Reed stood at the counter. He’d told his boyfriend he’d be home at three. The way things were looking, he’d be more than an hour late. Damn it.

Beside him, his co-worker, Jagger, rang up a female customer with a little girl. The woman had bought a couple of Thanksgiving books. The brightly colored turkey and leaves on the top book caught Reed’s attention.

Thanksgiving. He didn’t mind giving thanks for the good things in his life. He also didn’t mind the food. What he hated were the gatherings. He wished the need to bring family to one house was not the rule. Maybe he was losing his mind, but he hated the togetherness. He’d been able to dodge the holiday for the last ten years, but since he’d met Matt, he knew he wasn’t going to get around the festivities for much longer. Matt liked family functions and preferred big parties. Reed wasn’t even sure a big family party was possible.

He finished typing out a reply email to the customer in search of an out-of-print book. Thankfully, the store had the book. He sent the customer the expected price and shipping options. He glanced at his watch once more. Less than two days until Thanksgiving. The store would be open on Wednesday, but he wasn’t working. If the customer needed the book, he could wait until Friday.

The last time he and Matt had talked about the holiday, Matt’s sister, Emily and her boyfriend were supposed to be spending the day with them. He could handle that. He liked Matt’s sister and loved her son, Nattie. Still, he wanted a small dinner, not a gigantic situation. He sighed. At least with Em and Matt, he wasn’t going to have to deal with accusations.

“I’m off until Friday morning,” Reed said to Jagger. “If there is a crisis, call me, but try not to have a crisis.”

“That’s the plan.” Jagger grinned. “You can trust us. We won’t let you down. Now go, so Matt doesn’t think you got lost.”

“Deal.”