-1"I'm so screwed," Brian said with a sigh.
Lumpy gravy and runny mashed potatoes sat in saucepans. Smoke creeped into the house, leaving clouds and the acrid odor of burned turkey breast. Earlier, he tried deep frying a small, three-pound one. As a result, the fryer erupted in flames, and Brian, in a panic, put out the small fire with an extinguisher. Now it was just both clearing out the smoke and figuring out how to salvage Thanksgiving dinner before his friend Carina showed up. Paul was also going to drop by on his way from his family's home.
"What am I going to do? I can't serve this shit. I haven't seen Carina for six months and now she's in town for the holiday visiting friends. Liquid potatoes, lumpy gravy, soggy yams and a crispy black turkey are not what I want her to remember. And I'm never going to hear the end from Paul."
He rummaged through several cupboards, trying to come up with an alternative to the ruined meal, but found nothing. Every place Brian thought of calling was closed for the holiday or no longer taking last-minute orders.
"Guess we're going to have spaghetti with Ragu sauce for Thanksgiving dinner."
Brian called his sister in Washington for suggestions. After laughing hysterically at his prediciment, she gave him a few ideas. The first few didn't pan out, but he finally got lucky on the last item on the list.
"Thanksgiving is saved!" he cried cheerfully, grabbing his car keys and darting out.
***
Later that evening:
"Dude, I didn't think you could pull it off," Paul said after they finished dinner. "The whole dinner was awesome."
"Ye of little faith, holmes."
"You didn't really have to go through all this trouble, Brian," Carina smiled.
"Nah, it wasn't that bad. I just called home if I got stuck on anything. Besides, I had to do something nice since you were in town."
"At least let me clean up and serve dessert," she offered.
Paul perked up. "There's dessert?"
"Of course there is, dumb ass," Brian said. "No Thanksgiving is complete without pumpkin pie."
"You made pie? This should be a barrel of laughs. The last time you tried that, we needed a chain saw to cut it."
"I don't see you offering to do any better."
In the kitchen, Carina loaded the dishwasher, wiped off the counters, made fresh coffee, and took the pie and whipped cream from the refrigerator. In the meantime, something caught the corner of her eye.
Carina went over to the wastebasket where the item which caught her interest lay. She spotted a large bag with BOSTON MARKET written boldly on it.
Oh, Brian. Such a sneaky, clever little man you are. You called home for suggestions all right. Better get rid of this before Paul sees it.
"I'll be back in a minute guys," she announced. "I'm going to take out the garbage. I don't want turkey bones and scraps sitting in the wastebasket."
"Uh, Car, you don't have to do—" Brian said before hearing the door slam.
Shit, I hope she didn't look in there.
A few minutes later, Carina returned, setting pie and coffee on the table. "I think you may outdid yourself, Bri. This looks absolutely scrumptious."
Paul took a few thoughtful bites. "Man, I don't know what you did this time, but she's right. Some good ass pie you have here."
"One of Mom's recipes."
Carina gave a knowing smile. "I'm sure it is."
After dessert, the three of them watched a movie before Paul went home. Carina and Brian watched some wrestling DVD's for awhile before she had to go back to her hotel.
"Thanks for dinner," she said.
"You really enjoyed it?"
"Of course." Carina winked at him. "Boston Market always does a good job."
His face fell. "Oh God, you saw the bags. Car, I really did try to cook, but it was a total disaster. The house nearly burned down from me trying to fry a turkey breast in the garage."
She smiled. "Don't worry, it's our little secret. It's the thought that counts, and you saved the holiday."
"You are one great friend, Car."
She kissed his cheek. "And you are one sweet little screwball. Some nice girl is going to be lucky to have you one of these days. Besides, what Paul doesn't know won't hurt him. Let him think you're better at something than he is for a change."