A Twisted Web - Benoit Blanc

Fifteen - Case Closed

Thanksgiving passed, came and went, much differently this year than in previous years. 

Flora spent most of her time after the case was closed with her mother, who was filing for divorce now that she had found out about Richard's affair.  Flora also spent some time helping the Cabreras settle into their new home. 

"There's so much space, I don't know what we'll do with it all," Marta remarked one afternoon as they unpacked boxes in the living room. 

The whole Thrombey family didn't gather at Granddad's house as usual for the big turkey dinner (complete with Grandma Florence's pumpkin pie recipe) and celebration for Thanksgiving.

There was turkey dinner at Granddad's - now Marta's - house however, with Marta, Alice, Mrs. Cabrera, Flora - and a special guest.

"Flora, would you mind getting that?" Marta called as she and Alice checked on the turkey in the oven.

"Yeah, for sure." When she opened the door she was surprised - but glad - to find Benoit Blanc standing there on the doorstep, bottle of wine in hand.

"Detective!" she cried, maybe a little overly excited. With the case closed now, she hadn't been expecting to see him. She had gotten pretty used to having him and the police around, so it was strange not having their presence around the house. 

But now here he was, standing before her.  "Please, Ms. Drysdale, I'm off duty tonight - no need to use formalities."

"Very well then, Benoit-" It felt strange but nice to call him by his name.  "-And speaking of, we're no longer in a professional setting - you can use my name too."

"Very well, Florence."

It felt equally strange but nice to hear him call her by her name.

"Ah, our special guest has arrived. Hello Blanc," said Marta. 

"Hello Marta."

Then Marta added in a whisper to Flora.  "He was alone, so that wasn't right, not on Thanksgiving. And especially not after all he did for us." Flora nodded in full agreement. 

"He's handsome - Marta didn't tell me this," Alice muttered to Flora when Marta was introducing her mother and sister to the detective, making her giggle - and blush. 

"Thank you for the wine."

"Oh, my pleasure, thank you for having me."

"Well, that's our pleasure," Mrs. Cabrera assured him. 

"I also brought-" Blanc produced a small box of assorted donuts - all  fully round, none with holes in the middle. 

She, Marta and Blanc all shared a chuckle at this, after which they had to explain the donut significance to Alice and Mrs. Cabrera. 

"How's the blog coming?" Blanc asked Flora while Marta poured them all glasses of wine. 

"It's on hold for now, actually, while I flex my other writing muscles."

"Ah yes.  How's the book?"

"A big challenge, but a good one."

"So have you been staying here?"

"I've been helping the Cabreras move in, but I've been staying with my Mom. She's lost her dad, is divorcing her husband, and found out that her son is a criminal - it's all been real tough on her. Of course, I don't need to tell you that."

"How is everything going with the rest of the family?"

She sighed. "It's a new start. Not under the best of circumstances, but it's a new start nonetheless. Granddad wanted us all to start fresh.  And how about you - any new cases turned your head?"

He chuckled a little.  "Not yet."  

"Dinner's ready!" called Alice. 

"This looks awesome," said Flora as they sat down to the feast.  "You really went all out."

"Well I would say we have a lot to be thankful for," said Mrs. Cabrera.

"Si, Mama," Marta agreed and raised her glass in a toast, everyone joining in.

It was true - despite all the crap that had happened lately (to put it nicely), they did have a lot to be thankful for, all of them. And seeing how happy the Cabreras were in their new home, Flora knew Granddad would have been very glad. 

Watching Marta and Alice interact, Flora felt a painful twinge in her gut - she wished she could be as close with her sibling as the sisters were. Well, not anymore, for obvious reasons. She wished her family could have been so close like Marta's was. 

Yikes, so much had happened, it was all still a blur and very difficult to absorb and wrap her head around. It was going to take time, lots of time, but that was okay.  They had been through a lot, so it only made sense that it would take a long time to heal.

But enough dwelling on all that - it was Thanksgiving, after all. Time to focus on being thankful. 

They had a lovely evening all together. Blanc and Flora decided to leave at the same time - she didn't want to leave her mother alone for much longer. Linda had decided to have a very quiet thanksgiving this year, understandably.

Blanc helped her with her coat and they called one last thank you and 'Happy Thanksgiving!' to the Cabreras before he walked her out to her car. 

"It was nice to see you again," she told him.  "And outside of a murder case setting."

"It was indeed, Ms. Florence Drysdale. It was indeed."

"I'm really not a big fan of goodbyes, so keep in touch, yeah?"

"Of course, if you would like."

"Yeah, I would like that. Very much."

"As would I."

This made her smile.  "Goodnight. Happy Thanksgiving."

It made him smile too. "Happy Thanksgiving. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said one last time before they headed their separate ways,  a certain promise held between them. 

(One more chapter remaining - I'll see you all there!

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :))