Celebrations With Jake and Joe

by Roger W Buenger

  “I think the obvious answer is because you love her too, Henry.”

  Henry knew that George was right. He was in love with Millie and to fully realize it now that he might have lost her was heartbreaking. However, unlike so many years ago when he wouldn’t let George get a word in edgewise, he was all ears today. They reasoned that the best thing to do right now was to let her cool off and to give her some time and space to think. After all, it wasn’t only Henry’s actions that were upsetting to her. It was certainly an even more crushing blow to learn that the son she had given up for adoption was dead after having led a most painful and unproductive life. Knowing Millie’s kind heart, Henry was sure that she was suffering for a decision made by a scared and desperate teenager long ago.

  Henry agreed with George that perhaps the best thing to do now was to wait for Millie to call him or to come back to Oak Forest. Then, when emotions had calmed a bit, he could offer his sincere apology and express his deep remorse while hoping for a chance to make things up to her. He was counting on the fact that their history together was too long and too vast to be destroyed by one wrong move made with the best of intentions.

  It was to have been a jubilant day at Oak Forest marking the start of a new life together for Henry and Millie. Instead, there was no celebration with Jake and Joe. In fact, there was not even a meeting or dinner. After Henry had completed his call with George, he slumped into his chair in the family room and sat alone with Joe in the dark hoping that the telephone would ring.

  Chapter 19

  True Emotions

  On Wednesday, Henry waited impatiently all day for a call from Millie that never came. The telephone rang on several occasions, but each time it was only George checking in to see if she had called yet and to ask how Henry was faring. After a second grueling night with little sleep, Henry was through with the “waiting game” and was ready to mobilize additional resources in an attempt to repair the damage. He decided that he was going to talk to Anne and seek a woman’s advice. After all, she and Millie seemed to have really hit it off, and he guessed that as a world-class author she understood people as well as anyone. However, since she had just moved into town, her telephone service had not been connected yet so he deemed that he would drop in and see her in person. If she agreed that it was a reasonable move, he was prepared to drive over to Millie’s home from there and speak with her.

  At just past 9:00 a.m., Henry grabbed his keys and urgently made for the door. Before he could reach for the knob, it turned and the door swung open, smacking him in the face.

  “Good Lord! Are you all right?” Millie exclaimed in surprise as she saw that she had just plowed into Henry.

  “What are you doing here?” Henry asked, more shocked to see her than she was to see him as he grabbed for his forehead.

  “I work here, remember?” she fired back. “Are you ok? That looks nasty.” She was referring to a lump that was quickly forming above his left eye.

  “Yeah, I’ll live,” he said as he backed into the kitchen to allow her to come in.

  “What were you doing standing right by the door?” she asked as she dropped her purse on the island and swiftly rushed to the sink for a kitchen towel.

  “I was heading to see Anne, and then I was going to come find you.”

  Millie took the towel to the ice dispenser and caught a half-dozen cubes before wrapping it tightly.

  “Here, you better put this on that bump,” she directed, noting that it was starting to swell into a fairly good-sized black and blue egg at that point. He did as he was told and took the ice pack to the wound with his right hand while taking a seat.

  “What are you doing here?” Henry asked again timidly, hoping that she wasn’t there to collect the things she had just brought to Oak Forest on Monday.

  Millie sighed and took a deep breath before she spoke. She looked at the floor to gather her thoughts because she wanted to say exactly what was in her heart without fumbling the speech that she had meditated on for two days.

  “Henry, I’m so sorry,” she began.

  “You’re sorry? Millie, I’m so damn sorry I can’t sleep at night,” he interrupted.

  She placed her right hand on top of his left. “Please, let me get this all out. First off, it was so wrong of me to run out on you like that without letting you explain. I was just so hurt and confused that I wasn’t seeing straight. Joe knocked all of those papers all over the place, and when I was cleaning up, I found that envelope with Edward’s name on it. I had no business going into your mail, but I was so excited and scared that I just felt like I had to look. I couldn’t imagine how you’d got all that done in a day or two because I had just asked you to help me find him. When I started seeing the dates that detective had written down that he’d been working on the case, I realized that you had done this on your own before I said it was ok. I got really mad and confused but then I started to read about my son and my heart just broke in two. All those terrible things that he went through and the rotten way he turned out in the end. I was just sick to my stomach that I had ever given him away. It made me feel like it was my fault. It felt like my worst nightmare had come true, you know?”

  Henry nodded and then let her continue without interrupting.

  “Right before you came home, I saw something that just tore me up. I realized that you had found the wrong man.”

  “What?” Henry asked incredulously as Millie nodded.

  “This boy wasn’t my son, Henry.”

  “But that’s impossible,” he argued, wondering if she was just deluding herself. “How can you be so sure?”

  “I saw on the report that this Edward James was born in Atlanta.”

  “Exactly! He was the only Edward James born in Atlanta then.”

  “Henry, my son was born in Athens.”

  “But you told me you were staying with your grandmother in Atlanta when your son was born.”

