The Loner's Thanksgiving Wish (Love Inspired)

by Rustand, Roxanne

  Jack swiveled his chair toward her, and an unnamed emotion crossed his face. “So after you’re done here, you’ll go back to your job in San Francisco?”

  He seemed distracted…distant. He was probably just trying to be polite, even though he had work to do. Maybe he was gently letting her know that he really wasn’t as interested in her as she’d hoped.

  Uneasiness laced with guilt started to twist her stomach into an uncomfortable knot. “My principal said she would hire me back, yes. It’s a wonderful school. My best job ever.”

  “That’s great, Mei.”

  Just thinking about the last kiss they’d shared still had the power to send tingles clear to her toes, and being with him made her feel happy and alive. She wanted to ask him about what he felt for her and tell him how she felt, but memories of her humiliation in high school slammed into her thoughts and held her back. How pathetic would it be to throw herself at the feet of someone who was only trying to be kind?

  She’d see the same gentle sympathy in his eyes that he’d offered back in school, and she would want to die right on the spot.

  “I guess I’d better be going.” She waited for a split second, hoping he might respond with a suggestion that they meet later, but he only gave her a weary smile. “See you at the Thanksgiving dinner?”

  He shrugged. “Not sure I’ll make it.”

  “I hope so, Jack.”

  But he was already focused on his computer screen and back to work. And in that deafening silence, she walked out of the door.

  Mei had said that she would go after Lucas herself. Given the determined look in her eyes when she said it, Jack had no doubt that she would try—and then could get herself caught up in a situation that could potentially be far beyond what she could handle.

  Grabbing his cell phone, Jack dialed Zach’s personal number. Bingo.

  “Your cousin Mei is headed for a lot of trouble,” Jack said, pacing back and forth in front of the café, his cell phone at his ear.

  Zach cleared his throat. “Vincent?”

  “No…this time it’s Lucas. She says she’s going to head for Florida and go after him herself if she doesn’t hear something soon, and I have no doubt that she would do exactly that.”

  “If the cops and two private investigators haven’t been able to turn up any clues, what chance would she have? She’s a teacher, not a P.I.”

  “Just try to tell her that,” Jack said. “She’s convinced that no one cares enough to really look for him. I saw the determination in her eyes. I agree that she has far less chance of finding Lucas than any of the experts…but if she happens to stumble onto the people Lucas was running from, I doubt they’d be happy. Does she even own a gun?”

  “I doubt it. Somehow I can’t see her spending time on a shooting range. But,” Zach added, “you never know. Maybe I’d better have a talk with her.”

  “Can you and your cousins even leave this area once you’ve started your big twelve-month stay here?”

  “For any length of time, no…unless it’s a business trip or a short vacation. The will was pretty clear on that score so none of us could maintain our residence elsewhere and just drop into town now and then.”

  Jack stared down the empty street. “I think she’s far less worried about her inheritance than she is about Lucas. But I’m concerned about her surviving a dangerous trip that she’s not prepared to take.”

  “Sounds like you have more than a casual interest in my little cousin.”

  “We’re just neighbors.”

  “And?”

  “Friends.”

  Zach chuckled. “Tell me another one.”

  “Whatever I might feel about her, she’s definitely not looking for any ties to this area. She has made it clear that she plans to leave for the West Coast, and my career is here. End of story.”

  “If you say so. Personally, I recently discovered that some things are worth fighting for…and the rewards can far outweigh the costs.”

  Jack exhaled sharply. “Not when it means taking away someone’s dream. From what I hear, she was doing what she loved in San Francisco and left it only to make sure all of you earned your legacy. I think she’s already counting the days until she can go back there.”

  “Well, whatever anyone else might say, I just want you to know that I think you’re a great guy…and I’ve never harbored ill will toward you or your brother. In my book, the people in this town just need to grow up and get along. Period.”

