Page 161 of Ghost

Molly brought Mason a beer.“Happy Thanksgiving, Mason.”She put the beer in his hand and kissed his cheek.

“Same to you, Molly.”Mason looked around.“Where’s Mitch?”

“I’ve got him restocking the cooler, taking out the rubbish and anything else that Deb or her mother say needs doing.”She grinned at Mason.“You know what they say about idle hands.”

Mason had to laugh.“You have Mitch’s number for sure.”

Paul was on the floor rolling around with his kids as they piled up on him, trying to pin him down.Mason shook his head, knowing that Paul could easily get up if he needed or wanted to.Just beyond all the chaos Ellen was deep in conversation with Deb’s father.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Mason,” Sharon greeted him, also kissing his cheek.“Want to give me a hand in setting up the kids’ table?”

“Sure.”Mason looked around.“Where?”

“We decided to put it up in the hallway, in front of the dining room door so they can be monitored.”Sharon laughed.“They are a high-spirited bunch, that’s for sure.”

Once everyone was seated, Paul tapped a spoon against his water glass.“Settle down, y’all.”He waited until he had everyone’s attention.“I’d like to take a moment to say what I’m thankful for.”He took Deb’s hand in his.

“First off, I’m thankful to my beautiful wife, the mother of my children.”He leaned over and kissed the back of her hand.“How she handles them and me is beyond my comprehension.”Everyone chuckled.

“I’d also like to say how thankful I am for Mason.”He looked down the long table to where Mason and Ellen were sitting together.“Without him, we’d never have moved here to Savannah.It’s a joy to work with him.”

“What about me?”Mitch chirped.

“Yeah, you too, skinny butt.”Everyone laughed.

“Don’t have a skinny butt,” Mitch whined.

Molly leaned next to him, rubbing his shoulder.

“I’m also thankful for all the new friends we’ve made, this great house we get to live in.”Mason could tell that Paul was getting choked up, which made Mason a little choked up as well.

“Okay now, y’all eat up,” Deb stepped in to save Paul.“If anyone leaves this house hungry, it’s on you.We got enough food to feed two armies.Eat up!”

* * * * *

Mason sat on the floor in the hallway, Sharon next to him.They leaned back against the wall.

“I shouldn’t have had that second piece of pecan pie,” Mason moaned, rubbing his stomach.

“Me either.I’m going to have to go on a crash diet.”Sharon slumped forward a bit, looking at her lap.“I doubt I could get into the new pair of slacks I just bought.”

“I won’t need to go on a diet.We’ve got more work lined up before Christmas than we should have.I don’t even know how we’re going to get it all done.”

“Why not hire some more help?”Sharon looked over at Mason.“I have a feeling you’re going to have to at some point, so why not now?”

“I had thought about it, but I wasn’t sure that there’d be enough money to pay them.”

Sharon laughed.“I don’t think you need to worry about money anymore, Mason.”

Mason didn’t say anything.Right now he was wishing that Francis could have been there with him.He missed him so much.There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t think about him, but on a big family holiday such as this one, he really wished he were here.

“Mason, you can actually do good with some of that money, like hiring good people who need the work and want to work for someone who would care about them.”

Mason looked at Sharon.“You know, I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

Sharon shrugged.“But it’s true.Look at Paul and his family.They’re so happy here.”She pointed towards Mitch who had Molly in his lap, chatting away as if they were the only two in the room.“Look at him...them.They’re very happy.I’ve not seen Molly that happy ever.”

“Okay.You’ve made your point.”