The Ghostly Hideaway (19 page)

“Well, maybe it’s Santa Claus, Grandmother. Who
knows?

“Is that the Wroe family coming up here? Is
that
why you wanted to get supper over with early?" She
slapped at him playfully and her mother’s laughter was the first
thing Janet heard when she alighted from the car and started toward
Lydia.

Johnny had told her only that he had every reason to
believe that she would be welcome to come for a visit. As far as
she knew her mother's inhospitable, dour personality needn’t have
changed that much. Therefore, she was stunned to hear her mother’s
merriment when she started up the walkway.

“Come in, come in; I wasn’t expecting you tonight
but you know you’re always wel—Johnny, that isn’t Penny. That looks
like—but it can’t be—. Is that you, Jan? Is it really you?" Lydia
swayed from the shock but then she was rushing toward her with her
arms open wide.

“Janet, it is you! Oh, I had wished that you could
be here for Christmas and here you are. I’ve missed you, Baby Girl!
I’m so sorry for all the—“

“Mama, I’m thrilled to see you, too, and there’s no
need for apologies. Let’s just let the past stay right there in the
past. We have a lot of present and future to enjoy and I’m thinking
we’re going to enjoy it thoroughly. Mama, this is your grandson,
Sean. I named him Sean
Thorne
O’Reilly so that there would
be something of our family legacy to carry on. This is Kathleen
Lea. I named her after me. I figured if 'Lea' was good enough for
you to name me, it would be good enough for
my
daughter,
too. You remember Bruce, Mama.”

“These are the rest of my grandchildren. You’re all
grown up, already. And, of course, I remember Bruce. Could a
contrite old woman have a hug and a peck on the cheek?" Lydia
reached for him and held on tight.

“Hi, Mama! Just
try
to keep me from hugging
you! I swear you haven’t aged a year in the last twenty-five.
Johnny, I think your Mom needs a hug from you, too. Then you can
help me bring in the luggage and stuff.”

“Let’s get Grandmother in the house before she
catches cold and I’ll come back and help, too." Sean was somewhat
uncomfortable with all the sentimentality; but he was glad to see
that his Grandmother, who had been portrayed to him as grumpy,
grouchy, and totally unforgiving, seemed to be in a good mood.

“You realize, I’m going to have to cry, don’t you,
Jan? It’s just a simple necessity for something like this. How long
has Johnny known that you would be here tonight? I may have to
murder him and dismember the body. He could have told me.”

“It would have been worth it, Grandmother, just to
see how surprised and happy you were." Johnny had been coming in as
she spoke. “As to how long I had known, about a month or six weeks,
somewhere in that neighborhood. We wanted to surprise you. Does it
matter which room I set up for whom?”

“I would like Janet and Bruce to have the room that
was Janet’s when she was a child. I think the room on the third
floor would be nice for Kathleen and the other room on the second
floor should work fine for Sean. I can hardly believe you gave Sean
your maiden name, Jan. I figured you’d hate that name after—oops!
In the past. Keep reminding me, Janet. I’m an old lady; I forget
easy. I do agree, that there’s no need to rehash everything but I
do feel that I owe you an apology or explanation or something.”

“Mama, I understand you were afraid of losing me;
but I loved Bruce and I had to follow my heart, just as you had to
follow yours. Now, enough already.”

“You sounded exactly like Grandmother when you said
that, you know? Just exactly. It was uncanny how many times she has
reminded me of you, Mom, and sometimes I’ve missed you so much I
could hardly stand it. Nevertheless, you’re here, I’m glad, and I
am so anxious for you to meet my Chrissy and her family, too.
Chrissy will be here in the morning to help put together our
Christmas meal and her folks will be here to eat with us. Chrissy
and I will have our whole family here. Now I’m getting
sentimental.”

“Gee, Bro, it sounds like you’ve really got it bad
for this chick. I’d love for you to meet my girl friend, too. She’s
studying dentistry there at Dublin where I am, and we may sometime
set up shop together; don’t you think that would be just too neat?
Her name is Marcie. She has a fantastic figure,” he made the
hourglass moves with his hands with emphasis on the top half of the
figure, “big blue eyes and hair so blond it’s almost like white
honey.”

