Breaking the Ties That Bind

by Gwynne Forster

  Kendra gave Emma the menu, showed her the serving dishes and utensils, and explained how she wanted the meal served. She had just flicked on the Christmas tree lights and placed two gifts under the tree when the doorbell rang. She opened it and Sam’s soft whistle greeted her.

  “You look good enough to bite,” he said. “I’m engaging in self-restraint.”

  “Don’t knock yourself out with it. We’re practically alone.”

  His eyes sparkled. “Don’t tempt me. I have to spend the rest of the evening practicing self-control, and I’m starting the way I can hold out.” He kissed her quickly on the mouth.

  “Where’s Bert?”

  “He went to pick up two guests. I expect he’ll be here any minute.”

  Sam sniffed. “Hmm. Now this is the way a place should smell on Christmas Eve. Who cooked?”

  “I did. Go have a seat while I get us some drinks and hors d’oeuvres.”

  “Wait till the others come,” he said at about the time the doorbell rang.

  Kendra imagined that her jaw dropped when she opened the door to Jethro and instead of seeing Edwina with him, she looked into the face of a stunning woman around her own age or a little older.

  “Come in,” she said, recovering as quickly as she could.

  “Merry Christmas and welcome.”

  “Kendra Richards, this is Andrea Lang. Andrea, Kendra is Sam’s girl.” He looked at Kendra with an amused expression and winked. “Did Sam get here yet?”

  “Yes. He just got here. Papa!” she exclaimed when she saw Bert. “Everybody come on in.” She let Jethro introduce Andrea to her father.

  “Welcome,” Bert said. “These are my friends, Jennifer and Hal Underwood, brother and sister. Where’s Sam?”

  “Right here, Bert. Hi, Da . . . Dad.”

  Jethro laughed and embraced Sam. “You’re looking great, son.” He handed Bert a package that contained two bottles of Courvoisier VSOP Cognac.

  With the formalities dispensed with, they settled in the living room around the Christmas tree and were soon exchanging tales in a jocular fashion as if they had all known each other for a long time. However, beneath her relaxed and happy façade, Kendra hid a growing anxiety. Tired of guessing, she excused herself, went to the dining room, and called to Sam.

  “Could you help me in here for a minute, please, Sam?”

  “What is it?” he asked her as he walked into the dining room.

  “Look, it’s none of my business, but it’s driving me up the wall. Did your dad break up with Edwina?”

  “Not that I know of. I’m as surprised as you are.”

  She’d always been told, like father, like son, and she did not care for what seemed like Jethro’s casual treatment of his relationship with Edwina. “But . . . does he do things like this?” she asked Sam. “I mean, three weeks ago, they were as tight as two pecan halves. What do you think happened?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Somehow, I don’t think anything’s happened to separate them.”

  “But who is Andrea? Have you met her before?”

  “Not as I recall. Who’s this lady who’s keeping Bert occupied?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Looks like our papas are doing their own thing tonight.”

  “Yeah. Tell me about it,” he said, walking with her back to the living room.

  “After dinner, if you three feel like listening, Jennifer, Hal, and I will play our guitars,” Bert said. “The three of us haven’t played together for a while, and I’m looking forward to it.” He looked at Andrea. “Do you sing?”

  “I’ve been known to,” she said, “but not on a full stomach.”

  “Not to worry,” Bert assured her. “We’re amateurs. Now, Sam can really sing.”

  Kendra listened to the pleasant conversation, but it held little interest for her. What had happened between Jethro and Edwina? Had they split? Or was he cheating on her? She didn’t want to be unhappy on Christmas Eve, and especially not when her papa had gone to such pains to make it a wonderful occasion. But the story of Jethro and Edwina was such a beautiful tale, strengthening her faith in the power and durability of love.

  She checked with Emma, returned to the living room, and announced that dinner was ready. “May I wash my hands?” Andrea asked her. Kendra led her to the guest lavatory, and whirled back to confront Jethro, only to see that Sam had already taken advantage of the opportunity.

  “What’s going on here, Dad?” Sam asked his father. “What’s happened between you and Edwina? I thought she’d be here.”

