Noah (12 page)

 
Just a couple of weeks after moving in with
Roni
her place was really beginning to feel like home. This was a new feeling for Noah since he’d never really felt like he was home
anywhere
, even when he
lived
with the Fuentes. Though that had been his longest stay of all the foster homes he’d lived in
,
he always knew it was just a matter of time before he had to leave.

Even now with
Roni
,
he knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way. This would eventually come to an end, too. The agreement was he’d stay there until he was able to fix the roof on the Fuentes’ garage. But the long
cold season was just
getting started. He still had months to look forward to living with
her
so he wouldn’t even worry about it until then.

Noah walked in the back door. His hands were a grimy mess. He’d been working on Veronica’s car for most of the morning.
Roni
was on her phone in the front room.

“
I know it’s your family Nellie, but it’ll feel weird without you there.
I’m telling you I’ll be fine. I never got what the big deal was about Thanksgiving
is
anyway. I can get
turkey
dinner
and a slice of pie
at Denny’s and not have a mess to clean
afterwards
.”

Noah listened as
he
washed his hands.
Roni
had mentioned she’d be having Thanksgiving dinner with Nellie and her family. He’d be spending his at Gio’s. Gio’s mom and aunts went crazy cooking even when there wasn’t a holiday that warranted it. So Thanksgiving at his place was the place to be—always had been
.
The Fuentes were never big on holidays.

“I don’t know why you’re getting all worked up. I promise you I’ll be fine
.
Y
ou go on your retreat and enjoy. Okay? I’m really happy things seem to be working ou
t
for you two.”

Noah leaned against the
kitchen
counter drying his hands
.
Roni
walked in once she was off the phone. She seemed
a little
down but she smiled. “So did you fix the leak?”

“Yeah, it was a bitch but think I finally got the damn thing to stop leaking.”

Her smile faded fast and Noah waited for her to mention Thanksgiving. He hated to think of her spending her first Thanksgiving without her mom alone.
He was sure Gio wouldn’t have a problem with him inviting her, but given that she apparently didn’t even feel comfortable with Nellie’s family unless Nellie was there she
’d
most likely decline the invitation.

He watched her pour herself a glass of juice and grab a string cheese from the refrigerator. “You okay?”

She glanced at him, her expression a bit surprised. “Yeah, why?”

He shrugged. “You seem a little down. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Nellie’s not gonna be around for Thanksgiving?”

“Oh that.” She nodded. “Yeah her and her husband are going on some couples
’
retreat. They’ve had some issues this year they’re trying to work out so the pastor down at her church suggested they try it. They’ll be gone the whole holiday weekend.”

She sat down at the small table and began pulling the strings of cheese apart.
S
he opened her mouth and she dangled a string in front of her mouth, then
played with it with
her tongue
, making Noah swallow hard
. He nearly forgot what they’d been talking about when he finally snapped out of it and cleared his throat. “So where are you spending Thanksgiving?”

She lifted a shoulder but continued her affection with the string cheese. Noah made a mental note to buy more string cheese—a lot more.

“I’ll probably just stay here. Maybe rent some movies or something. It’s no big deal.”

“Alone?”

She finally looked up at him and away from her cheese. “Yeah alone.” She smiled weakly. “I’ve been alone for over eight months now. Well… until you moved in. But I’m used to it.”

“But it’s a holiday.” He walked over to the table and sat across from her. “One you’re supposed to spend with family or friends.”

Immediately he felt so stupid for saying that because those eyes that seemed a bit sad when she first walked into the kitchen were now undeniably
cheerless
though she still attempted to hide it.

“I’ve never had much family and the only friend I ever really had is Nellie. So I’m immune to these kinds of things. They don’t
affect
me like they would other people.”

Noah
wasn’t buying this shit for a minute. He
reached over and touched her hand. “You have me, now.”

She stopped chewing and stared at him.
He saw a bit of what he’d seen in her eyes the night he told her how old he was.
“Noah, I—”

“I mean, we
’
re friends right? Not just roommates. So you can include me now as one of your friends.” He sat up
straighter
panicked that th
e
look in her eyes was still there.
“
Why don’t you come with me to Gio’s house for Thanksgiving? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind and—”

“Oh no I couldn’t.” She shook her head adamantly.

“Why not?”

“I hardly know him.” She stood up and Noah stood with her. “Really. I’ll be fine.”

“Then I’ll stay with you.”

She turned to him her eyes
even
wide
r
. “No!”

God
,
she was
cute when she was being
stubborn. “Why the hell not? Look you’re my friend now. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Noah, you’re being silly. I’ll be just fine. You should be with your friends. You said it’s where you always spend Thanksgiving. You were looking forward to it.” She crossed her arms in front of her. “I’m not going to keep you from it.”