  “I agree.” Jack debated for a moment. “I haven’t said anything to anyone else about this, but the other reason I called you was to let you know that I’m heading down to Florida tomorrow.”

  “You don’t need to get involved in Lucas’s situation.”

  “Yes, I do. I spent a semester in that area, studying the environmental impact of the sugar mill industry on the Everglades, so at least some of the area is familiar ground. I’ve had a lot of experience with search and rescue up here, so that set of skills might help me find Lucas.” A note of urgency filled his voice. “I just want to find Lucas myself before Mei goes off on some crazy trip that could get her killed.”

  “I don’t think you should do this.”

  “You can’t go, Zach. You’re in law enforcement, and that’s outside your jurisdiction. Me? I have no connections, and I don’t have to worry about stepping on any toes. I’m the only one of us who could go and not risk real trouble with my career. Besides all that, you might be needed here at that Thanksgiving dinner in a professional capacity.”

  “How come?”

  “Because I issued quite a challenge to Charley and the rest of Samuel’s clan, implying that they were too spineless to show up and behave.” Jack gave a humorless laugh. “That just might make them show up and help fulfill Jasmine’s dream, but there’s no way I guarantee that they’ll behave.”

  Mei stepped into the old town hall building on Wednesday afternoon after school and headed for the kitchen in back.

  With its old wooden floors, pressed-tin ceiling and dark woodwork, the building harkened to the Old West years. She could imagine it as the General Store it had once been, with ladies in long dresses looking at rolls of pretty sprigged muslin and cowboys loading up on supplies, spurs jangling at their boot heels.

  It was hardly like that now. All of the town offices were now housed in a boring, modern one-story building a few blocks away, so this building was just a barren shell rented out for various events. Someone had already set up ten or twelve banquet tables and the chairs, with a long row of tables pushed together along one side for a serving line, a bank of eight empty electric roasters positioned and ready for the meal to come.

  In the kitchen, Jasmine pointed to a door by the large sinks with a stalk of celery in her hand. “If that pan needs refrigeration, there’s plenty of room in the walk-in.”

  “It’s just a double batch of lemon bars for everyone to enjoy while they decorate and work on Thanksgiving dinner for tomorrow. I felt guilty just ordering pies from Arabella and having them delivered,” Mei said.

  Jasmine grinned. “Never apologize for calling on her. You know her pastries and pies will be the hit of the whole Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “If I didn’t say it before, I just want to tell you that I am really happy that you decided to host this dinner. I think it will be a turning point for a lot of people in this town, and maybe it will even become a tradition.” Mei retied her wool scarf and tossed the ends over her shoulders. “If it does, I’ll try to come back every year.”

  Jasmine’s mouth dropped open. “Come back? You’re leaving?”

  “I meant after my twelve-month stint is up. I think I’ll miss all of you a lot.”

  “B-but what about Jack? Aren’t you guys, like, an item? Everyone thinks so.”

  Mei felt a stab of pain at her heart, even as she fluttered her hand in a dismissive gesture.

  She’d called him once since that awkward scene at his office on Saturday, but he hadn’t called back and
she hadn’t seen him. Only when she realized that it was over had she recognized the truth.

  She’d loved Jack McCord in high school, and she’d been falling in love a little deeper every day since she’d come back to Clayton. But he hadn’t cared at all. Not even in friendship, apparently, and now her remaining months here were going to seem like years.

  A delicate line formed between Jasmine’s eyebrows. “Well, then it’s awfully nice for him to help out the family anyway. Right? I mean, expensive and everything.”

  Mei blinked. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “His trip. I thought for sure he told everyone.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He said he wanted to help out our family, so he flew to Florida on Saturday afternoon to find Lucas.”

  Mei felt her heart lurch. A last-minute decision like that meant his plane tickets had probably cost a fortune. But far worse was the fact that he was placing himself in danger. And for a man who had never even been a close friend. “I…don’t understand. Why would he do that, all of a sudden?”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Think about it.”

