- Aidan agreed to help Taylor with his book signing.
- Bentley proposed to Emily.
- Natalie felt jealous over Marina and Ryan.
- Charlene had felt alone since Kevin left town...
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. Callahan Condos #15
James & Caitlyn’s Home.
The warmth coming from inside the Thurlow Cottage is entwined with the smell of a fresh dinner as well. As the Thurlow’s get ready to sit down and have a nice Thanksgiving dinner. James Thurlow sits at the head of the table as he feasts his eyes upon the family.
It had been on hell of a year for them, getting through the minor troubles as well as major roadblocks along the way. “I want to start tonight’s dinner off with a toast to this family.” He says while watching everyone come to a halt as quickly as a room full of people could.
He watches as each of his children raises their glass. A smile upon his face as across the table from him his wife, Caitlyn Thurlow raised hers to him.
“I want to thank everyone in this room for making it here because it wouldn’t be the same without any of you.” He looks at his only son, whom flew down from Sunset Valley with his fiance Iris Galloway, to be with the family. “I am thankful to have my son, Emmet, here with the family today. I am proud to say that by this time next year there will hopefully be a new addition to this family. I welcome you with open arms.”
Iris tilts her head with an eager smile and turns to Emmet who kisses her forehead.
James then turns to Aidan Jurado. “To my late sister’s son for making the trip to Stone Creek and proving to the family that although met with such hardships a Thurlow does, in fact, trudge on and move forward.” Aidan thanks his uncle and mentions that he is happy to be with the family.
Charlie Sutton holds Kirsten’s hand as she hands their daughter Megan a plastic champagne glass with apple cider in it. The little girl puts her nose to the liquid and quivers in distaste, placing the glass on the table where Kirsten scoops it up and hands it to Megan again.
There was a time when James didn’t think that his youngest daughter would ever take her life seriously as she kept her head in the clouds and her heart on her job. But watching her as she introduced Ian Kiefer to the family and fed Lucian Lakhani at the table, he couldn’t be anymore proud than now.
“I want everyone to remember that family isn’t always determined by blood. We have had many people in our lives that have proved that blood isn’t always thicker than water. People that have shared more dinners with us than actual blood relatives.” James pointed out Cassie Lakhani, who reddened in the face.
“To Cassie, who has been my daughter’s best friend for years. A woman who has show true bravery and trust and has brought a blessing into this family and allowed us to be apart of both of their lives.” She rubs Lucian’s head and accepts Caitlyn’s comforting hand on her shoulder.
Then his eyes meet with his loving wife. He felt as if they had just met yesterday at his office. There was a time when James Thurlow thought that loved would never knock on his door again. But it did, in the form of Caitlyn Lavern. “To my beautiful wife, to the next year and many more.”
“Cheers!” Everyone chimed, clanking glasses and starting the yearly ritual that brought the family together to celebrate the fortunes to cherish each other’s company and to welcome another year.
[.....]
Scene Two:
507 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. “Wilkinson Cottage”
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home.
“Today I am happy to give thanks,” Gideon Wilkinson’s voice assert itself at the head of the table. “thanks that all of my children are here to celebrate this day with me. To my mother, who despite all odds, has managed to achieve remission. A cancer that almost left this family without the heart and courage it has always needed.”
Penelope Wilkinson smiled vibrantly, she held onto her adoptive son’s hand and patted it lightly to show her gratitude to be around her family. Although she was still missing both of her birth children, she was still eagerly as happy to celebrate with him.
He knew that although they weren’t blood relatives, Grady and Penelope, have always cared for him as so. Even his wife and children have gotten the same treatment by the couple before Grady passed away. Gideon took a moment to remember his adoptive father and the courage it took him to take Gideon home from the broken family he had once lived in as an infant.
“By next year I do hope to see our family expanded even further with a daughter-in-law,” he looked at Emily Roscoe who seemed even more emotional than he was at this time. She smiled sweetly and looked down at her food, reading her body language he carried on. “Thankful that my son and daughter have both prospered this year.”
Gideon took note to ask Emily if everything was alright later on today if he got her alone. He knew that Bentley, the way that he has always been, has probably overlooked how emotional Emily had seemed today.
