“This came today,” she said.
“Can I open it?” Jason asked.
“How about we let Daddy open it, Jace. He’s been kind of sad lately.”
“Okay, Mom.” Jason sat back in his chair.
Callie handed the large envelope to Mac and he raised an eyebrow at her.
“I have no idea what this is,” she lied.
Mac ripped open the fancy envelope. Inside was a handmade invitation for each member of their family to have Thanksgiving dinner at Eliza and Danny’s house. It read,
We are thankful to have you in our lives. Please celebrate this giving of thanks with us on Thanksgiving Day at our house.
It was signed by Eliza, Danny, Peter, Lara, Sam, Pat, Jonesy, and Bill. They were not to bring anything because everyone had already divvied up the cooking assignments.
“What is it, Dad?” Jason asked, taking the card out of Mac’s hands.
Mac couldn’t speak. Leave it to their family and friends to bail them out with this kooky invitation and their warm hearts. He pushed his chair back and went out back.
“What’s wrong with Dad?”
“I don’t know. I’ll be right back.” Callie followed Mac into the backyard.
“I thought this would make you happy,” she said, coming up behind him and putting her hands on his arms.
He stood silently for a moment.
“I should have known you were behind this.” His voice was shaking.
Blinking rapidly, he took her into his arms for a hug.
“I guess even with…with…everything…we have a lot to be thankful for.”
Callie rested her face again his chest.
“Maybe more to be thankful for this year than ever.” Mac kissed the top of her head and swiped his handkerchief over his face.
* * * *
“God, it’s cold! How the hell do you live with this all winter?”
“Come in, Sam, I’ve got a hot drink waiting for you.” Callie pulled him inside.
“Dad, we’re making plans for Christmas. Is Pat going to be here with you?” Mac asked his father, handing him a hot toddy.
Sam took his coat off and hung it up then took a sip of the toddy and sat down. Kitty immediately crawled into his lap. He returned his granddaughter’s sweet kiss.
“She hasn’t mentioned anything.” Sam sipped the warming drink.
“Please find out. We’d like to include her,” Callie said.
“Grandpa,” Jason said, running at his grandfather and nearly upsetting his drink.
“Watch it, Jason, you rascal.” Sam ruffled the boy’s hair with one hand and balancing his drink with the other.
“I’d like her to be part of the family at Christmas. Thanksgiving was great. She seems to be able to put up with you all pretty well.” Sam smiled.
“Put up with what? We’re great,” Mac teased.
“I think so.” Callie put her arms around Mac’s waist. He leaned down and kissed her.
“Yuk, Daddy!” Jason made a face.
Kitty clapped her hands and giggled, raising her arms to Mac, who picked her up and kissed her too.
“You don’t have any special Christmas plans for Pat we should know about, do you?” Mac turned to his dad.
“What are you suggesting?” Sam raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing. Nothing. Just asking.” Mac shrugged
“You and Peter never just ask. You’re always getting at something. What is it?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking…you’re not getting any younger. And you and Pat seem to be inseparable…so I was just wondering…”
“Yes?” Sam growled.
“I know, it’s none of my business, except you are my father, so that sort of makes it my business. Anyway, I was wondering if you had any plans to…to…make this arrangement more…permanent?” A few beads of sweat broke out on Mac’s upper lip.
“You want me to marry her?” Sam’s eyebrows rose an inch.
“I’d never suggest anything like…”
“Baloney! That’s just what you were suggesting.”
“Maybe.”
“Why would we get married, we’re not even living together yet?” Sam took a swig of his toddy.
“I think of you as a little old-fashioned about these things. I’d be surprised if you shacked up with…moved in with Pat, Dad.”
“You’re right, Mac. If you’re going to live together, you might as well get married. I’m not sure Pat wants to get married again. Not sure if I do, either.”
“Why not?”
“Things are pretty good as they are now.” Sam sat back.
