Page 38 of Please Don't Leave Me

"I do."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Denise." I wrap her in a hug. Partially for her, but when she squeezes me back, I admit to myself that maybe I needed it too.

LOUISA

Laughter echoes from the dining room as I step out of the bathroom. They better not be laughing at my expense. When I enter and reclaim my seat, I look around at my family. We're partially through dinner, which started three hours later than my mother wanted due to a turkey fiasco. Half the family blames my cousin; they think he accidentally turned off the oven when he was changing the clock to the correct time. The other half swears there was a brief power outage that was so quick no one else noticed. Either way, the turkey is now fully cooked, and everyone is sitting around our big table enjoying their meal.

"Where did you run off to? Calling your boyfriend?" My aunt is relentless.

"Auntie, like I said earlier, I don't have a boyfriend."

"Then who are you texting? You've been smiling at your phone all day."

To be more accurate, I was smiling at my phone all afternoon. Sam hasn't responded in a couple of hours.

"Nobody," I say with a not-so-convincing smile.

My mother catches wind of our conversation andditches her conversation with my grandpa about his BINGO girlfriend to chime into ours. "She's right, Lou. I haven't seen you that giddy over your phone since you found out your phone had a calendar with time blocking."

"Mom, I said it's nothing. I don't want to talk about it. If it turns into something, you'll be the first to know."

"Excuse me. I better be the first to know. I live with you!" B glares at me from the other end of the table.

My mother, ever the peacekeeper, corrects me. "Of course, B will be the first to know. But I'm assuming she already knows who it is, so I'll be the firstnewperson to hear about it." She glances down at B as if she can get her to spill my secret to her later.

B knows that look, but she isn't taking the bait. "My lips are sealed, Momma. Sister code."

I'm pretty sure she just made that up, but I'm grateful she doesn't have a big mouth. I'm also grateful for my mother dropping the subject and diverting my aunt's attention to another topic.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and check again to see if Sam has messaged me back, even though I just checked it in the bathroom, and I didn't feel it buzz. No messages. I go to slide it back into my pocket and stop when I feel it vibrate. I quickly unlock it to see who it is.

Sam

Sorry it's taken me a while to respond.

Family stuff.

Lou

No problem at all. I've been very busy, too.

No, I haven’t Unless you count having a mini marshmallow eating contest with my cousins as being busy.

Sam

Any other fun stories? Don't even ask me, because the answer is no. We left my dad's house early.

Lou

Apparently, my grandpa has a girlfriend at the BINGO hall he goes to every Tuesday.

Sam

Good for him. I hope I still have that much game when I'm his age. Obviously, I hope I don't have to be. But if I find myself a widower, then it wouldn't hurt to still be able to flirt.

Lou

I think it's more transactional than that. He said she has the best BINGO dobbers.

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