Beckoning Light by Alyssa Rose Ivy

ourselves. While we were gone, Liam and his mom had continued the tradition, so they would be joining us this year, too. Charlotte seemed especially excited about cooking a big meal, and Monty wanted to encourage her enthusiasm, so it looked like we were going to have way too much food. I had been surprised when Charlotte pulled out all of the old cookbooks because she had never shown any interest in cooking before, but it wasn’t like her new enthusiasm for cooking was a bad thing. If it made her happy, and also meant we ate well, then who was I to complain?
                  I had slept kind of late, so by the time I walked downstairs I could already smell the turkey in the oven. When I walked into the kitchen, Charlotte, Monty, and Debbie were busy cooking with Charlotte directing everything. Figuring someone would give me instructions if they needed help, I poured some juice and took a seat at the table. 
                  “Good morning!” Debbie said cheerfully, taking a break from what she was doing to give me a hug.
                  “Happy Thanksgiving, Debbie,” I told her, as she sat down next to me. Charlotte and Monty came over to the table as well, with Monty drinking a large cup of coffee.
                  We talked casually for a while. I figured that Liam must have slept in, too, because I hadn’t seen him yet. I was wrong. He walked into the kitchen with a big smile on his face and told Charlotte to go check out her computer.
                  “My computer?” she asked suspiciously.
                  “There’s an early birthday gift on there for you.” 
                  Charlotte stood and headed upstairs.
                  “Wait, what did you get her?” I asked as soon as I heard her on the stairs.
                  “Just some music, I made her a playlist.” Liam leaned against the counter.
                  “Nice, I’m sure she’ll love that.” I realized instantly that I would have to rethink my birthday gift for her. Somehow, the iTunes gift card plan didn’t sound too creative. It felt like Charlotte was upstairs forever, but she eventually bounded down and gave Liam a hug.
                  “Wow, thanks so much, Liam. It’s awesome. I only listened to a little bit of each song, but I can’t wait to listen for real later,” Charlotte gushed. 
                  “You’re welcome. Happy birthday. It wasn’t too hard because you’re the only person I know with as eclectic a music taste as mine.” He smiled. I looked across the table and noticed that Monty was giving Debbie a funny look, like they were sharing an inside joke. 
                  Our meal was fantastic, and it was a lot of fun to have everyone at the table. Monty made a nice toast about how thankful he was to have Charlotte and me back with him for the holiday. Charlotte got up to give him a hug, and it reminded me of why it had been such a good decision to get Charlotte back in Charleston before I left for school.
                  I spent a lot of the afternoon watching football with Liam and Monty. Charlotte seemed to be having a great time with Debbie. I had a feeling she was really glad to have a woman around. Monty left us alone while he cleaned up the kitchen, and it was really nice to catch up with Liam. Even though I saw him at practice all the time, and he was over for dinner a lot, I felt like we hadn’t had much time to talk, especially when the topic of conversation didn’t involve my sister.
                  “So I never asked you, where are you planning on going to school next year?” I felt kind of bad that it had taken me almost two weeks to broach the subject.
                  “I’m thinking Tulane or Vanderbilt,” Liam replied, “but we’ll see when the acceptances roll in.”
                  “Well,