A Family for Christmas Read online

  Wendy had rarely seen her father since her parents’ divorce when she was eight. So it was difficult for her to understand the close ties between Evan and his father. As they drove to the complex where Evan lived, he talked about growing up on the farm, and of the farmwork, the fishing and hunting trips he’d shared with his father. Wendy gained a vague understanding of what she’d missed by not having a father around while growing up.

  Everything in Evan’s apartment was organized, so in less than two hours, his belongings were gathered into the boxes he’d saved when he’d moved into the apartment in August. As he’d hurriedly packed, Wendy had carried the lighter boxes down the single flight of stairs to his truck.

  The empty apartment saddened Wendy because it seemed as if he was leaving for good. Evan’s rent was paid through the end of the school year, however, so maybe he would return after Christmas.

  Evan’s lips were surprisingly gentle when he kissed her goodbye before they left the apartment. Tears trembled on her eyelids, and Evan wiped them away.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart, and make it worse for me. I don’t want to leave you, but I must be with my family when they need me. I may not be gone long.”

  He gave her money to pay for a taxi back to her dorm. “If I leave from here, I’ll save an hour of driving time. You don’t mind taking a taxi, do you?”

  She shook her head. “Not at all. You should get started as soon as possible.”

  Wendy stifled her tears as she stood in front of the apartment building and watched Evan drive away. Once he was out of sight, she leaned against the building and tears of deep frustration trickled down her cheeks. Was this the end of her relationship with Evan?

  Chapter Two

  A mass exodus of students heading home for the Thanksgiving weekend had almost emptied the dorm where Wendy lived. She welcomed the quietness. Her thoughts still centered around her relationship with Evan, which, in a few months, had catapulted from friendship to a romance.

  One of Wendy’s closest friends stuck her head in the door to say goodbye before she hurried to catch a bus to the airport. As Wendy gathered the items she’d need over the weekend, she wished she could be as excited as the other students about going home. Her four years at the University of Florida had been the happiest time of her life. Since she lived less than a hundred miles away, she went home at least once a month. If she saw her mother only once or twice during the school year, would she look forward to going home? Holidays at the Kenworth apartment weren’t joyous occasions. After her mother had spent long hours working in the department store during the Thanksgiving to Christmas rush, she spent most of her holidays in bed.

  Noting that it was almost two o’clock, Wendy shouldered her backpack, picked up a suitcase and hustled to meet a friend who would drop her off at home.

  Wendy’s friend was a fast driver. They arrived at the apartment building in Jacksonville before Wendy was ready to face her mother. Wendy’s excitement over Evan’s proposal had been dimmed somewhat by his rapid departure, but she wondered if her mother would sense her daughter’s heightened emotions?

  Emmalee Kenworth was overly perceptive where her daughter was concerned, and Wendy knew it would be difficult to keep her mother unaware of her inner excitement and turmoil over the day’s activities. Evan had made such a difference in her life that Wendy was amazed she’d been able to conceal their relationship from her mother for the past few months. Now that Evan had asked her to marry him, she knew that she must tell her mother about him.

  Hand on the doorknob, Wendy stopped and took a deep breath before she entered the combination kitchen-living room of their three-room apartment.

  “Hello, dear,” Emmalee called. Wendy went into the kitchen area where her mother was placing silverware on the table.

  Wendy had inherited her mother’s attractive features, but Emmalee Kenworth was only a shadow of the beauty she’d been in her youth. She was excessively thin, and her mouth had a perpetual droop. Emmalee’s expertly applied makeup did little to hide the unhappiness in her eyes resulting from her broken marriage. She worked in the women’s clothing section at a local department store, and she had her pick of fashionable clothes at a discount, so she and Wendy were always well dressed.

  “Dinner will be ready soon,” Emmalee said. “I brought sweet-and-sour chicken with rice and salad from the deli. I’ll put the meat in the microwave to warm now that you’re here.”

