Maggie smiled. “And I’m oh so glad you’re here. It’s the best surprise you ever could’ve given me.” Maggie snuggled into her and hugged her for a quiet moment. “I am a bit shocked, though,” she said, returning to the dinner preparations.
“About Tess?” Addison opened a drawer and found the electric knife.
“About both of them, really,” Maggie said. “Certainly Tess. For her to vanish for a whole day…I don’t know whether to be worried or simply know she’s somewhere doin’ somethin’ she enjoys. Even Dusty, though. She seemed to be changin’ over the past several months, so I was a bit taken aback at her takin’ off with some girl rather than bein’ here with us. I didn’t notice it at first, but she was startin’ to be home quite a bit more and seemed much more aware of other people.”
“What do you mean?” Addison asked.
“She helped Eve a lot with her fears and just seemed more—” The phone rang. “Maybe that’s Tess.” Maggie had said that every time the phone had rung.
“I’ll get it,” Addison said, reaching for the receiver. She’d enjoyed surprising people throughout the day. “Hello?”
“Hi, Addison, it’s Tess.”
“Hey, Tess. Where are you?”
At the sound of the name, Maggie, Eve, and Sammi all turned to listen.
“We’re almost home,” Tess answered, a smile in her voice. “We just stopped at the store to pick up something. We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Great.” Addison grinned. “I’ll hold off carving the turkey till you get here. Are you going to tell us where you’ve been all day?”
“Oh, yes.” Tess laughed. “You’ll know all about it, soon.”
“Okay then. See you in a few.” Addison hung up the phone. “Tess stopped at the store. She said they’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
“They?” Maggie asked.
Eve let out an odd squeak, but when Addison looked at her, Sammi was kissing her.
“Is JoAnn with her?” Maggie asked.
“She didn’t say.” Addison retrieved a roll of foil and began to cover the bird.
“Hm. Maybe she changed her mind about havin’ her over,” Maggie muttered, clearly lost in thought.
While they waited, they all worked on the jigsaw puzzle laid out on the coffee table. It’d been a project the four of them had shared throughout the day in between some card games and a movie about a whale. Addison had enjoyed getting to know Sammi and watching her and Eve in the early stages of love. It reminded her that she and Maggie had the opportunity to start over, and of her plans to do just that. When the chimes on the door sounded, they all turned.
Tess walked across the entryway, Dusty close behind her.
Eve stood, squealed, and clapped her hands.
Dusty grinned and, after setting a bag she carried on the credenza, strode to her. She picked her up and planted a long kiss on her lips. Eve wrapped her arms around Dusty’s neck and, kicking her feet, squealed again.
Finally, Dusty set her back to the floor. She stepped away and looked at Sammi. “Sorry. I had to thank her.”
“I understand completely,” Sammi said with a broad smile. She held out her hand and shook Dusty’s. “Congratulations.”
Tess moved to Eve and took her into a long embrace.
Addison looked at Maggie, who appeared just as confused as she was. “Do you get the feeling we don’t know something everyone else does?”
“I definitely get that feelin’,” Maggie said, staring wide-eyed at the scene unfolding. “Is someone goin’ to explain it to us?” She caught Tess’s eye.
Tess released Eve. “I’m so sorry, Maggie. I know I should have told you. You’re my best friend.”
“Don’t be sorry, darlin’, just tell me, now.” Maggie stared. “Is it what it looks like?”
Tess took Dusty’s hand in her own. “I hope so.” She giggled like a teenager.
“You tell them, baby,” Dusty urged her. “I want to hear it again.”
Tess smiled. “Dusty and I are in love.”
“What?” Maggie cried, laughter claiming any other response. She leapt to her feet and grabbed them both in a tight hug. She released them but held on to Tess’s hand. “I’ve suspected somethin’ between the two of you for a while now—a spark or somethin’—but this…” She embraced them again.
In love? The words reverberated in Addison’s mind. She knew she’d been gone a while, but…in love? She grinned. “How did that happen?”
Dusty put her arm around Tess and pulled her close. “We’ll tell you all about it, buddy. But first, we have champagne.” She grabbed the bag from the credenza and held it up. “We’ll celebrate all of us.”
