"You're baking?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, Tess made dinner, but she's already in there, painting. She's got the baby in there with her. I'm on baking duty for the rest of the evening."
"I didn't know you baked," Daniel said.
"I do. I cook a lot, actually. We trade off. I might even do more than half now that Tara's been born."
Daniel followed Billy to the kitchen as they talked.
"Are you hungry? We just put up the leftovers from dinner if you want some. It was really good. Tess made it."
"What is it?" Daniel asked.
"Chicken and rice," Billy said. "There's some green beans, too. Sit down and eat. I just put everything into the icebox right before you knocked. It's still warm."
"I need to call my mom if I'm going to sit and eat," Daniel said. "I told her I'd be here around dinner time. She'll be worrying about me."
"Are you just pulling into town?" Billy asked, looking at Daniel with newfound curiosity.
"Yeah. And I'm starving. I could probably eat what you give me and another meal at my mom's."
"Good. We have plenty. Sit down and eat." Billy gestured to the stool, and Daniel nodded.
"I will if you don't mind."
"I want you to. The girls are upstairs, and I was just sitting in here waiting to take the cake out of the oven. How long do you get to stay? Through Christmas?"
"Yeah. Christmas is on a Monday, and I'll leave Tuesday morning."
"Short trip," Billy said.
"Yep."
"But, at least you get to come home."
"I know."
Billy skillfully scooped some of the rice mixture and green beans onto the plate and put a fork on the side before he slid it toward Daniel. "Do you want me to warm it up? I just put it in there, so think it's still pretty warm."
"No, thank you," Daniel said, staring at it. "It's fine like this. It looks delicious. I'm going to call home really quick before I eat."
There was a telephone right there in the kitchen. Daniel placed the call and had a short conversation with his dad where he explained that he'd be home in an hour or so.
"Where's your lady friend?" Billy asked when Daniel got off the phone.
"We broke up right after Thanksgiving."
"I know. You didn't tell me. I've talked to you two or three times since then, and you didn't mention it."
"How'd you know, then?"
"Your sister told me," Billy said.
"Laney? What's Laney doing talking about my personal life? That's not the kind of stuff I share. It was Kelly's idea to come here for Thanksgiving, or you guys might not have even known we were dating. The only reason I told them we broke up is because Mom asked me what she could get Kelly for Christmas."
"Why don't you talk to them about it?" Billy asked.
Daniel shrugged and took a bite of food. "I don't know. Like I said, I had just started seeing her, and we weren't even that serious. I wasn't ready to introduce her to family."
"Laney didn't seem too happy about the breakup."
"Yeah, she liked Kelly," Daniel said, after he chewed another bite. "She called me, begging me to ask Kelly to take me back. She wanted to help me make a plan. I think she just wanted to travel in Kelly's dad's plane."
"I'm sure she did," Billy said. "Was it his plane, or does he just know how to pilot?"
"No, it's his. They're loaded. Old money. His ancestors own a lot of land near Atlanta. They're descendants of Henry Ford or something. He's just in the military because he loves it."
"Wow," Billy said. "Now I kind of want to take a trip in Kelly's dad's plane."
Daniel laughed at that as he continued to chew. "This is really good," he said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. So, what are you doing for Christmas? Are you just staying here, with your parents?"
"Yeah, like I said, it was kind of last minute that I got to come home. What are you and Tess doing?"
"We leave tomorrow morning to go to her parents'. We'll spend the night there and wake up Christmas Day to open presents with them. I'm sure we'll come home later that afternoon—just make it a quick trip. I know I'm coming home, Tess might stay and get a ride back after a day or two. I have to get back into the gym with that match coming up in next month."
"Oh, okay, but y'all won't be here on Christmas Day?"
"Yeah, no. We'll be in Louisiana. Her parents and Abigail are there, and they've got grandparents and cousins that'll come over tomorrow night for Christmas Eve dinner. That's what all this is for," Billy said, gesturing to the baking that was taking place.
Daniel's mind didn't go to baking. His thoughts came to a screeching halt once Billy said her name. Abigail. He loved the sound of her name, and hearing it brought to his mind all sorts of memories of her. He had known her for over four years, and there had never been a moment, during all that time, that he wasn't madly in love with her.
The first and second times he ever saw her was through a window, and that seemed to be a metaphor for their relationship. He could interact with her and see all of her true colors, but there was some invisible force between them, some boundary that had been put there by her and not him.
It wasn't there when he saw her at Thanksgiving, and that was the very thing that resulted in him breaking up with Kelly. He didn't know if the boundary would be between them the next time he saw Abigail. He didn’t know if they could ever be together because of that. But seeing her at Thanksgiving and experiencing the feelings she gave him made him know that he had to break up with Kelly. It just wasn't fair to Kelly that he was capable of loving another woman so much. He had to work through that before he could be with anyone else.
He didn't call Abby right away. He needed time to think about everything and establish his feelings and boundaries. He was busy at the base, anyway, and Christmas had come quickly.
He had hoped to try to accidently run into Abby while he was in Galveston. He thought she might go there now that Tess had the baby. But it didn't seem like things were going to work out that way.