“I just want to cut in.” Penelope spoke, lifting herself up from her chair. “I’m sorry Gideon, I just want to say something.”
“Of course mother.”
Penelope raised her wine glass. “I just wanted to say that this family has always brought me joy everyday that I have spent with them. These last couple months I had completely given up on life on numerous occasions and I thought that it would be easy to do so.”
“Grandmother.” Bentley sighed, with heavy eyes.
She waved her hand. “But being with this family, being apart of this family you learn a very important lesson. There is one thing about being a Wilkinson that most families will never understand and it started with your father,” She looked at her grandchildren. “With your grandfather.”
Although he had been gone for a long time, Penelope still missed him everyday. “Grady Wilkinson was a wise old fool. He never let anyone go home cold and he never let you leave his seat without a place to go. You all must remember that being a Wilkinson means that family is everything and that doesn’t matter if they are blood relatives or not. Taking care of the people around you is the only way to live and I knew, that I still had too much to live for.”
Penelope dried a tear as she continued.
“I don’t care if I’m a skeleton by the time I kick the bucket but I want that to be a lesson that you keep with you because one day it just might save your life.” Cheers echoed throughout the home as she returned to her seat and kissed Bentley on the forehead.
“We will always be a family.” Gideon spoke, he turned to his wife, Daphne and kissed her. “Every single one of us.”
Bentley did the same to Emily, who sheepishly returned to his gaze of overwhelming excitement. Gideon took notice of Emily’s expression once again and was worried about her, he also looked over to his daughter Greta Wilkinson who seemed to be missing her dinner date, Miles Fowler.
[.....]
Scene Three:
745 W. Lavender St., Stone Creek. “Old Granger Manor”
Damien & Gillian’s Home.
Gillian Sutton’s laughter echoed throughout the dinning room and he wondered how anybody could ever be mad at the woman it belonged to. He remembered a time when he himself never thought he’d enjoy her company for long. But having the gorgeous blond seemed comforting now.
“What?” She asked, causing Damien to snap from his thoughts.
He smirked. “I just-” then he stopped himself, he knew there was so much to say and he didn’t know how to say it. His mind was starting to lose the fight with his heart that he had already secretly stopped fighting. “I think this calls for a toast.”
There was hesitation in her actions, as if she knew he was thinking of something else. But then she raised her glass, as if taunting him into the toast. “I could use a toast, what do you have?”
“To us.” Damien spoke, confidently.
Gillian burst into laughter. “Is that it?”
“That hurts my feelings, I was really being serious. That was my serious face, you know.” Damien relaxed, chuckling a little bit himself. There was definitely something about her that got to him. It was as if he discovered the actual woman underneath the disguise she usually showed to everyone else.
“Okay, I’m sorry!” She apologized, stifling her laughs.
Damien narrowed his eyes playfully and then went on. “Cheers to the two of us being happy and healthy in this mansion of a house all alone. To us. Two people who have come a long way and struggled to be here in Stone Creek today.”
He watched as she calmed herself down and listened to his words. “This time next year we will be man and wife, this time I wont screw it up and we will conquer Stone Creek together.”
They clanked glasses.
Gillian smiled at his proclamation. “To conquering Stone Creek.”
---
Our love. Our fights. Our friendships.
On Concrete Shelves.
Forever, they shall be remembered.
---
Scene Four:
Now Town.
Stone Creek Ledger.
“This one.” Natalie Marlowe frowned when she realized that although Oliver Cuthbert was a huge jerk he was still very capable of doing his job correctly. “If I know Helen Schmidt well enough, she would make sure this picture had a spot in the magazine.”
She watched as Oliver looked at the other pictures. “How about this one?”
Oliver went back to a picture that he over looked. Then he shook his head. “Are you kidding me? There’s too much chub on that one. Do you really think that Helen would want to see a healthy model in her magazine?”
Then he went right back to being a jerk. Natalie rolled her eyes and walked herself around the room. It had dawned on her that Ryan Bauer hadn’t even left her a message since they last had sex. What if he was with Marina Thurlow? Watching the two of them get along so effortlessly killed Natalie and she longed for the times that they once shared.
“Are you even listening to me?” Oliver called, she spun around. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing.”