“Sounds super, Sean. I’m anxious to meet her, too.
Maybe we can get together for a double date when Chrissy and I get
over there on our honeymoon.”

“Hey, Son. You’re planning to come home for your
honeymoon? What does your girl think of that?"

“She is so looking forward to it. And I am, too!
It’ll be especially good to set foot on the old sod again." His
brogue was out in full force this evening. Then the phone rang and
Johnny answered it. “Hello.”

“I know I shouldn’t be bothering you, but we were
anxious to know your family arrived alright. You can just say ‘yes’
and hang up if you need to.”

“Yes, but I’m not hanging up and you’re not
bothering anybody. They got here at six o’clock as they expected.
Tell your dad everybody loves his Christmas scene. I love you and
I’ll talk to you before I go to bed, if it won’t wake anyone if I
call.”

“It’ll be fine, Sweetheart. I love you, too.
Bye.”

The Family O’Reilly talked far into the night trying
to catch up on everything they had missed in the past time lost.
Finally, they convinced themselves that they would have more time
tomorrow if they got some sleep tonight.

Next morning, Johnny was up early to get the milking
done before anyone else was up. When he brought in the pail of milk
and strained it through the usual cheesecloth to get any extraneous
matter out of it, he saw there was still nobody up, so he took off
to walk Chrissy up the hill. This, he knew, would be the only
chance they would have to talk privately probably for several
days.

When he and Chrissy got back to Lydia’s, the others
were stirring and Lydia was ready to start breakfast. Chrissy
walked in, and after introductions, immediately began getting out
skillets and pans and locating the necessary utensils. She let
Lydia do the actual cooking because she knew instinctively that
Lydia’s family would enjoy the meal more if Lydia cooked it; but
whatever Lydia needed to work with, Chrissy had it immediately
ready for her. Chrissy poured the cooled milk into gallon jugs and
set them in the refrigerator. She washed up the milk pail and the
crock they had cooled it in; rinsed out the strainer cloth and took
it out to hang on the line. When Lydia started to make the
biscuits, Chrissy had the buttermilk, the soda, baking powder, and
salt ready to mix into the flour. Grandmother began to mix it and
Chrissy handed her the butter to use as shortening. When Lydia was
finished with it, Chrissy put it back in the refrigerator. She got
out the flat pan, covered it with shortening, and set it ready for
Lydia to place the biscuits on when they were ready. While
Grandmother washed her hands, Chrissy set the biscuits in the oven
for her. Grandmother smiled her thanks at Chrissy and Janet was
fully aware of Chrissy’s competent and quiet helpfulness.

Of course, the introductions had come first as each
member of Johnny’s family appeared. He enthusiastically performed
the necessary commentaries and each time he smiled at Chrissy
proudly. It was easy to see that they were very much in love. Even
unsentimental Sean seemed impressed by Johnny’s obvious devotion to
her and Kathleen couldn’t believe how much more mature Johnny was
than when he left only a few years before.

After breakfast, Kathleen volunteered to clean up
the kitchen and Chrissy insisted on helping her. They chatted
quietly while they were scrubbing counters and washing and drying
dishes.

“You know, I think it’s going to be totally neat to
have a sister after all these years. I like you Chrissy and I’m
glad you’re marrying my brother. I had thought I might be a wee bit
jealous; but you have such a sweet personality and I’m sure we’re
going to get along beautifully.”

“Well, I’m sure glad you feel that way, because I
have a favor to ask of you. Would you be one of my bridesmaids at
the wedding?" Chrissy smiled at Kathleen as her mouth dropped open
and she began to stammer.

“You want me to b-be in your wedding? I-I’m amazed.
I m-mean I assumed you would have your own f-friends and relatives
who you would have already asked. You’re sure you do want me—?”

“I truly do want you if you would like to; there
would be no hard feelings if you don’t but I think it would be
really neat if you would.”

“Oh, Chrissy!" Kathleen took her wet hands out of
the dishwater and hugged Chrissy excitedly. “Oh, Chrissy!”

“I guess that must mean ‘yes’. Right?”

“What in the world are you two in here squealing and
dancing around about?" Janet was curious. The two girls had barely
spoken to each other and they were behaving as though they had been
best friends for years. “Kathleen, you’re getting Chrissy all wet.
Now, what is going on?”

