It was Thanksgiving morning and for the first time in many years he was actually looking forward to celebrating the holiday, not that he didn’t have friends in Vegas that he spent it with but the whole affair just wasn’t the same - the weather wasn’t as cold and even though it was a public holiday Sin City never really did shut down, but now he was back in Point Pleasant and Brad was going to spend at least part of the day with his two oldest and dearest friends doing what they used to do all those years ago. Eat lots of food and talk and laugh, followed by complaining about eating too much food while sitting and watching holiday themed cartoons and the Thanksgiving Parade.
In the past the Haynes usually held the big afternoon feast at their place and Madison and Brad were always invited, even if Krys didn’t particularly like her son’s choice in friends she seemed to tolerate them. Though now that the senior members of the Haynes family had moved away and his friend wasn’t really on speaking terms with his mother, Fin had said that he’d hold it at his new cottage. And although Fin had said he was happy with doing all the cooking Brad wouldn’t have a bar of it and the day before had gotten everything needed to make at least three of the side dishes - Green Bean Casserole, Baked Sweet Potatoes and Maple Butternut Squash. There were more carbs than he would normally eat but it was Thanksgiving after all and he’d just have to work out harder at the gym over the next week.
Looking across the roadway that ran through the trailer park he saw that Mads was at home and it wasn’t too early so he typed out a text message Want to come over and keep me company? I have chocolate and brewing a fresh pot of coffee. If anything the offer of coffee might grab her attention.
Mads was awake. In fact, she had been awake for a good hour or so, keeping herself busy with chores that she had been putting off for the last few days. There was laundry to be done, dishes to be cleaned, and a house to be picked up. Not that there were many dishes or things to pick up around the house, but there were some and she needed to take care of it. She had briefly pondered making something for the Thanksgiving dinner that she would be spending at Fin's later in the day, then thought better of it. Better to leave the cooking to those that were good at it.
She had just plopped down onto the couch with plans to boot up Netflix when the familiar chime of a text message sounded. Doing a preliminary glance at the screen – there were some that might text that she didn't really want to deal with - she noticed the message was from Brad and opened it. She smiled when she read the text. Chocolate and coffee? Don't mind if I do. She texted back before getting up. With her clothes in the dryer and not a fuck to give, Mads threw her coat over her lounge clothes and slipped her feet into her boots, then headed over to Brad's.
“Someone said coffee?” She called, opening the door after a courtesy knock.
The small faux fire was on in the corner of the living area and despite it’s small size it was warming Brad’s small cabin pretty well, so much so that he had left the French doors open into the enclosed porch area, although the temperatures outside were hovering around freezing or below it definitely didn’t feel like it and the fact that Brad was dressed in just a short sleeved shirt and a pair of loose pants atoned to the warmth. The weather in India was quite pleasant, especially when he arrived back to freezing temperatures, frosts and snow in some places further inland.
“Just in time!” Brad called out, glancing over his shoulder when Mads walked through the doors. With a few steps he opened the fridge and got out one of the small cartons of cream that he stored in there especially for when his friend visited, he knew she loved her coffee half-half and while he wasn’t big on cream he always made sure he had it. Putting the French press of coffee and the cream onto the small dining table at the edge of the kitchen that was currently overrun with vegetables in various stages of preparation. Making room for Mads he sat down on the other side, returning to his task of cutting up a sizeable butternut squash. “I wonder what old Mrs. Jefferson would say if she could see me now? Home Ec was never one of my stronger subjects in middle school but look at me, using a knife and not cutting myself!” He joked, cutting the squash into thickish slices.
Kicking off her boots and shrugging off her coat, Mads entered into the kitchen where Brad was waiting with the coffee and a bunch of food, apparently. She had known Brad had offered to cook some dishes for the meal later but temporarily forgot until she saw the mass of vegetables and dishes scattered around. “Pretty sure she’d be absolutely shocked,” she replied with a laugh as she grabbed a mug from the cabinet and slid into the adjacent seat. “Maybe not enough to die from it, but definitely enough to knock her off her feet.” She grabbed the coffee press and poured herself a cup. Madison never took Home Economics with Mrs. Jefferson or anyone else for that matter. None of the schools she attended had it available. She was, however, perfectly aware of Brad’s weakness in the subject at the time.
“Don’t get too cocky though. You still have time left to slice some skin.” She chuckled and gave him a playful wink. “So what ya cooking anyway? Lots of vegetables around.”