  “I was. I was living with her but the couple that adopted my baby was from Athens. We worked it out that I stayed over there at the very end so they could be right handy when he was born.”

  Athens? Oh my God, she’s right: we’ve got the wrong man. Henry was greatly relieved to learn of the mistake he had made.

  “Well, that’s wonderful news! That means your son might still be out there and might have a terrific life going for him,” Henry declared.

  “That’s what I thought too when I first realized you had the wrong guy. Then, I thought how could any mother ever think such a terrible thing. Some poor woman’s child is dead, and I’m happy about it? What kind of monster does that make me? So, I was just sitting there crying and asking God to forgive me when you walked in.”

  Henry could see the tenderness of her heart displayed yet again.

  “But Millie, you weren’t happy about that. You were just happy that your son might be all right. Anyone would feel that way. Why didn’t you tell me all of this the other day before you walked out? And why did you stay away and not call me?” he asked.

  “You’d made me mad. You went behind my back and did all of that and then when I brought it up on our date Thursday you lied to me by not telling me you had already found him. I was really hurt, Henry. I needed some time to sort it all out. I needed to understand what had happened and why you did it. I also needed to know why I was happy that boy wasn’t mine.”

  Her words struck a nerve, and he again felt terrible about what he had done.

  “Millie, I am so sorry for…”

  “Hush now, it’s all right sweetie,” she assured him as she patted his hand. “I had a good long talk with Anne yesterday, and she made me realize that sometimes people we love do the wrong thing for all the right reasons. You weren’t trying to hurt me, Henry; I know that. You were just trying to protect me. I bet you figured that you would check him out first and if he was no good you’d hide it from me to keep me from all of that extra guilt and pain. Once you got that report, no way you were going to show me that. Is that about what
happened?”

  I’m going to have to read some of Anne’s books; she’s really good at figuring things out, Henry thought.

  “Incredible. That is precisely what happened. Say, did you say something about ‘sometimes people you love do the wrong thing’?” Henry questioned with a sly grin.

  Millie’s face matched his. “Yes, I did.”

  “So does that mean that you love me?” he pressed as he moved the ice bag off of the bump that had receded considerably.

  “It sure does. I love you, Henry Engel,” she said as she stared into his eyes. “I guess I’ve known it for a long time, just never let myself feel it all the way before.

  Henry’s face beamed. What had started as one of the worst days in his life had suddenly become one of the best. He gazed intently back at her and shared what was in his heart.

  “I love you too, Millie James. I was so sad these past two days when I thought maybe I’d lost you. I never want to know another day without you in it.”

  His sweet sentiment touched her deeply, and she kissed him with all of the love in her heart. At one point, her head brushed against his, and he let out a cry.

  “Oh dear, I’m sorry about that,” she said as she lightly ran a finger across his bump.

  “It’s ok. I deserve that and a lot worse.”

  “You sure do!” she teased.

  “You know, I hate to bring it up in the middle of all this, but we’ve got something else to consider now.”

  “What’s that?” Millie asked still focusing on the latest kiss and how nice it felt to be back in Henry’s arms.

  “Well, you’ve got a son out there. The guy I hired to find him told me about a second Edward James that was born in Athens. Millie, we’ve already got a lead on him. Do you want me to call Carl and track him down?”

  Millie recoiled a little at the proposal. She had just lived firsthand through the horror of learning a tragic outcome and was hesitant to commit to another spin of the wheel.

  “I don’t know, Henry. I’m not sure I could live with it if it was like this one. It was bad enough to feel that way for a few minutes. I can’t imagine hauling that around your whole life.”

  “I understand. It’s your decision. I promise I won’t do anything unless you specifically give me the thumbs up. Deal?” he asked.

  “Deal,” she said with a smile. “Can you promise me something else?”

  “Yes ma’am, anything.”

  “Would you promise to always tell me the truth about things no matter whether or not I’ll get hurt? I’d rather know that stuff than to wonder if I can trust you,” she explained.

  “Honey, I can absolutely guarantee you that,” Henry promised emphatically. He had clearly had enough of dabbling in deception and partial truths, and he vowed that he would never compromise his integrity again.

  Though they had been through a crisis, now that it was resolved and their feelings were completely out in the open, they felt closer to each other than ever before. Because of this, Henry and Millie decided to publicly cement their status as a couple by hosting a dinner party. Millie loved to cook so the only questions now were to determine when it should be held and who would be on the guest list. After considering several combinations of attendees, they opted to instead make this first-ever event more intimate and to include only two key guests in addition to themselves and Jake and Joe, of course.

  George was thrilled to get Henry’s phone call later that afternoon with the news and the details of how everything had transpired. He was even happier to receive a dinner invitation for the following weekend. He had heard an awful lot about Millie’s cooking and the chance to finally meet her and get a fabulous home-cooked meal sounded perfect to him.