“Kathleen has agreed to be a bridesmaid at our
wedding. I perhaps should have asked you if it was okay first, but
I didn’t think of it before. You don’t mind, do you? I would like
her to stand up with us.”

“Well, I do think that is a nice gesture, but I’m
sure you have friends and family you’d prefer to have. Did Johnny
talk you into this?” she asked rather suspiciously.

Johnny had heard enough to understand what was
happening. “I had no idea she was going to ask Kathleen; but if she
did ask her, it’s because she wanted her. Rest assured I’m not
talking Chrissy into anything.”

Janet realized she was about to get off on the wrong
foot with her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “I’m sorry Chrissy. If
you’re sure you want Kathleen, we would all be honored for her to
participate. What colors will you be using for your wedding,
Chrissy?”

“Do you think we could harmonize pink and burgundy
or maroon? I thought maybe a black tux and a white dress for us and
maroon tuxes for the other men and pink dresses for the girls. Do
you think that could be pretty?”

“I think that would be lovely if you chose your
shades of maroon and pink carefully.”

“Maybe you and Mom can help me with that. But I
shouldn’t be bringing up that sort of thing today. This is
Christmas and I think, Grandmother, it’s probably time to put the
turkey on and I want to watch you carefully.”

“So do I." Jan and Kathleen spoke together.

But the turkey had to wait until introductions were
made again because Ed, Penny and the twins had arrived. Everybody
seemed to be getting along great and Chrissy breathed a sigh of
relief and a fervent ‘thank you.’

Everybody working together under Lydia’s directions
soon made light work of getting the Christmas meal together and
ready to eat. It was about four in the afternoon when they were
ready to eat. They couldn’t decide if it was lunch, dinner, supper
or something else but they had no trouble at all deciding it was
absolutely delicious.

The meal was most enjoyable all round with
conversation and high spirits flowing freely. Chrissy had been
right about her Mom’s being enthralled with how beautiful Lydia’s
table looked. Janet said she had seen the angel napkin holders but
she didn’t remember their ever having been used when she was home.
She couldn’t recall even seeing the angel centerpiece. It was
exceptionally magnificent with the candles glowing and the greenery
around it.

“Kathleen, what do you want to do when you finish
high school?" Lydia still had a lot of catching up to do. “Do you
have a career in mind? Do you want to further your education and
pursue a profession or vocation of some sort?”

“I’ve always thought I wanted to study veterinary
medicine, Grandmother. I love horses, especially, but actually all
kinds of animals. Mama loves to tell everyone how I used to carry
home stray cats and birds with broken wings and try to ‘fix’
them.”

“I think that’s a wonderful aspiration, Kathleen,”
Chrissy said. “I’d be proud to have both a dentist and a
veterinarian in the family. You never know when they might come in
handy." Everyone laughed.

“How long before you can hang out your shingle as a
dentist, Sean?” Ed asked.

“Only two more years until I graduate; but I’ll
probably need to work as an apprentice with another dentist for a
few years before I go out on my own. When we're ready, my
girlfriend, Marcie, and I plan to open a clinic together.”

“I tell him it takes a lot of love to run both a
home and a business with the same partner. That’s an awful lot of
‘togetherness.’" Janet’s motherly concern was showing.

“True love can overcome a lot of problems, but that
might put a real strain on a relationship." Penny concurred.

“Who’s ready for dessert?” Lydia asked. She was
concerned that this little discussion could cause some problems,
too, so she decided to de-rail this particular subject.

Andy and Candy had been behaving so nicely everyone
had almost forgotten them. “We are! We are!" When it was dessert
time, they for sure didn’t want to be ignored.

Lydia’s dessert was a little unorthodox for a
Christmas, but she remembered that Janet had dearly loved her
cherry cobbler. At the last minute, she had thrown one together and
it was just out of the oven piping hot. She got out the ice cream
and Chrissy helped her serve it. The entire meal had been a
remarkable example of cuisine at its most palatable. The cherry
cobbler a la mode however was totally out of this world. Andy
expressed his approval enthusiastically if totally understated.

“Hey, Grandmother, this is goo-oo-ood."