A Husband for All Seasons (11 page)

He shrugged his shoulders. “The price doesn't matter—if it's something I think they want. But I don't think gloves and scarves sound very exciting. I never did like to get clothes as presents.”

“Does your friend wear jewelry?” He nodded.

“Earrings?”

“Yes—her ears are pierced.”

“Aha! Now we're getting somewhere. Let's go to the jewelry department.”

“Since we're in the clothing department, I'll buy a scarf and gloves for Vicky, then we'll get some jewelry. And while I'm at it, I'll buy a gift for my mother, too. Am I taking up too much of your time?”

“Of course not.”

Since the woman was much the size and age of his mother, she suggested a suitable sweater for her, as well as gloves and a scarf. After fidgeting around he bought a matching set of white gloves, a scarf and a hat for Vicky.

As they approached the jewelry department, he said, “I don't know any more about jewelry than I do about women, but I think her earrings are inexpensive. I'd like to buy something
really
nice. Show me some diamond earrings.”

He noticed that the clerk showed some surprise when he chose a pair of one carat diamond earrings without even asking the price, but she said nothing. After he bought several books and a nice sweater for his father, he gave his helper a twenty dollar bill for being so nice and took his purchases to be gift wrapped.

Next Chad went to the electronics department to buy a television for Grace. He had noticed that her television set was old and that the screen was small. The clerk assured him that it would be delivered a few days before Christmas.

 

Vicky arranged for a poinsettia to be sent to Chad's parents. And wondering what a pauper like her could buy for a multimillionaire, she pondered long over a gift for him. If she bought something at the bookstore, with her employee's discount, she could buy a better gift
than she could afford in another store. She settled on a devotional desk calendar with a special message for each day of the year. That would be easy for him to take with him no matter where he lived, and she could easily tuck it into her luggage.

On the day before they left for Alabama, Vicky had second thoughts about telling her parents that she was going with Chad. To repair the damaged relations with her parents, she had to start now.

Fortunately for her, her father answered the phone.

“Merry Christmas, Dad.”

“Merry Christmas yourself. We just came from a long walk along the beach. The weather is wonderful. What's it like in Columbus?”

“Temperature in the teens, about an inch of snow on the ground and a strong north wind,” she said, laughing.

“We miss you. I wish you were here with us.”

It was easier to talk to her father than her mother, and she said, “Just between us, I couldn't face the combined family right now. I wouldn't have enjoyed the wedding, thinking that everyone would be feeling sorry for me.”

“I understand, and that's the reason I didn't insist on you coming. But we've never been separated before on Christmas. I don't like for you to be alone.”

“That's one reason I called, Dad. I won't be alone. I'm going with Chad to his parents' home in Alabama. His mother called to invite me—remember, I met his parents when he was in the OSU Medical Center? We're leaving tomorrow morning and will be back the day after Christmas. If necessary you can contact me on my cell phone.”

“Do you want me to tell your mother where you are?”

“Use your own judgment. If it will spoil the holidays for her, don't say anything. But I thought you should know where I am.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I may not tell her until we start back home.”

“I love you.”

“And we love you, too. And in spite of what you might think, we do have faith in you. Your mother gets worried now and then, but we'll always support any decision you make.”

“Thanks, Dad. That's the best Christmas gift you could have given me.”

N
ow that Vicky had agreed to go with him to Alabama, Chad was looking forward to going home for Christmas. Freed from much of the pressure that had been his constant companion for weeks, he anticipated a good visit.

The day before their departure, Howie called and reported that plans were going forward with the football scholarship in Alabama, as well as the endorsements Chad had approved. The accountants and his lawyer, however, were encountering a lot of red tape that had to be resolved before his gift to the children of Third World countries would be finalized.

“Let me know your answer about the book when you get back in Columbus,” the agent said, “because the publisher is eager to contact you.”

“I'll do that. While I'm at home I'll gather scrapbooks and other items Mom has kept through the years.”

“I'm sure the publisher will send a ghostwriter and photographer to your hometown, too, so clear that with your folks.”

 

Vicky had finally put aside her misgivings about the propriety of going to Alabama with Chad, and she eagerly anticipated the opportunity to see more of the country than Ohio and its neighboring states. Her flying experience was relatively limited, and the night before they were to leave, excitement and anxiety kept her awake for hours. The crash of a plane in California the week before had reminded her of the dangers of flying.

Chad decided to leave his car at the apartment building, and he called for her in a cab at five o'clock. They had an eight o'clock flight, but the taxi delivered them to the Delta loading gate in a half hour. Chad, an experienced traveler, directed Vicky how to use the automatic check-in. He had cautioned her in advance to be sure that she had her drivers' license for identification and had mentioned items that shouldn't be placed in her carry-on bag.

The check-in went off without a hitch, but Vicky fidgeted as they waited in line to go through security.

Noting Vicky's serious expression and tense fingers clutching her purse strap, Chad put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close in a brief hug.

“This is all routine searching. Don't be upset.”

“I know it's to our advantage that they
are
so particular, but I'm a little nervous about flying. This doesn't help.”

