Chapter 5 Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day was approaching. The rangers that were in town traditionally celebrated together. The Hawkes and Avila families would cook the meals for them. This time Jennifer and Hailey joined too. They went down a day early so Jennifer could help Robin in the kitchen. Commander Wilson, Freddy, and Josh were away visiting family.

Alex's friend Christy told Alex about a tradition at the High school where the boys basketball teams will play alumni. School was closed, but the coaches liked the teams to get more practice. Jasper took Alex down to the school to join the boys. Alex was happy to spend some time with Christy before the dance in hopes he would not be so nervous. He loved to play basketball with his dad, but it was nice to play on an actual court on a team with kids his age. Jasper played with the Alumni. The coaches were impressed with Alex's skills and his ability to quickly get the hang of playing on a team, considering he had not played on a team before.

Coach Hendricks asked, "Alex where do you go to school?"

Alex answered, "I am home schooled, my dad and I live up in the mountains."

Coach Hendrick asked, "Ever think about coming down for school?"

Jasper cut in, "If my dad had his way he be down here. Good to see you Coach Hendricks."

Coach Hendricks said, "Jasper good to see you. Do you know Alex?"

Jasper answered, "Yes, Alex is my cousin."

Coach Hendricks, "Alex if you ever do come down, let me know. There is a place for you on the team. We are a bit short-handed this year and could use you. Even if it is for a game or two. Here is the schedule of the games and practices. Whenever you are around let me know."

Alex took the piece of paper, "Thanks coach. I will talk to my dad about it," then Jasper, Alex and Christy left the gym.

Cody sometimes picked up shifts to help the rangers when they were shorthanded, he could pick up some extra money and Alex had family to watch him. Cody was on a rescue call with his niece Kelly. He was flying the chopper. It was good for him to get out there again. He had not flown in a while. They received a call about an injured skier. The injured skier had badly hurt their knee. As they were flying to the skier Kelly asked, "Uncle Cody, how is it going with Jen and her daughter?"

"It is going well. They have settled in nicely; I am enjoying having them around. Jennifer is a good cook too. Nice not having to do so much cooking. I think Alex is enjoying having Hailey around. He has been teaching her a lot. Nice to have some adult conversations too. I wish there was more I could do to help them," Cody answered.

"You and Jen seem very comfortable together," Kelly said. Cody just smiled as they approached the injured skiers.

By the time Cody and Kelly got back, Robin, Jessica, Jen, and Hailey were in the kitchen preparing for the evening dinner and finishing some Thanksgiving prep. Jennifer seemed right at home with the ladies.

Cody and Kelly walked into the kitchen, Cody commenting, "Something smells good," Cody walked over to Jennifer and gave her a side hug and kiss on the cheek. Jennifer was a little taken back they had not been affectionate since the night they kissed, but she liked it.

Jasper and Alex walked into the kitchen. Jasper said, "You should have seen this kid on the court today, he was awesome. The coach was impressed."

"Dad, the coach told me I was welcome on the team anytime. There is a practice and game this weekend. Can I join the team, dad?" Alex asked.

Cody responded, "Let's look at it later and we can see what we can work out." Cody handed the paper back to Alex.

Alex was happy it was not a straight-out no but was not a yes. Jennifer could tell that Alex was a bit disappointed by his dad's response.

Thanksgiving morning arrived. Those not in the kitchen were outside playing touch football. Jessica Avila's mom Priya joined Jennifer and Robin in the kitchen, while the rest were playing flag football outside. Hailey cheered from the sidelines. Robin and Priya really liked Jennifer. They both knew Lizzie, and both hoped that Cody would someday find someone. They thought Jennifer was good for Cody. Jennifer said they were just friends, but they could see a spark in Cody's eyes that was not there before.

When the game was over everyone came into the kitchen. The more people who came into the kitchen the more uncomfortable Jennifer became, especially when Jessica Avila's brother Liam came into the room. He is a South Lake Tahoe Police Officer and came straight from being on duty. He was still in his police officer uniform and that made Jennifer very uneasy.

Cody noticed she was shrinking back, so he went by her side. He put his arm around her waist. He was whispering things to her softly. "Jennifer it is okay, I will help you get through it. Just take a deep breath. Liam is a police officer and a good friend you don't need to worry."

It was exactly what she needed.

Frank noticed that Cody had a lady on his arm. He did not know that Cody and Alex had house guests. He was thinking that Cody had started dating finally. So, Frank went over to introduce himself.

"Cody, are you going to introduce me to your lady friend?" Frank asked.

"Frank Avila, this is Jen Montgomery. She is Aaron Bass's granddaughter, Jen. Her and her daughter are visiting us for a bit," Cody answered.

"I remember you now. Nice to see you again. Welcome back to the mountains," Frank said.

"Nice to see you again as well. You used to fly the chopper and you helped my grandfather a number of times. Even though he did not always show it, he was grateful. Thank you," Jennifer said.