He wasn’t even sure if Mrs. Jefferson was still alive, she was around his grandmother’s age when he was in middle school and that was nearly twenty years ago, he’d have to ask Fin as he’d probably know as he never really left the town save for his time to attend college. “I might not ever be as good as Fin, or be up to cooking some massive feast but I’ll never go hungry without having to resort to ramen or packet mac and cheese.” Not that he’s ever eat either of them, carbs galore and he had gained a few pounds during his time in India because of all the rice that he wasn’t used to. He put the last lot of squash into a dish and then moved the beans for the casserole.
“That was for the maple butternut squash, I got some lovely maple syrup from Kinney’s Sugarhouse on my way back from Bangor, I also got some of those maple candies and thought I’d try some maple coffee too, don’t worry I’ve brewed you the regular stuff today.” He then started on the beans. “Bean casserole obviously, and the sweet potatoes are already roasting in the oven. Fin’s doing the rest and I’m expecting my diet to be well and truly ruined by tonight.”
Mads tilted her head some. “Maple coffee, huh? Sounds pretty good. Definitely have to give it a try.” She wasn’t sure why Brad needed candies instead of just pouring maple right into it but then she was never particularly savvy with fancier food and drink. Probably something to do with dissolving issues or whatever. She had no idea.
“Mmm sweet potatoes.” That may or may have been a favorite of hers. And she also may or may not try to steal one when they were out of the oven if she could manage to get past Brad. That might be a little difficult though with how big they were. Change of plans: go for the green beans. They were smaller.
Mads reached over and grabbed one of the freshly snapped green beans. “Diets were made to be ruined,” she remarked with a smile, taking a bite out of her recently stolen catch. “Especially during the holidays. Because, come on, how can you think about dieting when there is so much good, fatty foods around?”
Brad's plan was to use liberal amounts of real maple syrup over the squash and of course sample the candies when he felt like one, because if you're going to blow the diet, might as well eat the real thing rather than the imitation stuff full of fake flavors and god knows what else.
While the sweet potatoes weren't too big they would be very hot coming out of the oven and Mads would burn her finger, mouth or both if she did sneak past Brad. The sneaky steal of a bean didn't go unnoticed but he let it slide, there was plenty to go around, even with the odd one disappearing.
“Twelve months ago I would have told you that diets are important because ‘no one wants to see a fat stripper’ but I guess I'll have to say a fat yoga teacher now.” He smiled across the table as Mads chewed on her bean. “You're right Mads, it only happens once a year so might as well enjoy it.” Though he'd still be working out at the gym when it was all over. “I'm amazed that you've got the day off, or you the unlucky one who has to work this evening?” One downfall he supposed, at least they'd get to spend some time together. And he had missed his friend over the past few weeks.
There were definitely logistical errors in her now discarded plan to steal some sweet potatoes. She'd blame it on insufficient amount of coffee if she ever thought back on it. Which she likely wouldn't because there were more important things to worry about than ill-conceived theft ideas that would never come to fruition anyway.
“Everyone has a kink,” she teased, taking a sip of coffee. “Congratulations again on the job, by the way. I think teaching will do you good.” Mads had been worried about her friend's well-being for a while. He seemed to be floundering, uncertain what to do with himself, which never helped a person's mood. It was good that he had something meaningful to occupy himself with. “Got stuck on the overnight shift but it's not too bad. Better than a morning or day shift. Get to spend Thanksgiving with you guys.”
She leaned over and snatched another green bean. “Finally get the chance to meet Fin's new beau. I promised not to scare him off so I'll depend on you to do the questioning.” Mads was bringing her own beau to the dinner, but Brad didn't need to focus on Nick. It was Neilan they needed to size up.
One thing Brad remembered was that Mads always needed caffeine in some form to be able to function since they were teens, during the summers they seemed to live off Coke and pop when it was hot and they weren’t doing much of anything. Some things never really changed.
He smiled widely when she congratulated him on his new job. “Thanks Mads, mind you I’ve only done one class so far and I thought it went pretty well. Got another one tomorrow, an easy one for those dealing with the post Thanksgiving bloat, found a routine that’s good for tummy issues.” Brad chuckled softly, looking back down at the beans he was cutting for a moment. He enjoyed the few weeks in India and it had given him some direction, even though he might still be pining after ‘the one that got away’ at least now he had something to do several days a week, and classes to plan for. “Let me know if you want me to make you an extra large thermos of extra strong coffee for you shift tonight. And I promise to keep it quiet tomorrow so you can attempt to sleep.”
An eyebrow raised when Mads mentioned Fin’s new boyfriend. “I met him last night, he came into the store when I was giving Fin a hand. Seems like a nice enough guy.” He did offer a small smirk. “I never got to meet his ex - Danny, but I’ve seen pictures of the two of them over the years. Seems like our young Finni has a type.” He promised himself that no matter what he was never going to mention the striking similarities between the two men to his friend's face, nor tell anyone else who Fin was intimate with prior to the whole near drowning event. “I can’t wait to meet yours!”
