A Family for Christmas Read Free Page A

“For the past three months, I’ve been dating a man at the university. He’s asked me to marry him.”
    A groan escaped Emmalee’s lips, and her face turned the color of ashes. Alarmed, Wendy boundedoff the couch, went to Emmalee and put her arm around her mother’s shoulder.
    â€œMother, are you all right?”
    Slowly, Emmalee regained her composure, and shrugged off her embrace. When she looked at Wendy, her eyes were filled with anger.
    â€œHow could I be all right when you’ve sprung such news on me? Are you pregnant?”
    The gasp that escaped Wendy’s lips sounded loud in the uneasy silence of the room.
    â€œOf course not!”
    â€œWell, what else can I think? You’ve been dating someone for months and you haven’t even mentioned him before this? Suddenly, he asks you to marry him. Who is this man? Why haven’t you told me about him?”
    Wendy wanted to say, “Because I knew you’d react the way you are now.” Instead, she said, “I didn’t know how serious he was until today when he asked me to marry him.”
    â€œSurely you didn’t accept his proposal!”
    â€œYes, I did.”
    Emmalee lunged out of her chair as if a bee had stung her and she walked nervously around the room. Stark fear, mingled with anger, clouded her eyes.
    â€œWhen am I going to meet my future son-in-law?”
    â€œI don’t know. He’s a graduate student at the university, working toward his doctorate. He plans to teach agricultural studies in a college. His family lives in Ohio. His father is seriously ill, and he had to go home today. He doesn’t know when he’ll come back to Florida.”
    Without a word, Emmalee went into her bedroom and slammed the door. Fighting back tears, Wendy turned on the television and stared at the screen the rest of the evening. She had no idea what programs she watched.
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    Although, at first, Wendy’s news had stunned Emmalee to silence, the rest of the weekend, during their time together, Emmalee grilled Wendy about Evan.
    Did he have any money?
    If they married, would she move to Ohio?
    When did they plan to marry?
    And what about me? Are you going to abandon me?
    After two days of this, Wendy was in no mood to deal with Evan’s problems when he called at her mom’s apartment. She was more concerned with Evan’s feelings for her, rather than his family’s troubles, but she did ask immediately, “How is your father?”
    â€œNot good,” Evan said grimly. “The doctors have told us he’ll live, but his recovery will be slow. He may never regain the strength he had before his stroke. It could take a year for his rehabilitation.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Evan.”
    â€œI’m sorry, too. Not only for Daddy, but for you and me.”
    Wendy’s joy over his phone call diminished sharply.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Wendy asked, a chill starting in the pit of her stomach and pulsing rapidly through the rest of her body. Because of the continualanimosity between Wendy and her mother during the weekend, Wendy realized that her love for Evan had taken second place to her reliance on him as a ticket to a way out of her present situation.
    â€œIt means I can’t come back to Florida next semester to finish my research for the doctoral thesis. I’ll have to take over the farm management—there’s no one else to do it.”
    â€œBut you’re already registered for next semester!” Wendy said, her body stiff with shock.
    â€œI can probably handle most of the work online. If not, my Ph.D. will have to be postponed.”
    â€œWhat about me?” Wendy’s heart seemed to shout as she voiced the question. But she’d lived with her mother’s possessiveness long enough to know what it was like to demand attention. Wendy had made up her mind years ago that she wouldn’t beg for affection from anyone, and she was