Chapter Six
After gorging himself by eating almost the entire chicken potpie—which was supposed to have served all three of them—Kevin flung himself on the sofa and fell into a deep sleep. The jet lag and the excitement had finally caught up with him. He was supposed to go to the tree farm after dinner, but when he didn’t spring up after his mom tried to rouse him, she let him sleep.
Suddenly, he jerked up out of his deep sleep. “What time is it? What day is it?” He almost seemed panicked.
“It’s Monday evening, around eight o’clock. You okay? You were sound asleep. Obviously, you needed your rest.” His mom was working on one of her dozen gingerbread houses.
“Darn! I was supposed to work the farm tonight!”
“It’s okay, honey. I called your dad and let him know, and Jake was on hand to help.” Then it dawned on her that the new doctor in town was supposed to stop by to get her tree. “Oh dear. I was so busy with my baking I forgot tonight was the
night. You know, when Dr. Kate was coming by. I’m so sorry!”
“Mom. It’s okay,” Kevin consoled his mother. He knew she meant well in everything she did, but the holidays were jam-packed with things that needed to be done, and it was easy to get sidetracked. “I’m sure I will run in to her again. I do have to make that appointment!” He thought his reassurance would mask his frustration.
“And I was the one chiding you. I should have remembered!” Mrs. Matthews seemed genuinely distraught.
“It’s really okay. I’ll probably see her at the tree lighting, or at the very least, at church. Now get back to icing those rooftops! The bake sale is in three days!” Kevin was making light of the oversight and grabbed a paintbrush to give his mom a hand.
“Okay, but we still need to find out her situation.” Mrs. Matthews seemed relieved and gave her son a wink.
“Mama, you are just too much sometimes!”
After a few hours of painting the shutters for the gingerbread houses, Kevin yawned and stretched. “I think I need to get some more serious shut-eye, Mama. Sweet dreams.”
“Same to you, son!” she said, as she blew him a kiss.
The next morning the phone rang. It was Betty Palmer on the other line. “Hey, Maggie, it’s Betty. Is Kevin available?”
“Good morning! I bet you are just up to your ears with activities! Hang on one second, let me go get him.” Maggie Matthews brought the phone into the kitchen and handed it to her son. “It’s Betty Palmer,” she whispered.
“’Morning, Betty. What can I do for you? Need more trees?” Kevin was being playful. There wasn’t an extra square inch that could accommodate another tree at the church.
“Hey, Kevin. Do you think you could stop by Melissa’s today? She needs some help getting her decorations from the attic, and Greg is out of town until Saturday.”
Kevin knew he would eventually run into Melissa very soon, but not this soon. He had figured it would most likely be at the tree lighting—not going to her house to help her out.
Hesitating, he responded, “Well. Sure. I guess. When?”
“Could you stop by this morning? That’ll give her a chance to sort everything out before the weekend.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’ll go over in an hour. What’s the address?” Kevin gave his mom a horrified look. Meeting up with Melissa after six years was going to be uncomfortable even though he knew he was over her. Just plain awkward was more like it.
He looked around for a pen and paper and jotted the address down. “Got it. Will do. No. No problem, Betty. See you soon.”
He hung up the phone and turned to his mother. “I have to help Melissa with some boxes. I didn’t want to say no, but I certainly didn’t want to say yes either.”
“Well, I suppose it’s like pulling off a Band-Aid. The quicker you do it, the less pain you’ll feel.”
“I know you’re right. I just wasn’t really prepared for it. Sure, I’d thought about it—our first encounter after six years—but now that it’s an hour away, I’m really not sure how I am going to feel. Or what to say, for that matter.”
“Start with, ‘Hey, Mel. Good to see you. You look well.’ Then let her do the talking.” Kevin’s mom understood how difficult this could be for him. After the breakup, he had left town suddenly and never spoken to Melissa again. Today was going to be challenging, for sure.
“Good idea. You’re right. I really don’t have to say too much, do I?” Kevin smiled and took in a deep breath. “I guess it’s like diving out of a plane. You’re pretty sure the chute is going to open, and you hope for the best!”
“You’ll be fine, son. Six years is long enough to mend a broken heart, don’t you think?”
“Yes, and yes. But as I said, I’ve had a number of scenarios in my head about this moment.” He tossed on his heavy denim shirt, his Air Force insignia baseball cap, and headed toward the door, stopping to give his mom a peck on the cheek. “Let’s hope the chute opens!”