Peter had looked forward to a nice, simple Thanksgiving. His daughter was coming home from college for the long weekend and bringing her friend and roommate with her as her parents had gone to a wedding overseas and the girl had nowhere to go, so Peter and his wife Karen had invited her. He and his wife were happily married and had two children, their son Michael was grown and off to the west coast for a few years, and their daughter Brooke was in her final year of college.
Peter and Karen had never met Mindy, who their daughter had made fast friends with, but she had been described to them as a lovely, hard working girl working her way through school to become a doctor. Their daughter's age, and intelligent, they were happy to have her in their home for the long weekend to share Thanksgiving with them. That's what the holiday was all about after all, sharing, and being grateful, and taking in others that didn't a place to be for the holiday.
Peter had only been home from work around an hour when the train the girls were due to arrive on was to arrive, so he'd gone down to the station to pick them up and drive them back. He broke into a smile when he saw his beloved daughter get off the steps of the train and her pretty friend was right behind her, loaded down with suitcases and her purse. He was struck by her beauty, a lovely redhead with emerald green eyes and fair skin, petite in comparison to his tall, leggy blonde daughter with her flowing hair. Mindy was a striking girl to be sure.
"Daddy!" Brooke yelled as she greeted her handsome father.
"Hello, dear, wonderful to see you!" he exclaimed as he threw his open arms around her and hugged her tightly, after not seeing her since she left for school a couple of months earlier.
"Daddy, this is Mindy, I've told you and mom all about her. We have gotten to know each other so well, you're just going to love her!" Brooke said assuredly. Mindy put out her hand and Peter shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Harrison," Mindy said politely.
"Oh for heaven's sake, no need to be so formal, it's Peter," he stated as he placed a hand on a shoulder of each of the girls on either side of him and led them to the car.
They put their bags in the trunk and drove the few blocks back to the house. When he opened the door, he was shocked to see his wife Karen standing in her coat with a suitcase about to walk out the door.
"Honey, what's wrong," he asked her concerned.
"Oh Peter, my sister just called, she's broken her leg I have to go help her and her family for the weekend, I am so sorry to leave you and the girls alone like this, but I have to help her. All the groceries for the meal have been purchased and are in the fridge, Brooke is going to have to do the meal, she's a good cook, she can do it, and I'm sure Mindy can help her," she said.
She was out the door and into the cab she'd called before they knew what had happened. Peter was a bit disappointed, but things happen, you have to go with the flow.
"Alright girls, looks like it's just the three of us, I'm sure it will be fine. Let's order a pizza tonight, and tomorrow we can get the meal done between the three of us," he said.
So Brooke called for a pizza, and the three of them chatted about their school projects and how they were doing and Peter was telling them how his business was coming along as well, they had a nice dinner and then the girls went upstairs and retired to Brooke's room for the evening. Peter tidied up and settled in to watch a movie on t.v., and the girl in the movie resembled Mindy a bit he thought, another pretty redhead. She really was a beauty, he thought to himself.
He was tired after his long day, and fell asleep in the reclining chair with the t.v. still on and he didn't hear Mindy come down a while later. She was hungry and had come down to get a couple of more pieces of the leftover pizza that was in the fridge.
The beeping of the microwave woke him and he straightened up in his chair to see her in the kitchen. She was sitting at the table with the heated up food in front of her on a plate as he got up and entered the kitchen.