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Dr. Mortimer and his
brother.
    “Hi, please come in,” Kate said, giving Dr. Mortimer
a long hug. She was glad to see him, I could tell. I said hello and
glanced over at his brother, who was taller and thinner but had the
same eyes. He also dressed really well, looking like he had just
stepped out of a GQ photo shoot, his silk suit freshly pressed. He
had longer dark hair that hung over his collar. He nodded to
everyone, smiling shyly.
    “Kate, Abby, Matt, this is my brother, Nathaniel,”
Dr. Mortimer said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Another Dr.
Mortimer. Bet you didn’t think there were two of us! He lives in
Boston and is in town on business.”
    We all said hello and he seemed to relax a
little.
    “I’m not just visiting for business reasons,”
Nathaniel said. “Of course I wanted to see my brother for
Thanksgiving.”
    Dr. Mortimer gave him a sarcastic look.
    Kate led them to the living room as Dr. Mortimer
handed her a pink bakery box and a bottle of wine, which she took
into the kitchen with Matt.
    “Abby here is my star patient,” Dr. Mortimer
said.
    “Of course I remember Abby,” Nathaniel said. “You
haven’t stopped talking about her since that night. Abby, I’ve
heard all about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    I’m sure I turned six shades of red on the spot, but
managed to mumble “thank you,” before Kate returned. She handed me
a wineglass filled with Sprite and Dr. Mortimer opened the wine and
poured.
    “Happy Thanksgiving everyone,” Kate said, lifting
her glass.
    Soon the bell rang again and a bunch of Kate’s
reporter friends filled the house. Kate introduced them to the
doctor brothers. I knew all of the news staff. Before I could
drive, I’d walk over to The Bugler after practice and wait for Kate
to finish up. They were all friendly. And I was really glad to see
Tony, who was Kate’s editor. He was a large man with an easy laugh.
I thought of him as kind of an uncle, someone who we could count on
if we needed anything.
    Erin, who was Kate’s best friend, came up and gave
me a hug with her big hair nearly suffocating me and slipped a
small box in my hand. Inside was a pair of blue earrings. As I
thanked her, I noticed she had tears in her eyes. She pulled me
close.
    “I’m so happy you’re still with us, Abby,” she
whispered in my ear. “You’ve made this a real special
Thanksgiving.”
    It felt good to have the house full of delicious
smells, a toasty fire, and friendly, fun guests. We put the
football game on and muted it and jazzy music weaved around the
room. Everybody loved the food and the wine was flowing. The only
regret I had was that I wished Jesse could have been with us.
    “Abby, how’s your head been?” Dr. Mortimer asked
after dinner.
    “Oh, good,” I said. I hadn’t had a headache since
that night.
    “That’s great news,” he said. “Hey, happy
Thanksgiving!” He gave me a hug.
    I walked in the kitchen and found Matt slicing up
the various pies everybody had brought. I helped him out for a
while, until my phone buzzed. It was a text from Jesse. He wrote
that he was having an okay time with his mom, but wished he were at
the “famous Craigers party.” I texted a quick message back telling
him I’d phone him later.
    I headed back to the living room and told Kate that
dessert would be ready in about five minutes. Everybody was still
seated around the table. They were talking about the snowstorm and
how cold it had been.
    “I’m thinking about just skiing to work,” said
Colin, a reporter. “I’m so sick of shoveling my driveway every
morning.”
    “Oh, this snow is nothing. You guys are spoiled,
right Nathaniel?” Dr. Mortimer said.
    “Oh, yeah. I forgot we had some East Coasters at the
table,” Tony said.
    “So, Nathaniel, how long are you here for?” Kate
asked.
    “I have to leave on Sunday unfortunately,” he said.
“But I get back to Bend occasionally. The company I work for has
St. Charles as one of its