Cupid's Christmas (17 page)

Lindsay knew she was in love. When she went to bed at night, it took hours to fall asleep because she couldn’t put the picture of Matthew out of her mind. When she finally slept, she dreamt of him. In some dreams they walked arm in arm through the park, or danced, or better yet kissed with a fervency that left beads of perspiration on her forehead when she awoke. But there were also other dreams, dreams where he turned away and strode into a room, closing the door behind him and leaving her on the outside. When that dream came, Lindsay awoke with her heart banging against her chest, and it took several minutes before she could convince herself that it was only a dream.

Mixed in with all her happiness, Lindsay held onto a tiny grain of doubt, a whisper of jealousy that reared its head when Barbara breezed by to spend the day with Matthew behind a closed door.  Lindsay knew Barbara stood next to him just as she did, and she couldn’t help but wonder how many times their hands touched. When Barbara brushed against his shoulder, did she feel the same magic Lindsay felt or was it simply a jostle, a meaningless collision of bodies? On Thursdays when she sat alone at the reception desk, thoughts of Phillip returned and picked at her brain. She hadn’t suspected Phillip was cheating on her, and yet... Her thoughts continued to meander back to the day when the truth of Phillip surfaced—it came like the blast of a shotgun, quick, hard and with a near deadly force—would it be the same with Matthew?

I
know you’re thinking Lindsay is a foolish girl, but please realize these small bursts of doubt and jealousy are simply part of the mating dance. I assure you this situation will resolve itself—and, I might add, without any help from me.

O
n the second Thursday in November Barbara showed up forty-five minutes later than usual and she didn’t barrel through the door to head for the back room. Instead she slogged into the reception room with tears running down her cheeks and a stream of muddy water dripping from her clothes.

“Are you okay?” Lindsay asked.

Barbara shook her head no and continued to cry.

“What’s the matter?”

“My car…”

“Did you have an accident?”

Barbara shook her head a second time.

Lindsay found it virtually impossible to be envious of someone sobbing as Barbara was. She came from behind the reception desk and took a broken umbrella from the girl’s hands. “Come on,” she said. “We’ve got to get you dried off.” She pushed Barbara toward the washroom. “Get cleaned up,” she instructed. “I’ll find you something to wear.”

When Lindsay returned she had a set of blue scrubs that belonged to Matthew. “Put these on,” she said, “the pants are gonna be way too long, but just roll them up.”

Barbara did as she was told and as she stood there looking like a dwarf in a giant’s clothing, Lindsay noticed something she’d failed to notice before—a gold band circled the third finger of Barbara’s left hand. “You’re married?” she gasped.

Barbara, who by now had stopped sobbing and cleaned most of the mud off her face, nodded. Once calmed down, she explained how her car had died on Route 70 and she’d had to walk the last half mile to the office. On the way, three trucks and a Mercedes had driven through puddles and drenched her with mud. “It was horrible,” she moaned. “I was petrified walking so close to the highway and the wind from the trucks…”  

Lindsay listened to the story then brought Barbara a cup of steaming chamomile tea. “This will calm you,” she said and stirred in two heaping teaspoons of sugar.

That morning the tumor removal on an aging Bulldog didn’t start until eleven-thirty and when the surgery room door was closed, Lindsay oddly enough had no thoughts of Phillip. In fact, she was so energized that she completed two weeks of billing and sent out twenty-three overdue vaccination notices.

A month after they’d begun dating, Lindsay asked Eleanor and her father if she could invite Matthew for Thanksgiving dinner. “A wonderful idea,” John said. He gave her a wide grin and added, “It’s high time I got to know this young man.”

Eleanor agreed and suggested they also invite Ray and Traci. A few minutes later she added Matthew’s dad to the list. “With Gracie gone, he’s all alone,” she sighed.

“We probably should also include Lorraine and Frank,” John said.

