Let Them Eat Fruitcake
Page 26
That Kendall really doesn’t have a clue! Tell us: Is there hope for her?
I know Kendall is a piece of work, but she makes me laugh and I actually really like her. With all her flaws (which are many!) she has this kind of transparent honesty (even though she often tells lies) and I can’t wait to see how she turns out by the last book. I absolutely have hope for her. Not only that, I’m sure that when Kendall finds God and turns her life around, she will impact everyone she meets. Okay, the impact might be painful, but it’ll probably be memorable, too.
Have you ever had to spend Christmas without your closest family members? What was that like for you?
I spent my nineteenth Christmas in a foreign country and, being young and independent, I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal until I heard “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” playing on someone’s tape deck. That was sad. But my housemates and I did our best to have a fun Christmas—and we attempted to be family.
What’s your honest-to-goodness opinion of fruitcake?
Ha-ha! I actually like it! And during that Christmas away from home the first time, I tried to make one. My housemates were divided on it. Some thought it was good, some thought it should become a Yule log—even though we had no fireplace.
An Excerpt from spring broke
One
Megan Abernathy
“I’m starting to get seriously worried about Kendall,” Lelani said as she stirred milk into her coffee. “She hasn’t been herself lately.”
“She’s been pretty bummed,” Megan admitted quietly. It was unlikely that Kendall would be awake this early, especially after discovering those “puppy potty pads” for Tinkerbell. Still, Megan didn’t want to take any chances of being overheard by their landlady. “I think Valentine’s Day was especially hard on her.”
Lelani nodded. “Yes. Not only was she without a guy, but pregnant as well.”
“And her favorite jeans are too small.” Megan topped off her coffee. That detail seemed pretty minor to Megan, but to Kendall it had been a huge crisis.
“It doesn’t help matters that Matthew is treating her like a stalker.”
“You can’t really blame him,” Megan pointed out. “I mean she sort of was stalking him.”
“I suppose.” Lelani frowned. “Still, he could show a little more compassion. It’s not as if she got pregnant on purpose.”
Megan knew this was a tough issue for Lelani. She’d been through a similar situation herself and had a tendency to be extra hard on irresponsible dads. “But to be fair to Matthew, Kendall isn’t a hundred percent certain that it’s his baby yet.” This was just another bone of contention as far as Megan was concerned. Kendall had finally admitted that she’d slept with more men than just Matthew last fall. Not only had she been stupid, she’d been careless.
Megan knew it was unkind to judge Kendall like that, and she never expressed these thoughts out loud, but it’s how she felt. And it was just one of many reasons why Megan felt that sex outside of marriage was a mistake.
“What if it is Matthew’s?” ventured Lelani.
Megan sighed and shrugged. “It seems like it shouldn’t really make a difference. I mean, Matthew has no intention of leaving his wife for Kendall.”
Lelani nodded and lowered her voice. “But Matthew’s got money, and when Kendall gets in a snit, she starts talking paternity suits and how she’ll take Mr. Hollywood to the cleaners if he doesn’t agree to some huge settlement.”
“A settlement that would probably come out of his wife’s earnings as much as his.” By now everyone seemed to accept that Heidi Hardwick’s acting career was more successful than her husband’s. It was also no secret that this Hollywood couple’s relationship had been over a few bumps.
“Can you imagine what this news might do to their marriage?” Lelani shook her head sadly.
“I know that Kendall sometimes hopes her pregnancy will end it and that Matthew will come running to her.”
“And they’ll all live happily ever after.” Lelani sighed, then took a sip of coffee.
“What a mess.”
“It’s no wonder that she’s depressed. Being single and pregnant isn’t easy. I guess we should be more supportive of her. Especially when she’s as down as she’s been these past few days. I keep thinking she’ll bounce back.”
“It seemed she had more resilience before.” Megan rinsed her mug and placed it in the dishwasher. “Remember how upbeat she was when the pregnancy test was positive?”
“But that might just be hormonal. I remember having moments of unexplainable happiness during my pregnancy too. Then I’d get blue. It’s kind of a roller-coaster ride.”
“So we just hang on tight and hope that she stays on the track?”
Lelani smiled. “And try not to say the wrong things.”
“Tell me about it.” Megan lowered her voice again. “The other day Kendall was talking about terminating her pregnancy. I was just minding my own business. I mean, she knows how I feel about abortion. She knows how we all feel. So then she looks me in the eyes and asks me what I would do if I were her.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
Lelani’s brow creased. “What did you tell her?”