  Mei stared back at her.

  “Haven’t you seen the way he looks at you? Duh! When he sat next to you in church it was plain as day.” Jasmine laughed. “I think half the church saw it, too, because you both sure received a lot of dirty looks. It reminded me of exactly how it was when Cade and I first started to go together. Like it was going to mean the end of the world or something.”

  A flicker of hope burst into flame, then quickly died. “I’m sure you’re wrong, Jasmine. We’re just friends.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “But I still don’t get why he would decide to do something like that.”

  “Zach told Arabella that Jack hoped his search-and-rescue training might help him succeed, even though the other investigators failed. And because Jack isn’t a cop, he wouldn’t be stepping out of bounds…or something.” Jasmine glanced over at the big Clayton Feed Mill calendar on the wall and frowned. “But maybe things aren’t going so well for Jack, either. I’m sure Arabella said his return flight was due in this morning, and no one has heard from him.”

  The cousins all met at the town hall on Thanksgiving morning, bearing dozens of dishes to be stowed away in the walk-in cooler. Jasmine also had the turkeys in there, trussed, stuffed and ready for the oven and her large serving pans of buttery sage dressing and the other dishes she had prepared.

  Zach eyed the stack of bakery boxes on a counter by the phone. “I think we need pie.”

  Jasmine laughed. “We have pie. At least twelve, actually.”

  “Let me clarify that. I think we ought to eat pie because dinner won’t be until three o’clock. I’ll gladly volunteer one of the pies I brought…er, bought from Arabella. Pecan or bumbleberry?”

  “Either.” Jasmine held up a hand and began ticking off the items on her fingers. “I do have croissants, several pounds of deli roast beef, ham and chicken, plus swiss lorraine, sharp cheddar and provolone cheeses, so if anyone wants a light lunch, have at it.”

  Mei halfheartedly listened to the banter, but all she could think about was Jack. She’d already quizzed Zach twice, but there had still been no word from him. If he’d missed his scheduled flight home, wouldn’t he have called to let Zach know about that so he wouldn’t make a fruitless trip to the airport? Zach had driven forty minutes out of Clayton, only to find that Jack had never gotten on the plane.

  Mei had left a text message on Jack’s cell phone, but there’d been no answer.

  What if he had run into that drug gang? Out in the swamp, bodies would be easy to dispose of—the scent of blood would draw any number of alligators, and remains might never be found.

  The weight pressing down on her heart made it hard to breathe as she tried to keep busy hanging orange, gold and brown streamers in swoops across the ceiling. And even the wonderful aromas of roasting turkeys, sweet potatoes and homemade yeast rolls baking in the ovens couldn’t take away the fear and worry in her heart.

  Please, God, let Jack be okay. I missed my chances before, but just give me one more shot to tell him how much I care.

  By three o’clock Jasmine had changed into a pretty bronze silk dress and taken up her station at the front door as hostess, while Mei and her cousins finished loading up the serving tables.

  Jasmine opened the door to look outside, then came back in, wringing her hands. “There’s no one out there. No one is going to come,” she wailed.

  Arabella walked over to give her a hug. “You’ve done a beautiful job, sweetie. Everything is perfect, and no one on our side of the family tree would miss this for the world. If that’s the extent of it, you’ve still made this a great success and we’ll just have to enjoy triple helpings. Speaking of that—look.”

  Jasmine turned to the door, where Jonathan was visible through the front window and on the verge of herding the triplets inside. Behind him there was a growing line of adults. “Thank goodness!”

  Mei shooed Arabella away from going back into the kitchen. “I’ll take care of replenishing all of this. You go out and be with your family.”

  “You should be able to do that, too,” Arabella protested.

  Mei smiled. “I just have my mom in town, and we all know how much she’d like a crowd like this—especially if all the ‘wrong’ people come. I’ll be glad just to keep busy.”

