Page 12 of A Very Grumpy Thanksgiving

I don’t succeed.

I know that this is only going to get worse. The more time that I spend with Nolan, the harder it is for me to separate what’s fake and what’s real.

As I close up for the night and start to head home, I realize one thing.

I’m in trouble, and I don’t know how to stop from falling completely in love with Nolan. I’m not sure that I could stop it even if I wanted to. And that means one thing.

I’m screwed.

SIX

Nolan

“I’m nervous. Are you nervous?”Saffron asks me as we pull up outside of my parent’s place.

“I mean, now that you just told me that, yeah.”

“You’re not supposed to say that!” she scolds me. “You’re supposed to tell me that I’m being silly and that everything is going to be fine, and they’re going to love me and not to worry.”

“Everything is going to be fine, and they’re,” I start to parrot back to her, and she scoffs and smacks my arm lightly.

Saffron has really started to warm up to me over the last few days. She’s still quiet, but I can tell that she feels more comfortable in my presence, and that makes me unbelievably happy.

I laugh as I unbuckle and turn to her.

“Okay, for real, they’re going to love you, and it’s going to be fine. We’ll eat and then head home. It will be a piece of cake.”

She takes a deep breath and nods, her fingers tightening around the pie that she brought for tonight. She still looks nervous, but it really is going to be fine. My mom is already halfin love with her just based on the little information that I’ve already told her about Saffron.

“Let’s do this.”

We climb out of my truck and I frown up at the darkening sky. It’s starting to snow, but it’s light. As long as it stays that way, the roads should be good enough to drive back to Wolf Valley later.

My childhood home looks exactly as I remember it. I haven’t been back in a while, not since I left for the Air Force. The house is a two-story ranch style, the outside decorated for fall with orange lights and pumpkins everywhere.

We head up to the front door, and I try to discreetly take a deep breath before I turn the knob and usher Saffron in ahead of me.

“Uncle Nolan!” Five little kids shriek as soon as I walk in the door.

“Hey, guys!” I greet my nieces and nephews.

They all start talking to me at once, and I smile as I crouch down and pull them into a tight hug one by one.

“Guys, this is my friend, Saffron. Saffron, these are my nieces and nephews. There’s April, Andy, Ben, Samantha, and Troy.”

They all stare up at her with big, curious eyes, and she smiles down at them.

“It’s nice to meet you. Happy Thanksgiving,” Saffron says sweetly.

“Nolan!” My mom yells as she barrels into the front room.

“Hey, ma. Happy Thanksgiving.”

She beams at me as she wraps me up in a tight hug.

“My boy finally came home,” she whispers, and I wince, feeling guilty that I’ve stayed away for so long.

I just didn’t want to have to field all of my family's questions about why I was still single and how I was doing after leaving the military. I didn’t want to talk about the accident or theaftermath. I couldn’t answer their questions about what’s next because I don’t know what’s next.

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