“That first of all, I wouldn’t be in her shoes, since I’m committed to abstinence until I get married.”
“You’re making me a believer too.”
“Then I told her that I’d have the baby, but that I’d probably adopt it to a loving family.”
“And?”
“She fell apart.”
“Oh no.”
Megan looked at the kitchen clock. “Well, I better get to work. Cynthia’s gone this week, and Vera has been stressing over absolutely everything. I wouldn’t dare be one minute late lest she go into a rage.”
“Despite the fact that she makes you work overtime?”
Megan made a half smile. “But, oh, I’m so lucky to have this job,” she imitated Vera’s voice now. “‘Hundreds of young women would love to be in your shoes, Megan.’” Then Megan looked down at her Cole Haan loafers. “Of course, Vera would then make fun of my shoes and suggest I wear something a bit more stylish.”
“You lucky girl!” teased Lelani.
Still, as Megan walked to work, she did feel lucky. Or maybe just blessed. But as the morning sun shone down, Megan felt hopeful for the day ahead. Oh, sure, Vera could be a witch. What else was new? But this was one of those rare February days with hints of spring in the air. The plum trees that lined Bloomberg Place had burst into pale-pink blooms, and the sunny faces of daffodils were making their cheerful appearances. Spring had always seemed a promising time of year to Megan. New life, freshness, the hope of things to come.
Of course, that’s probably not how Kendall felt these days. Despite the new life that was growing within her, Kendall seemed more confused and worried and troubled than ever. And why shouldn’t she be? A surge of empathy rushed through Megan. Poor Kendall!
As Megan turned onto Main Street, she felt a stab of guilt for not being kinder and more understanding toward her perplexing friend. Naturally, she couldn’t help but disapprove of Kendall’s lifestyle and choices. At the same time, she should be careful not to condemn her. And she did want to help Kendall. But how? Often it seemed that Megan’s words only irritated her. And for that reason, Megan had been trying to keep her mouth shut. Really, other than praying for Kendall, there seemed little that Megan could do.
As Megan got closer to the design firm, she spied the homeless lady who often waited for her. By now Megan knew that her name was Margie. But she hadn’t been around much during the past few weeks.
“Hello,” called Margie, grinning widely to expose her missing tooth.
“I’ve missed you,” said Megan as she fished inside of her
bag. She usually kept a couple of dollars or McDonald’s gift certificates handy, but since Margie had been gone, she’d gotten out of the habit.
“I’ve been sick.”
“Really?” Megan extracted a five from her wallet and waited.
“I stayed at the shelter for a while. A lady there took me to the free clinic and they gave me some medicine.”
“So you’re okay now?”
“Oh, yes. And so glad to be out of that nasty shelter.” She frowned. “So noisy and dirty in there. I can’t stand it.”
Megan had never asked Margie too much about herself. In fact, Margie had never spoken this many words. “So where do you stay now?”
Margie gave her a mysterious smile. “Oh, here and there.”
Megan handed her the five.
“Oh, God bless you, dear!” cried Margie.
“God bless you, too.”
Megan entered the design firm, a lavishly decorated place with expensive furnishings, authentic art, and pretty much useless accessories. Not for the first time, she noted the sharp contrast between this fancy place and poor old Margie’s world. To be honest, Megan sometimes felt totally disgusted by the entire principle of decorating—so much money wasted on making someone’s overly priced home into a showplace. But then it had never been Megan’s career goal to land here. Hopefully she would land a teaching job by next fall. In the meantime, she was thankful to be gainfully employed. Certainly she wasn’t getting rich. But she made enough to pay her bills.
As Megan hung up her coat, she noticed Margie still standing on the sidewalk out front, gazing up at the sky with an expression of wonder and delight. Megan wondered why it was that some people wound up homeless. To be fair, Margie seemed content with her lot in life. Compared to wealthy yet grumpy Vera Craig, Margie seemed downright happy. Go figure.
Megan went straight to work on a floor plan that Vera wanted finished by two o’clock so that she could show it to Helen Ferguson. So far her design was coming along just fine. But a little before noon, Megan’s phone rang. To her surprise it was Kendall, and she sounded upset.
“I need help,” cried Kendall.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m—I’m in trouble.”
Okay, that went without saying, but what was Kendall really saying? “What kind of trouble do you mean?” Megan spoke slowly and clearly. “What is going on?”
“I need you to come home—” Kendall broke into fresh sobs. “Right now!”
Megan glanced at the clock. It wasn’t quite time for her lunch break, but this sounded dire. “Okay. I’m on my way.”