He looked her over, which was a thing he did often and it gave Natalie the creeps. “Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving? We all know that adulterous father of yours skipped town. How is mother dearest doing?” He asked, taking note that Natalie was pulling away.
“I’d rather you keep my personal life out of this.”
“I’m sorry.” Oliver bit.
Natalie let her guard down. “It’s fine, lets just get back to work so that I could go home to a bottle of wine and Charlie Brown.” She admitted, she knew that Ryan wouldn’t call her today. He had said something about being at work for most of the day and although she wanted to believe him. Natalie couldn’t stop thinking about him laughing with Marina.
“Wine isn’t too bad, I do love the Charlie Brown specials-”
“You’re not coming over to my house!” Natalie commanded, which shut Oliver up. They went back to editing the pictures for the next magazine publication. Natalie looked back up at Oliver as he worked and smiled just a little bit.
[.....]
Scene Five:
Sutton Enterprises.
Patrick Sutton’s Office.
“If this is the way you spend Thanksgiving you should be given the father-of-the-year award and not crowned mayor of Stone Creek.” Ryan Bauer snipped, walking into his boss’ office. His approach to Patrick’s actions had been filled with confidence lately as everything started to play into Ryan’s hand.
Patrick turned to face Ryan. “I can say the same for you, don’t you have a girlfriend to attend to?”
“Natalie’s not my girlfriend.”
“Right!” Patrick bemused, he took a moment to ponder an answer. “She is what, a conquest on the road to making the Thurlow girl jealous? You really have resorted to childish pranks. I’d beware if I were you, things like that do more harm than good.”
Ryan cocked his head. “Coming from the guy who asked me to bring down Jared Marlowe.”
“That was just pure fun.” He enticed. “I need you to get to work while you are here. Now that Gillian is entirely on Damien’s side, for which I can’t even comprehend-”
“You sort of didn’t give her much of an option.” Ryan butted in.
In turn he got a stare down from Patrick. “I’d think you should stay out of my personal life.”
“But that’s why you hired me.” Ryan reminded him. “Listen, I understand that you don’t want me to tell you what to do. A man of your stature sure knows what he needs to do with his life, including his family, so I’ll stay out of that. But you need to start repairing some of your broken bridges.”
“Sound advice.” Patrick accepted. “While I’m doing that, I think you need to start figuring out a way that we can get rid of Damien Crenshaw. Now that we know Danielle was just an excuse to keep Caitlyn occupied there has to be something else in his past that we looked over.”
Ryan agreed. “Alright, I will try to find something.”
“By the way!” Patrick called after him. “I’m supposed to be having dinner with Charlie and Kirsten tomorrow. I might not be able to repair things with Gillian until after this election but at least I can get that fool of a son on my side for the time being.”
“He’s not that foolish.” Ryan reminded Patrick.
But the man wasn’t having it. “I thought I told you to stay out of my personal relationships with my family?”
“Right.” Ryan seethed, looking around the office before he turned on his heel and left the building behind. There was obviously enough on his plate already.
[.....]
Scene Six:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. “Thurlow Cottage”
James, Caitlyn & Aidan’s Home.
Wandering through the house saying her goodbyes, Cassie Lakhani found her host Caitlyn and thanked the woman for having her over. Although it wasn’t the first Thurlow Thanksgiving she had been a part of and knew it probably wouldn’t be the last. Cassie was still appreciative.
“Are you leaving so soon?” Caitlyn asked, she placed her glass of wine on the table next to her and held her hands out for Lucian who was joyously bouncing in Cassie’s arms. “You sure you can’t stay for desert? I made one of my homemade Pecan Pies.”
Cassie frowned. “I only wish I could, but I promised Clifton that I would bring Lucian by for a visit before it got too late. I don’t want to miss the last bus out of this part of town, quite frankly.”
“You’re not taking the bus!” Caitlyn scolded, she looked at Lucian and then back at Cassie. “I have a better idea, let me get my coat and I can take you over to Clifton’s house so you don’t catch a cold. Do you know how much I’d blame myself if this precious baby caught a cold?”
“I can’t.” Cassie apologized. She pushed Lucian’s diaper bag higher on her shoulder. “I couldn’t ask that of you, especially since you have all this company in your house. I can make the bus right now and I have an extra layer of blankets for Lucian.”
