After spending some time with Jimmy and Tiff at their place, Holden, Hannah and I pile into my car and follow them out to the ranch. I’m tapping my finger along the edge of the steering wheel, my body full of anxiety. Wes and I have been getting along okay since our date, but going there for Thanksgiving seems like a pretty big deal.

Hannah looks over at me with a hint of worry in her eyes, “Is everything okay, Holls?”

“Yeah, it is fine. Just a bit anxious about everything.”

She furrows her eyebrows at me, “Anxious about dinner at your friend’s place?”

I stop tapping and glance quickly over to her, “Well, okay there is something you should probably know before we get to the Brown Ranch.”

“This sounds juicy,” Holden pipes up from the back seat.

“Shut up, Holden,” I snap back.

“Ignore him, what’s up?”

It is a good thing that it takes about twenty-five minutes to get to the ranch because I have enough time to let everything out. I tell them everything from the night at the bar, to the date at my place, to the text message, to the drama with Annabelle, everything. When we’re done they are both oddly quiet. “Neither of you are going to say anything?”

Holden is the first to be brave enough to speak up “So you accused him of cheating on you with his daughter?”

“You make it sound really bad. I didn’t know it was his daughter. They were just talking about this Annabelle person that he wasn’t getting along with.”

“Okay then,” he lets out a low whistle and then goes back to being quiet.

“Stop. You’re not making it better.” Hannah still hasn’t replied and the car goes back to silence. “So, listen I need you guys to realize that it might be awkward as hell. I know a lot of people are going to be there, so maybe it won’t be a big deal.”

“I think you’re overthinking this,” Hannah finally says something.

Holden agrees with her, “For real, Holls.”

“You’re right. Maybe I am. That doesn’t make me any less anxious right now though.” Jimmy and Tiff turn down the road that heads to the ranch. I’m familiar with it from the wedding, but that is the only time I’ve been here and I didn’t even see most of the ranch. Both Holden and Hannah are staring out the window with their jaws slack.

“Holy shit, Jimmy’s parents live here?” Holden says from the backseat.

“It’s like….massive,” Hannah adds.

“Yep. I heard it is some ridiculous tens of thousands of acres of land. I know they have a bunch of barns and buildings on the property too. Wait until you see the house.”

“Must be nice,” Hannah awes next to me.

We park next to Jimmy’s truck and follow them towards the house. The butterflies in my stomach are out of control. I shouldn’t be nervous, but I’d be lying if I said part of me wasn’t still attracted to Wes and the idea of spending a holiday and meeting his parents was kind of getting to me. Jimmy opens the door and the house is filled with a roar of noise. The house is as gorgeous on the inside as it is on the outside. I only entered the house to clean up after dropping off the cake, so I’ve only seen a small portion of the house.

“Ahh there they are!” Betsy, Jimmy’s mom, welcomes us from the kitchen. She takes off her apron and starts to greet everybody properly.

“Hi, Mama,” Jimmy gives his mom a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi Jimmy! And how is my favorite daughter in law?” Betsy says as she wraps her arms around Tiff.

“You mean the only daughter in law.”

“Same thing.” Betsy waves her off. She then turns to me and gives me the same warm embrace. “Holly! It has been far too long. Tiff told me what happened, I’m sorry to hear about your power, but everybody is always invited here.”

“Thank you for letting us join you, Mrs. Brown.”

“Blah, Betsy or mama, no Mrs. Brown.”

“Gotcha. Thank you, Betsy. This is my sister Hannah and brother Holden.” I motion to my brother and sister. They both shake Betsy’s hand.

“Hannah, Holden, it is nice to meet both of you. Welcome to our home. Please make yourself comfortable. Jimmy, can you show Holden where the drinks are, maybe bring something to the girls?”

“Of course, mama.” Jimmy and Holden go in one direction, Tiff takes Hannah and me into the large great room where Candy, her girlfriend Sheila, and Annabelle are sitting around the coffee table playing Candyland.

“AUNTIE TIFF!!!!!!!” Annabelle comes running over to Tiff and crashes into her with a big hug.

“Hey Anna Banana! What are you doing? Playing Candyland?” Tiff surveys the game in play.

“Auntie Candy is no good,” Annabelle comments about Candy.

“You’re a harsh one, little girl!” Candy kids with Annabelle before standing up and coming over to hug Tiff and me. Sheila abandons the game board and does the same.

“My neighbor said my power was out too. Thankfully, I was with Candy,” Sheila said, who lives in Harlington too.

“What crappy timing, right? They said it could be a while since it is the holiday and it is snowing.”

“That’s no good,” Candy remarks. At least you have the Brown family!”

“Definitely our lifesaver today.”

“Holly?” I feel Annabelle tugging on my sweater and I squat down to talk to her.

“Hi Annabelle. I can’t believe you remembered my name.”