  Arabella’s face fell. “I’m so sorry, Mei. I know how you’ve worried about your brother. And…well, Jasmine told me she talked to you yesterday. I’m so sorry if things didn’t work out with Jack. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I think you two seem like such a perfect match.”

  Feeling the warmth of a blush start moving up her cheeks, Mei busied herself with taking a batch of dinner rolls out of the oven, not wanting to see the sympathy in Arabella’s eyes. “It was never that way at all. Jasmine is just a bit of a romantic is all.”

  “She is that,” Arabella said with an affectionate laugh.

  “I just hope Jack makes it home from Florida all right. It was wonderful of him to try to find my brother, but I don’t want to think about him risking his life. I’ve been praying for them both since I heard that Jack left.” She waved her hands. “Really, you go on out there—be with your family.”

  Arabella gave her a quick hug, then went out to meet the triplets who were now running through the front door.

  Mei lingered at the door of the kitchen, watching all of the family members pour in—many whom she didn’t recognize, though she could see Jasmine at the door, welcoming them all with a hug and clearly charming the socks off of everyone before checking them off her list.

  Great-uncle Samuel loomed in the doorway, his features cast in his usual scowl. He hesitated, rolling the brim of his Western hat in his hands as he surveyed the crowd going through the serving line.

  Mei held her breath.

  Then Jasmine sashayed up to him, gave him a hug and chatted with him for a moment before waving him toward the food with a smile. He moved on and Vincent followed, his eyes downcast and the tips of his ears bright red. Then over a dozen strangers followed—men, women and children—but Jasmine merrily marked them off her list as they walked in, so they must be part of Samuel’s extended family.

  The group moved as one toward the tables in the back corner, barely glancing at anyone they passed through the growing crowd. They all marked off their separate territories by draping their coats on the chairs. They were as far away as possible from the George Sr. side of the family and none of them looked happy but, incredibly, they were here.

  “Good for you, Jasmine,” Mei said under her breath as she went back into the kitchen for another pan of mashed potatoes. “You’re half the age of most people here, and you accomplished something no one else could.”

  The tables were nearly full now, and still more people were coming.

  Reverend West walked in and gave Jasmine a quick hug, then called f
or a table prayer. When everyone rose, he cleared his throat. “I appreciate the dinner invitation. It’s wonderful to see all of you here—a good share of my flock—enjoying fellowship and a celebration of this day.” He took a moment to sweep the room with a genial smile. “My hope is that all of you will continue these gatherings in years to come, in a spirit of love and harmony, and that the meal we share will be the beginning of greater friendships and happiness.”

  A number of guests shifted uncomfortably, and in the far corner, Samuel grimaced.

  Reverend West continued. “And now, Lord, we ask Your blessings upon each and every one of us. We give thanks to You for the bounty we enjoy in our lives each and every day and the bounty we are about to receive. Please bless and keep us in Your grace, now and forever, Amen.”

  Jasmine moved from one table to the next, dismissing people toward the buffet line. She carefully alternated between the groups from different sides of the family, smiling and touching a shoulder here, offering a hug or a kiss on a cheek there.

  Mei smiled as she replenished the buffet line and watched Jasmine welcome everyone.

  Mei noticed that Cade lingered at his father’s table for a while, one hand on the back of Charley’s chair, and appeared to be talking earnestly to him. A few minutes later he walked away, shaking his head in apparent disgust, and disappeared out a side door.

  Concerned, Mei followed and stepped out into the chilly breeze. She found him leaning against the side of the building, his head bowed.

  “Are you all right?” she ventured. “It’s kind of cold to be out here without a coat.”

  He looked up sharply, the flash of irritation in his eyes fading as he saw who she was. “I keep trying to do the right thing. And it just never works out.”

  “What happened?”

  “Jack keeps telling me how he regrets that he never had a relationship with his real dad. And of course Charley was no substitute.”

  “I think every guy—no matter how old he is—wants a good relationship with his father.”