Caitlyn led Cassie into the kitchen. “How about we pack a dinner for Clifton then?”
“That sounds good.” Cassie gulped. She watched as Caitlyn went around the kitchen with Lucian in one hand and started making a plate. “I can get Lucian if you’d like? Or maybe I can make the plate myself.”
The older woman chuckled. “I can do this. It might have been a long time since I was able to juggle a baby and a plate of food. But I have enough experience in this ever since Danielle was a baby.” She stopped for a moment to think about her precious baby girl, she then turned to Cassie.
“I didn’t mean to bring Danielle up.”
Caitlyn shrugged it off. “Here is the plate and,” the woman walked over to her purse. “Here are the keys to my car. I won’t take no for an answer Cassie! I’ve been a young mother before and I know how hard it is. Take my car for the night and return it in the morning.”
“Thank you.” She teared up.
“Let me help you get Lucian in the car?”
As they made their way through the house they passed by Charlie Sutton and Aidan Jurado, who seemed intense in a conversation over bottles of beer. Charlie shakes his head at an idea that Aidan had tossed his way. “I don’t think it is right for me to do that. Besides this Taylor guy seems to trust your instinct.”
“It’s not that.” Aidan replied. “This is your Inn and I don’t want to be making decisions like this one. He is looking for someone to help him put together a book signing and a place to host it in. It is a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the fundraiser’s positive buzz and I don’t want to take it away from you.”
Charlie turned to him. “Aidan, did you not remember that you put the fundraiser together? I was talking to Kirsten the other day about maybe promotion you from my assistant to something that fits you more. I want your first project to be the book signing.”
He grumbled. “I’m not going to get you to budge on this, am I?”
“Nope!” Charlie smirked. “You can do this, I have faith in you.”
James Thurlow turned to his daughter Marina, pulling her into a hug the two of them chuckled. “I can’t believe that Aidan is here with us and that he is doing better than when he was in Paris. With everything that happened with your aunt Shannon and the company? That boy has been through a lot.”
She looked at Aidan as he talked with Charlie and made sure to talk to him later, or even invite him out for coffee to catch up. She then thought back to a conversation she had with Ryan the other day. “I’m just glad that we have our family to lean on. We’ve all been through a lot.”
“We sure have kiddo.” James replied, noticing a change in his daughter’s posture. “Something you want to talk about? Is it a girl problem? I can get Caitlyn for you if you need her.”
“I’m not twelve anymore dad.” Marina chuckled. She then turned to where Ian was holding up a conversation with her sister Kirsten. “It’s really nothing. It is just that Seth Keeler offered me a promotion at the Stone Creek Ledger and at first I turned it down.”
James frowned. “That’s not like you.”
“When I went back to accept the promotion it was too late.” Marina scrunched up her nose when she thought back to when Ian told her to ask for the promotion and how he told Marina she would hate him if she didn’t take it. She shook her body, trying to shake the chill in her spine.
“Things happen for a reason kiddo.” James replied, he looked at Ian. “That boy of yours seems like a really nice guy. If your article is right and he is Jared Marlowe’s son then he has had a rough life as well. Just be careful of what you get yourself into Marina.”
She looked at her father and smiled. “I will daddy.”
[.....]
Scene Seven:
Now Town.
Sisyphean’s Restaurant.
Charlene Sutton clutched her second glass of wine in the last twenty minutes and smiled at her brother. “I’m just glad that I was able to get out of that house. The holiday’s haven’t really been the same since Gillian left town and that was a couple years ago.”
“That husband of yours might be the leading force in that.” Deborah Nelson snipped, taking a bite of her lunch. She then looked up to see both Charlene and Frank looking at her. “I’m just saying, lately Patrick has been playing papa bear with his tactics and it’s not helping matters.”
Her sister-in-law shrugged at the mention of Patrick’s overbearing ways. Then Charlene took another sip of her wine. She was also hoping to spend the holidays with Kevin, but that ship had sailed long ago when she chose power over him.
“I would just kill to spend Thanksgiving with my children.” Deborah bit again, this caused Charlene to frown. “I’m just glad that we can spend Christmas with them and hopefully, New Years as well.”