Dinner waited while Dusty and Tess shared their tale from the very first kiss. They clinked champagne flutes to Dusty’s and Tess’s story, to Maggie’s and Addison’s reunion, to Eve’s and Sammi’s new love. Addison watched and listened, knowing this was her true family and exactly where she belonged. Finally, they rose to put dinner on the table.
As Addison uncovered the bird and picked up the knife, Dusty stepped up beside her. “What do you think, buddy?” she asked. “Did I do okay?”
Addison paused and looked at her. “Man, I don’t even know who you are. I leave for a few weeks and the tiger is tamed.” Addison grinned. “And yeah, you did fantastic. You can’t get much better than Tess. And Maggie, of course,” she said quickly.
Dusty chuckled.
“I hear you helped Eve out, too.”
Dusty glanced into the dining room where Eve and Sammi were putting mashed potatoes and gravy on the table. “Yeah, that worked out pretty good, too, didn’t it?”
“It sure did. Sammi seems great.” Addison turned back to her task. “I’ll tell you something, though. If you’re going to be all domesticated like the rest of us, you’d better pay attention to how to carve a bird. Watch and learn.”
“Why?” Dusty draped an arm over Addison’s shoulders. “Tess and I are gonna be spending all the holidays with you guys anyway.”
The truth in the statement brought a smile to Addison’s face. She realized in that moment how much she’d grown to love Dusty. “Hey, I’m sorry I was such an asshole about Victoria.”
“Really?” Dusty turned and leaned against the counter. She picked a piece of crispy skin off the turkey and took a bite. “Sorry enough to sing the Super Sorry Song? And not the way you sang it for Maggie.”
Addison laughed. “You’re pushing it.”
Dusty grinned.
She glanced around to make sure no one else was listening then bent toward Dusty and sang softly. “I know I blew it big time. I know I’m such a pig rind,” she sang. “But don’t you worry…cuuuuuuz, I’m super sooorrrrry.” She finished with a flourish and a small bow.
Dusty laughed out loud. “I never get tired of that.”
As they sat at the table, Addison looked into each face and knew that everyone’s Thanksgiving offering would be the same—I am thankful for love, friendship, and a beautiful life.
She smiled and squeezed Maggie’s hand. I am thankful for home.
About the Author
Jeannie grew up in Tehachapi, CA, a small town in the southern foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the kind of town where everyone knew everyone and lived with unlocked doors. Summer days were long and filled with bike riding, fort building, tree climbing, and lots of freedom. Raised by an English teacher, Jeannie has always been surrounded by literature and novels and learned to love reading at an early age. She tried her hand at writing fiction for the first time under the loving encouragement of her eighth grade English teacher. She graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Jeannie’s loves include her beautiful family, an amazing circle of friends, and her four-legged best friend. She enjoys many genres of novels, movies, and theater, is a cliché as a George R. R. Martin fan in her grumblings about the wait between Song of Ice and Fire books, and is deeply committed to her
spiritual path.
In addition to being a novelist, Jeannie is a freelance ghostwriter and editor and is working on a new novel.