Mads laughed. “Since when have I passed up getting free coffee? I’ll take whatever you’d like to give me.” Because coffee was the drink of life and something to be coveted. She rolled her eyes with a grin when Brad mentioned keeping quiet the next morning. “And thanks. That’s so thoughtful of you. I’m sure the rest of the neighborhood will be happy too.” Thanksgiving festivities tended to result in a few hangovers.
“Wait, you already met him? No fair!” She pouted, letting out a soft huff. Her brows rose some, suddenly interested in Brad’s comment about Fin having a type. “Does he?” Mads was fairly certain she had seen him around but she couldn’t recall a face. The mention of Nick caused her to chuckle, slightly embarrassed. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by her boyfriend, not at all, but the idea of having him over for dinner made her unreasonably happy. That was what embarrassed her. “Ah, yeah. Will this be the first time you’ve spoken to him? I know Fin has interacted with him a few times.”
“You’d never give up the opportunity for free coffee, but only if it’s decent coffee. None of that instant crap for you!” Brad said, making a face at the thought of instant coffee, maybe like Mads he had become a coffee snob since he had finished his college degrees and got a taste of better things from his sugar daddies but the instant stuff from jars, or worse - individual sachets were sacrilege! “I hope that the neighbors keep quiet, hopefully they’re all too busy out getting bargains at the Black Friday sales or sleeping off their food comas and not making too much noise. Vegas was the worst for night shift, I ended up getting industrial strength ear plugs and they didn’t always work. I definitely don’t miss the noise of the big city.” He continued cutting the beans until they were all finished, though he did leave a few untouched just for Mads to pick at.
“It was accidental, he came into the store to see Fin and I just happened to be there.” Turning around he grabbed his phone, pressed a few buttons to bring up a picture and then handed it to Mads. “I snapped this picture as the two of them on the sly. I’m guessing you met his ex, so you tell me if I’m wrong if it seems that he’s got a thing for guys with curls and scruffy, stubble like beards.” Brad said with a bit of a smirk as he started to place the slices of butternut into a ceramic dish, he noticed the way that Mads became a bit coy, she’d hit him if he said it was cute but it was, he held a silent sigh at the fact that he was going to be the only one solo but he had his two friends and that was all that mattered. “I know he’s an author of some crazy books and I promise I won’t try to intimidate him or be like a protective brother, but if he hurts you in any way I won’t be as nice.” Hopefully that wouldn’t happen, though he still wanted to go and kick Mad’s ex husband in the nuts for what he did to her.
“If not out shopping, they’ll probably be too busy sleeping off their food comas to make any noise,” she pointed out. Taking a sip of her coffee, she pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “Yeah, I don’t think I could handle the big city. How you managed after growing up in as quiet a place as this I’ll never know.” Well, relatively quiet. The town did have its tendency toward odd sounds and happenings though not nearly as bad as a city would be.
Mads took the phone when offered, looking over the picture of Fin’s new beau with a critical eye. “Damn, you’re right,” she exclaimed, handing the phone back to him. “But, honestly, can you really blame him? Curls and scruff can be cute.” Her eyes spied the beans Brad had leftover for her and she grabbed a piece to munch on. “Yeah, paranormal research,” she clarified. So yeah, crazy books but she was slowly beginning to believe maybe the contents weren’t so crazy. Not that she had any plans to tell Brad that. “Good. I’d rather you two not try to play overprotective brother with him. And especially don’t threaten him, oh my god.” She rolled her eyes with a crooked smile. “It’s embarrassing.”
“I wish I could spend the day at home sleeping off a food coma but I said I’d help Fin out with the Black Friday sale and I’ve got a yoga class to teach though I doubt there’ll be many for that.” Brad said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I worked my way up to noisy big cities. I went from here to Boston which was a big step in itself and then to New York which is just crazy busy and Vegas is pretty much on par for the craziness and more so for stupidity. There are some times that I do miss having so much within a few miles but honestly now that I’ve come back I really doubt I’d go back to the cities. For a visit maybe, but never to live.” There was something about the town that had drawn him back and dug its claws into him.