That prompted Eleanor to remember Matthew had a great uncle who lived in Rochelle Park with his third wife, and the neighbors two door down whose children lived someplace in Idaho. When the list was complete they had fourteen names. “Oh dear,” Eleanor sighed. “We’ve only got twelve place settings.” She eyed the list again, but by then she’d already convinced herself that every single person on the list had to be invited. “It wouldn’t be right for someone to have to spend Thanksgiving all alone,” she said and everyone agreed.

Since the Macy’s in Philadelphia stocked her dinnerware pattern, Eleanor declared the best solution was for her to drive in on Saturday morning and pick up a few extra place settings.

“I’ll go with you,” Lindsay said. “I’d like to get a new dress for Thanksgiving, and I really need another pair of jeans.” Once they decided to go together, both women came up with a lengthy list of things they could most likely use.

That evening Eleanor made several telephone calls to invite the dinner guests, the last call she made was to Ray. Traci answered the phone. “Hi Mom,” she said brightly.

Eleanor explained that she and John were having a special Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to include them.

“Mom, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Traci’s voice grew lower and apprehension was threaded through every word. “Ray’s been in a bad mood lately and the truth is, he’s none too fond of John.” she tried to soften the sound of the words, but no matter how they were spoken they had the same ugliness stuck to them.

“Well, perhaps if I spoke to him…”

“Um,” she hesitated, then whispered, “I probably think it’s better if you don’t because…” before she could finish the sentence, Ray’s voice blasted its way through the wire.

“What?” he snapped angrily. “You think my wife is gonna side with you? I’m not coming over there for another fiasco like Labor Day! If that’s what you’re thinking, think again!”

“But Ray, I thought you—”

“You thought what?” he interrupted, “You’re not thinking, that’s the problem!”

“Why are you acting like—”

“Me? It’s not me, it’s you. You’re acting like a lovesick school girl. For God’s sake Mother, you’re fifty-eight years old!”

“Just because I’m a bit older doesn’t mean—”

“You’re old enough to have some sense! You’re not stupid! You should know better than to get involved with some—”

“Wait a minute Ray, this isn’t just an affair,” Eleanor said. “John and I are planning to—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. That’s what they all say. I see it on television every day.”

“You see what on television?”

“Stories about women like you. Women duped into letting some jerk take everything—”

“John is not like that—”

“You know what Ma, I take it back—you are stupid! Stupid enough to let that jerk take advantage of you. If that’s what you want to do, fine! But don’t call me again until you come to your senses!”  Ray slammed the receiver down with such force that it left Eleanor with a ringing in her ear.

T
his is the problem I told you about and trust me— it will get much worse before it gets better. If it gets better. From where I stand the future for Eleanor and John looks very bleak—that is, if they have a future.

L
indsay was searching animal rescue sites on the computer in the den, but she’d heard the phone call. Although she couldn’t make out the words, she recognized the angry sound and knew it was Ray. When there was only silence, Lindsay got up and went into the kitchen. Eleanor was sitting alone.

“Are you okay?” Lindsay asked, but when Eleanor looked up, she saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and knew the answer.

“Ray’s so angry,” Eleanor said. “He just doesn’t understand. He thinks your father…”

Lindsay sat and pulled her chair close, “Don’t worry,” she said taking Eleanor’s hand in hers. “He’ll come around. When I first found out about you and Dad, I felt the same way but look at us now—we’re like best friends.” Lindsay still couldn’t bring herself to say like mother and daughter, perhaps one day but not yet.

“Ray’s a lot different than you. Once he gets a grudge in his heart, he’s not about to part with it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him as angry…”

“He won’t be angry forever. Wait and see. I’ll bet he calls tomorrow morning and says he’s sorry for acting that way.”

Eleanor shrugged, but there was a look of doubt stretched across her face.

Cupid…The Last Word

I
’d like to be able to tell you what’s going to happen, but regretfully I can’t. Even I have blind spots and right now the only thing I can see in either Eleanor or Lindsay’s future is a gigantic black hole. That scares me. A black hole is not good. It generally means Life Management is up to something they want to keep hidden. Like humans the world over, I believe love conquers all, and I’m hoping to muster up enough love power to break through this barrier and avoid whatever mishaps Life Management has planned.