Part 4 (1/2)
Bailey opened the cans of black olives and poured them into one of the serving dishes. She was tossing the cans into the garage recycling bin when from her back pocket she felt her cell phone buzz. Probably Tim texting her about what time he should stop by. She paused on the steps of the garage and checked.
But the text wasn't from Tim. Once again it was from Cody. Bailey felt her breath catch a little as she stared at the message on her screen.
HAVEN'T TALKED TO YOU IN A WHILE ... JUST WANTED TO WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
She hesitated, looking from his name to the message and back again. Andi had been talking to Cody almost daily, and she'd told Bailey that Cody was spending Thanksgiving with his mom. Just the two of them. Andi might be Cody's new friend, but Bailey knew him better. She understood how difficult spending time with his mother was for him. His father hadn't been in the picture since he was a baby, and his mom had introduced him to drinking games when he was just fourteen. By the time he reached his senior year in high school she was in prison on drug charges. She'd been out for several years now, deeply sorry for how she'd let Cody down during his growing-up years and clean from drugs and alcohol as far as Bailey knew. But it was still difficult. In the past Cody - and then in later years both he and his mom - had spent Thanksgiving with Bailey's family. Cody had less of a problem being with his mom when they were in a big group.
He had to feel lonely today, same as Bailey.
She exhaled and realized something: this must be the reason she'd felt down on the way to the Matthews' house. She was missing Cody. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, whether they had spoken only hours ago or not for the past few weeks ... she missed him.
The happy mix of voices continued on the other side of the garage door, but where Bailey was standing, a few feet from the trash and recycling bins, it was cold and quiet. She tapped out a quick response.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOUR MOM TOO. WE MISS YOU.
She leaned against the cool garage wall and waited, reading his message and hers twice more before the next text came through.
HOW'S TIM?
Anger stirred the muddy waters in Bailey's soul. Couldn't he at least tell her he felt the same way, that he missed her as much as she missed him? The way he'd told her that day when she was on her way to rehearsal? He did miss her - he had to, otherwise he wouldn't have texted her.
She slid her phone shut in a rush and slipped it back into her pocket. They wouldn't have any friends.h.i.+p at all until he could see past her relations.h.i.+p with Tim. Cody had been her friend long before she started dating Tim. The fact that he continued to let Tim come between them meant only one thing.
He was okay with letting their friends.h.i.+p slip away.
Everyone was setting the table when she returned to the kitchen, and the dining area was a joyful chaos of little kids being seated at one of three tables and highchairs sliding into place. Bailey pitched in, setting bowls of sweet potatoes on the various tables and finally taking the place between her mom and Ricky. All around the dining room people talked and laughed, celebrating the time together and remarking about the look and smell of the food spread out before them.
But Bailey felt no hunger. She wanted to call Cody and tell him to quit being so distant, to get in his car and come over so they could walk down to the lake in the snow and find what they'd lost these last few months. The idea was ridiculous for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was that Tim would be here in an hour.
When everyone was seated, Dayne stood and prayed. ”Father, we come to You this Thanksgiving Day with full hearts. Thank You for giving us eternal life, and for the people around this table. Thank You for long-lasting relations.h.i.+ps, and for new life -” He paused, his voice rich and full. ”- like baby Sophie and baby Janessa. We have so much to be grateful for, dear G.o.d. Bless this food to our bodies, and thank You for providing it. We love You, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.”
A round of amens echoed from around the room.
After everyone served their plates, Dayne asked them to share what they were most thankful for.
”One rule.” Katy smiled at the group. ”An answer can only be given once.”
”I'm first!” Cole, Ashley's son, jumped up and raised his hand. Landon helped him back to his seat.
”Cole will go last.” He put his arm around Cole.
”Ahh, Dad.” Cole wasn't really that upset, because his eyes still danced. ”All the good answers will be taken.”
”You can be thankful for me, Coley!” Maddie, Brooke's oldest, cast a teasing look across the table at her cousin. ”Unless that one's already taken.”
Everyone laughed, and the round of thanks began. Bailey was glad for the distraction. People quickly moved from being thankful for G.o.d and family and friends and food to specific things - the success of the local crisis pregnancy center, the way the Colts were coming together for Bailey's dad, and her brother Shawn's A on a recent biology test. Bailey felt her phone receive another text message just as her turn arrived. She ignored it. ”I'm thankful for my roommate, Andi. She's sort of like a sister, and I'm grateful for that.”
