“Mom, have you been crying?”
Keith’s question brought David’s attention back to his current home. Kate was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Her eyes were swollen and her face held an ashen look to it like she had, indeed, been crying, despite her obvious attempts to hide it with makeup.
“No, I’m fine,” she said. Her assurances, however, did not prevent any of them from getting to their feet to make certain.
David touched her arm. “Kate, are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” She opened the refrigerator, an obvious attempt to escape their gawking stares.
“This is because of my letter, isn’t it?” Keith was now standing on the other side of the opened refrigerator door, eye to eye with the UMF acceptance letter he’d mounted only minutes before.
Kate closed the refrigerator. “What?”
“Of course this is because of your letter,” John told him. “You’re the baby, Keith. Once you’re gone, what will she have left?”
John had a way of speaking as if he knew the answer to every question in the world, and for some reason that David had yet to figure out, Keith believed every word he said.
“I’ll only be two hours away.” Keith looked back at his mother. “Don’t you want me to go away to college?”
Kate had that deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes. It was obvious Keith was about to pull her into a conversation she was unprepared to discuss. He had to intercede.
“Whoa, hold on there now,” David said. He put his arm around Kate’s shoulders in order to present a united front in this matter. “Keith, your mother and I are both thrilled that you got into the school you wanted. Honestly, we couldn’t be happier for you.”
“Then why is Mom so upset?”
David pulled her tighter against him, a little curious that she was allowing it. Where was her spitfire? Where was her grit? Something must have her really rattled this morning. “Cut your mother some slack. She’s under a lot of stress with this nativity project plus the pressure of running an entire city and this household. Weren’t we just talking about how important today was? Sometimes people just need to let off a little stress. Okay?”
John nodded. “Sure. We’re sorry, Mom. Everything’s going to be great today.”
Keith was a little more hesitant, but he finally came around. He gave her a hug. “Tonight’s going to be awesome, Mom. Don’t worry.”
Once both boys had returned to their breakfasts, David turned to Kate. Was that gratitude he saw in those red, puffy eyes? How long had it been since she’d been grateful to him for anything? “You want some coffee?” he asked her.
“No, just juice.” She poured herself a glass from the carton she’d taken from the refrigerator.
Since when did she not drink coffee in the morning? “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, David, I’m fine. Just butterflies, I think. Like you said, it’s a big day.”
Spurred on by the gratitude he’d seen in her eyes, he decided to take a leap. “Why don’t we have lunch today?”
The way she almost choked on her juice at his invitation spoke a thousand things she never would. “I have project meetings most of the day and a television interview at noon to promote the nativity.”
“You have to eat.”
“I’ll probably just send out for something and eat at my desk. Once the nativity begins—”
“You’ll be knee-deep in issues stemming from it. Face it, Kate, after today, I probably won’t see you again until New Year’s.”
Her phone on the counter buzzed. David dared her with his eyes to pick it up. She must have seen his challenge, because she let it go unanswered.
“What do you want me to say, David? This project was my idea. I put it together. I know it’s a lot of work and sacrifice, but it is important to me.”
“Tell me something, Kate.” He leaned across the counter toward her so they were almost eye to eye and lowered his voice so the boys couldn’t overhear. “When exactly did I stop being important to you?” He picked up his briefcase and keys, waiting for her to respond.
She didn’t.
The phone buzzed again as David turned to leave. “You’d better get that,” he told her. “It might be someone important.” He walked out the door leading into the garage and leaned against it as it closed behind him.
Lord, when did I stop being important to her, and how can I get it back?
Kate watched the door close.
That wasn’t fair. David had to know he was important to her. But his request for lunch caught her off guard and she’d had to scramble to come up with a quick excuse. It’s not like she could tell him she was going to the doctor during lunch to confirm the pregnancy of their midlife child. No, she wouldn’t tell him about being pregnant until a doctor confirmed it.
Her phoned buzzed again. Kate checked the caller ID then groaned. “Myles.”
She’d tasked Myles Sandford from her staff to handle the production part of the nativity, and while she thought he was doing a great job, he was also driving her crazy with every little detail.
“What does he want this early?”
Keith pushed back from the table. “He probably wants to give you a heads-up about Kaylee Martin. She broke her arm skiing yesterday.”
“How do you know that?”
“She posted it last night.”
The phoned stopped buzzing then immediately began again.
“Why would he be calling me about a teenager with a broken arm?”
“Kaylee was supposed to be Mary in the nativity tonight. Remember?”
Of course she should have remembered that. Kate’s heart leaped at this first snag in their production schedule. Thank goodness they had backups. She picked up her phone and greeted Myles as she moved into the living room.
“I have bad news about Kaylee Martin,” he said.
“I’ve already heard. Who do we have to replace her?”
“Well, that’s what I need to talk with you about. I need you to do it.”