"I was hoping to run into Abby," he said to Billy. It was the main thing on his mind, so he wasn't surprised that it came out.
Billy looked at him. "What do you mean run into her? Are you trying to see her for Christmas? You could just come over there with us." Billy shrugged. "I'm sure you don't feel like making another trip after you just got here, but you're welcome to go with us in the morning."
"Oh, no, thanks. Thanks anyway. I wasn't trying to force anything. I was kind of hoping, you know, if it happens, it happens."
"No, I don't know," Billy said. "It seems like if you wanted to talk to her, you should just pick up the phone and call her. Or come with us. She'd love to see you. If that's what you're worried about, there's no need. She would really love to see you."
"What makes you say that?"
"My wife," Billy said. "Tess talks to her all the time. She's doing something with letters to soldiers."
"Who?"
"Abby."
"What about letters?"
"Something about getting her students to write letters and do art projects to mail to soldiers overseas." Billy shrugged. "You can't tell me that's not about you."
"I didn't know anything about it," Daniel said.
"Well, I guess not if you never see her or talk to her." Billy was being casual but direct. "As far as any of us knew, you were with someone else."
"Has she said anything about me?" Daniel asked.
"Tess would know more, but yeah, I do know she talks about you to her sister."
"What does she say?" Daniel asked, sitting up and getting to the edge of his chair.
"You'll have to ask Tess."
"Ask me what?" Tess said, coming into the room without either of them hearing her.
"About your sister."
"What about her?" Tess asked, smiling as she crossed to Daniel. She gave him a hug. "I didn't know you were coming over," she said, unintentionally changing the subject as she came up to him
.
"I didn't know either. It was a last-minute trip."
"He was asking about your sister," Billy said. "I was telling him that Abby would love to see him."
"Yeah, she would looove to see you," she said it in a slow, dramatic, dazed tone and Daniel tilted his head curiously at her. "She would love to see you," Tess said, being a little more serious. "She really would. She'd probably get in her car and head this way if she knew you were sitting here right now."
Daniel let out a little laugh. "If she did that, I would sit right here till she came," he said, joking around, but feeling serious.
"Are you saying you want me to call her?"
"Where's Tara?" Billy asked.
"I just fed her. She's laying in her crib for a minute while I came to get some water. Would you like some water?" she asked, looking at Daniel. "I see you got a bite of rice."
"It was tasty, Tess, thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll make you some water." Tess was already in the process of making her own water, so it was nothing to add another glass. "I was being serious about my sister, though," Tess added. "Billy told me he thought you might have broken up with that girl from Georgia."
"I did," Daniel said.
"Well, I didn't want to interfere, especially since Billy hadn't heard it from you, so I didn't mention it to my sister. I knew you would call her if you wanted to. But, yeah, if she knew you were… unattached, she'd probably be pretty happy about that."
It was a fairly vague statement, but Daniel felt a wave of pleasure as a result of it. He was happy, and at the same time, he was scared of going through all the trouble of driving to Louisiana if he wasn't a hundred percent sure about where Abby stood.
"I don’t know," he said. "As much as I'd like to go, I'd basically be doing a one-eighty on my mom about this whole trip. I was sort of just hoping to run into her while I was here, that way I can try to gauge where she stood."
"I'll tell you right now where she stands," Tess said.
"Where?" Daniel asked.
"Wherever you're standing," she said.
She was being totally serious.
"Nu-uh," Daniel said, shaking his head at her.
"Yes-huh," Tess said. "She does this whole thing with her class writing letters to soldiers, and I know it's because of you. They wrote an article about it in the Lake Charles American Press. She's got other teachers doing it." She set her glass down and lifted her hands in a sincere gesture of surrender. "Look, I totally understand about not having time to go to Louisiana on this trip, and ultimately it's up to you whether you want to try to talk to Abigail or not, but I do know she'd be excited to hear from you, Daniel. There's just no question about that."
Daniel nudged his chin toward the telephone that was mounted on the wall nearby. "Call her and see what she says about me," he said.
Tess smiled. "What are we in seventh grade?"
"Just do it," Billy said.
He was whipping his hand around excitedly. He was so wound up and intense about it that Tess laughed. "What do you want me to do? Ask if she'll come here? Because I bet she would."
"No, don't do that. I don't want her to miss Christmas with your family. Maybe it's too rushed this time. Maybe I'll be able to come for longer in the summer. I might even be moving back."
"So, do you want me to call her, or just wait?" she asked.
Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. Let me think about it."
Chapter 9
Abigail
The following day
Christmas Eve
We had a group of twenty family members coming to my parents' house for dinner on Christmas Eve. Mom and I had been cooking and baking for two days in preparation for it. It was after 5pm and getting close to time.
Every heating appliance in the house was in full use as we tried to get everything warm for dinner at 6pm when everyone arrived.
Billy and my grandma were watching Tara in the living room while Tess, Mom, and I finished the food preparation in the kitchen. The phone rang, and my mom was closest, so she reached out and answered it.