  The next day, Millie and Henry stopped in to see how Anne was doing. They were happy to discover that a load of her furniture had arrived from New York, and several movers were busy carrying things into her house. It was good to see her getting more and more established. Likewise, she was very pleased to hear that her favorite couple had worked through their differences.

  “I’m tickled that you both look so happy!” she declared after Millie gave her the nod that everything had worked out.

  “So are we,” Henry agreed. “I understand you had a hand in that.”

  “Who me? No, not at all,” Anne said, deflecting the credit modestly.

  “Now, you know better than that. You really helped me to see things clearly, and I appreciate it,” Millie thanked her.

  “Looks like you only had to knock him on the head once, eh?” Anne teased in reference to the knot on Henry’s forehead that was now a faded dark purple.

  “Once was enough,” Henry joked as Millie giggled.

  “We’ll have to wait and see; you never know with these old German men,” she quipped. “They can be slow learners.”

  “While we’re here, we want to invite you out to a little dinner party we’re throwing together a week from tomorrow,” Henry said, referring to the following Saturday night.

  “Yes? I think that would fabulous! I’m off to New York on some business the Monday after that, but I’m definitely available that night. Thank you so much! I’ll certainly look forward to it. What can I bring?” she asked enthusiastically.

  “Yourself and your appetite,” Millie replied decisively without hesitation.

  “Very good then! What time should I arrive?”

  “How about six for a talk with Jake and we’ll go from there?” Henry responded.

  “Sounds perfectly smashing to me!” Anne stated.

  Seeing that she had her hands full with managing the proper placement of the furniture throughout the house, Henry and Millie said their goodbyes and headed home. They had spent the better part of the day running errands and had also made a brief stop at the grocery store for items that Millie felt they might need over the weekend. As they drove back to the estate, Henry wondered aloud about something that he had just realized.

  “Say, it just occurred to me, today is Friday, right?”

  “All day long,” Millie confirmed.

  “Well, pretty much since you first came to work for me Friday has always been deep cleaning day, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes, and what exactly is your point?”

  “My point is that I’m not sure I’m getting full value for my dollar here. I mean, you don’t work evenings or weekends. How am I going to get compensated for the lost time today?” he joked with a flirtatious tone.

  “You’d like some compensation, would you?” she hissed in a sexy voice.

  “I sure as heck would. You think we can work something out?”

  “Oh yeah, I think I have just the thing to get you all satisfied.”

  Henry was starting to enjoy the game even more now that she was playing along. “That sounds great to me. What do you have in mind?”

  “I’m doing the deep cleaning tomorrow, you big dummy,” she said with the vocal inflections of a high school math teacher. Since she expected to be a more permanent fixture at the estate, many of her regular daily duties would naturally be blended into a larger, and more open-ended schedule. She felt much more like a homemaker now than she did a housekeeper.

  Damn, she got me again, Henry thought to himself. However, he was indeed very satisfied on this Friday night. Millie was with him and they were going home together. The sassy attitude that she flashed from time to time was just extra icing on the cake.

  Henry and Millie returned home to the estate and spent the evening lounging around and just catching their breath. The past week had been a true whirlwind of action and emotion. From their picnic date to their reconciliation just a day before, events had transpired rapidly and unexpectedly, and they both felt physically and emotionally spent. The scene played out in many ways the same as had their movie night the previous Saturday with both of them dozing off on the couch while Joe snuggled up between them. They were at home together now, and all was well at Oak Forest.

  Chapter 20

  A
n Engaging Party

  Like a lot of other things these days at Oak Forest, Henry’s Saturday morning routine was suddenly different. Rather than head off to Lewis for banking and breakfast, as he typically had done on most Saturdays over the years, Henry chose instead to eat at home with Millie and Joe. He preferred to remain in the company of his family and get a head start on a long day of grass mowing and gardening. Before heading out to begin his chores, Henry paused next to the island to give Millie a kiss. Not a word was said between them, but the love they shared for one another was obvious. The house was now becoming the home it had always been meant to be.

  Millie eagerly dove into her deep cleaning with passion and vigor. She had certainly taken immense pride in her work and done her very best for Henry, but now it seemed that somehow it was all just a little bit different. She was no longer working just for him but instead felt like she was cleaning their home. It was a distinction that gave her great pride and made her very happy.

  The next week was pleasant and uneventful as the couple settled into a new normal way of living. They slept in their separate bedrooms and congregated each morning for coffee and to catch up on the news by scanning the daily papers. Then they went about their business in much the same way that they had been for years. In the evening, they shared dinner and conversation before moving to the family room to read or watch television. Millie stayed every night at Oak Forest that week, but she and Henry occasionally dropped by her house to check on things or stopped off to visit Anne. On a couple of days, the British author took a break from her writing and came out to Oak Forest to pay them a visit and have a chat with Jake and Joe. Henry and Millie’s daily life developed a natural rhythm that was both unexpected and truly satisfying. After so many years of close contact, they were clearly highly compatible. The emotional intimacy that naturally followed romance had only enriched their relationship, not threatened it.