Noah could see she wasn’t going to give in to this but he’d be damned if he was going to let her spend the holiday alone. He knew what that felt like and he didn’t want her to. “All right.”

She seemed a little surprised he’d given in so easily but pleased. “Good. I appreciate you offering but I promise you I’ll be just fine.”   

Noah couldn’t help but smirk. Yes
,
she would be fine. He’d make sure of it. “Well
,
maybe you don’t plan on eating a lot t
his
week
but I do
,
so I say we get in a damn good work out tonight.”

That smile of hers was breathtaking and Noah struggled to pull his eyes away from it. “Okay then. I’ll go get ready.”

He couldn’t help feeling a little irritated with himself for staring at her as she walked out of the room. He had to stop with all the thoughts he’d been having about he
r
lately. They were friends now and nothing would ruin a friendship faster than doing some of the things he could only dream of doing to her.

The tension
he felt throughout his entire body
was unreal. Food had nothing to do with why he wanted to work out hard tonight. Between watching her make love to that damn string cheese and then staring at her lips as she explained why he shouldn’t stay home with her on Thanksgiving, a hard ass workout was exactly what he needed.    

~*~

Thanksgiving morning Veronica woke to a familiar aroma. One she hadn’t smelled in the house in years. She wasn’t completely sure but as she walked through the hallway toward the kitchen the smell was unmistakable. Honey ham and it smelled delicious.

She turned the corner so see Noah in the kitchen wearing an apron peeling potatoes. The dining table was set for two
,
centerpiece and all and ther
e
were pies on the center island. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Noah glanced up
at
her with a grin. “I’m making Thanksgiving dinner for us.”

“No you’re not. You’re going to Gio’s house. You said you were really looking forward to it.”

He raised an eyebrow
with
the grin turning into an all out smile. “But what I decided I’ve
been
looking forward to
even
more—my
entire
life—was preparing a Thanksgiving me
al
.”

When she didn’t
return the smile his smile turned into a pout. “Foster care system all my life remember?”

How dare he use that to guilt her into not being mad at him.
She should’ve known better when he’d given
in
so easily the other day.
When his smug grin returned, she couldn’t help
but
smile this time. She walked toward him trying to appear still angry but secretly she was a little excited. Though it really wasn’t a big deal that she’d be spending Thanksgiving alone she wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. “I can’t believe you. When did you do all this?”

He seemed relieved that she was more curious than upset. “Well, I’ve never actually prepared a meal like this so I sort of cheated. The ham was already prepared and spiraled
.
A
ll I had to do was stick it in the oven and I figured a turkey would be too much for just me and you so I got a stuffed turkey breast that again, all I had to do was stick in there.” He gestured to the oven.
“
I’m not much of a baker so
I
bought pies already made but I did wanna prepare
something
and was hoping you’d help me
.
W
e could sort of… you
k
now
…
do this together. So I’m making the mashed potatoes and I bought some string beans so we can make a string bean casserole.” He pointed at a bag
on the counter
by the refrigerator. “And in keeping with the Mexican tradition I bought some tamales from the lady selling them in the parking lot.”   

Veronica laughed bringing her hand to her mouth. She didn’t want him to notice how giddy she was beginning to feel. This was completely unexpected and she hadn’t had a Thanksgiving feast like this in ages.

“So whatta ya say? You gonna help me with this or what?”

“Sure I’ll help.” She walked around the island to where he stood.

“You wanna do the potatoes or the green beans?”

Remembering
t
he
easy
recipe
her mother had taught her,
she chose the green beans and got to work.
She watched as Noah pressed a few buttons on his phone
then
set it on the table next to what looked like speaker and
soon
Christmas carols
began playing
.

“Well that’s cool.”
She had to admit.

Noah laughed. “That’s like one of the easiest things you can do on this phone. The more I play
with
it the more awesome I think it is.”

“Still too extravagant for me. I’ll stick to my dumb phone thank you very much.”

Noah promised to sell her on it yet and said he’d find an app just for her that would make her go out and just have to get a
n
i
phone for herself. The conversation made her feel like an old unyielding geezer afraid of change like the ones she used to work with who were angry anytime the
re
was
an upgrade to their computer system.  She decided to change the subject by singing along to the music. To her surprise Noah sang with her. 
Veronica laughed at how
seriously intense
he
got
at certain
parts of the songs
,
then blushed and stopped sin
g
ing when he told her he loved her voice.

“No, don’t stop. That’s the best part. I was waiting to hear you sing it.”

She sprinkled the fried onion topping over the casserole and smiled chewing her lower lip. Her face was on fire now and she refused to look up at him. It was just a compliment. Geez. How old was she anyway? At the moment she felt like she was five in
the middle
of her elementary
school yard and someone had just declared their love for her in front of the rest of the
giggling
student body.