Frank smiled. “We will spend as much time as we can with them.”
“I’m glad.” Charlene spoke, she sighed. “I am just glad that someone is able to spend the holidays with their family without a huge fight breaking everything up. Sometimes I envy the family that the two of you raised, I just wish that things were different.”
“They can be different.” Deborah added.
“Not now Deb.” Frank pleaded.
She turned to her husband with anger in her eyes. “No, now is the perfect time. Do you hear yourself Charlene? Are you trying to make us feel pity for you because I certainly do not. I have spent a long time apart from my family for various reason and you have your children in the same town as you!”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Charlene murmured.
“I’m sure you didn’t Char.”
Deborah folded her arms and tightened her lip.
“What Deb is trying to say is that you have an opportunity to see your family now Charlene and maybe it’s not going to be all at once. But the reality is your family is suffering a lot because of Patrick.” Frank told her. “Why don’t you go spend time with Charlie and Megan?”
“They are at the Thurlow’s party.”
“James is a very understanding man, why don’t you give him a call? See if you can go over there and spend time with them?” Frank pulled out his wallet and placed a couple bills on the table. “Don’t worry about lunch, it’s on me. Deb and I should start packing anyways for our trip.”
“Thank you.” Charlene spoke, getting up from her seat. “The both of you. I’m sorry Deborah for everything that you’re going through. I didn’t mean to unload like that and hurt your feelings. I just- well, I just wish I had the support that the two of you have.”
Deborah sighed, looking at Charlene apologetically for screaming at her. “It takes a lot of hard work Charlene. If you really want to get your family back on track it is going to take a lot of work and I hope that you have it in you to do it, for your children.”
[.....]
Scene Eight:
2634 W. Parker St., Stone Creek. Callahan Condo’s #12
Miles Fowler’s Apartment.
It had taken Greta Wilkinson a lot of will power not to turn away from the door. She picked her hand up and balled it into a fist and waited for someone to open it before she has to actually move her hand and unleash a chain of events that could alter the rest of her life.
Then it happened, her fist began to knock on Miles Fowler’s door.
Had she turned away a couple minutes ago she would be on her way back to her parent’s house and spending the rest of Thanksgiving with them. She could be sharing hot cocoa with her brother and helping Emily plan out the wedding they were going to have.
She knew that if she turned on her heel and ran away from the door she could make the stairs in under a minute and get away from telling Miles that she was still in love with him.
“Can I help you?” A woman asked, opening the door.
Greta looked at her bewildered. Had she knocked on the wrong door? Greta looked at the door number behind the woman’s head and then focused back on the person in front of her. The person that isn’t Miles. That looked nothing like Miles.
“Excuse me?”
She sighed, feeling her emotions overwhelm her. “I have to go.”
Greta slipped away, tears in her eyes. How could she be so stupid, thinking that Miles would wait for her to figure herself out. They had spent some time together while their friend Gail was in the hospital but things still remained tense.
“Greta, wait!” Miles called out.
She stopped and turned around. But when she saw him Greta wanted to scream. How could she finally let her walls fall down to this? “I’m sorry, I just shouldn’t have come. I just should have just left you alone. Miles I don’t need an explanation from you.”
“But you’re going to get it.” Miles replied, he looked back. “Sheila works at the station with me. Neither of us had any family to go to and just decided to spend Thanksgiving together but it doesn’t mean anything. Our relationship is completely platonic.”
Greta softens as Miles gets closer.
“The thought of being apart from you makes me really lonely.” He admitted.
“Miles.”
He didn’t give Greta much room to talk as they both pulled in for a hug. “I know that I have made things difficult for the two of us but you took me by surprise and I needed time to think about it. This whole issue had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.”
“It doesn’t matter Greta.”
“But it does, to me it does.” She felt him kiss her forehead. “I want to be with you and one day marry you and have your children and raise them together. It sounds so stupid but I can see our future together and it scared me to think that I was setting my dreams aside for that.”
Miles lifted her head with his hands. “We don’t have to set your dreams aside Greta.”