Brad took his phone back, turned the screen off and placed it on the edge of the small table while he continued with the squash. “I can’t blame him. He’s found someone who he likes and they’re treating him right, isn’t that what we’re all looking for?” It would be nice to find someone who accepted Brad for who he was but he knew the chances of that were pretty slim, in this town at least, only a few people remembered him from high school and the rest had formed their own opinions, most of which weren’t very nice at all but he didn’t really care about what insignificant people thought. “He’s actually got books published so that’s always a bonus in my view, I’ll just stick to the odd paper that will only get read by some university bigwig.” Though he hadn’t done that in a while, he was still thinking of going back to college in the new year to further his psychology skills. “And I promise no big brother routine, I know what consequences lie in store for me if I threaten him, you’re not as nice as you make out to be Madison Pierce!” Brad smirked, his tone of voice making it pretty clear that he was joking.
Mads chuckled. “Well aren't you Mr. Nice Guy, helping Fin out at the store when you could easily sleep in.” She would like to say that if given the same opportunity she would help out too but who was she kidding? She worked enough as it was; sacrificing her precious time off just to work more wasn't something she'd be willing to do. “Having everything close by would be nice,” she agreed, nodding some. “But I'd rather spend a little extra time driving than dealing with the bustle of a big city.”
She looked over at Brad while he messed with the squash, studying him with a curious gaze. He might not have been as noticeably melancholy as he had been before leaving for India but there was still a hint present in his words. The comment regarding looking for a person to like and treat you right, and then the comparison between Nick being published and himself only writing essays. They were tell-tale signs of a man that felt there was something lacking in his life. That worried her; Brad deserved a happy and fulfilling life.
“I'm perfectly nice,” she scoffed, grinning. “Not my fault I've be tasked to make sure you face the consequences of your actions.”
“Me? Sleep in? Have you even met me Mads?” Brad laughed, he couldn’t really remember the last time he actually slept in, well past eight am at least. Even though most days now hovered around freezing and nights were down into the twenties it didn’t really stop Brad from getting up early and exercising, although now his running was at the gym on a treadmill instead of outside and yoga or pilates could be done in his patio room. “I’ll take you to Vegas one day, just for a holiday though, I think after a week we’ll both be sick of it and wanting to come back home.”
Brad’s life had improved since arriving back from India, teaching yoga classes and the studies that came along with them had brought structure in some regards, but there were still things missing. He didn’t expect his biology and math papers to be interesting to anyone other than others in the fields, they weren’t worth publishing as a book such as what Nick had done, on several occasions according to Fin’s collection. He also wouldn’t admit what else was missing from his life, or who was missing from it at least, while everyone around him seemed to be finding love (or near enough) the only person he had felt anything for in years had left town before anything happened, Brad had left a ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ voicemail earlier that morning but that was it, the other man deserves someone better than him.
“You keep telling yourself that Mads, say it enough and you’ll believe it.” Brad grabbed the maple syrup and started pouring it over the squash. “I know the consequences, I’m afraid of what new torture techniques you learned over the years as a cop!”
“A week in Vegas? That's asking a bit much. I'm lucky to get two days in a row!” Madison hadn't been part of Point Pleasant's police force for very long but one thing she noticed was that vacations lasting longer than a couple days were likely going to be a luxury. Too much happened in the not-so-quiet town to allow their sorely understaffed police force to runaway for days at a time unless needed. “But if I do find the time I'll have to take you up on that offer.” If only to say she had gone at least once.
“I would be lying to say I didn't learn some new techniques over the years. I'm sure you'll get acquainted with all of them in due time.” She took a gulp of her now warm – as opposed to hot - coffee and grabbed the rest of the left out green beans. “You get in trouble enough,” she added with a wink.
With the squash well and truly covered with the maple syrup Brad picked up the tray and put it into the oven. “A week might be too much, I think we could do three days… if you ever get the time off, let me know, we’ll fly over and if there’s time maybe take a trip across to the Grand Canyon. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did.” He knew Mads was busy with work and rarely got a day to herself, let alone a few to take even a short weekend vacation. Maybe now that things were getting cooler the workload at the PPPD all the police would get a much needed break.
“I’m sure that you’re skilled with that nightstick, because I know that you’re deadly with your gun, I’m going to try and remain on your good side so you don’t have to use either on me. Though I’ll happily give you names if someone pisses me off.” He joked, sitting back down at the small dining table now that the butternut squash was in cooking. “God Mads, today will just be like old times, I didn’t realize just how much I missed your friendship until I came back. We mightn’t be teenagers anymore but you and Fin were the closest thing I had to siblings and I’m glad that we’ve still got that, despite the years that have gone by.”
“See that you do,” she replied with an amused grin. “Don’t want to have to use my nightstick if I don’t have to.” Mads took one final gulp of her coffee, setting the empty mug down onto the table as Brad sat back down. Her smile softened at his words and she reached over to set her hand on his. “And we’ll always have that.” She squeezed his hand. “You’re stuck with me no matter what.”