The Happiest Season (10 page)

He took a step closer to her, tentatively, cautiously, as if
fearful she might startle.  He drew closer and took her in his arms again. 
“Let me help you,” he whispered in her ear.

“Why?” she whispered back.

He couldn’t answer her—could not give her a satisfactory answer,
but he knew, just knew, he was exactly where he was supposed to be at this
moment in time.  “Because I want to,” he whispered back.

***

“John!” Rickey cried.  “You came!” 

Rickey had just awakened and ambled down the stairs and into
the family room.  John was currently sitting on the couch, holding Pocomo, and
waiting for Maggie to freshen up and return.

“Where’s Mama?” Rickey asked sleepily.

“She’s upstairs,” he told him.  “She’ll be right back.”

As if on cue, Maggie walked down the stairs.  “Honey, run
upstairs and get dressed,” she told her son.

“Are we going somewhere?” he asked.

“We’re going to the nursery,” John told him.

“Are we getting a baby?” Rickey asked excitedly.

John bit back a chuckle.  “No, we’re going to buy new grass
for the backyard.”

“From a hospital?” Rickey asked, puzzled.

Maggie sent a glance at John, who smiled at the confused
little boy.

“You know what, let’s go upstairs and I’ll explain,” Maggie
said, taking his hand and leading him back upstairs.

They soon returned to the family room, dressed and ready to
go.

“I’m hungry,” Rickey declared, and Maggie gasped.  She had
nearly forgotten to feed her child.

“I imagine you are, sweetie.”

“Would you both like to go out for lunch?” John asked.

Maggie turned toward him, her features surprised. 

He gave a shrug.  “I’m hungry too.”

“Please, Mama!  Please!”

She glanced between John and Rickey, noting both watched her
with hopeful anticipation.  How could she say ‘no’ to them?

They apparently sensed her resolve crumble, since John sprang
from the sofa.  “Lunch it is,” he said.

“Lunch it is,” Maggie parroted, giving him a rueful glance. 
She raised her pointer finger, requesting a moment.  She hurried to pull a
breakfast bar out of the pantry, since it was nearly lunch time and Rickey hadn’t
eaten anything yet.

“Ah, Mama,” he protested.

“Eat half,” she told him.  “You have to have a little
something to tide you over until lunch.”

He broke it in half and walked over to John.  He gave him
the other half.  “It will tide you over until lunch.”

John ate the bar in two bites and nodded his gratitude. 
Rickey followed suit, eating the bar in quick bites.  “Are you ready then?”
John asked.

“Yep!” Rickey cried enthusiastically.

“Would you like me to drive?” Maggie asked, but immediately
remembered she couldn’t very well haul much sod in her wagon.  “Oh,” she said
chuckling.  “I guess that won’t work very well at the nursery.”

“Probably not,” John acknowledged.

“I’ll chip in for gas,” she said, but he shook his head.

“Not necessary.  Shall we go?”

“I’ll get Rickey’s booster seat and meet you at the truck.” 
She hurried off, but found the men waiting for her return.  John relieved her
of the booster seat.  She smiled her thanks, having grown unaccustomed to
having a man lighten her load—both literally and figuratively.

Inside John’s big truck, Rickey grinned with delight as they
pulled away from the curb.  “Where are we going for lunch?” he asked.

“What sounds good to you?” John asked him, turning toward
him briefly.

“Chuck E. Cheese’s,” he answered, without a second’s
hesitation.

John leaned forward and glanced around him, meeting Maggie’s
eyes.  He gave a shrug, as if it was all right with him.  She gave a brisk
shake of her head, and then turned to her son.  “Not today, honey,” she said. 
“I have a headache and don’t think I could handle all the noise.”

John watched her with concern.  He hoped she was feeling up
to going out, and that he hadn’t been too pushy.  “Somewhere quiet then,” he
mused aloud, and then declared, “I know just the place.”

Maggie was surprised when she soon found herself sitting
beside her son, and across from John, at a window table at one of the town’s
premiere waterfront restaurants.  Although the place was bustling with patrons,
the noise level was comfortable and they could easily hear one another talking.

 “This is really nice,” Maggie said, smiling her gratitude.

He nodded.  “I thought it would be a nice compromise. 
Rickey won’t be able to interact with a giant mouse, but he will be able to
watch the boats sail and motor by.”

“I like boats!” Rickey said agreeably.  He pointed out a
particularly opulent yacht.  “I want that one!”

“You and me both,” John said, smiling.

“Which one do you want, Mama?” Rickey asked.

Maggie stared out over the water, considering each and every
one.  She finally pointed to a particularly small boat, which was clearly old. 
Its seaworthiness was questionable, based upon the burst of smoke coming off
the prop.

Even Rickey recognized it wasn’t a very nice boat.  “Why do
you want that one, Mama?”

She gave a shrug and said, “I’m realistic.  It’s the only
one I can afford—maybe.”

John laughed.  “I’m afraid Rickey and I have pretty lofty
goals when it comes to boat ownership.”

Maggie pointed to the tiny boat she’d selected, and then to
a much larger vessel.  “That’s a boat, and that’s—a yacht.”

“You’re right,” he said.  “But I still want my yacht.”

“And I wish you all the best in acquiring one,” she told
him, laughing.

“What kind of a car do you want, Mama?” Rickey asked.

She settled comfortably in her chair and turned toward him. 
“I’m happy with the car I have.”

“But it’s a station wagon!” he cried, as if it were
repugnant.

She gave him a surprised glance.  “And what’s wrong with a
station wagon?” she asked him, her expression concerned.  “Did someone you know
have something negative to say about my reliable, old wagon?”

He heard a scolding tone in her voice and dropped his head. 
“My friends at school said mean things about it.”