“We do.” She replied. “But not completely, not all of them. I’ll just have to re-arrange my dreams when the time is right. There’s so much things that could have happened to us, with Gail being in the hospital and seeing my grandmother nearly crumble to cancer. My fears seem foolish now.”
“Why don’t you come inside and enjoy this holiday with us?” Miles asked, he waiting for Gail to nod her head before kissing her and leading her inside the apartment.
[.....]
Scene Nine:
Stone Creek Memorial Hospital.
Cafeteria.
“I’m glad that you asked me to join you for a Thanksgiving dinner, although from where you came, I’m sure you already are full.” Dr. David Schmidt chuckled as he sat across from his former patient, Emily Roscoe. It had been a couple weeks since he last seen her and it was nice to see her face.
Emily smiled. “I don’t mind having a second dinner.”
He watched as she bit into a turkey sandwich that the cafeteria workers had made for the occasion. David couldn’t help but notice that something was wrong with her. Ever since her accident, David had taken to Emily like he was his own daughter and he began to pick up on her habits.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Emily asked, become conscious of herself. “Do I have something on my face?”
David chuckled. “No, it’s just that something is different about you.”
She sighed and put the sandwich down. “I haven’t told you yet because I was sort of waiting for the right time. But I do want you to know the good news.” Emily took the emerald engagement ring out of her pocket and placed it on her appropriate finger. “I’m engaged to Bentley Wilkinson.”
“Good news?” David asked, he looked at the ring and noted that she wasn’t wearing it before. “Then why do you look so unsure of yourself?”
Emily looked down at the ring. “Being at that Thanksgiving dinner was just so overwhelming. That family is extremely welcoming, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t know if I can live up to what is expected of me David. I never had that great tight family.”
“Do you love him?” David asked.
“Extremely so.”
This he knew was true, he could tell that she was fighting with her feelings. “When you fall in love with someone you fall in love with everything about them. I know that you have had a lot of things happen in your past but I know that you are a strong woman and I know that you can learn to be a part of that family.”
“How do I even begin?”
“Just take a leap.” David told her, rubbing her arms. “Just take a leap and see what happens. The worst thing that could come of this is that you don’t work out and you don’t get married. But the best thing that could ever happen to you could be behind this ring.”
Emily looked down at it and knew that David was right. Bentley had spent months looking for Emily’s dream ring and she knew he meant everything by asking her to marry him. How she didn’t see it before was so hard to believe. Her judgement was clouded by all this negativity and she knew she had to change that.
Taking a deep breath she thought of everything positive that had ever happened to her. “Okay.” She replied in tear-stained eyes.
[.....]
Scene Ten:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. “Thurlow Cottage”
James, Caitlyn & Aidan’s Home.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Charlie asked as he caught a glimpse of the woman walking through the door. Charlene Sutton stood next to James Thurlow, thanking him for letting her come by and see her family. “You didn’t bring dad, did you?”
Charlene shook her head. “You think Patrick would show his face here again?”
“I’d hope not.” James replied, moving past the pair and entering the Living Room.
Charlie hugged Charlene. “It is good to see you here on Thanksgiving, honestly I didn’t think we would be seeing you again this year for the holidays. Last year just wasn’t the same without you. Megan misses you.”
“Can I see her?” Charlene asked. She ran her hand through her son’s hair as her eyes teared up. Charlene knew that being with her family was what needed to happen, now that the only other person she could rely on was gone from Stone Creek.
It was time to rebuild her life and Deborah was right.
She watched as Kirsten and Megan walked into the room. “Charlene?”
“I asked your father if I could come over.” Charlene explained.
Kirsten went over to hug her. “Well it is nice to see you.”
“The same to you.” Kirsten then turned to Megan. “Hey honey, do you want to come say hi to your grandmother? I know she would really love if you would.”
Charlene bent down to Megan’s level and smiled at her, hoping the girl hadn’t forgotten about her since their last visit. There was a sudden tension in the room as all parties stood still, waiting for Megan to make up her mind and walk over to Charlene or to turn away and ignore her all together.
“Are you going to stay for desert?” Megan asked. “I helped Caitlyn make it.”
“I’d love to.” Charlene told her, looking up at Charlie. “If you would all have me here, I would love to spend all day with you.”
