He closed his eyes. “Jesus.”
“And,” her voice became wry, “it’s Thanksgiving. How about something to eat?”
~*~
Despite the total chaos of the night before, the girls managed to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner that made the dining room table groan. Tango stayed in the bedroom, and when Maggie returned from taking him a plate, she shook her head, expression troubled.
Walsh had found out that Whitney – Whitney Howard, she told them – was the sister of someone named Jason Howard…who’d been found dead two nights before in an alley downtown. She buried her face in her hands when Ghost broke the news. Carter offered to drive her to her sister-in-law’s house.
Sam left early, Aidan going with her, so she could get back to her mother and sister.
Mercy sat at the cleared table across from his father-in-law, both of them nursing drinks. “Just you and me, old man,” he remarked, trying not to grin.
Ghost’s brows lifted. “That’s where we’re at?”
“Yep. Respectfully. Obviously.”
“Obviously.”
Ava came into the room, preceded by the heady scent of the food they’d just consumed. Mercy hadn’t thought he could eat another bite, but the smell of cornbread dressing still made his mouth water.
“We packed up some of everything,” she said, setting a stack of sealed foil pans on the table at his elbow. “You wanna run it to the clubhouse for the Texas boys?”
“You’re trying to feed my brother again, aren’t you?”
She gave him a blinding, sweet smile. “You can take my truck.” She set the keys on the topmost pan. As she left the room: “Thank you, baby.”
Ghost snorted in obvious amusement.
Mercy looked at him.
“I’m enjoying the fact that it’s not just me anymore. Old man.”
Traffic was light, the typical stuff of holidays. Mercy made good time getting to Dartmoor and the four Texas bikes lined up out front were a truly sad sight. Mags had wanted to do a big party for everyone, but after last night, everyone had begged off, wanting to be with their families, keep things calm and quiet.
Inside, the Allman Brothers were playing softly on the sound system and Candy and Jinx were shooting pool, drinks sitting on the edge of the table.
“The girls sent food,” he announced, setting the tins up on the bar. As if drawn via magnets, Candy, Jinx, and Fox closed in on the bar, sniffing audibly.
“Damn,” Jinx said. “What is that?”
“Cornbread dressing – with sausage, I’ll add – sweet potatoes, green beans, hash brown casserole…”
They were no longer listening.
Fox snatched the serving spoon out of his hand.
“Where’s my little bro?” Mercy asked.
“In his room like a goddamn lovesick teenager,” Candy said with a sneer and a laugh.
At the dorm door, Mercy knocked once, heard a muffled, “I’ll call you back,” and stepped in to see Colin setting his phone on the nightstand.
“Aw,” Mercy said, giving him his most annoying grin. “Somebody’s in L-O-V-E, isn’t he?”
“Bite my ass,” Colin said, but he seemed distracted.
It wasn’t fun if there was no return snark. Mercy rolled his eyes. “Ava and Mags had me bring food. Turkey and shit. It’s good. You should come eat.”