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
Making a Comeback by Julie Blair. Music and love take center stage when jazz pianist Liz Randall tries to make a comeback with the help of her reclusive, blind neighbor, Jac Winters. (978-1-62639-357-8)
Soul Unique by Gun Brooke. Self-proclaimed cynic Greer Landon falls for Hayden Rowe’s paintings and the young woman shortly after, but will Hayden, who lives with Asperger syndrome, trust her and reciprocate her feelings? (978-1-62639-358-5)
The Price of Honor by Radclyffe. Honor and duty are not always black and white—and when self-styled patriots take up arms against the government, the price of honor may be a life. (978-1-62639-359-2)
Mounting Evidence by Karis Walsh. Lieutenant Abigail Hargrove and her mounted police unit need to solve a murder and protect wetland biologist Kira Lovell during the Washington State Fair. (978-1-62639-343-1)
Threads of the Heart by Jeannie Levig. Maggie and Addison Rae-McInnis share a love and a life, but are the threads that bind them together strong enough to withstand Addison’s restlessness and the seductive Victoria Fontaine? (978-1-62639-410-0)
Sheltered Love by MJ Williamz. Boone Fairway and Grey Dawson—two women touched by abuse—overcome their pasts to find happiness in each other. (978-1-62639-362-2)
Asher’s Out by Elizabeth Wheeler. Asher Price’s candid photographs capture the truth, but when his success requires exposing an enemy, Asher discovers his only shot at happiness involves revealing secrets of his own. (978-1-62639-411-7)
The Ground Beneath by Missouri Vaun. An improbable barter deal involving a hope chest and dinners for a month places lovely Jessica Walker distractingly in the way of Sam Casey’s bachelor lifestyle. (978-1-62639-606-7)
Hardwired by C.P. Rowlands. Award-winning teacher Clary Stone, and Leefe Ellis, manager of the homeless shelter for small children, stand together in a part of Clary’s hometown that she never knew existed. (978-1-62639-351-6)
No Good Reason by Cari Hunter. A violent kidnapping in a Peak District village pushes Detective Sanne Jensen and lifelong friend Dr. Meg Fielding closer, just as it threatens to tear everything apart. (978-1-62639-352-3)
Romance by the Book by Jo Victor. If Cam didn’t keep disrupting her life, maybe Alex could uncover the secret of a century-old love story, and solve the greatest mystery of all—her own heart. (978-1-62639-353-0)
Death’s Doorway by Crin Claxton. Helping the dead can be deadly: Tony may be listening to the dead, but she needs to learn to listen to the living. (978-1-62639-354-7)
Searching for Celia by Elizabeth Ridley. As American spy novelist Dayle Salvesen investigates the mysterious disappearance of her ex-lover, Celia, in London, she begins questioning how well she knew Celia—and how well she knows herself. (978-1-62639-356-1)
The 45th Parallel by Lisa Girolami. Burying her mother isn’t the worst thing that can happen to Val Montague when she returns to the woodsy but peculiar town of Hemlock, Oregon. (978-1-62639-342-4)
A Royal Romance by Jenny Frame. In a country where class still divides, can love topple the last social taboo and allow Queen Georgina and Beatrice Elliot, a working class girl, their happy ever after? (978-1-62639-360-8)
Bouncing by Jaime Maddox. Basketball Coach Alex Dalton has been bouncing from woman to woman, because no one ever held her interest, until she meets her new assistant, Britain Dodge. (978-1-62639-344-8)
Same Time Next Week by Emily Smith. A chance encounter between Alex Harris and the beautiful Michelle Masters leads to a whirlwind friendship, and causes Alex to question everything she’s ever known—including her own marriage. (978-1-62639-345-5)
All Things Rise by Missouri Vaun. Cole rescues a striking pilot who crash-lands near her family’s farm, setting in motion a chain of events that will forever alter the course of her life. (978-1-62639-346-2)
Riding Passion by D. Jackson Leigh. Mount up for the ride through a sizzling anthology of chance encounters, buried desires, romantic surprises, and blazing passion. (978-1-62639-349-3)
Love’s Bounty by Yolanda Wallace. Lobster boat captain Jake Myers stopped living the day she cheated death, but meeting greenhorn Shy Silva stirs her back to life. (978-1-62639-334-9)
Just Three Words by Melissa Brayden. Sometimes the one you want is the one you least suspect. Accountant Samantha Ennis has her ordered life disrupted when heartbreaker Hunter Blair moves into her trendy Soho loft. (978-1-62639-335-6)
Lay Down the Law by Carsen Taite. Attorney Peyton Davis returns to her Texas roots to take on big oil and the Mexican Mafia, but will her investigation thwart her chance at true love? (978-1-62639-336-3)
