A Family for Christmas. Dana Corbit

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 СКАЧАТЬ