  “That sounds good. I’m hungry.”

  Wendy brought a pitcher of tea from the refrigerator and poured a glass for each of them before she took her accustomed place at the small table. Emmalee served the food in the deli containers, saying, “We won’t have many dishes to wash.”

  “Are you working tonight?”

  “No, thank goodness. Our store has been a madhouse this week. I think people start their Christmas shopping earlier every year. I’m off tomorrow, but, as usual, the day after Thanksgiving will be the busiest day of the year at the store. It’s hard to tell when I’ll get home Friday night. I have to work Saturday and Sunday, too, so we won’t see each other much this weekend.”

  “That’s all right. I have a research paper to finish, and I want to start studying for finals.”

  Emmalee talked about problems at the store, and Wendy answered when it was necessary. With her mind full of Evan’s proposal, and his sudden trip to Ohio, she couldn’t think of anything else.

  “I’ve arranged for you to work at the store during the Christmas holidays. I know you’d be bored staying home while I’m away, and we can use the extra money.”

  Wendy’s thoughts strayed, remembering that Evan wanted her to come to his home during their Christmas break. But considering his father’s illness, the invitation would probably be withdrawn.

  Realizing that her mother was staring at her, Wendy tried to keep her features composed. She knew she hadn’t succeeded when her face colored under Emmalee’s suspicious look.

  “Wh-what did you say, Mother?” she stammered.

  “I asked if you preferred to work in the lingerie or housewares department?”

  “I don’t know much about housewares, but either place will be okay.”

  They cleared the table in silence, and Emmalee carried a cup of coffee into the living room. Sitting in her lounge chair, she looked at Wendy, who had curled up on the couch, the television remote in her hand.

  “Do you have anything to tell me?” Emmalee asked, an apprehensive look in her eyes. “You’ve been staring into space most of the evening.”

  “No. Well, maybe I should tell you,” Wendy began uncertainly. Suspecting that her news would hurt and anger her mother, she hesitated, searching for an easy way to explain about Evan. There didn’t seem to be an easy way, so she tried a direct approach. “For the past three months, I’ve been dating a man at the university. He’s asked me to marry him.”

  A groan escaped Emmalee’s lips, and her face turned the color of ashes. Alarmed, Wendy bounded off the couch, went to Emmalee and put her arm around her mother’s shoulder.

  “Mother, are you all right?”

  Slowly, Emmalee regained her composure, and shrugged off her embrace. When she looked at Wendy, her eyes were filled with anger.

  “How could I be all right when you’ve sprung such news on me? Are you pregnant?”

  The gasp that escaped Wendy’s lips sounded loud in the uneasy silence of the room.

  “Of course not!”

  “Well, what else can I think? You’ve been dating someone for months and you haven’t even mentioned him before this? Suddenly, he asks you to marry him. Who is this man? Why haven’t you told me about him?”

  Wendy wanted to say, “Because I knew you’d react the way you are now.” Instead, she said, “I didn’t know how serious he was until today when he asked me to marry him.”

  “Surely you didn’t accept his proposal!”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Emmalee lunged out of her chair as if a bee had stung her an
d she walked nervously around the room. Stark fear, mingled with anger, clouded her eyes.

  “When am I going to meet my future son-in-law?”

  “I don’t know. He’s a graduate student at the university, working toward his doctorate. He plans to teach agricultural studies in a college. His family lives in Ohio. His father is seriously ill, and he had to go home today. He doesn’t know when he’ll come back to Florida.”

  Without a word, Emmalee went into her bedroom and slammed the door. Fighting back tears, Wendy turned on the television and stared at the screen the rest of the evening. She had no idea what programs she watched.

  Although, at first, Wendy’s news had stunned Emmalee to silence, the rest of the weekend, during their time together, Emmalee grilled Wendy about Evan.

  Did he have any money?

  If they married, would she move to Ohio?

  When did they plan to marry?

