Quick thing: I made a mistake with the timeline of the story in my haste to post the last couple blurbs. To correct that, Chapter 29 "Thanksgiving" is now titled "More Confessions" as it takes place the night before Thanksgiving & not actually on Thanksgiving; and Chapter 30, "Black Friday" is now titled "Complicated" because that one ended up taking place very early in the morning of Thanksgiving and not on Friday. Today's Chapter is appropriately titled, "Giving Thanks," and I think it speaks for itself as to when it takes place. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you so much for reading, reviewing and recommending! It means a lot. :-)

Giving Thanks…

~(~)~

His phone is burning a hole in his pocket. He's served fifty-three more meals to the homeless and less-fortunate of Clallam County since it first buzzed inside the soft denim of his favorite jeans. He wants to stop what he's doing and check it, but the line is out the door this year, and there are too many familiar faces in it to take the a break right now.

The wait is driving him absolutely crazy.

Next to him, his father notices. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"You're fidgeting. What's up?"

"It's nothing. It's stupid."

Dr. Cullen doesn't respond, instead shifting his attention back to the young woman standing in front of them, her plate outstretched.

Several long minutes later they're in need of more potatoes and Edward quickly volunteers.

Once again, the elder Cullen notices. "Son…"

"I'm fine, Dad," he insists. "I'll tell you about it later."

He will, at least, when he knows what there is to tell. If there's anything to tell; just because he has a new email doesn't mean it's from Bella.

He hopes it's from Bella.

The industrial style kitchen of the community center is a blur of activity even this late into the day's meal. He finds the person in charge of washing dishes and drops off the dirty serving container before ducking out the back door into the parking lot behind the shelter.

Thanking God for the invention of the Smart Phone, he quickly finds a spot against the painted brick wall and opens the email app before his absence is noticed.

His eyes flicker over the sender and the subject line.

He smiles.

He's still smiling when someone inside yells something about potatoes and he has to shove his phone back in his pocket. He's still smiling when he returns to the line with more mashed potatoes. And he's still smiling when his father finally jabs him in the side and warns him that his mother just walked in the door with an armload of pies.

"Don't let her catch you looking like that unless you're ready to talk about it."

He laughs and then straightens his expression. "Right. Thanks."

"No problem, kiddo. Just clue me in sometime, would you?"

"Sure, Dad."

With a wink from one and a grateful nod from the other, the two men go back to their duties.

~(~)~

I know, I know… more teasing. At least it's not a "telephonic cliffie," as one reader so eloquently put it. And a happy Edward can't be a bad thing, right?

More soon.