Chapter Twenty-Three

Rolling over, Stephanie glanced at the clock and dropped back against the pillow with a sigh.  She didn’t want to do this today.  Why had she let Darcy railroad her into sharing Thanksgiving with her family?  

She pulled the blankets up, all but covering her head. God, she wanted nothing more than to just stay here and hide all day.  She peeked at the clock again.  Could she call in sick on Thanksgiving? She shook her head.  No, she couldn’t do that to Darcy. She’d never hear the end of it if she pulled a no-show.

Sighing again she forced herself from the warm cocoon of her bed, straightened the blankets and headed for the bathroom.  She could do this.  It was only Thanksgiving.  She still had Christmas to look forward to.  She frowned at herself in the mirror.  Then there was New Years Eve.  Shoving the toothbrush in her mouth she scrubbed her teeth.  God, the holidays would really suck now that she was alone.  She’d get through Christmas with her family at least, but ringing in New Year’s alone?  That would be the worst.   

Stripping off her pajamas she started the shower and stepped in.  Washing her hair she decided she’d just sleep right through New Year’s.  Go to bed early and not even worry any more about it.

By the time she was dried off and dressed she was feeling less cranky.  Sipping her tea she had her iPod singing to her and she sliced apples for the pie.  When her phone buzzed she lowered the volume on the music, pressed the speaker button and continued to slice.  “Hello?”

“Hi sweetheart.  Happy Thanksgiving.”

She faltered, nearly dropping her knife.  His voice just did her in, every damn time she heard it.  “Happy Turkey day to you too.  What’s going on?”  She hoped her own voice wasn’t as breathy and nervous as it sounded.

Richie sat back on the couch.  His mom and Ava were in the kitchen so he decided to steal a few minutes and give her a call.  Knowing that she didn’t have any family here, he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to be alone today.  He mentally berated himself for the hundredth time about that.  He should have asked her to spend the holiday with them.  But by the time he actually remembered, it was late yesterday.  Too late to call and invite her. The least he could do was call her and make sure she was okay.  That and he just wanted to hear her voice.

“We haven’t talked in a few days.  I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Stephanie dumped a pile of apples into her bowl and smiled down at her phone.  He was so thoughtful.  “I’m doing all right.  How about you?  Are you cooking today?  Got your bird in the oven yet?”

He chuckled at that last question.  He did all right in the kitchen, but roasting a turkey was more than a little beyond his skills.  “Hanging in there sweetheart.  And my mother is here, she’s in charge of the turkey.  If it were up to me, we’d probably end up with turkey jerky.”

She laughed, “probably better that you left it to your mother then.”  The pile of apples grew on her board and she slid them into her bowl, starting on another.  “Got football on that ginormous television of yours yet?”

Her laughter brought a smile to his face.  “What are you doing today sweetheart?  And no, no football yet.  We just watched the Macy’s parade.  Now it’s officially the holiday season.”

She slid the last of the apples into the bowl, “right now, I’m up to my elbows in apples for the pie I’m making to take to my girlfriend’s house later.  And I forgot all about the parade.” She shook her head.  How could she forget something that she and Mark and Ben used to watch every year?

He nearly sighed in relief.  “So you won’t be alone today?”

She mixed her apples with cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg.  “Were you worried about me, is that why you called?”  God he was just the nicest guy.  “And no, I won’t be alone.  Somehow I managed to let a friend from work talk me into going over to her house today.” She dumped the apples into the pie crust and topped it with the crumb topping.  “I have a date with my family and then I’m going to have turkey and mashed potatoes with Darcy and her family.”   She planned on being home in her pajamas and on her couch by seven.

Richie’s eyebrows beetled.  A date with her family?  How was she going to do that?  “Did you say you have a date with your family today?  How are you going to manage that?”

Stephanie washed her hands and slid her dirty dishes into the sink.  “Ah, this wonderful invention called Skype.  They’re due to ping me in about ten minutes.”  She was looking forward to and dreading the call all at the same time.  She wanted to see everyone and talk to everyone, but she knew the minute they clicked off, she was going to be miserable.

Richie nodded his head.  He was familiar with Skype.  That’s how he and Ava kept in contact while he was away on tour; that and their cell phones.  “Well sweetheart, I should let you go then.  You have a good time at your friend’s today.”

Stephanie picked up her phone and took it off speaker.  “I’m glad you called, Rich.  Enjoy your day with your family.”

For a long moment, the line was quiet between them; neither wanted to be the first to hang up.

When her laptop chimed indicating her skype call had come she was forced to break the silence between them.  “Rich?  I have to go.  My family is calling.”

“Okay sweetheart, I’ll talk to you soon.”  With a quiet sigh he ended the call.  It wasn’t as if it had been an intimate call, but still, he hadn’t wanted to break the connection.

He sat, staring unseeingly out the window.  He didn’t even notice when his mother came in and sat down near him.  

“Richie, are you all right?”

Blinking, he drew his attention from the window and directed it toward his mother.  “Yeah, maybe, I don’t know.”  He stood and paced.  He hadn’t seen her in nearly a week now.  It would be another month at least before he saw her again.  He didn’t want to wait that long. He didn’t understand this urge he had to be with this woman, but somehow she made everything seem better, right in a way he just couldn’t explain.  He needed to see her before he left for a month.  Had to.

“Would you mind if I went out later, after dinner?”