“We’d love that Charlene.” Kirsten smirked, her husband holding her.
Then Charlene looked at Megan and shook her head in agreement. There was a time when she didn’t think this moment would come as Megan rushed into her arms and held onto the woman’s neck, almost causing her to tumble over in surprise.
Watching from the Living Room, James and Caitlyn shared looks of excitement as part of their family was finally forming. Although Charlene was the wife of Patrick Sutton, a man that once wanted nothing good to come from the Thurlow family, she was also their granddaughter’s grandmother.
“Look at how things are changing.” Caitlyn spoke, wondering if things would keep changing for the better.
James turned to his wife. “This is what we should be truly thankful for.”
Caitlyn knew that there was so much to be thankful for this year and hoped that next year would only be better for the family.
[.....]
Scene Eleven:
980 Cutler St., Stone Creek. Faustino Cottages # 10
Natalie & Amanda’s Home.
Natalie watched as the end credits appeared. That was the last Thanksgiving special she was going to watch, especially now that she was on the last bottle of wine in the house. How she had let Amanda leave to visit her family was beyond Natalie.
Then another show came on. Leaning over to grab the remote to turn off the program, her hands nudged it and watched as it fell off the couch and away from her. Natalie pouted, how was she supposed to be happy when she was alone? Her own mother left her to visit her father, where ever he ran off to hide.
She looked at her glass of wine and then tossed it at the TV.
But the program continued to run.
BLEEP. Natalie grumbled as her phone went off. BLEEP. “I don’t want to talk to you right now God. I understand that you’re punishing me for being such a bitch to everyone but can I at least have a day off and be Thankful for it? At least just one fucking day?”
BLEEP.
She grumbled, scooting over to her phone and answering it. “What do you want?”
“I want to know what you are doing today and why I saw a glass of wine fly across the room.” the voice of Ryan Bauer asked from the other end. “I know I told you that I had to work today but I just got some free time and I swung over to the nearest fast food chain.”
“You’re outside?” Natalie asked, confused.
Ryan chuckled. “Open your curtains.”
She did as told, shuffling off the couch and ripping open the curtain to her Living Room window. There he was in the flesh. Ryan Bauer waved at her with a grease stained bag. He pointed to it with a smile. “The fastest and cheapest heart attack in a bag.”
“I’ve had the worst day.” She sniffled.
“Apparently so has your TV.”
This got a chuckle out of her as she made her way to the door to let him inside the house.
[.....]
Scene Twelve:
2300 Cranberry St., Stone Creek. Stone Creek Apartments #23
Mac’s Apartment.
Opening the door, Mac Kern found it a surprise to see Cassie Lakhani on the other end. Then he noticed that Lucian wasn’t with her. “What brings you by here without Lucian?”
She shows him a bag of food that she brought over. “Caitlyn let me borrow her car for the night. I took Lucian over to Clifton’s and let him spend the night with him. But I couldn’t stay there and I didn’t want to go home so I thought I’d come by and see if you wanted to spend sometime with me without Lucian for a change.”
Mac smirked. “Of course I would, come in!”
He moved out of the way and let Cassie in. Placing the food on the table she watched as Mac went to the kitchen and grabbed silverware and a couple bottles of water. “So you are letting Clifton have Lucian all night? Are you prepared for a night without him?”
Cassie sighed. “I don’t know, really. But I think it is the right thing to do. I know that Clifton really cares for Lucian and after what happened on Halloween I know he deserves to be with him. I just hope I can be without Lucian for a couple of hours.”
“Well I’m glad you’re here with me.” Mac declared, lifting the bottle of water and tapping hers. “To spending the next couple hours keeping your mind from worry about your son who is in the capable hands of his father.”
“Cheers.” Cassie chimed.
But before they could go further a knock on the door signaled them to someone’s arrival. “Let me get that really quick! It will only take a moment.” Mac assured her, shuffling over to the door and opening it. His mouth dropped as the person in front of him was a ghost from his past.
“Hello little brother.”
Mac gulped. “Taylor.”
[.....]
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves
- Taylor and Mac have a reunion of words.
- Emily makes a declaration to Bentley.
- Clifton wants Cassie to make a choice.
- Gillian stumbles upon a game changer...