  “I guess you did. So, apparently, did Kendra. Edwina is in Florida with her parents. They’re getting old and her father isn’t well, so she wanted to spend Christmas with them. This could be his last one. There’s nothing between Andrea and me. She’s from Eugene, Oregon, and she’s here doing research on constitutional law at the Library of Congress.”

  “What are you going to do with her when Edwina comes back?”

  A grin spread over Jethro’s face. “Same thing as before Edwina left. Nothing.”

  As they headed for the dining room, Sam whispered to Kendra, “Everything’s straight, and he isn’t cheating.” He could see relief flood Kendra’s being. Immediately, she became the sparkling, wonderful woman that he loved. He’d have to ask her about her reaction to seeing his father with Andrea. To his way of thinking, it had been extreme.

  In spite of his few anxious moments at the beginning of the evening, Sam enjoyed the company and the wonderful Christmas dinner. When they finished dessert, he raised his glass. “Kendra, I have never enjoyed a Christmas dinner more. You’re a really good cook. Here’s to you.”

  “Thanks, Sam. I admit to having been nervous about the turkey dressing, but everybody ate it.”

  “It was delicious,” Hal said. “It’s my favorite thing about a turkey dinner.”

  In the living room, they drank coffee, and all except Kendra enjoyed the cognac. Sam took her hand, and she leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes.

  He kissed her cheek. “You have every right to be happy,” he said, for her ears alone.

  Bert got his guitar and two others from a closet, checked the tuning of his own, and said to Hal, “How about a few rounds of ‘Let It Go’?” He looked at Jennifer. “You want to play lead?”

  She nodded, and they launched into the old jazz tune at a sizzling pace. Sam could barely believe his ears, and they played variations of the tune for ten minutes. Bert Richards and his friends regaled the group with jazz and blues until Kendra said, “Papa, do you know ‘Everything I Have Is Yours’?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “How about the key of G?” Sam asked, and sang along with the guitar rendition.

  “Each time I hear you sing,” Bert said, “I am amazed that you’ve never sung professionally.”

  He’d never had the desire to sing publicly. “I haven’t wanted to,” Sam said.

  “It’s a few minutes to twelve,” Jethro said, “and as much as I’m enjoying this wonderful evening, I have to take this lady home before I get too sleepy to drive. Merry Christmas to all of you and our thanks, Bert and Kendra, for a wonderful Christmas Eve.”

  Bert called a taxi for Emma and another for the Underwood siblings. “I don’t drive when I’ve had this much to drink,” he explained. “We’ll talk tomorrow, Jennifer.”

  As soon as they left, Kendra cornered her father. “Papa, do you have something to tell me? You and Jennifer did a lot of quiet talking tonight. What’s going on?”

  “She’s nice. I’ve known Hal for ages. I met Jennifer a couple of months ago. As I said, she’s nice.”

  “Nice? Is that all? Well?”

  “She’s been divorced for about a year, and she’s only now shedding all that angst. Her ex went off with a woman who was a go-go dancer where he worked as the resident pianist. Jennifer is the last person who’d compete with one of those sisters.”

  But Kendra was tenacious. “I liked her. Are you planning
to pursue a relationship with her? She’s as different from Mama as wind is from water.”

  Bert looked steadily at his only child. “What makes you think I’d allow myself to get within a mile of a woman like Ginny? How many times should a man learn the same lesson? Jennifer had never heard of Jimmy Choo. Ed once told me that Ginny was in a snit because she wanted a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes and he wouldn’t lend her seven hundred and some dollars to buy them.”

  When Kendra frowned, Sam asked her, “Who’s Jimmy Choo?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Sam didn’t say, Thank God, but he certainly thought it. When Bert played Christmas carols on the CD player, Sam reached beneath the tree and removed the two packages that he’d placed there and handed one to Kendra and the other to Bert. He knew Kendra would like her gift, but he wasn’t sure about Bert.

  “Gee whiz. Just look at this,” Kendra said, dropping the pearl necklace in her lap. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. “You’re one sweet man. I love it.” She showed it to Bert who nodded appreciatively.

