Seasons Change

14.

Chapter 14.
I sat in the car in my father's driveway, checking my phone to see if anyone had bothered contacting me. No one had. That shouldn't have surprised me, but somehow, I had thought that since everyone would be home for Thanksgiving, I would have friends texting and calling, trying to set up a time to get together. No one had, not even Kelsey. The guys in my life were frustratingly silent too—I hadn't heard from Ben, Dylan, or Luke in weeks.

Sighing heavily, I swung my car door open and stepped into the driveway, closing the door softly behind me. At least I was home for a long weekend, and would get to see my father. Right now, I desperately needed the normalcy, because it felt like everything else in my life was falling apart. Maybe a weekend away from all of the drama would be enough to help me figure out my complicated life.

As I stepped through the front door to the house, a delicious smell wafted toward me from the kitchen, and I wrinkled my nose in confusion. Dad almost never cooked, and Thanksgiving usually consisted of pre-cooked turkey that he heated in the microwave and canned vegetables. It was just the two of us, so we didn't need a lot of food.

"Dad?" I called out tentatively. "Do you need any help?"

My father exited the kitchen wearing a bright red apron covered with flour. "Hey, good to see you, kiddo," he greeted. "I figured I'd get started on the desserts and side dishes tonight, so I have less to cook tomorrow."

I crossed my arms, giving him a quizzical look. "Since when do we cook such a big Thanksgiving meal?" I asked. "Isn't that going to be a lot of food for just the two of us?"

Dad smiled sheepishly. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, I've invited a few people to join us tomorrow for a late lunch, early dinner. I thought you might like a chance to catch up with some of your old friends, and I wanted to catch up with some of my old football players."

I stiffened slightly at his words. That was a surprise. Not necessarily a bad one, but I was a little nervous about who he had invited. I was too chicken to ask, though, so instead, I just said, "Oh. That will be fun, I guess."

"If you're serious about your offer to help, you can help me peel the potatoes for the potato salad," Dad suggested.

I winced. I hated peeling vegetables, but it didn't seem right to make my dad do all of the cooking alone. He had never been much of a cook, and I worried that him inviting people over for a big meal was too ambitious.

"Sure," I agreed, following him into the kitchen.

As we worked, we talked, and it was amazing to finally have the time to catch up with my dad. We hadn't had a real conversation in months, and I hadn't realized how much I had missed having him around. I told him about my new role writing for the school newspaper, and filled him in on all of my classes, glossing over the drama with Dylan and Avery, and making light of the fact that I hadn't made any real friends on campus yet. I didn't want to worry him, and there was nothing my dad could do to help with any of that.

By the time we had finished in the kitchen for the night, we had baked four pies, cut cheese slices and fresh vegetables to snack on before the meal tomorrow, and made half a dozen side dishes. All in all, not a bad day's work. Glancing at all of the food my father had prepared, I wondered exactly how many people he planned to feed. It looked like we could feed the entire town, and I hoped he hadn't invited everyone we knew. If he had, things were going to get real awkward, real quick.
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The guests started arriving the next day at noon. I had spent the morning helping my father in the kitchen, and then had hurried upstairs to fix my hair and freshen up a little bit. I had decided on a nice blouse and pair of dark wash skinny jeans, since I wasn't sure who exactly we were expecting yet.
When the doorbell rang, I ran down the stairs to answer it, and when I swung the door open, I stood face to face with a person I had not expected to see: my mother.