since they were so used to it.
Josh just shook his head and talked over the crazy birds. “Thank you, Trent, but as you can see, I’m very happy. You really shouldn’t give it another thought.”
Yeah, what my husband said, asshole.
“Thank you for being so forgiving.” Trent then looked back at me and offered a wry, but non-threatening smile. “I hope to have a fraction of this kind of happiness someday.” I decided I would take that as a compliment and not his plan to steal my man and kids.
There was quite a bit of grumbling about the missing apple pie, but there was enough pumpkin crap to go around. I had to admit, Josh’s homemade cinnamon whipped cream made the stuff tolerable, but it would never replace the love in my heart for his boozy apple pie.
Trent and Dare left not long after they finished eating. Dare looked like a kicked puppy, which made me dislike Trent even more. I hated that Josh 2.0 got his hopes dashed by the doctor. Once they left, the mood resembled that of our normal gatherings and the shenanigans ensued. Barbs were traded between spouses, complaints about sports were lobbed like weapons, and Josh took all our money in poker.
It was a wonderful evening, but I admit to being happy when our guests started going home. I heard Dorchester tell his wife that I was hoping to get lucky, and while that was true, I had an apple pie to devour first. I ran to the kitchen when the last car pulled out, not caring how ridiculous I looked. By then, I had learned where Josh stashed the good stuff. I yanked open the cabinet doors so hard that I nearly ripped the hinges off. I found a folded note in the place where I expected to find my pie.