“Me? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not, Kate. I’ve already started phoning our backups and, well, with the holiday weekend, there’s no one else who can do it.”
“Myles, I’m too old to play that part.”
“Ah, but you look so young, Kate.”
She groaned at his flattery. She knew better. Mary had been a teenager of fourteen or fifteen when she gave birth to Jesus. The role was traditionally played by a teenaged girl. There was no way Kate looked young enough to play that part.
Her hesitation must have gone on for long enough to convince Myles that his flattery wasn’t working, because he changed his tactic. “Kate, this project is your baby. The town needs you.”
She groaned again, this time because Myles knew how to push just the right buttons to get her to agree. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
Kate closed her phone and turned to her sons. “Do you believe this? He expects me to be Mary.”
“Mom, you can’t be Mary. You’re too old.”
John punched his brother in the arm. “Way to go, Keith. If she wasn’t crying before, she will be now that you’ve called her an old woman.”
Although Keith’s comment echoed her own, hearing it aloud did sting. “I’m only forty-four.”
“Sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean you were old. I only meant…well, Mary was a teenager and…well, you’re not.” His voice trailed off as if he realized his words were not helping. He looked to his brother for affirmation, but John shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“How do you survive here without me?” he asked.
“It’s not easy.”
The boys put their dishes in the sink then gathered their coats and headed out the door.
Kate retouched her makeup to make certain no one else would know she had been crying. She didn’t want a scene at work like the one she’d had at home…especially since she didn’t have David there to lean on.
She remem
bered the hurt expression on his face when he’d left. Was a simple lunch with his wife really too much to ask? She pulled out her day planner, scanned the scheduled project meetings, and suddenly felt overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of her day. Meetings with the maintenance staff, costumers, food service providers, budget planners, the sheriff, and the police chief. Plus the television interview. Kate closed her day planner. She was already exhausted and her day had hardly begun.
As she left the house, she made a decision—the idea of her playing Mary was utterly ridiculous. She didn’t have the time to devote to one more thing. Young girls played the role of Mary because young girls had babies. She was an old married woman with one son in college and another son about to graduate from high school.
Once she reached her office, she would put any and all available personnel on finding someone else to fill that role. No one in their right minds would believe she was young enough to have a baby.
Chapter 3
David spread travel brochures across his desk. He had the world at his fingertips. He had only to choose the destination.
In August, Keith would leave for college. However, he planned on working as a counselor at a sports camp for the summer, so he would essentially be gone from the house once he graduated in May. For David and Kate, that opened up a world of opportunities, and David was looking forward to enjoying the freedom that came from being empty nesters.
The back door opened and shut. He gathered the brochures and put them away as his friend and business partner, Mike Purvis, entered. He and Mike had started in the insurance business together and had opened their own agency nearly eighteen years ago. “How did it look?” David asked.
The office was usually closed the day after Thanksgiving in order for the staff to spend time with their families, but Mike had taken a call from a policyholder who had experienced a kitchen fire while cooking her Thanksgiving meal. “It looks like the Martin family ate their Thanksgiving dinner out this year.” Mike grinned as he deposited a file on David’s desk then planted himself on the sofa. “I cut Mrs. Martin a check. She’s probably out purchasing a new stove as we speak.”
David scanned the paperwork then pushed it away. He had another matter he wanted to discuss. “Look, Mike, since we’ve got the office to ourselves, I thought this might be a good time to mention something to you.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It is. I was thinking of letting you buy me out of my share of the agency.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m serious. Keith is graduating in a few months, and Kate and I want to do some traveling once he’s gone. I won’t be around as much.” When Mike didn’t respond right away, David urged him on. “Well? What do you think?”
Mike shook his head. “I don’t think I can do that, David.”
“What? Why not?”
“Tina’s pregnant.” He stared up at David. “We’re going to have another baby. We got the news on Monday.”
David leaned back in his seat as the weight of his friend’s news hit him. Mike and Tina were younger than he and Kate, but they already had three school-aged children. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, you can at least pretend to be happy for me.”
“Do you mean to say that you’re happy about this?”
“Yes, I’m thrilled that I’m going to be a father again. Tina and I are both thrilled that God has chosen to bless us this way.”
“What about your plans to retire early? With a new baby, that won’t be possible.”
“I guess that’s true, but it’s a small price to pay.”
“You say that now, but you’ll be wishing you’d done things differently when you’re my age and retirement seems a lifetime away.”
“Maybe you’re right. It will be a struggle financially—that’s nothing new for us—but it does mean I won’t have the money to buy you out of your share of the business. Even if I did, with a new baby coming, I can’t operate this place by myself and still give my family the attention they deserve.” He stood to leave but stopped at the doorway and turned back. “Maybe this isn’t what we had planned for our lives, David, but I suppose God had other plans, and I know His plans are always good.”