Finally it was Cole's turn. He thought for a long moment, clearly struggling to think of an answer. Finally he threw his hands in the air. ”Okay, fine. I'm thankful for Maddie.”
”Thank you, Coley.” Maddie folded her hands on the table and gave her cousin a satisfied smile. ”I'm thankful for you too.”
Again everyone laughed, and conversations broke out all around. Bailey poked her fork around in her peas and mashed potatoes, but all she could think about was the text waiting for her. Even during a regular dinner, her parents didn't like them texting. Today that would be especially true. She ate a few bites of turkey and set her fork down.
”You okay?” Her mom's smile was full of compa.s.sion.
As usual, she could read Bailey's heart and mind even though nothing had been said about the text messages. Bailey shrugged one shoulder. ”Cody texted me.”
”And?” With so many people talking around the room no one listened to them.
”Wished me a Happy Thanksgiving.” She sighed. ”I told him I missed him, and instead of saying he missed me, too, he just asked me how Tim was.”
Her mom gave her a sympathetic smile. ”Maybe he's being smart.”
”How?”
”He's making you think about your decisions.” She put her arm around Bailey's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. ”Look who you're sitting here thinking about.”
Her mom had a point. But was Cody's silence really deliberate? With all the time he spent talking to Andi, it seemed like only a slight possibility. ”Maybe he's interested in Andi. He doesn't want me missing him, when I'm supposed to be thinking about Tim. You know ...” She met her mom's eyes. ”So I don't do something stupid like start liking him again.”
”I don't think so.” Her mom picked up her knife and fork and cut a bite of turkey.
”You seem so sure.”
”I am sure.” Confidence shone in her eyes. ”I saw how he looked at you that day at our house. He adores you, Bailey. No matter what you decide, I think maybe he always will.”
Bailey hung onto that thought.
When dinner was over, everyone worked together clearing the tables and loading Katy and Dayne's two dishwashers. Bailey was helping her mom and Ashley place ten pies along the granite kitchen bar when the doorbell rang. Dayne answered it, and Bailey watched from where she worked as Tim Reed stepped inside. He and Dayne talked for a minute, the way they always did when they saw each other. Tim had been one of the first CKT kids Dayne met, and the two shared a special friends.h.i.+p. Dayne was a sort of mentor for Tim, which was a great situation for a lot of reasons.
Their conversation gave Bailey the chance to watch Tim from a distance. He was taller than back in his CKT days, and handsome in a polished sort of way. He loved G.o.d and he fit in well with Bailey's friends and family. Why, then, she asked herself as she pulled three pie servers from a drawer and set them on a napkin, aren't you head over heels for that guy?
She had no answers.
Tim finished talking with Dayne and crossed the room to the kitchen. He smiled when he saw her, but she wasn't sure his eyes actually lit up. Not the way she would've liked. ”Hey ... Happy Thanksgiving.” He gave Bailey a quick hug as he studied the pies. ”Looks like I got here just in time.”
They compared notes about the day and ate pie and played a new board game - Eye to Eye - and when the night was over sometime after ten o'clock, he hugged her again and they went their separate ways. The ride back was quiet, with Ricky and BJ nodding off before they had gone far. The trip gave Bailey time to review her evening with Tim. They'd had fun, for sure. They laughed and enjoyed being together. But if she was painfully honest with herself, something was missing. Something in the way Tim looked at her.
She remembered her mom's words. ”I saw how he looked at you ... He adores you.”
Maybe that was it. Tim looked at her on a surface level. He smiled and seemed happy to see her. But when Cody looked at her, there were no layers left, nothing he didn't reveal, nothing he couldn't see. He didn't really look at her so much as he looked into her. To the deepest, most real, places in her heart and soul.
Her mom seemed to sense she needed alone time, so she didn't ask about Tim or how Bailey had felt seeing him. Good thing. Bailey didn't have an answer for herself, let alone her mother. Not until she was changing out of her jeans did she remember her phone and the text message she'd never read. She pulled it from her pocket and clicked a few b.u.t.tons.
I MISS YOU TOO.
She was drawn into those four simple words as if he was standing right here beside her. Again her breath caught. Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them back. She wasn't crying because she was sad. The tears were because maybe her mother was right. He must care more than he let on or he wouldn't have sent this text a full hour after his last one. Maybe he'd a.n.a.lyzed his message about Tim and how Bailey hadn't answered, and finally - after a very long time - he'd texted how he felt. How he really felt.