"Hello, Merry Christmas, Cohen residence. (She paused.) Oh, why, thank you. Yes, yes, I do. (Pause.) I will. You too. She's right here. Okay. You too. Hang on." My mother smiled as she held the phone out to me.
"Who is it?" I said the words so quietly that I might as well have been mouthing them.
My mom shook the phone, urging me to take it from her.
"Who is it?" I asked again as I reached for the receiver.
"Long distance," she whispered with wide eyes, telling me to hurry up and talk.
"Hello?" I said, having no idea who would be on the other end.
"Hey, Abby."
He said two words, but I instantly knew who he was.
Daniel.
I tried not to react outwardly. I stared blankly at the countertop, zoning-out and not caring at all what my mom and sister were doing.
"Hey," I said. "Daniel?"
"Yeah."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
My heart pounded, and every second that he paused before he replied seemed like an eternity.
"I'm at my parents' house in Galveston. I'm up at the hardware store, actually."
"It's not open, is it?"
"No, I'm just up here by myself. I came by so I could give you a call. I was talking to Tess and Billy about your plans. They said you were eating Christmas Eve dinner with your family. I was hoping to catch you before you all sat down for dinner."
"Yeah, yeah, you did. Nobody is really here yet besides my grandparents," I said. "Are you staying in Galveston through Christmas? They didn't even tell me you were home."
"Yeah, I'm here, but I have to get back to Fort Benning right after Christmas. It'll be a quick trip. I thought I might run into you in Texas, but Tess said you were staying at your mom's this year."
"Yeah, we usually do Christmas here," I said, widening my eyes at Tess for not telling me she and Daniel had a conversation about me. She shrugged innocently because she had no idea what Daniel was saying on the phone.
"I know you're about to have people over and everything. I won't keep you. I just wanted to—"
"No, no, it's fine," I said, desperately not wanting him to hang up. "Tess didn't tell me you came home. I'm so happy you did, and that you called. Both. My family's about to get here, but we have another phone… in the den… if you… wanted to talk for a little while. Or not. I didn't know why you were calling. Did you say that already?"
I was nervous and rambling, and my mom and sister were standing in earshot. But I didn't care. I just wanted to say the right things to Daniel.
"Tell Daniel we have plenty of food if he wants to come over here," Mom said from the other side of the sink.
"Thanks," I said. "He knows. Mom said you're welcome over here, but you already said Tess asked you."
"Would it be possible for us to talk later?" Daniel asked. "Maybe after your dinner? Are you spending the night at your mom's?"
"Yes. Of course. Yes, I am staying here, and please. What time?"
"Would nine or so give you time to finish up with your family? I'll call from the hardware store. I have to come back up here after dinner to help Randall build a couple of toys for his kids—a dollhouse and a rocking horse."
"You're building those things tonight?" I asked, smiling. "Who are you, Santa Claus?"
Daniel laughed. "We're just putting them together. Randall ordered them through Dad's wholesale catalogue, and he just figured out there was assembly required. I'll tell him we need to be done by nine so I can call you."
"Actually, if it—never mind."
"What?"
"I was just going to say we could do ten," I said. "It might be quieter here and that would give you more time, but it doesn't matter. That might be kind of late."
"No, we can do ten," he said. "That way I don't have to rush with those toys. I don't really know what I'm in for."
"Okay, that sounds incredible," I s
aid.
"Yeah it does. I'll call you at ten o'clock tonight."
"Okay. Bye."
I smiled when I hung up the phone.
"Is he coming over?" Mom asked.
"No ma'am."
"It sounded like that was what you were saying."
"No. He was talking about calling me. He's planning on calling back later tonight."
"What'd he say?" Tess asked.
"Pretty much just that. He said he knew I was busy but that he wanted to call back… and he talked about helping Randall put together toys, but that really only had to do with calling later…"
I trailed off when I heard noise at the front door. Someone had come in. I could hear commotion and people exclaiming. I knew it was my aunt and her family.
"Did he tell you he broke up with that girl in Georgia?" Tess asked.
"I wish," I said, letting out a humorless laugh.
"No, he did. I was just asking if he told you about it."
"What?" I said, staring at Tess like I couldn't understand what she was saying. Because I couldn't.
"Daniel broke up with that girl. He told us."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, feeling stunned. "Did he really?"
Tess nodded.
"They're all the way broke up?"
Tess nodded again.
"I have to go," I said instantly. "I have to go over there."
"Go where?" Mom asked in a motherly tone.
"To Galveston." I looked at my sister. "Tonight."
"What?" she asked, staring at me.
I nodded. "I want to be there by ten, so that means I can still stay here and eat dinner and everything. I can leave as late as seven and still make it."
"What would you do at ten o'clock at night?" Mom asked.
"Surprise Daniel," Tess answered.
"Are you going to try to drive there and back in one night?" Mom asked. "I feel like that's going to be dangerous."
"I just spend the night at Tess and Billy's if they don't mind."
"We don't mind at all, but that's a big house for you to be in by yourself. I usually have Mom come stay the night with me if Billy's got to be out of town."
"It's fine," I said. "It's safe. I'll sleep upstairs."
The Trouble with Crushes: A Romance (Bank Street Stories Book 2) Page 6