"Prior engagement," he said. "A thing at the hospital. You understand, right?"
"Oh," she said. "Of course."
My dad stood. "I guess we'll let you two cowpokes head on down the trail, then."
"Oh for Heaven's sake, Dick," Loretta said. "Enough already!"
My Dad's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
Lawton looked at me. "Chloe? You ready?"
I glanced at Josh. He was still smiling. I glanced at Loretta. She was glaring at my dad. I glanced at my dad. He was reaching for another piece of cobbler. I glanced at Lauren Jane. She was looking down at her lap. Texting?
"Lauren Jane!" Loretta said. "For the last time, no phones at the table."
Lauren Jane did a mimicking voice. "No phones at the table."
"Young lady," Loretta said. "Are you mocking me?"
I looked to Lawton. "Yup, I'm ready." I turned to Josh. "Wanna walk us out to the car?"
At the table, the argument between Loretta and Lauren Jane was heating up by the second. I heard words like "old bag," "ungrateful snot," and something about a cut in someone's allowance.
Walking toward the door, Lawton leaned in close to me. "Shestillgets an allowance?"
I shrugged. "Maybe not for long."
By the time we reached the front door, the argument had turned into a wrestling match, with Lauren Jane holding on tight to her phone while Loretta struggled to pry it out of her grip. Other than Josh, no one acknowledged our departure at all, which was just fine with me.
Standing in the driveway, I gave Josh a goodbye hug. Then Lawton shook Josh's hand, man-to-man.
"Best Thanksgiving, ever," Josh said.
Surprisingly enough, I had to agree.
When we pulled out of the driveway a minute later, I was surprised to find myself actually smiling. "You know what?" I said. "You're right. Thatwasfun."
"Told ya," he said as hit the accelerator.
"Oh my God," I said. "That whole story about how we met–" I shook my head. "Where'd you come up with that?" I laughed. "I can't decide if I should kiss you or scold you for lying."
"Baby," he said, "I'm a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right." I glanced out the window. We were practically flying. "Hey Lawton," I said. "We're not running late anymore. Wanna slow it down?"
"Sorry. Can't."
"Why not?"
"Because," he said, "I figure we got about fifteen minutes to make it to the hospital."
"You weren't kidding?" I said. "You really do have plans there? Oh jeez, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you say something when I first called?"
"Because when you called, I didn't know we'd be going."
"Huh?" I stared over at him and felt myself tense. "Lawton," I said, with a voice far steadier than I felt. "What's wrong with your face?"
He leaned over to glance in the rear-view mirror. "Huh. That's not good." Returning his gaze to the road ahead, he hit the brakes and skidded to a stop on the side of the road.
