Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 02 - Out of the Darkness (46 page)

“How about you?” Dan doesn’t know what he can ask about specifically, what aspect of Molly’s life he would know about that wouldn’t remind Molly of Justin. “Have you guys eaten yet?” Surely that’s safe.

“No, not yet. But it smells good.” And there’s nothing more. Dan’s racking his brain, but then Molly says, “Karl wants to say hello. Happy Thanksgiving, Dan.” And she’s gone.

Karl sounds a lot better when he gets on the phone. “Dan! Happy Thanksgiving. You and Chris having a good time?”

So Karl’s happier, but that’s a bit of a tricky question. Dan doesn’t want to drag the man down, but he doesn’t want to make it sound like he and Chris have forgotten. “We’re all right.” Surely that’s neutral enough. He decides to try the horse thing again. “We went on a Thanksgiving ride today, just like at home. Chris still lets Ginger get away with anything, of course, but everyone else had a good ride.” Chris is listening and rolls his eyes, but he looks like he knows what Dan’s trying to do.

“That’s nice to hear. The youngsters here went out. Of course, the Fosters don’t keep as many horses as they used to, so without the eventers, it was hard to get much of a crowd. How’re our guys doing out there?”

And
that’s
something that Dan can talk about for hours. He tells Karl about the achievements, the highs and lows of training, the horses that have been surprisingly good, and those that haven’t lived up to expectations, and Karl is a great audience, listening and commenting and even offering some useful ideas for some of the more challenging problems. Dan wouldn’t mind talking to Karl like this every day if he could just avoid the Molly prequel.

After they’ve run through the whole barn, it’s clearly time for both of them to go back to their respective gatherings, but Karl seems to still want to say something. After a couple false starts, he finally comes out with it. “Dan, I wanted to… I wanted to thank you again for that painting. It’s… when we first got it, neither one of us was sure, but I’ve looked at it a lot. I understand now why you wanted us to have it. It’s beautiful, Dan. It’s… some people go through lives like beat-up plow horses, and others… others burn through the jumps, don’t they? They inspire all of us.”

Dan swallows hard, and takes a moment before he answers. “He really inspired me, sir. I mean it.” Another deep breath, but he wants to continue. “Anything I do, anything worthwhile, ever—it’s because of him.”

Karl doesn’t say anything right away, and when he does speak, his voice is tight but not unhappy. “That’s a hell of a legacy, then, isn’t it?”

“Maybe not yet, but… I swear, I’ll keep trying.”
“You’re doing fine, Dan. Couldn’t ask for more.”

“Thank you.” It’s not enough, but Dan hopes Karl knows how sincerely he means it.

They’re both quiet then until Karl clears his throat. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your people, then. You keep Chris out of trouble for us.”

“Well, I’ll try, but you know how he is.”
Karl laughs. “Just be ready to clean up after him, then.” “That sounds more likely. Happy Thanksgiving, Karl.” “Happy Thanksgiving, Dan. It was good to talk to you.” “You too.” And Dan hears the click of the phone disconnecting.

He turns to Chris, who has been peeling potatoes while he listens to Dan’s side of the conversation. “Damn. Karl sounds good. But Molly….”

Chris nods. “My mom says she has good days and bad days. I guess it’s not surprising that this would be a bad day.”

“Yeah.” Dan forces himself to get collected. Talking to Karl had been good, really, given him just enough of a vent for his emotions without sending him right over the edge. “Let’s get going with this food. Has Evan set up the deep fryer?”

Chris peers out the window, past the deck to the lawn. “Yeah, he’s got the pot filled, and the flame is on. Shouldn’t be long till he’s ready for the turkey.”

Dan pulls the raw turkey out of the fridge. “Tia says to let it warm up a little.” He consults the list again, and damn it, he’s a little bit behind, and that is not acceptable; he will
not
fail in his responsibility, so he gets to work, trying to catch up. Chris helps in his own way, and then Anna comes in, and everything suddenly goes much more smoothly. Tat and Jeff wander in for cider refills and end up shedding their jackets and sitting at the breakfast bar, offering not-so-helpful tips to the people actually working. When Evan comes in for the turkey, Chris goes back outside with him to help, and Dan briefly considers asking if anyone wants to make a bet about which one of them will come back in burnt or dripping with oil. He decides against saying anything.

