31Summer
Laurie led me past the stairs into a kitchen that was twice the size of my own. An ornate granite island dominated the center of it, with cherry wood cabinets lining the top and bottom of the back and side walls. Four ladies were busy doing various tasks with the food, only one of whom I recognized: Sebastian's mother, Charlotte. None of them were looking at us, but were laughing and talking among themselves.
"Ladies..." Laurie began, and four heads whipped upward as she placed a hand on the small of my back to urge me forward. "We have a new guest this year."
Smiling, Charlotte rounded the island, wiping her flour-dusted hands on her apron as she came to enfold me in a hug.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Summer. I was hopin' Bassy was gonna bring you."
"Thanks." I said when she pulled away.
Her hair had been pulled up tight and was held in place by a large clip, though a few curls had fallen loose at her temples, which she blew back as she returned to the dough she'd been rolling. She looked up at me when I didn't move or speak, and jerked her head towards the others.
"Go on and introduce yourself, lass. We don't bite."
Feeling my face warm with blush as more than a little social anxiety made me awkward, I met the eyes of the other women. "Hi, I'm Summer. Nice to meet you all."
"She's Bas's girlfriend." Laurie explained for me, and more than one mouth fell open.
"Since when does Bassy date?" the woman to Charlotte's right asked. She had mouse brown hair and plain Jane features, her hands using two forks to toss a salad. "I thought that last chick sold him off the dating scene for good."
"She is his 'one'." Charlotte spoke up, her eyes smiling. "Everyone finds their 'one', that special person hand-picked by our Heavenly Father. I knew that Molly was not the one, and I was right. We been waiting a long time for Bassy to find you."
I grinned at her as the others in tow lifted their eyes with fondness. Beside me, Laurie touched a hand to my arm, beaming a megawatt grin.
"Summer is special. You two met at church, right?" She asked me, and I shrugged.
"Kind of..." If support group within the church counted anyway.
The woman who had spoken before, smiled at me. "Well that's awesome. Good for Bas. I'm Riley, by the way. Ryan's wife."
"Nice to meet you." I mumbled, wishing Sebastian was there with me to diffuse some of the awkwardness.
Laurie patted my back and led me a little further into the room. "So, you know Mama, obviously, and over behind Riley there is Mark's wife, Katrina—"
"You can call me Kat." She called over her shoulder with a subtle wave. "I loathe the name Katrina."
I smiled as I remembered what Sebastian had said about what she and her husband had done for Charlotte and George. Her hands were making busy work of whisking a gravy pot on the stove, her back to the room. She had red hair a few shades darker than mine, and straight as straw, falling just a few inches below her shoulders. When she turned to grin at me, I saw leprechaun green eyes.
Laurie led me to the island where, opposite Charlotte and Riley, another woman was busy kneading dough. She had smooth, Hershey's-colored skin and black hair that had been pulled into a ponytail behind her head. When she looked up at me, her ice blue eyes smiled with her.
"I'm Tory. Nice to meet you, honey." She started lifting her hand, then, seeming to realize it was coated in flour, lowered it to offer her elbow instead. I laughed when I shook it.
"Likewise."
"She belongs to Ian." Laurie explained, and Tory snickered.
"I belong to no one, madam. I am my own woman."
"Of course, you are." Laurie grinned. "A woman madly in love with a man."
Tory nodded. "No shame in that. Is there, Summer?"
"None whatsoever." I agreed, and grinned when Tory nudged me with her elbow.
"At least, you don't have to worry about getting your man mixed up with his identical counterparts. A twin is bad enough, but the four of us have it tough. Don't we, ladies?"
The others agreed, but they were good natured about it, making Charlotte laugh as she began cutting cookie shapes into the dough she'd rolled. "Not my fault me husband's got fast spreadin' seed." She complained, and the others snickered. "Gave me five boys that I cherish with all me heart."
"How is Bas, by the way?" Tory asked. "Haven't seen him since Ian's birthday last month."
I shrugged. "He's fine. Stubborn, but fine."
From across the island, Riley huffed. "Stubbornness is the curse of the Crawford men, I think."
"You got that right." Kat agreed, and the others inclined their heads as Charlotte looked at me again.
"Where is Bas anyway? He ought to come in here, and let me check him over. He shouldn't be left alone."
I smiled, recalling how Sebastian had mentioned his mother being 'overprotective' since he'd gotten sick, but the girls just rolled their eyes.
"Tom and Dev have him, Mama." Laurie explained. "So, he's okay."
Charlotte visibly calmed. "Good. Summer, you want to give me a hand?"
"Sure."
"Grab that pan there, with the parchment, and bring it here, would ya?" She pointed a finger to a cookie sheet set askew on the side of a buffet table that was littered with cakes, pies, and candies. Guess Sebastian was right about not bringing anything.
I set the pan in front of her, then, at her instruction, started carefully lifting cut-out cookies and laying them in place, then dropped them in the oven beneath an amazing-smelling turkey. After, I helped her clean the counter, then stood to the side to mingle.
"You have family, Summer?" Kat asked as she poured gravy into a ceramic bowl and lidded it.
I nodded. "An older brother, his wife, and my niece."
"That all?" Charlotte asked, her expression turned down, and I nodded.
"My parents died when I was a kid, and we don't really have any other relatives."
"Just like poor Tom. I'm sorry, lass." She said with a frown, and came to stand beside me.
I didn't know Tom's history, but recalled Sebastian saying he had no family. If his lineage was anything like my own, I felt for him. Still at my side, Charlotte used her apron to dab at the sweat on her brow. It left a streak of flour on her forehead, and I smiled at it, but didn't say anything. No one else did either.
