“Oh yes! We’d love to have you,” a female voice came from the left, and Grady saw it was Vicki, Roe’s mom. “I don’t take no for an answer.”
He chuckled, slightly uncomfortable. Not because of anything they did. He was grateful they would consider welcoming him, but he wouldn’t feel comfortable crashing their holiday. He would be encroaching on family time there. Plus, he couldn’t help thinking about Deacon. Yeah, he had his own kin, whom he’d likely be with, but what if he wasn’t? What if he had a hard day? He had no business worrying about it or thinking he could do a damn thing to change it, but he didn’t want to risk not being there if Deke needed him…or just wanted to be around him?
“Thank you both for your offer. I appreciate it more than I can say, but I’m gonna have to sit this one out.”
“Well, I don’t think you have to.” Vicki smiled. “But the offer stands, even if you decide tomorrow last minute. There’s always enough food to go around. Most important thing is to be around family and friends.”
For a moment, Grady considered changing his mind but then just said, “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Anytime.” Her gaze moved around the room. “It’s looking great in here, guys. I really appreciate you both. Wyatt and Sean coming over today?”
“Not sure,” Holden said. “I’ll ask Roe.”
She said her goodbyes then and slipped out.
“She means it. You’re always welcome.”
“Thank you.”
Holden nodded and dropped the subject. Grady could tell he wasn’t the kind of man to push. He’d made his offer and that was that, which Grady appreciated. “So you moved here from Atlanta?” he asked.
“Yep. Sure did,” Holden replied. They chatted about life in the city compared to Briar County. The conversation flowed easily as they worked, and the rest of the day went by quickly. Grady liked Holden just as much as he did Roe.
Yeah, he could definitely see himself building a home here—especially if his friendship with Deacon continued.
Chapter 14
Deacon
Thanksgiving was loud. The whole family was gathered at Granny’s, talking and cooking and shouting at the TV and sometimes playfully at each other. Deacon did his best to engage. He was pretty sure he did a decent job, laughing when he was supposed to and replying and starting conversations, but what he really wanted was to be anywhere other than there, which made him feel like shit because his family was fucking great. They loved him and supported him. There wasn’t anything they wouldn’t do for him, but he just…didn’t want to be there.
Which was likely a problem.
He’d been feeling this way for three years—not wanting to be around anyone unless he had to. He should maybe do something about that.
He found himself wondering what Grady was doing. They hadn’t spoken since Monday. He knew Grady had worked with Holden at the farm the day before, but that was just because Grady had mentioned it the previous weekend.
He’d been wanting to call all week, but he didn’t know what to say. He was confused.
He also couldn’t get that dream out of his head. What in the hell had that been?
“Hello? Earth to Deke!” Tasha’s fingers snapped in front of his face, making him realize his sister had been speaking to him. With her manicured nail, she scratched her head. She kept her hair natural, in twists similar to how Patricia used to.
“Sorry. What’s up?”
“It’s your job to make the cornbread,” she replied, but he could see her probing look. She was worried about him. They were always worried about him off and on. He was so fucking tired of them needing to feel that way, of the long gazes and questioning eyes. The kicker was, he knew it wasn’t their fault at all. It was his.
“On it.”
He pushed out of the chair, went into the busy kitchen, where everyone was doing something, and started his job. He’d brought ice cream for dessert, of course, which they would eat with the pies Mama and Dad brought.
Shit. Was Grady alone today? Deacon figured he had to be. It wasn’t as if he had friends in Briar County, and his family was shitty. He should have thought to ask him or to invite him over, but that would be weird, wouldn’t it? Having him here. And yet it shouldn’t be. If it was, Deacon would be the one making it that way.
The day went by at a slow crawl, and as bad as it made him feel, he couldn’t wait for it to be over. He used to love holidays—all of them. Loved the noise and time with family. They got together fairly often, but there was something different about doing it around this time of year.
They cooked together and ate together, though he didn’t have much himself. His stomach just wasn’t into it. He considered trying to leave after dinner, but his guilt kicked in again, and he knew they would question him if he did.