Page 29 of Searching for Thanksgiving

Only when she had bolted the door behind her did she realize that she was still shaky and breathless. She placed the bucket on the floor next to her and unfastened her cloak. Hanging the cloak on the peg by the door, she picked up the bucket of vegetables and carried it over to the kitchen sink.

The interior of the hut was small. Her quaint house was comprised of two rooms, the bathroom and the rest of the house. She had a small kitchen, a table with two chairs, a living room with a fireplace and a long couch, and the loft upstairs where she slept. The spiral staircase had been a challenge to master, but she had figured out a method to get up and down them without too much difficulty.

Christoff had renovated the hut for her a few months ago. He understood her need for privacy and space. She moved around the kitchen, preparing the simple meal of fresh scrambled eggs, cheese, and fresh bread that her grandmother had made for her.

The chime from the communicator Christoff had given her startled her and she dropped the ladle back into the pan before she had a chance to put any eggs on her plate. A flash of annoyance rushed through her before she sighed and reached for the small, rectangular device.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Are you eating?” her grandmother asked.

Crystal glanced at the pile of steaming eggs in the pan, and two slices of buttered bread on a plate waiting to be eaten. She gave a rueful smile when her stomach growled with hunger.

“No… because you interrupted me,” she added before her grandmother could admonish her—or worse, threaten to come for a visit.

Edna’s dry chuckle told her that her teasing had relieved some of her grandmother’s stress about her being alone. Crystal leaned her hip against the counter when she heard Christoff’s voice in the background. She waited.

“How is the garden?” he asked.

Her lips curved into an amused smile. He knew perfectly well how the garden was. He had been there the day before she arrived.

“You know I can take care of myself,” she said.

“Your grandmother is worried about you,” he replied in a gruff tone.

“This isn’t Earth,” she quietly replied.

“Your parents are here. They’re safe.”

Surprise stiffened her at the news. She hadn’t expected her parents to arrive so soon. A shudder of relief ran through her.

“Are they okay?”

“Shaken, but relieved and safe. They will be staying with us for a little while,” he replied.

“I’ll… I’ll try to come over to visit in a few days.”

“They would like that.”

She nodded, then stopped. He couldn’t see her reaction. She absently stared out the window over the sink. The shadows of the afternoon were growing longer.

“I’d better go before my food gets cold,” she murmured.

“If you need anything, just ask. I can fly it over.”

“Thanks. Christoff?—”

“Yes?”

Crystal paused as she stared out of the window. Her eyes automatically searched for the black shadow that had been haunting her since her brief visit to the village a few weeks before. She shook her head. It was probably nothing.

“Thanks for being there for my grandma, my parents… and me,” she said instead.

“Anything, Crystal. You have no idea of the gift Edna has given me to have you and your family in my life.”

Tears burned her eyes. The emotion in his voice struck a chord in her. She murmured a soft goodbye before disconnecting the link. She continued to stare out of the window for another minute before the aroma of her meal pulled her back to the present.

Dishing the eggs onto the plate, she scooped up her meal and walked over to the table. She sat and stretched her leg out, helping to straighten the prosthetic that encased the lower half of her left leg. They said time healed all wounds.

---