Playing in Shadow by Lesley Davis. Survivor’s guilt threatens to keep Bryce trapped in her nightmare world unless Scarlet’s love can pull her out of the darkness back into the light. (978-1-62639-337-0)
Soul Selecta by Gill McKnight. Soul mates are hell to work with. (978-1-62639-338-7)
The Revelation of Beatrice Darby by Jean Copeland. Adolescence is complicated, but Beatrice Darby is about to discover how impossible it can seem to a lesbian coming of age in conservative 1950s New England. (978-1-62639-339-4)
Twice Lucky by Mardi Alexander. For firefighter Mackenzie James and Dr. Sarah Macarthur, there’s suddenly a whole lot more in life to understand, to consider, to risk…someone will need to fight for her life. (978-1-62639-325-7)
Shadow Hunt by L.L. Raand. With young to raise and her Pack under attack, Sylvan, Alpha of the wolf Weres, takes on her greatest challenge when she determines to uncover the faceless enemies known as the Shadow Lords. A Midnight Hunters novel. (978-1-62639-326-4)
Heart of the Game by Rachel Spangler. A baseball writer falls for a single mom, but can she ever love anything as much as she loves the game? (978-1-62639-327-1)
Getting Lost by Michelle Grubb. Twenty-eight days, thirteen European countries, a tour manager fighting attraction, and an accused murderer: Stella and Phoebe’s journey of a lifetime begins here. (978-1-62639-328-8)
Prayer of the Handmaiden by Merry Shannon. Celibate priestess Kadrian must defend the kingdom of Ithyria from a dangerous enemy and ultimately choose between her duty to the Goddess and the love of her childhood sweetheart, Erinda. (978-1-62639-329-5)
The Witch of Stalingrad by Justine Saracen. A Soviet “night witch” pilot and American journalist meet on the Eastern Front in WW II and struggle through carnage, conflicting politics, and the deadly Russian winter. (978-1-62639-330-1)
Pedal to the Metal by Jesse J. Thoma. When unreformed thief Dubs Williams is released from prison to help Max Winters bust a car theft ring, Max learns that to catch a thief, get in bed with one. (978-1-62639-239-7)
Dragon Horse War by D. Jackson Leigh. A priestess of peace and a fiery warrior must defeat a vicious uprising that entwines their destinies and ultimately their hearts. (978-1-62639-240-3)
For the Love of Cake by Erin Dutton. When everything is on the line, and one taste can break a heart, will pastry chefs Maya and Shannon take a chance on reality? (978-1-62639-241-0)
Betting on Love by Alyssa Linn Palmer. A quiet country-girl-at-heart and a live-life-to-the-fullest biker take a risk at offering each other their hearts. (978-1-62639-242-7)
The Deadening by Yvonne Heidt. The lines between good and evil, right and wrong, have always been blurry for Shade. When Raven’s actions force her to choose, which side will she come out on? (978-1-62639-243-4)
Ordinary Mayhem by Victoria A. Brownworth. Faye Blakemore has been taking photographs since she was ten, but those same photographs threaten to destroy everything she knows and everything she loves. (978-1-62639-315-8)
One Last Thing by Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou. Blood is thicker than pride. The final book in the Elite Operative Series brings together foes, family, and friends to start a new order. (978-1-62639-230-4)
Songs Unfinished by Holly Stratimore. Two a
spiring rock stars learn that falling in love while pursuing their dreams can be harmonious—if they can only keep their pasts from throwing them out of tune. (978-1-62639-231-1)
Beyond the Ridge by L.T. Marie. Will a contractor and a horse rancher overcome their family differences and find common ground to build a life together? (978-1-62639-232-8)
Swordfish by Andrea Bramhall. Four women battle the demons from their pasts. Will they learn to let go, or will happiness be forever beyond their grasp? (978-1-62639-233-5)
The Fiend Queen by Barbara Ann Wright. Princess Katya and her consort Starbride must turn evil against evil in order to banish Fiendish power from their kingdom, and only love will pull them back from the brink. (978-1-62639-234-2)
Up the Ante by PJ Trebelhorn. When Jordan Stryker and Ashley Noble meet again fifteen years after a short-lived affair, are either of them prepared to gamble on a chance at love? (978-1-62639-237-3)
Speakeasy by MJ Williamz. When mob leader Helen Byrne sets her sights on the girlfriend of Al Capone’s right-hand man, passion and tempers flare on the streets of Chicago. (978-1-62639-238-0)
Venus in Love by Tina Michele. Morgan Blake can’t afford any distractions and Ainsley Dencourt can’t afford to lose control—but the beauty of life and art usually lies in the unpredictable strokes of the artist’s brush. (978-1-62639-220-5)
Threads of the Heart Page 33