  “I’ve always marked you for a man with taste. They’re beautiful.” Bert opened his gift and released a whistle. “A silver guitar pick with my initials. Hmm. Thank you. I’m not likely to lose this one. I’ll be right back.” He returned with a box wrapped in gold and red candy cane paper. “The contents are packed for your freezer, so be sure and open it tonight.”

  Sam opened it right then, though he knew he’d find individual-cut prime filet mignon steaks. He looked at Bert and grinned. “If I had a habit of hugging men, I’d sure hug you for this. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Sam wasn’t sure he should open Kendra’s gift to him in her father’s presence, so he asked her, “Should I open it now or later?”

  “Now, if you want to.”

  He opened the box with fingers that weren’t quite steady, and when he saw the label on the inner box, he quickened his efforts. He knew she couldn’t afford it, but she’d bought him a Montblanc Meisterstück Le Grand ballpoint pen. He could feel his face crease into a smile.

  “I am definitely in the habit of hugging women,” he said, and pulled her into his arms. “You are one sweet woman.”

  “You two have made a big leap since the three of us were last together and certainly since I last saw you, Sam. I hope you’ll work at understanding each other and avoid letting outside forces make you unhappy. If something distresses you, don’t let it simmer. Deal with it head-on right then. Little things get bigger with time.” Bert looked at Sam. “I was rather expecting some news about Jethro and Edwina, so you may imagine my surprise that he had a different date tonight.”

  “Edwina’s spending Christmas with her parents in Florida, so he brought an associate who’ll be returning to Oregon at the end of the year. Edwina still rules.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Bert said. “They’re an attractive couple.”

  “I’d better get on home, Papa. I’d stay here tonight, but I want to sleep late tomorrow, and you get up with the sun. It’s been wonderful. See you at lunch tomorrow.”

  “Good night, sir, and thanks again for my steaks. I’m going to have one for breakfast.”

  “You’re having lunch with your dad tomorrow?” Sam asked Kendra as soon as he closed the door.

  “It’s our custom. We’ve done it every year since I went to live with Mama. That’s when he and I exchange gifts. He wouldn’t put a foot in Mama’s apartment, so that’s how we managed it.”

  “The more I see of him, the more I like him. I hope he and Jennifer make a go of it. She’s very interested in him.”

  “I noticed that. If she makes him happy, I wouldn’t ask for more. He hasn’t had much of that.”

  “Are you going to see your mother tomorrow?” He didn’t want to ask her, but he had to.

  “No, I’m not. I’d like to call her, but I’m scared I’ll open Pandora’s box. Isn’t it awful?”

  “Yes, it is, but sometimes you have to let go.”

  “I know, and I’m trying.” Sam hoped that was enough. He loved Kendra, but he had his limit, and Ginny Hunter was it.

  When Kendra got in bed Christmas night, she doubted that she would sleep. Her entire body still tingled from Sam’s wild lovemaking Christmas Eve and from his possessiveness and attentiveness Christmas evening and night. Happiness suffused her, but somewhere in the back of her consciousness lurked the fear that her bubble might burst. She was happy for her papa, who had confirmed that he and Jennifer shared an interest in each other, and that the woman brightened his life. But it had been her experience that each time their lives became relatively peaceful and uncomplicated, her mother or incidents in her mother’s life disrupted the peace.

  Spending a Christmas without any contact with her mother or even knowing where her mother was didn’t sit well with her; although Ginny had blighted her life far more often than she had illumined it, the woman was still her mother. After a couple of hours tossing in bed, she slept fitfully.

  Sam’s call awakened her at eight the next morning. “Good morning, sweetheart. Are you planning anything today that can include me?”

  “Hi, love. If you can sew, I’ll welcome the help. I’m getting my clothes together for the trip, which is less than two weeks away. Choosing what to wear for an entire month and packing economically requires some ingenuity.”

  “I imagine it’s much more difficult for a woman than for a man. Be sure and carry all the toilet articles and medicines that you’re likely to need. Their brands are different from ours.”

  “Thanks. I don’t wear makeup, except occasionally for lipstick, so that’s not a problem. We could have dinner together this evening, if you want to, although the weather forecast is for snow.”

  “I was hoping you’d be free this evening. I want to see you.” She agreed.

