Page 56 of Hello Darling

“Really?”

“Of course. Should I bring anything?”

“A lot of alcohol. For me.”

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Can’t wait.”

She gets up and moves towards me, and before I can stop her, she sits on my lap in her big long coat and wraps her arms around my neck. “You really want to come to our little family Thanksgiving dinner?”

“I do, very much. I’ve never been to a Thanksgiving dinner before—well not at someone’s home, anyway. At hotel restaurants. My father will be so jealous—it’ll be like anthropological research. Course, I just want to be with you…”

She nuzzles my neck. “Me too.”

She starts to pepper my face with kisses, but I lift her up and pat her on the bum through her coat. “Alright back to work we go—go on—you siren, you.”

“Okay—well I think we’ve accomplished a lot!” she says, as she reaches for the door handle.

“Yeah, I’ll call you later,” I say, sounding exactly like a man from the Pacific Northwest, if I may say so myself.

It appears to freak her out a bit. “Wow. Is there anything you can’t do?”

Yes. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t figure out how to get you to believe how much I want you. I can’t stop thinking about all the places I want to take you, and wanting you by my side, and knowing that you won’t always be there.

“Well, I can’t roast a turkey,” I say. “So I look forward to seeing what you can do with one.”

She beams. “I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be innuendo or not, but I make a damn fine roast turkey, so bring your appetite and don’t forget the wine.”

I open the door and hop out of the trailer first so I can hold her hand as she steps down to the ground. It’s sprinkling rain, and in my peripheral vision I can see people milling about, so I don’t kiss her even though it’s all I want to do.

I hold out my hand to shake hers. “Thank you for the insights, Ms. Starkey,” I say loud enough for people to hear, and then I lower my voice: “And thank you for rocking my world while managing to not rock the trailer.”

She blushes. God, how she blushes. “Any time.”

If that were true, I’d be the happiest man alive.