“Don’t you love her, Dad?” Disappointment was evident in Callie’s voice.
“Of course I do, sweetheart. And we get along great. I don’t want to push her. She seems happy the way things are now.”
“I always think women want to get married, but if you’re not going to have kids, maybe not. I like her.” Callie shrugged.
“So, you want me to propose to her?” Sam raised his eyebrows.
“No, no, Dad. I would never push you into that.” Callie blushed.
Sam laughed.
“The hell you wouldn’t! I know you well enough, Callie Caldwell, to know you’d push me into anything if you thought it would make me happy.” He stood up and gave her a hug.
“He’s got your number, Callie.” Mac smiled.
“Caldwell men are so frustrating,” she said, swiping at Mac with the dish towel.
After dinner, Sam took command of the children while Callie and Mac went to a movie. When they got home, Sam had gotten ready for bed. He was going to sleep in the guest bed in Jason’s room rather than go home in the cold and dark. Callie kissed him goodnight, checked on the children and met Mac in the bedroom.
“Mac, do you ever wish we had only lived together and not gotten married?”
“No, never.” Mac unbuttoned his flannel shirt.
“Really?”
“If you are good enough to share my bed, you’re good enough to share my name and my life,” he said, drawing her into his arms, “but what I had in mind now was sharing my bed,” Mac said, desire growing in his eyes.
* * * *
Sam let himself into Pat’s house. He knew she left the door unlocked when he was expected.
“Honey, I’m home,” he said, chuckling to himself.
“Be right out,” she called from the bedroom.
Sam put the bag from the grocery store on the kitchen counter and began to unpack it. Pat came out of the bedroom fastening an earring on. She was wearing a sexy, full length velour, short-sleeved lounge dress slit up to the hip on one side with a low-cut neckline. The dress was the same color green as her eyes.
“Holy smoke! Is that new?” Sam asked, looking her up and down.
“Yes. Want to keep you interested.” She smiled flirtatiously.
“You succeeded. Although I’d be interested even if you wore a burlap sack.”
“Maybe if I wore only a burlap sack!”
He laughed and took her in his arms, kissing her. They usually didn’t see much of each other during the week because of Pat’s busy schedule, so their weekends together were intense.
“I don’t think you’re going to have that new dress on long enough to get it dirty,” he whispered in her ear, hungry with desire.
“Food first. What did you bring me?” She slowly pulled out of his arms to examine the food on the counter.
“Ah, yes, food first. I brought some fresh salmon, squash and, your favorite, those tiny jelly beans.”
“Oh you brought those? I love those and am in the mood for them tonight.” Pat gave him a quick kiss and put away the perishables.
“Okay, we did the food. Now…” he said, winding his arms around her waist from behind, kissing her neck and bringing his hands up to her breasts.
“You mean after just putting this on, I’m going to have to take it off?”
“Maybe not. That slit looks like it goes up just far en
ough…”
“Whoa! I’ll take it off.”
“Let me help you.” Sam ran the long zipper all the way down the back of the dress. Pat turned around and started pulling the sleeves down.
“Hey, you’re still dressed.” She reached for his shirt buttons.
In a minute both were undressed. Sam’s eyes grew wide when he looked at Pat.
“Those are new too.” He looked at her sheer blue bra and bikini panties.
“Do you like them?” Pat put her hand on her hip and struck a modeling pose.
“Are you kidding? I love them, now let’s take them off.”
Sam took her hand and led her into the bedroom.
“What about dinner?” She raised one eyebrow at him.
“Feed one appetite at a time.” He pulled her down on the bed.
* * * *
Pat liked to make love in the morning. She’d wake Sam up with a kiss or a touch. Once she put his hand on her breast, which woke him up quickly. Sunday morning Sam got in the shower first. When he was all soaped up, Pat entered the bathroom quietly and knocked on the shower stall. Sam jumped.
“You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“I’m sorry. I thought this would be a good way to conserve water and reduce my water bill a little.” A smile played at her lips as she got in the shower with him.