  But early in the afternoon, she received a call from Clifton Howell.

  “I know you’re on vacation, Kendra, but Tab has the flu, and I’m desperate. Can you fill in on his TV program from seven to eight-thirty tonight? It’s just for tonight. By tomorrow, I’ll have found a temporary replacement for Tab.”

  “You know I’ll help you in any way that I can, Mr. Howell, but I may not know the guests he’s interviewing.”

  “True. Do you have some friends who could have something important to say about Christmas or New Year’s or education or jazz? Whatever. Kendra, that’s a prime-time show. I can’t give it to just anybody, and I can’t do a rerun again tonight.”

  She thought for a minute. “I’ve got an idea. I’ll call you right back. She hung up, called Sam, and related to him Howell’s request. “I’d like to interview you and your father together. I can’t interview my papa, because he doesn’t close the shop tonight till six-thirty.”

  “Tell him to close an hour early, and interview the three of us.”

  “What about?”

  “Christmas and the meaning of family. Family can be more than a group of blood relatives, or sexual partners, or relatives by marriage. How about it?”

  “Okay. I’d better call my papa and your dad.”

  “I’ll call Dad.”

  “Thanks. Be at the studio at six o’clock.” She hung up, telephoned her father, and couldn’t believe his excited response. Figuring that Clifton Howell had begun to bite nails, she dialed his number and told him what she planned.

  “You’re an angel. I’ll make sure that the commercials are for humanitarian causes so as not to embarrass them. Naturally, they’ll get an honorarium, and, in addition to my thanks, you’ll get paid. See you around six.”

  So much for dinner with Sam. Still, she didn’t doubt that the evening would be exciting.

  She went through her closets, and chose garments that she could wear in Europe, but which needed mending, and got to work. However, her thoughts centered on her evening program as questions took shape in her mind. She would lead with a question or two and then let them talk. She didn’t doubt that they woul
d relate well to each other.

  Minutes before leaving home to go to the studio, she received a call from her father. When she saw his caller ID, she had a moment of fear that he might have called to cancel his appearance on the show.

  “What’s the matter, Papa?”

  “Nothing’s the matter. I’m just afraid that if Ginny catches this program, she’ll manage to interfere with it.”

  She let out a long breath in relief. “Good point. I won’t take any calls. Thanks for alerting me.” She hung up with the thought that she might be the only person in the city of Washington who feared a mother’s telephone call.

  Her one dislike of anchoring a program was the preprogram makeup sessions. She hated the goo on her face. Dressed in the best suit that she owned, the burnt-orange wool crepe, she walked on camera to the applause of the studio audience, took a seat in a comfortable leather chair, and crossed her knees. A large thermos of coffee, mugs, spoons, milk, and sugar rested on the glass-top coffee table. Good, she thought, glancing at the decorated Christmas tree in a corner. Just the right atmosphere.

  “Hello, everyone. Tab isn’t feeling well tonight. I have three wonderful guests, and we’re going to talk about family and Christmas. Please meet Herbert Richards, purveyor of the best quality meats to be found in the District of Columbia; Jethro Hayes, attorney at law; and Samuel Hayes, professor of clinical and family psychology at GW. Mr. Richards is my father and, as you have probably observed, Jethro and Samuel Hayes are father and son.

  “All four of us have at one Christmas or another been without a complete family. How do you think this affects an individual?” Sam took the question, as she’d known he would, and after a few minutes, the four of them gave the appearance of a group of friends conversing in a living room. The hour and a half passed so swiftly that the producer’s five-minute signal surprised her, and they barely had time to wrap up. She had a sense of accomplishment that she’d never experienced as a radio host. TV is for me, she thought, but kept it to herself.

  As they walked out of the studio, Howell intercepted them. “I’m Clifton Howell. That may have been the best program we’ve had in this time slot. Thank all of you for coming to our rescue. Mr. Richards, your daughter is an exceptional woman.” He handed each of them a gold foil envelope. “Have a Happy New Year. When Kendra comes back from Europe, I hope we can have the three of you on another program. I’m thinking, African American History Month. Think about it.” He shook hands with them.