  And what about me? Are you going to abandon me?

  After two days of this, Wendy was in no mood to deal with Evan’s problems when he called at her mom’s apartment. She was more concerned with Evan’s feelings for her, rather than his family’s troubles, but she did ask immediately, “How is your father?”

  “Not good,” Evan said grimly. “The doctors have told us he’ll live, but his recovery will be slow. He may never regain the strength he had before his stroke. It could take a year for his rehabilitation.”

  “I’m sorry, Evan.”

  “I’m sorry, too. Not only for Daddy, but for you and me.”

  Wendy’s joy over his phone call diminished sharply.

  “What do you mean?” Wendy asked, a chill starting in the pit of her stomach and pulsing rapidly through the rest of her body. Because of the continual animosity between Wendy and her mother during the weekend, Wendy realized that her love for Evan had taken second place to her reliance on him as a ticket to a way out of her present situation.

  “It means I can’t come back to Florida next semester to finish my research for the doctoral thesis. I’ll have to take over the farm management—there’s no one else to do it.”

  “But you’re already registered for next semester!” Wendy said, her body stiff with shock.

  “I can probably handle most of the work online. If not, my Ph.D. will have to be postponed.”

  “What about me?” Wendy’s heart seemed to shout as she voiced the question. But she’d lived with her mother’s possessiveness long enough to know what it was like to demand attention. Wendy had made up her mind years ago that she wouldn’t beg for affection from anyone, and she was irritated that she’d asked the question.

  The silence that greeted his comment stabbed at Evan’s heart. “We can still be engaged, Wendy. And after you graduate in the spring, we’ll be married. You can come here to live.”

  Live on a farm when she’d fleetingly envisioned being the wife of a college professor! Disappointment turned Wendy into the kind of shrew she despised.

  “The Bible says that a man is supposed to leave his mother and father and stick with his wife.”

  Evan laughed shortly, surprised that she knew anything about the Bible. “When did you learn that?”

  “I had to sit through Sunday school and daily Bible readings during the ten years when my grandparents had visiting rights. I still remember some of the things I heard.”

  “Then you must not have heard that the Bible also says a man is obligated to take care of his family. Wendy, it’s my duty to take over the farm until Daddy is better,” he said, a pleading note in his voice. “Besides, I want to do it. I love my family.”

  “More than you love me, apparently.”

  “But you’ll be a part of my family when we’re married,” he argued, trying to control the pain her words had brought.

  “No, thank you, Evan. I’m not keen on being Old MacDonald’s wife. Our engagement is off before it ever really started. Maybe it’s good I learned your intentions before you bought a ring.”

  She hung up the phone and fell facedown on the bed, feeling as if the bottom had dropped out of her life. Within one week, she had skyrocketed from boredom to the heights of ecstasy and love, only to be plunged suddenly into the depths of despair. Though she lay on the bed for an hour, with her hand on the phone, hoping Evan would call back, Wendy didn’t cry. Her sorrow was too deep for tears.

  Evan pocketed his cell phone and walked slowly into the hospital. The thought of marrying Wendy had dominated his mind for weeks. He hadn’t considered when they could get married, or even where they would live if they got married. He had planned to combine teaching agricultural subjects at a nearby college or a high school with work on the family farm. When his father retired, Evan would leave teaching and take over the full-time management of the farm.

  Of course, Wendy hadn’t known that. He had put the cart before the horse. He should have told Wendy about his future plans before he asked her to marry him. His proposal had been too hasty, but if he had waited another year or two, his purpose wouldn’t have changed. He loved Wendy, and he wanted to marry her.

  Evan was hurt by Wendy’s attitude, but he understood why she would be disturbed. Still, he had no choice. The farm had been in the Kessler family for a long time, and it was a tradition that the oldest son always inherited the farmland. Not only was Evan the oldest child in the family, he was the only son.