Megan grabbed her bag and her coat and headed out to the reception area.
“Early lunch?” Ellen, the receptionist, frowned at her.
“Kind of an emergency. But I’ll make up the time.”
“I’m sure that Vera would be pleased to hear that.”
And hoping that Ellen wouldn’t inform her, Megan hurried out and jogged the six blocks back to 86 Bloomberg Place. Halfway there she realized that she should’ve gotten more information from Kendall. Perhaps Kendall was having some kind of medical emergency—maybe something was wrong with the baby. In that case she should’ve called 9-1-1. Or maybe Megan would have to drive Kendall to the hospital. Fortunately Kendall had a car. Megan wondered why Kendall hadn’t called Lelani instead. They seemed to be closer. But then Lelani was harder to reach at Nordstrom, and employees weren’t supposed to take personal calls.
In a way, Megan felt honored that Kendall would call her in a time of crisis. She just had no idea what to expect. Megan prayed as she jogged. With a sharp pain in her side, Megan went into the house and found Kendall sitting in the living room. Still in her bathrobe, she had Tinkerbell in her lap and tears running down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” Megan asked breathlessly as she sat down on the sectional next to Kendall. “Are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay.”
“What is it?” Megan placed a hand on Kendall’s arm. “Is something wrong with the baby?”
“No—that’s not it.”
“What is it then?”
“I’m broke.”
Megan’s hand slipped off Kendall’s arm, and she sat up straighter and just stared at Kendall. “Huh?”
“I’m broke and a creditor just showed up and—and it was horrible!”
“That’s why you called me at work?” Okay, as kind and understanding as Megan had wanted to be, as sympathetic as she’d been feeling toward Kendall, as much as she’d prayed for her, Megan wanted to throttle her now! Kendall had sounded like she was facing a life-or-death emergency—because she was broke? Like that was news? When had Kendall not been broke? They all knew that her finances were a disaster. That’s why she’d taken in renters to start with. Good grief!
“I—I thought you could help me,” sobbed Kendall. “You’re so—so sensible.”
“What is it you thought I could possibly do?” Megan knew that her voice sounded harsh and angry. Okay, she was angry. This was ridiculous! Besides, hadn’t she already attempted to help Kendall to sort out this mess? Hadn’t she helped her to start making the minimum payments and suggested ways to consolidate her bills? But Kendall hadn’t listened. Instead she’d gone out and accumulated more debt. In her pathetic attempt to snag Matthew, she’d made more ridiculous purchases, maxed out more cards. And then she’d learned she was pregnant.
“I don’t know.” Kendall turned and looked at Megan with watery blue eyes. “I just thought you would know what to do.”
Megan knew what she’d like to do—and say. But then she remembered that she was a Christian. So she took a long, deep breath and steadied herself. “Fine. At least you’re willing to admit that you’re broke, Kendall. They say the first step to recovery is acknowledging you have a problem.”
“I have a problem,” said Kendall in a tiny voice.
“You have a lot of problems.”
Kendall nodded sadly. “I know.”
Of course, Megan doubted she could help Kendall with all of her problems. In fact, Megan felt doubtful she could help her mixed-up housemate with much of anything. Really, only God could help someone like Kendall. But then Megan spied Kendall’s latest shopping conquest. An Hermès bag that she’d “gotten on sale” after the holidays. It was now tossed down by the coatrack like an old piece of rubbish. “I have an idea,” said Megan.
“What?” Kendall looked up hopefully.
“We’ll do some early spring cleaning around here and have a garage sale.”
“A garage sale?” Kendall frowned. “What could I possibly sell in a garage sale?”
Megan eyed the bag again. “Oh, I’m sure we could find a few things.”
Other Books by Melody Carlson
These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking
(WaterBrook)
On This Day
(WaterBrook)
Ready to Wed
(GuidepostsBooks)
Finding Alice
(WaterBrook)
Notes from a Spinning Planet series
(WaterBrook)
The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor series
(Multnomah)
www.davidccook.com
What people are saying about
let them eat fruitcake
“A winsome tale of friendship with a dash of holiday madness. Delightful!”
Robin Jones Gunn, best-selling author of the Sisterchicks® novels and the Katie Weldon series
“This fun romp with the Bloomberg Place girls has it all—snappy dialogue, complex relationships, and a fantastically diverse cast of characters that kept me reading nonstop!”
Camy Tang, author of Only Uni and Single Sashimi
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Melody Carlson, Let Them Eat Fruitcake