“I had no idea you were such a conservationist, Patsy.” He stepped aside to make room for her, unable to hide his grin. Sam took the soap and slowly lathered up her body. Laughter and giggling were drowned out by the sound of the shower spray…so was the ringing of the doorbell.
* * * *
At the front door, Jack, Merry and Bobby were standing in the freezing cold, pushing the doorbell but getting no answer. Jack found the spare key and opened the door.
“Mom’s car is here, I don’t know why she didn’t answer the door,” Jack said over his shoulder as he entered the house.
“Maybe she’s in the bathroom,” Merry suggested.
While Jack lugged their suitcase into the spare room, Merry went around to the bedroom and heard the sound of the shower running.
“Jack, she’s in the shower,” Merry called.
“Why don’t you go in and tell her we’re here.”
Merry opened the door a little bit and called out Pat’s name. No answer. Then she opened the door a little more and gave it a good rap, rap, rap. In the shower, Pat screamed when she heard the knocking. Sam turned off the shower and Merry opened the door.
“Pat, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare…” Merry stood in the doorway, looking at Sam and Pat. A loud gasp escaped her throat as she quickly turned away, covering her eyes with one hand.
“Sam, throw me a towel,” Pat said.
Jack called out from the living room.
“Everything okay, Merry?”
Color flooded Merry’s face and her vocal cords seemed paralyzed.
“Merry?” Jack called as he got closer to the bedroom.
Pat jumped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around her. Sam followed.
“Merry, what are you doing here?” Pat asked her, fastening the towel securely.
“We decided last minute to come for that country winter experience you keep talking about…and thought we’d surprise you.” Merry slowly moved her hand down from her eyes.
“Well, you certainly did surprise me. This is Sam Caldwell, Sam this is Merry, my daughter-in-law.”
Sam took a big breath and tried to smile at Merry whose cheeks kept getting redder. Oh, God, Jack is heading this way. This is not going to be pretty. Suddenly Pat realized Sam’s situation was worse than hers. Almost as bad as getting caught sleeping with a husband’s wife was getting caught having sex with a son’s mother.
Sure enough, before they could get out of the bathroom and get to their clothes, Jack came around the corner.
“Hi, Mom…” Jack stopped dead when he saw Sam. “Who’s this?”
“This is Sam Caldwell. Sam, my son, Jack Weiss.” Pat tried to stay cool as she made the introductions.
“Mom, please tell me this guy is here to fix the shower,” Jack pleaded.
“He’s my boyfriend, if you can still use that word…”
“Oh my God! You have a boyfriend?” Jack backed out of the bathroom.
At least now Sam and Pat could get to their clothes. Jack retreated to the living room with Merry close behind. Neither Pat nor Sam spoke while they dressed. When they were almost finished, Sam broke the silence.
“Why didn’t you tell Jack we are seeing each other?” He was buttoning up his plaid shirt.
“I don’t know. I guess I was worried he wouldn’t like it.” Pat pulled the zipper up on her jeans.
“Maybe not, but our kids have to get used to us being together, don’t you think?”
“I suppose so.” She smoothed down her sweater.
“You suppose so? Don’t you want to be with me, Patsy?” Sam’s brows creased, she could see he was hurt.
“Of course I do.” She pulled him close for a kiss. “You make me happy.”
“That’s all I wanted to know, sweetheart.” Sam hugged her close. “So, what should we do?”
“I don’t know, Sam. It depends on how reasonable or unreasonable Jack is.”
“Doesn’t it depend upon you? Aren’t you going to call the shots for your life?”
“It isn’t that easy.” Pat patted her face one more time with the damp towel.
“I know. It’s different with mothers and sons, I suppose. Still, I think you have a right to your own life.” Sam threaded a leather belt through the loops on his pants.