  On the second floor of the hospital, Hilda Kessler sat patiently beside her husband’s bed, holding his hand, where she’d been since Evan had arrived home three days ago. Evan stood at the foot of the bed and watched his father’s erratic breathing. Karl knew the family when he was awake, but he slept most of the time.

  “Mom, please go home and get some rest. Uncle Gavin is coming to spend the night with Daddy.”

  “I can’t leave him.”

  “He’ll be taken to rehab department soon, on the fifth floor, for a few weeks. You can’t spend all of that time at the hospital.”

  “I know,” she agreed, her blue eyes dulled with pain over her husband’s illness. “I’m neglecting the girls, but I don’t want to leave him.”

  An hour later, when Gavin Kessler came to sit with his brother, Evan finally persuaded Hilda to leave. Despite her obvious concern for her husband, when Hilda settled into the car beside Evan, and he headed toward home, she said, “What’s troubling you, son?”

  He hesitated, not knowing how much to tell his mother. She knew he’d been dating Wendy, but he hadn’t mentioned their relationship to his mother since he’d returned home. He’d figured she had enough on her mind without becoming embroiled in his problems. But on the other hand, perhaps she needed a distraction from her husband’s health troubles.

  “A few days ago, I asked Wendy to marry me.”

  He sensed the oblique glance his mother sent in his direction. “And?”

  “She accepted. We were looking at engagement rings when you phoned about Dad.”

  “If you’re engaged, you should be happy about it. Why aren’t you?”

  Looking at his watch with an ironic laugh, he said, “As of one hour ago, I’m no longer engaged.”

  Hilda Kessler wasn’t one to waste words. She didn’t answer, but Evan felt her gaze upon him, waiting for him to continue.

  “I called Wendy to tell her I would be staying on the farm until Daddy recovers. She wasn’t thrilled about becoming a farmer’s wife. She said to forget our engagement.”

  “Evan, if you want to marry Wendy, don’t let Heritage Farm be a burden to you. If I hadn’t been a farm girl who’d known the Kesslers all my life, I would have been intimidated by the fact that Karl was wedded to family tradition before he married me. We have good hired help, and we can manage without you until Karl is better. True love is rare. If you’re sure Wendy is the one for you, don’t let anything stop you.”

  Evan explained his doubts about Wendy’s spirituality, adding, “And from what Wendy says, she hasn’t ever had a comfortable family home like we have. If she could only v
isit us and understand why family tradition and our faith are so important to us, she’d surely understand. I’d invited her to come for Christmas, but with Daddy sick, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “I want to meet Wendy, so let’s see how your father improves. If he’s getting along all right, I’ll invite Wendy to visit us. And we must pray for Wendy’s spiritual awakening.”

  “I’ve been praying for her. I’ve asked her to go to church with me, but she’s always made excuses. That’s the reason I hadn’t proposed to her.” With a sheepish expression on his face, he admitted, “But I got carried away a few days ago and asked her to marry me, without considering the consequences.”

  He remembered vividly how Wendy had looked when she’d walked toward him earlier in the week; he felt as if he were waiting at the altar for her. He realized that much of his love for her stemmed from a physical attraction, but he wanted it to be so much more. He yearned for a marriage like his parents had, united not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally, too.

  “Wendy and her mother live alone, and she may not want to leave her mother on a holiday.”

  “We’ll find a way. All things are possible to those who believe. Now that my concern for Karl has lessened, I’ll spend more time in prayer for you and Wendy. If it is God’s will that you should marry Wendy, He’ll provide a way.”

  Heartened by his mother’s support, Evan picked up speed. They left the town of Gallipolis behind them, and headed south on a highway along the Ohio River toward their home.

  “I don’t know what to do next,” he said. “Should I call her, or let the situation rest for a few days?”

  “Use your own judgment.”

  “I want to call right away, but being impulsive has already caused trouble. Maybe I should wait a few days to give her time to decide if our love is strong enough to overcome all barriers.”