She draped her arm over his shoulders.  “Well, we’re not
going to worry about what our friends have to say about our wagon, are we?  She
gets us where we need to go, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,” he said, glancing up to meet her gaze.  “I’m sorry,
Mama.  Our car is good.”

She nodded and kissed his forehead.  “Let’s look at the
boats some more.”

He perked right up and began watching the boats again.  He
soon became entranced by the waves, which increased when a particularly large
boat drew past.

“Look how big the waves are, John!” he cried.

John nodded and pointed out the wake of a particularly large
boat.  “Rickey, do you see that sort of trail in the water, behind that boat?”

He nodded.

“It’s called a wake.”

“A bigger boat makes a bigger wake, huh?”

“You’re absolutely right,” he said, and then glanced at the
waitress who approached to take their orders.

The young woman turned to Maggie first.  “May I take your
food order?” she asked.

“I think I’ll have the soup and half-sandwich special,” she
told her, and Rickey will have the kid’s meal—a grilled cheese sandwich and
apple slices.”

The waitress nodded and turned to John.  He gave Maggie a
brief look, smiled, and placed his order—the same as she had ordered.

The waitress gathered up the menus and stepped away.

John turned his attention back to Maggie and opened his
mouth to speak.  He thought better of it and clamped his mouth closed.  He’d
nearly told her she could have ordered anything on the menu, but decided
against it.  He’d read the uncertainty in her eyes as she had looked over the
menu.  He suspected she’d been struggling with her food selection, unsure if he
was paying, or if she would be.  And if he was paying, he knew she wouldn’t
want to order something expensive.  He sensed she was both frugal, and
thoughtful, and her reticence pulled at his heartstrings.

Kim hadn’t worried an iota if she put them in the poor
house.  She had to have the best of everything, ranting and raving until he
caved in and went along with her.  Saying ‘no’ meant days of fierce fighting,
followed by the silent treatment, followed by him caving, followed by her disingenuous
thanks after.  As long as she’d gotten her way, everything was fine.  If she
didn’t, it meant living in a warzone until she was eventually placated.

What the heck had he been thinking?—allowing her to get away
with her juvenile behavior.  Why had he stayed the course for so long, with a
spoiled prima donna?  What had possessed him to choose her in the first place?

Well, in reality, she had chosen him, and he had gone along
for the ride.  And it had been a bumpy one, to say the least.

As his eyes passed over Maggie’s face, he realized
something—that this woman was nothing like Kim.  She made the best of what she
had and was grateful for the blessings in her life.  He had no doubt she and
her husband had been a team, working together to achieve shared goals.  What
must that be like? he wondered.

Maggie shifted uncomfortably, when she realized he was
watching her with a kind of intensity she hadn’t seen in anyone’s eyes for some
time.  He wasn’t watching her with … desire, but with a sort of…  Was it admiration? 
She felt her cheeks heat up.  Having a man look at her at all caused her to
flush.

He appeared to register that she noticed him watching her,
and he gave his head a swift shake.  Suddenly, his cheeks flooded with color. 
He knew he needed to say something, to explain his behavior.  “I’m sorry,” he
said, embarrassed.  “I was just thinking…”

She nodded, urging him to continue.

He smiled and scrubbed a nervous hand across his jaw.  “I
was just thinking it’s commendable how grateful you are for what you have.”

She nodded.  “It may look like I don’t have much but…”

“No!” he cut in, his eyes widened with alarm.  “That’s not
what I meant at all.”  He looked sick, as the color fled his face.  “I meant
that...”  He sighed and met her gaze full on.  “I meant to say, you have …
everything.”

She met his intense gaze and smiled.  She turned to her son,
and back to him.  “You’re right.  I’m blessed.”

When the waitress returned with their food orders, Maggie
could read the relief on John’s face.  Her heart went out to him.  She knew he
feared he’d said the wrong thing, but she’d seen the admiration in his eyes. 
She knew he hadn’t been diminishing her in any way. 

She reached across the table and gave him a reassuring pat
on his arm.  He met her eyes, and then appeared to exhale with relief.  She
gave a shoring nod, and he nodded in return.

And then it hit her…  She and John could somehow communicate
without words.  That realization struck her as significant—meaningful.  She
hadn’t had that sort of ease of communicating with anyone but Shane.

What did it mean?

Rickey tugged John across the parking lot and toward the
entrance to the nursery.  “Hurry up,” he said.  “I want to see sod.”

John frowned as a worrisome thought came to mind.  Could you
buy sod in December?  He turned to Maggie, who was walking briskly, in order to
keep up.  “Can you buy sod in December?” he asked, his facial expression
perplexed.

She shrugged.  “I … think so.”  She chuckled uneasily. 
“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”

He conceded the point with a nod and then an exaggerated wince,
which prompted her to chuckle again.

Inside the store, he strode purposely toward the customer
service counter.  The young woman who was manning the counter looked up with a
smile.  “May I help you?”

“Uh, yes,” John said.  “Do you know if you can lay sod at
this time of the year?”

She smiled brightly and said, “Let’s find out.”  She picked
up a phone and dialed, and then spoke into the receiver.  “Would you mind
coming to the front counter?  We have a guest with a question for you.”  She
hung up and smiled reassuringly.  “Help is on the way.”

He nodded and they stepped away from the counter, to allow
another guest to approach.  “I really hope it’s not too cold to lay sod,” John
told Maggie.  “It may be,” he added worriedly.  

A man soon arrived and the counter girl nodded toward the
group.  He approached with a smile.  “How can I help you folks?”

John was first to speak.  “Do you know if it’s too late in
the fall to lay sod?” he asked.  “With winter only a couple weeks away…?”