"No problem," Frank said.

The rangers, Hawkes, Avila, and Montgomery families were gathered around the table for lunch. Each one went around saying a word that meant what thankfulness was to them. They all went around the table. Matt said, Love, as he kissed is wife's hand; followed by Robin, Robin, Hope; Frank was Appreciation, Priya said Faith, Cody stated Understanding and looked at Jen; Jennifer looked at Cody and said Compassion; Hailey was Joyful; followed by Alex with Happiness; Jasper said Family, Jessica said Fortune; Kelly was Grateful, David was Thankful and lastly Liam was Gracious. They all sat around and ate a wonderful meal.

Later in the evening back at Matt's house. Jennifer and Alex were sitting on the couch with Bosco between them. Alex was a bit quiet.

"What is wrong Alex?" Jennifer asked.

"Nothing," Alex said just sulking a bit, holding a piece of paper.

"What is that in your hand?" Jennifer asked.

"It is the basketball schedule," he handed it to Jennifer.

Jennifer looked at the schedule. "There is a practice on Friday and a game on Saturday. Are you going to play this weekend?"

"My dad said he will talk about it later. I have not seen much of him today" Alex said. "I would like to play."

"Let me talk to your dad," Jennifer said. "I would love to see you play."

Jennifer went to track Cody down. She looked for him in the barn, "Cody, are you in here?"

Cody had gone to visit Lizzie's grave like he often had done on Thanksgiving Day after the big lunch. He was unsaddling his horse.

Cody just responded, "Yes, just feeding the horses. Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah, there is a young man sulking a bit inside. He has been hoping to talk to his dad. He would like to join the high school basketball team this weekend. There is a practice tomorrow and a game on Saturday," Jennifer handed Cody the piece of paper. "I think he would really like to play. It would be good for him."

Cody said, "I don't know if it would be a good idea, Jennifer. Not like he is able to play often. Maybe a game or two. We can't run down here for every game and practice."

"Cody, I think it would be good for him. He is a shy kid. And he needs to come out of his shell, and he be around kids his own age. And I think it would be fun to watch him play on Saturday," Jennifer said.

Cody agreed. They went back into the house and Cody told Alex and then called the coach to confirm it was all right. Since Alex does his homeschooling out of that high school, he was eligible to play sports for them. It was the freshman basketball team.

Cody was able to take a shift on Friday, Jennifer and Hailey went to volunteer with Robin at a local food bank. Robin was trying to find out if there was something going on with Jennifer and Cody. Sadly, it did not sound like there was anything, but looking at the two there seemed to be something.

Robin asked Jen, "It so good to see you again Jen. I know we did not get much of a chance to talk when you first got back. Where have you been the last twenty plus years?"

"After college I moved out east. I did not want to come back," Jennifer was cautious on what details she gave Robin. She knew she could trust her, but wanted to keep things quiet.

"You got married?" Robin asked.

"Yes, I did," Jennifer answered.

"I am so glad you were able to find some happiness," Robin responded.

"I did for a while," Jennifer learned it best to tell the truth as much as possible and where it made sense.

"I am sorry, you lost your husband," Robin said. "Did you ever find anyone else to share your life with?"

"Being a single mom takes all my energy," Jennifer responded. "But, Hailey is the best thing to ever happened to me. I love being her mom."

"What type of work do you do?" Robin asked.

Jennifer responded, "Not much these days. I try to find side jobs doing pretty much anything that pay cash."

Robin asked, "What did you do before you had Hailey?"

Jennifer responded, "I was a housewife for a bit. And before that I work in business, writing business proposals, and did office administration work as well."

Robin said, "Matt could really use some help with that. He is hopeless with anything electronic. Commander Wilson has been out of town for the last couple of weeks, I have forgotten how much time Matt would spend doing paperwork. There is a whole pile of grant proposals just sitting on his desk he can't get to. He so busy interviewing candidates to try to fill the commander position and not finding anyone. And then he is trying to do his own job. He is not a spring chicken anymore."

"Robin, I can look at the grant proposals. If that helps in any way. You have all done so much for us. If any look promising or I am not sure about it, I could run it by Cody and see if he thinks it is a good fit. It can be quiet at the cabin. I love the peace and quiet but love to give back to doing something productive again," Jennifer said.

"Jen, I will talk to Matt about it."

On Saturday, Matt, Robin, Cody, Jen, Hailey, Jasper, and Kelly went to see Alex play his first basketball game. Alex did very well, he came off the bench and scored six points. Alex really enjoyed building friendships with his teammates. The team won 35 to 45. The Hawkes family all had a good time cheering him on. Cody was so proud of his son. Alex gave Jennifer a big hug after the game and thanked her for talking to his dad for him.

It was early enough in the day that they were able to return to the cabin. They had come via truck and Cody wanted to get back so he could get the horses settled back in. Matt gave Jennifer the grant proposals and thanked her for her help. He told her to call or email if she had any questions.