"What's big bro doing today then? You jip out on him?" Riley asked with a teasing grin, and I chuckled as I shook my head.
"He jipped me, actually. Took his family to Florida to be with his wife's parents. He'll be home tomorrow."
"He's the only family you got, and he up and left? What a douche!"
I shrugged. "I don't mind. His wife and I don't really get along. I'd rather have spent the day with Sebastian anyway."
"And us." Charlotte interjected. "You got a whole lot of family now, lass. Bassy loves you to pieces, and that makes you one of us."
The others nodded in agreement, making me smile so hard my cheeks hurt. "I really appreciate that."
Charlotte patted my shoulder, then crossed her arms as she rested against the buffet table. "Family sticks together, for better or worse." She said. "Even when... even when Bassy is gone, you will always be welcome here."
I looked around the room as a hush fell. Everyone's expressions matched Charlotte's: sad, sympathetic, but when they looked at me, they all nodded in agreement. My heart was beating so hard and fast it hurt, and my throat tightened as tears filled my eyes and threatened to fall. I realized that, all that time, I'd been thinking that no one but his mother knew the depth of Sebastian's illness; that no one knew he was dying. But, of course they all knew, and they carried on with laughter and holiday as normal, as though the elephant wasn't standing in the next room with the boys, capable of dropping dead at any second. They truly were the strongest family I'd ever seen.
Swallowing hard, I inclined my head to the group. "Thank you..." I could barely even whisper it.
Laurie came to my side when the first tear fell, and I quickly wiped away, sniffing as she wrapped an arm around me. Charlotte did the same, then Tory, then Kat, then Riley until we were a giant huddle of sad-faced women. Someone other than me was sniffing back tears, but I didn't look to see who it was, just prayed that Sebastian didn't happen to walk in and see us like that. He'd question us, and wouldn't like to know that he was the subject of our sudden sadness. It would ruin the whole day for him.
Sniffing again, I pulled away, and the ladies slowly returned to their tasks. I saw Laurie slide a finger beneath her eyes, but no one else said another word on the subject.
"Anyway," Tory began, and I turned to her. Her eyes were wet, but no tears fell, and I let out a slow, steadying breath as she forced a smile at me. "Tell us a little about yourself, Summer. Laurie said you met Bassy at church. Have you been going there long?"
Whiplashed by the sudden change of subject, it took me a moment to register the question, but then I shook my head. "No, I uh... I actually just went there for the support group, and happened to bump into Sebastian on the sidewalk while I was looking for the church."
"Awe," Riley chimed from across the counter where she was now leaning with her arms crossed. "You bumped into each other and then it was love at first sight. That's so stinkin cute. Like a romance movie. Wish it had been that easy for me and Ryan."
I smiled. "Why? What happened with you?"
"Ugh, the idiot and I went to high school together. I liked him, he liked me, yada-yada, but neither of us really started up the relationship. So, we leave school, completely forget about each other for like six years, then out of the blue, he crashes into my car at a red light. So, here I am, late to work with a wrecked bumper, and I get out of the car to start yelling at the person, you know, and who should it happen to be but Ryan Crawford." She shook her head on an eye roll. "He didn't even apologize for hitting me, just asked me out to dinner."
"And you've been together ever since?"
She shrugged on a half smirk. "For almost ten years now. Been married for seven of those ten."
"That almost more romantic than Sebastian and I."
"Well, we certainly knew each other longer than a week before we committed."
At that, I blushed, and she grinned at me.
"But, we didn't have love at first sight. That's a rarity in this cruel world, so in that sense, I'm kind of jealous."
I chuckled softly. "I guess so."
"So, what else is there to Summer besides love at first sight with my brother-in-law?" Tory asked, picking up where the conversation had drifted.
I shrugged. "There's not much to tell. I'm thirty-one. I actually had breast cancer two years ago, which is why I was in support group. But, I'm NEC now."
"Consider yourself blessed, lass." Charlotte said softly, and I looked to see that sadness in her eyes again.
"I do."
Tory cleared her throat, gaining my attention back. "What do you do for a living?"
"I work from home as an editor for a few websites specializing in online magazines and DIY articles."
"That's cool. Bet you learn a lot."
I shrugged. "Some of the stuff is interesting, but really it's just boring."
"Oh, honey, you want boring, you should come to work with me." Kat said on a grunt as she hefted the turkey from the oven and retrieved the cookies. "I work in a law firm downtown, and when we don't have people trying to sue McDonald's for first degree burns because they spilled their own coffee, it's dead boring. I swear it's so quiet in that office you could hear a pin fall. On the carpet. It's painful, really."
From beside her, Riley snickered. "See, she complains about being a lawyer on a regular basis, but won't trade in the six-figure salary or full benefit package to do something she enjoys."
"Beggars can't be choosers." Kat said with her back turned. "Not my fault the job ended up being nowhere near as exciting as it is on Law and Order. I spent years earning that stupid degree. I have to at least make use of it."
I chuckled as Riley rolled her eyes, and the conversation drifted away as work was resumed. Tory finished her dough and started dropping rounded rolls onto another cookie sheet while Charlotte rolled out more cookie dough. Kat took the turkey to the counter to rest, then started mashing the cooked potatoes on the stove while Riley dusted a green bean casserole with fried onions and shoved it back in the oven. I lingered near the edge of the buffet table, watching as they all worked in perfect unison, talking and laughing as they put together a huge Thanksgiving dinner.
My stomach was growling already, and I looked through the open archway to see Sebastian sitting on the couch with Tom and Dev. They were talking, not noticing me at all, and I ducked back into the kitchen with a smile on my face, thankful that Sebastian had brought me there; thankful that I had a new family.