“She shot at the police too, and she’s going to be put away for a long time for that,” Moira said grimly. “Enough of that talk, though. I just spent half the day going over what happened again and again with the police. Now I want to focus on Thanksgiving dinner with all of you.”
The five of them were seated around the kitchen table. Keeva and Maverick, released from the mudroom, were pacing around the table, their noses twitching as they sniffed hopefully for a tidbit. She and David were at the head and foot of the table, with Reggie, Allison, and Thelma seated around them. The turkey was in the middle, a gorgeous, golden brown bird with stuffing inside. Around it were the casseroles, mashed potatoes, and freshly made cornbread, and sitting on the counter were the three apple pies that Thelma had brought over, along with the pumpkin pie that David had made.
“David, this looks wonderful,” she said. “Thank you so much for cooking all of this.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” he said. “This is our Thanksgiving dinner. I was happy to help. I would have done more from the beginning if you had asked.”
“I know, I know,” she said. “I just can’t get over how wonderful everything looks. After the day I had, it’s going to be amazing to dig in.”
“I want to give a toast before we get started,” he said. “To Moira, who solved a crime and still made it home in time for dinner.”
She laughed as everyone clinked their glasses. “And I’d like to make a toast too, to David, who made the dinner possible, despite the mess I got myself into, and to Reggie, who probably saved my life with his quick thinking by calling 911 when he heard the gunshot.”
There was more clinking, and everyone congratulated Reggie, who looked embarrassed.
“Thank you so much, everyone. You don’t know how much it means to me for you all to be here,” Moira said. “I’m so happy that I get to spend the evening with all of you.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Allison said. “I think this is just what I needed. It feels good to be with everyone again. I’m sorry that I’ve been so withdrawn lately.”
“Don’t worry,” Moira said. “We understand. No one blames you for being upset.”
“I keep wishing that I had been able to say goodbye to my father,” Allison said. “But I realized something today. I did get to say goodbye to him. Somehow, even though I never knew he existed, and he probably didn’t know I did either, the universe conspired to bring us together so that he was found by someone related to him; someone who would have cared about him if she had known him. For a long time, I was so angry that I was the one that found him, but at least this way I know I was able to do something for him at least once, even if that was as simple as calling the police.”
“I know it’s hard,” Moira said. “I’m sure it will take you a while to figure everything out. I hope you know, you have all of us. And that’s why I want to make my last toast to family. Family is the people that you choose to love, not necessarily the people whose blood you share.”
When the toast was done, she sipped her glass of wine then put it down. It was time to cut the turkey, give thanks, and dig into the wonderful meal. It had been a rough day, but there was nowhere else that she would rather be. Today was Thanksgiving, and she had a lot to be thankful for.
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