Eventually, everything’s ready. The timing wasn’t perfect, and Dan’s pretty sure that he’s completely overcooked the dressing, but Anna says that a little gravy will solve that, and it’s not like anyone will be sorry to have more gravy. There are only seven people and two good-sized turkeys, because the Kaminskis have to have a taste test of some sort every year and because Evan wants lots of leftovers. So there’s no shortage of food. Dan and Evan each carve their own turkeys, and neither one is much good at it, but Dan hides his most mangled pieces by slipping them off the table to be eaten by the pack of dogs, so his ends up looking pretty damn good. Evan’s looks like it was carved by a velociraptor, but Evan points out that the taste test is an experiment, not a contest, so he doesn’t care if people prefer Dan’s bird.

“I’m just worried that it’s not good
science
, is all,” he says, and then he drives his fork into Dan’s pile of meat and makes a few slashes with his carving knife. He looks up to see Dan’s shocked expression. “
Science
, dude.”

Jeff was in charge of wine and vegetables, except for Chris’s mashed potatoes and Tat’s sweet potatoes; apparently both kinds of tuber are too important to be anything other than a specialty item. Anna did the cranberries and has an apple pie baking in the oven to go with the pumpkin and pecan pies that Dan has assembled as per Tia’s instructions. Robyn made enough of her rosemary tofu casserole for everyone to have some as a side dish, and she makes it through the meal with only one wistful look at the turkey. They all eat like it’s their job, and they still barely make a dent.

Tat surveys the table with a clear look of satisfaction. “We bought some new Pyrex dishes, with the glass bottoms and the plastic tops.” She seems very proud of herself as she turns to Dan. “So we can put little meals together for you and freeze them, and you can just put them straight into the microwave without worrying about the plastic leaching… whatever it leaches.” She’s apparently put quite a bit of thought into this. “And we can keep them in our deep freeze, because I’ve seen food from your freezer, and it gets nasty really quick, and then we can just give you a few whenever you need them. Okay?”

Chris frowns. “Uh… for the record… I’m also helpless. And, you know, Dan’s been learning to cook, so really, I need the leftovers more than him.”

Robyn shakes her head. “No way. I need them. All except for the turkey… you guys can fight over that. Because it’s really a pain to find vegetarian frozen dinners—the carnivores can go down to the grocery store and pick up as many frozen meals as they want, but I’m stuck with, like, one kind of pasta primavera. I need variety, Tat!”

But Anna’s not going down without a fight. “I’m elderly, and fragile….” But she’s unable to continue over the loud laughing and hissing. “Fine, then. I’ve been cooking all my damn life. I’m done. Give me leftovers or give me death!”

Evan seems pleased that the meal was such a success. “Luckily, I think there’s enough for everyone to take some home. And for lots of turkey to stay here, because we’ve got frozen bread dough we can bake up as soon as we want to, and then it’s time for turkey sandwiches on hot fresh bread, with load of mayonnaise and some dressing….”

“Mop up the drool, kid.” Jeff smiles at Tat. “Maybe you should ask Tia if we can have three turkeys next year?” He looks around. “Or seven. Everyone could cook their own, and we could sample—it’d be the ultimate taste test, really.”

Evan looks excited by the idea. “And we could have it like stock cars, one year with everyone having to start with the same kind of bird, but the next year it could be a builder’s series, with people choosing their own bird.” He nods. “I wonder if anywhere rents ovens….”

Dan sits back and watches them all as he slips a little bit of skin under the table to Lou. His world has always been stormy, and the last few years were absolute typhoons, but he’s been blown off course into a surprisingly safe harbor. It’s nothing he could have predicted, and he can’t help missing what he’s lost, but he knows he’s still incredibly lucky to have ended up here. He remembers Chris’s words, saying that it wasn’t just luck, saying that Dan deserved it. So if not lucky… damn. It’s sappy as hell, and he’ll never say it out loud, but he looks out at the friendly, laughing faces around him, sees Jeff and Evan leaning back and taking their own moments of reflection, and he knows what he is. It’s a good day for it, he guesses. He’s thankful.

How the Story Started
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