“I do, but I’d like to live it in peace with my son.” Pat applied her lipstick.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Maybe you should slip away quietly and I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
Sam’s frown indicated he didn’t favor the idea. When they came out of the bedroom, Jack, Merry and Bobby were waiting in the living room. Bobby ran over to Pat.
“Grandma, Grandma!”
She took the boy in her arms and hugged him.
“Pat, please excuse me for barging into the bathroom, interrupting your privacy. I’m so sorry. If I had known you weren’t alone, I’d never have come in. Please forgive me,” Merry stammered, heading for the spare room with Bobby following close behind.
“Don’t worry about it, Merry. You had no way of knowing.” Pat turned to Jack. “When you plan to surprise people, sometimes you end up getting the biggest surprise of all. If you had told me about your plans, we could have avoided this.”
“Does it mean you wouldn’t be sleeping with him, if you knew we were coming?”
“It means I would’ve been able to introduce you properly, kept my private life, private…and still made a nice two weeks for you and your family.”
Sam went over to the closet and took out his coat.
“This looks like a family discussion, so I think I’ll go.”
Jack glared at him.
“Okay, Sam,” Pat said, moving forward to give him a substantial goodbye kiss.
“Mother! What are you doing? Are you a…a…”
“Watch it, sonny!” Sam warned. “She’s your mother. Treat her with respect!”
“Do you respect her? You’re sleeping with her. Does that show you respect her?”
“You’re damn right I do. I love her too.” Sam’s cheeks colored a bit at his own admission.
Pat looked up at him quizzically. He had never said it to her before.
“Now? You tell me that now?” Her eyes grew wide.
“Oh, I see. You love her so much you’ve never told her before now? Great. Very impressive,” Jack put in.
“Oh, Sam, I…”
“I’m sorry, Patsy. This isn’t the best time to tell you how I feel.” He buttoned his coat and headed toward the door.
“Patsy! Where do you get off calling her ‘Patsy’?”
“It’s his nickname for me. It’s
all right with me. Leave it alone, Jack,” Pat said, then turned back to Sam. “So you love me, huh?”
“I do. We should continue this when we’re alone.” Sam kissed her.
Before he opened the front door, she was in his arms for a goodbye hug.
“It was very nice to meet you, Merry, Bobby…Jack. Call me. I’m here if you need me.” Sam went out the front door.
* * * *
Two days later, Pat had not called Sam. So he called her. Jack picked up the phone first and wouldn’t let Sam talk to her. So he called back in an hour, Jack again. Sam wondered what was going on. He was grouchy and grumpy, snapping at everyone. Both Peter and Mac asked him what happened, but Sam refused to talk to anyone.
He consented to have dinner at Callie and Mac’s house. Callie was the one who convinced him to talk after the children were in bed.
“Things don’t look too good for Pat and me, right now,” Sam admitted to Callie.
“What happened?” Callie placed her hand on his arm.
“Jack, Pat’s son, and his family arrived for a surprise visit and caught Patsy and me in…a compromising position, shall we say. Don’t ask for details…”
“Her son? Oh boy.” Mac shook his head.
“Thanks a lot! Like I don’t feel bad enough already!” Sam shouted.
“Sorry, Dad.” Mac put his hand on Sam’s shoulder.
“It’s okay, Dad. It’s not your fault.” Callie took his hand.
“I know, but it feels like my fault. Pat was supposed to call me…she hasn’t. So I called her…twice and her son wouldn’t let me speak to her. I don’t know what to do.”
“I think you should drive over there, Dad.” Callie squeezed his hand.
“You do?” Sam raised his eyebrows.
“You don’t even know if Jack told Pat you called. She might not even know. If it were me, I’d want to know you called…you cared. If you drive over there, they can’t ignore you. Sit in the driveway and blow your horn, if you have to. Let Pat know you’re there for her. That’s what Mac would do, wouldn’t you?” Callie raised her big blue eyes to Mac’s.
Now & Forever 3 - Blind love Page 20