28

This is the first time I'll be spending Thanksgiving away from my dad, not that we were exactly good at maintaining that tradition since we are not American, but it was still a time we'd spend together cooking, and then we'd have our mid-day nap only to wake up just to eat whatever we didn't finish during lunch. Reminds me of that one time my dad decided we'd have turkey that year, just so we could really feel like we were celebrating the holiday the right way, but the turkey was so big it took us an entire month to finish by ourselves. We'd have turkey at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, exploring all kinds of receipts but it seemed like we'd never see the end of it.

We've never had turkey again after that, and I still don't think I'm ready to have it any time soon.

"Are you sure you don't want to come along?" Daniella asks for the nth time this morning alone. She and Lucia will be traveling back to Flagstaff for Thanksgiving this evening, they will be celebrating it with their extended family, and as much as I want to meet them, I don't think I'm ready just yet.

"I've already told Soph I'd be spending it with her, you don't need to worry, I won't be alone," I sigh, helping her fold her clothes. She'll be gone for only two nights but by the size of her bag, you'd think she was leaving for good. "And wouldn't it be... a little awkward?"

She hums, just now thinking about it. "I guess, but you'll have to meet them sooner or later."

"I'm excited to meet your niece," I say in a teasing tone, making her squint her eyes at me. "We'll have tons of future opportunities."

"I know."

"How do you think they would react... to you dating a woman?"

"I'm not sure, I never thought about it but I don't think that would be a problem," she gives me a reassuring smile.

"Do you always take Slippers?" I ask, pointing to his own little traveling bag at the corner of the room. "I can keep an eye on him if that's the reason."

"Slippers loves car rides and I'm sure he misses his girlfriend back home, you don't need to worry."

"Wait, he has a girlfriend?"

"Of course, he's a real heartbreaker," she chuckles. "It's my aunt's dog, we were hoping to get a few babies out of them since they're both golden retrieves but I'm afraid Slippers is a tad bit too old."

"How cruel, I'm sure he still has it in him... maybe it's the environment, I don't know, have you tried lighting some candles?"

"Stupid," she says under her breath but still making sure I heard it as she sets her bag, which is now completely full, aside.

"I'll miss you too."

"I won't be gone for that long, I'm pretty sure we've spent more time apart in the past few weeks."

"I know," I pout. "But it's different when you know your loved one is no longer at a five-minute drive distance, don't ask me why."

She rests both of her hands on each side of my face, giving my cheeks a light squeeze. "So clingy."

"Am I the only one?" I raise my eyebrows, basking in the warmth of her hands on my face.

"No, you're not."

⁂

"Where's Jenny?" I ask Soph as I come inside her room. "Shouldn't she have arrived already?"

"Yeah, she did but her parents insisted on picking her up from the bus station so you already know she's stuck at home with them," she sighs.

"That sucks," I mumble, I've been meaning to talk to her but I'm not sure how to initiate the conversation. I know Soph said she'd ask Jenny about the identity of the woman Mrs. Bardot leaves flowers to, but I'm guessing she forgot since we never resumed that conversation, and I can't really blame her for that — Jenny has been extremely busy with college life and I have a feeling Soph has been feeling a bit left out.

She wouldn't admit that to me, of course, but the expectation and most times than not, disappointment in her eyes every time her phone rings makes it so obvious.

"She'll be spending Thanksgiving lunch with her parents tomorrow but she was able to convince them to let her spend the evening with us," she says in a happier tone. "But what about Daniella? Is she on her way already?"

"Yeah, I just sent her off," I give her an exaggerated sad look.

"Don't give me that face, you don't know how good you have it," she groans, throwing a pillow at me.

"Well, at least you don't exactly have to hide from every single person in the city... except her parents, right?"

"We haven't talked about that yet, it's not like we've had a lot of time together so I don't know where she stands when it comes to showing off our relationship publicly," she hums. "But she's incredibly shy so I have a feeling she wouldn't exactly appreciate the extra eyes on us."

"Do you mind it?" I eye her. "Not being public with your partner? Not as a need but as a choice."

"I don't exactly like it but I wouldn't want to put her in an uncomfortable situation," she raises her eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"

"I remember you told me you would never be in a relationship like that," I say, giving her a sly smirk. "Look at you."

"Whatever," she rolls her eyes, hitting me with an octopus plushie this time around. "I feel like you have something on your mind, come on, tell me."

"I've been thinking about Mrs. Bardot actually, I know you have a lot on your mind right now but did you get the chance to ask Jenny about Amanda?"

"Amanda?" she raises her eyebrows in confusion but before I could remind her she gasps. "Oh, shoot, I completely forgot."

"That's ok—"

"It's not though, I'm supposed to be the best detective around town, how did I forget about my mission of all things."

"Soph, it's ok, we can ask her in person now," I say, patting her back. "Don't worry about it." She eyes me with apologetic eyes before getting up from her bed. "Where are you going?"

"Let's ask her right now."

"Right now? Isn't she with her parents?"

"Let's pay them a visit, they can't say no since we miss her so much," she throws me a wink.

"We can wait until tomorrow though, it's not like it's urgent or anything."

"Seems pretty urgent in my book, you should have reminded me sooner — come on aren't you curious?"

"I am—" I don't get to finish my sentence, Soph grabs me by my hand and guides me towards the door. At times like this it's better to just let her take the wheel, there is no point in trying to dissuade her when she's so set in stone with something.

And of course, we won't be just showing up at her house, Soph calls her letting her know we would be coming over — as we park in front of her house, which should be about enough time.

"Did you two miss me that much?" Jenny chuckles as she opens her front door, letting us in.

"Of course," Soph grins, giving her a very quick side hug that felt a bit awkward to watch since I know they're dating but mostly because that's not like how they'd normally hug — as friends that haven't seen each other for a very long time — I feel like the more you think about hiding something, the most awkward and obvious you make it look. Even my hug felt more intimate than that.

"We missed you but that's not the only reason as to why we're here," I say in a lower tone as we go up the stairs. There's no use in trying to play it cool, and it's not like there is a way of just fitting such a question without making it obvious.

"Oh?" she looks between the both of us. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened, we're just curious about something and it might be connected to you, we're not sure yet," Soph butts in, letting out a sigh once the door to Jenny's room is closed. She glances at me, hinting at me to continue.

"There's this lady that comes around the shop every Monday, she buys this very specific set of flowers... orchids, and you see, the reason we're curious is that she's very quiet and it's just a bit weird that she buys flowers every Monday right?" I trail off, not knowing how to get to the point without making it sound like I've stalked the woman but I can tell by the look on her face that something did hint in her head, at least to some extent but it doesn't seem like she will chip in. "Well..."

"Amanda Waterson, that's the name of the woman she buys flowers to," Soph cuts me off, getting straight to the point. "That's why we think it may be related to you."

She's caught off guard for a moment, even myself, I wasn't expecting her to just jump to the question but at the same time, I'm glad I don't have to be put through the awkwardness of telling her exactly how we found out about that because I know damn well my ass would do just that.

"Are you speaking of Mrs. Bardot?" she asks to which we quickly nod our heads. "Amanda is my grandmother, they're friends I think. I was too young when she passed away but Mrs. Bardot has always been present when it comes to anything related to her, even though it seems like my family isn't very fond of either of them."

"And why is that?" I ask, feeling both excited and impatient.

"I'm not sure, it's a touchy subject for my mother but it might have to do with my grandparents' divorce when she was a teen, my own assumption of course."

I glance at Soph only to find her eyes already on me, I'm pretty sure we're thinking the same thing.