“Mmm, it already smells great in here, and I haven’t even made my salted caramel-apple slab pie.”
“Good morning to you too,” Cora smiled, chopping up the seasoning, which Andrea assumed was for the turkey.
“You looked tapped out. We decided not to wake you,” Jo confessed with an apologetic smile.
“Well, thank you…I needed that extra half hour, but I’m here now and ready to be put to work.
“Great, you can start by cutting up this bag of pumpkins,” Kerry said, holding up the bag for her to see. “I want to start prepping for the pumpkin spice pie.”
“No problemo,” she said, accepting the bag. “Have any of you checked in on mom?”
“I did,” Cora replied. “She’s still sleeping.”
Andrea nodded in acknowledgement.
“Have you guys heard anything else from the doctor?” Tessa looked over to ask them.
“Not since the last time we took her. We’re simply…watching her because she is deteriorating at a rate that is alarming and unhaltable.”
Andrea felt the weight of her sister’s words like a hammer knocking nails into her heart. It was true that Becky didn’t have much time, but it felt more like they were the ones that didn’t have time. Come next year, judging by the aggressiveness of her illness that she wouldn’t be there.
“I just wished we had more time with her…it felt like we just got her back, and now we’re losing her,” Jo said, voicing her own concerns.
“All right, none of that miserable talking…today is a day of giving thanks. Aunt Becky is still here, so let’s just appreciate her and everyone that we still have in our lives because at any minute, it can just go like that and leave you wondering if…they knew just how much you…you loved…and appreciated them.” Her eyes swam with melancholy.
The sisters and Kerry shared knowing looks. They knew that Tessa was talking about her husband.
“You’re right, Tess. We really need to appreciate the ones that are still here,” Cora said soothingly.
“Group hug?” Kerry added, her arms already wide open.
The women chuckled as they stopped what they were doing to hug each other.
The women spent the next couple of hours cooking and baking. The others were either lying on the back porch or out running errands. The turkeys were thawed and prepped to be put into the oven.
Andrea’s phone rang just as she placed the pie in the oven. Straightening up and dusting her hands on her apron, she fished the phone out of her pocket. Her lips turned up into a bright smile when she saw who was calling.
“Hi, handsome,” she hummed.
“Oh, handsome?” he chuckled, the sound reverberating through the receiver and causing her chest to fill with warmth.
“Is it too much?” she asked, resting her back against the counter, the smile never leaving her lips.
She waved off her sisters and cousins, making kissy faces at her. “Are you guys’ children?” she mouthed with her hand over the speaker.
“No, I really like it. Coming from my beautiful, talented girlfriend, it’s everything.”
She swooned.
“What time are you getting here?”
“Why don’t you answer the front door?”
Andrea didn’t think her lips could go wider but judging by how tight her face felt it had gotten wider.
“Excuse me,” she said, walking out of the kitchen and making her way to the front door.
Her heart skipped a beat as she stared happily at the man holding a phone to his ear and a casserole in his hand, his striking blue eyes smiling back at her. “Hi, beautiful.”