David watched his friend leave. He hated the way that conversation had gone. He didn’t want Mike thinking he didn’t love being a father. He loved John and Keith and had a thousand memories of their childhood that he would cherish. And he wasn’t naïve enough to believe that because the boys were away at college that his responsibility as a parent had ended. But his role in their lives had changed, and that could not be denied or ignored.
Some parents couldn’t handle that change. Some had nothing in their lives except their children, and when that role change occurred, they were left with nothing but empty shells as lives. Not he and Kate. They had plans. They saw this time in their lives for what it was—an opportunity.
Or at least it was supposed to be. After this morning’s breakdown, it was obvious to David that Kate was not going to handle Keith’s impending departure well. He couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t usually so emotional. If she was already crying in December, what would she be like come May? It wasn’t like her. It wasn’t his Kate.
He searched through the brochures again and pulled out one for a tropical destination that he’d had his eye on. White beaches, blue sky, and two weeks of soaking up the rays—enough fun in the sun to put a smile on anyone’s face.
He put away the rest of the brochures. He’d made his choice. And he couldn’t help but be thankful that God had chosen to bless Mike and Tina instead of him and Kate.
Bethlehem Green had indeed been transformed into the ancient marketplace through which Joseph and Mary would have traveled. Kate felt the excitement in the air at the anticipation of the premiere as volunteers rushed to complete final preparations. Beginning tonight, visitors would travel through the streets of the ancient city and get a firsthand view of what the young couple saw on their journey, all the while listening to the Christmas story over the mounted speakers.
She approached the pavilion, now transformed into a barn. Hay was scattered across the floor, and the cradle for the baby Jesus was already positioned. Above her, on the roof, an electrician worked, no doubt running electricity to the star that pointed the way to the Christ child.
Kate sat on Mary’s stool and examined the scene. This was the place where she used to bring her boys to play when they were little. Her mind drifted back to the days when they ran and romped and tackled one another. She touched the cradle where the baby Jesus would be placed and thought back on the days when her own children were small enough to fit in such a space. Her eyes welled up. That seemed so long ago.
“Kate!”
She looked up to see Myles heading toward her.
“I’m glad I found you. We need to have your final fitting for your costume.”
She wiped away a trickle of a tear on her cheek, kicking herself for getting overly emotional in public. What if Myles saw her crying?
She got up as he approached. She was always more commanding when she stood. “Myles, I need to speak to you about that. I don’t think I’m a good choice to fill this role. Surely there’s someone else who can—”
“Kate, there is no one else. The nativity is in nine hours. You’re the only one who’s been to all the rehearsals. You’re the only one who knows what to do on such late notice.”
“I’m too old to play Mary. Mary was a child. I mean, Matt Parker is playing Joseph, and he’s only twenty-three. I’m old enough to be his mother.”
“I’ve already taken care of that. Matt is going to switch roles with David. Matt will be a shepherd and David will play Joseph. Problem solved.”
Kate sank back onto the stool. “I don’t think I’m up for this.”
“Playing sick won’t help you. Face it, Kate, you’re out of excuses. This town needs you. This production needs you.”
Kate leaned into her elbows as her
head began to spin.
Myles bent down beside her, concern suddenly touching his voice. “On second thought, you do look pale. Maybe you should go to your office and lie down for a while.”
“I can’t. I have an interview at Channel Four in a half hour.”
“You’d better let me handle that.”
Normally, Kate would never agree to hand off her responsibilities, but this was not a normal moment. If she looked as poorly as she felt, she wouldn’t represent the project well. Letting Myles step in and do the interview was the better alternative. “I think that would be best.” She allowed Myles to help her to her feet.
“I’ll walk you to your office.” His phone buzzed at his hip. He glanced at the message then at Kate.
“I’m fine, Myles. You go ahead.”
He looked around. “I’ll get someone to walk with you.”
“I said I’m fine.” She stood straight and tall just to prove her point.
Myles’s phone buzzed again. He glanced at the message on the screen. “There’s a problem at the shepherd’s pen. Excuse me, Kate. I have to go.” He headed off.
Kate fell to the stool again. Putting on an act for Myles’s sake had taken all the energy she had. But she couldn’t sit here all day, either. What would the selectmen think if they saw the town manager just sitting around? Besides, how long could she sit looking sick and pale before it got around to her husband and sons and they came asking questions of her? She didn’t want that.
She pulled herself up and headed toward her office. This pregnancy was going to be harder on her than the others had been. She was already feeling more physical effects than she had with either John or Keith.
As she reached her office, she realized she was already accepting this pregnancy as if it were fact even though she hadn’t yet had the blood test. She also realized the blood test didn’t matter. She knew the results. She felt it in her soul.
Christmas Comes to Bethlehem - Maine Page 2