She smiles big, “You make cupcakes.”

Her comment makes me laugh. “That’s right. Did you like your Elsa cupcakes?”

“Yes!” She tackles me in a hug and I can’t help but wrap my arms around her. “Daddy said next time I see you I had to say thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. I’m glad you liked them. I heard you made your daddy messy so good job.” I give her a high five and we giggle together.

“Is this your friend?” Annabelle points at my sister.

“This isn’t just my friend, but she’s my sister. Her name is Hannah.”

“Hannah and Anna!” Annabella rhymes my sister’s name and hers.

“You’re right, they are kind of the same.” I agree with her.

My sister squats down next to me to get at Annabelle’s height as well. “Hi Annabelle. You have very pretty hair.”

Annabelle runs her hand over her long, smooth hair. “Thank you. Do you know Candyland?”

“I do!”

“Sheila is good. Can you and Holly play too?”

I glance over at Sheila, “We’d love to play. Is that okay with you Sheila?”

Sheila moves around the table to make room for Hannah and me, “We just finished a round, so yeah, let’s go girls!”

We’re big into a game of Candyland when I glance up and see Wes looking at us from the top of the stairs. I nod at him and he smiles and gives me a little wave back. The game ends soon after and we convince Annabelle to let us take a break from playing. Wes has made his way downstairs and I walk over to the bottom of the stairs to meet him.

“Hey,” His voice as deep and sultry as ever. “Heard you had some bad luck today.”

“Yeah, I did, but this isn’t turning out to be half bad,” I look back at the room full of people that are family and friends.

“Did you have fun playing with the queen of Candyland?”

“Yeah, she has some interesting rules though. I’m not sure how anybody besides her can ever end up winning.”

Wes chuckles, “Pro tip, never play tic tac toe with her.”

I smile back at him, “Okay noted.”

We stand in silence for a few moments before he speaks up again, “You look beautiful today.”

My cheeks begin to heat up a bit, but I manage another small smile as I look back at him, “Thank you. You’re looking pretty nice too.”

“I look like I look every day,” he replies partiall confused.

“I know,” I toss him a little wink.

“Are you saying I look nice every day?”

I shrug my shoulders, “Maybe.”

Wes reaches over and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers linger on my jaw a little bit before putting them back down into his pocket. I heard a throat clearing behind me and turn around to see my brother smirking. “Hey Holls, what to introduce me to your friend?” He comments arrogantly.

“Not especially, but it is a day of giving and all. Holden, this is Wes. Wes, this is my brother Holden.”

The two guys shake hands, “Nice to meet you. She talks about you and Hannah often.”

“Oh yeah? She told us about you on the way over here.” He kids.

“Holden! Seriously?” I smack my brother in the chest.

“Well, I’m sure everything she said was the truth, but we’re friends now, so, yeah.”

Holden reacts sarcastically, “Uh-huh, friends.”

“Shut up,” I shove Holden away, but I can still hear him laughing even as he reaches the kitchen.

Turning my attention back to Wes, “I’m so sorry, he’s just so...ugh.”

“Don’t worry. You haven’t spent enough time with Tyler, he’s even worse.”

I smile at him as we hear the dinner bell go off in the house to signify that Raymond and Betsy are done with the meal. There are a bunch of large tables spread throughout the house. I end up sitting right next to Wes, probably not a coincidence at all. Hannah is direct across from me and Holden is on my opposite side. Annabelle is on the other side of Wes and he helps her with her meal, cutting up the food and what not. I can’t pretend that I don’t love seeing him in dad mood. I can’t help but to think about what we could be in the future.

I’ve always wanted kids, but knowing that I’m in my 30s, the idea of having kids is kind of going down and down. I keep going back and forth on giving Wes a chance. Who knows where we could be even just a year from now? Dinner is almost over when Jimmy and Tiff stand up and ding their glasses. The room falls silent and Jimmy begins to speak.

“Hey everybody. I know dad had already made his spiel about being thankful for today, but Tiff and I have an announcement to make. We have been officially approved as adoptive parents through the agency!”

Everybody cheers for them, but Tiff dings her glass again to calm everybody down.

“Wait, the news gets better! The same day that we were approved, a young couple selected us and wants us to adopt their baby! “

Wes has a smile as big as the sun on his face when Jimmy comes over to our side and the two brothers hug tight. “You’re going to be part of the club, huh?” Wes says to his brother.

“Cool Dad Club?”

“Heck yeah!” Wes settles back down as we get ready for Candy’s pies for dessert. I don’t know what came over me, but I reach over and slide my hand into Wes’s. He doesn’t flinch at all, he simply wraps his fingers within mine and looks at me smiling. A warm feeling comes over and I can tell it isn’t because of the glasses of wine I’ve had. Wes and I still have that connection that we’ve always had. Maybe I need to start thinking more seriously about the two of us together.