“I'll take care of you and you'll have a good time. I promise you.”

Vicky held her breath and walked carefully as she approached the arched security gate. She passed through without incident and flashed Chad a smile over her
shoulder. She gathered her coat, purse and carry-on bag after they cleared the security camera and waited for Chad, who wasn't detained, either.

They stopped for a breakfast of rolls and juice in a small café before they went on to their departure gate.

“Thanks for asking me to go with you,” Vicky said. “I shouldn't have barged in on a family Christmas observance, but I think it will be fun.”

“You didn't barge in—we invited you, remember? We'll adopt you for the next few days, so just pretend you're a Reece.”

Wide-eyed, Vicky stared at him a moment before she cast her eyes downward. She had no idea what to make of the speculative gleam in the smoldering depths of his eyes.

“And stop worrying that you aren't welcome. Mom will be tickled to have another woman around the house so she won't be outnumbered.”

And Vicky did feel better when both Mr. and Mrs. Reece met them at the Birmingham airport. If they were displeased that she had come, Vicky couldn't tell by their warm greeting. After they retrieved their luggage from the carousel and walked to the parking garage, Mr. Reece inserted a key into a new SUV.

Chad shouted with laughter when he saw it and circled the shiny maroon vehicle with interested eyes and gestures.

“Dad! You finally gave up that old truck you've been driving for years.”

Mr. Reece grinned sheepishly. “Not really. I kept it to drive around town. I bought this for Betty's Christmas gift.”

“Way to go!” Chad said, obviously pleased.

Vicky remembered that he had put a large portion of his NFL signing bonus in trust for his parents' use, which must have encouraged them to buy a new vehicle. Vicky looked at Chad with new admiration. He was always talking about how fortunate he was that the Reeces had adopted him. Vicky thought the shoe might be on the other foot. In her opinion, the Reeces had struck gold when they adopted Chad.

The Reeces' home was located in a town of five thousand people, a two-hour drive from Birmingham. Since they'd stopped en route for lunch, when they reached the town, Mr. Reece drove up and down several streets with Chad pointing out to Vicky the places that had molded his childhood. The elementary school. The football field where he'd played in his first game. The grocery store, where Mr. Reece had worked for years, and where Chad had earned his first money.

“There's where I bought a bicycle with the money I'd worked all summer to save,” he said as they passed a hardware store.

“Drive past the church, too, Stewart,” Mrs. Reece said. “We'll go there for a midnight service on Christmas Eve.” The church was a white frame building and the sign over the door gave the construction date at 1945. “It was built soon after World War II ended. That's where Stewart and I were married.”

The Reeces lived in a bungalow-style home with dark green siding and white trim. Window boxes with blooming pansies were on the windows on either side of the front porch. Mr. Reece drove behind the house
and parked beside a faded blue pickup. A white gazebo stood in the center of a well-kept lawn.

“Excuse us for taking you in the back door,” he said, “but that's the way we always go in. We want you to feel at home.”

“My parents go in their back door most of the time, too.”

“Show her around, Mom,” Chad said, “while I bring in our luggage. Our home is almost as unique as the Victorian homes along Neil Avenue—on a more modest scale, of course.”

“This is a Sears ‘house-in-a-box,'” Mrs. Reece explained. “Do you know why they are unique?”

Vicky shook her head. “No, but I'm sure I've heard of them.”

“They were house kits sold by Richard Sears, the man who founded the Sears Roebuck mail-order company. Starting in 1895, for a period of forty or fifty years he sold precut house kits. Every item the home builder would need came in the kits. This house was built in the midtwenties.”

Chad came in with the luggage and put his in a downstairs room. He set Vicky's two bags near the stairway.

“These houses were available in all sizes,” he said. “A house like ours could be bought for less than a thousand dollars. But large Georgian Colonials and Victorian models as big as Mrs. Lashley's home were available too.”

“There were six rooms on the first floor in the original plan, which included three bedrooms,” Mrs. Reece continued, “but we renovated the house twelve years ago, took out some partitions and made a large
bedroom for us. We raised the roof and added a bathroom and another bedroom upstairs for Chad.”

“That's where you're going to sleep,” Chad said. “I asked Mom to put you in my room so you can have your own bathroom. I'll take your luggage up now, and you can go along if you want to see where you'll be sleeping. I've got the guest room.”

“I'm going to start dinner,” Mrs. Reece said. “Please let me know if there's anything you need.”

At the top of the stairs, they entered a large room with a slanted ceiling dominated by a football theme. The bedspread was covered with football scenes and a wide border along the ceiling matched it. The curtains were made of similar fabric.

“Mom hasn't changed this since I left home,” Chad said apologetically. “I've tried to tell her that I won't be living here again and that she should change the decor but she hasn't.”

“Mothers are like that. My bedroom at home is the same as it was three years ago when I left.”

A glass-enclosed cabinet along one wall held numerous football trophies, and as Vicky's gaze roved over them, once again she was struck with the tragedy of Chad's injury. Would coming into the room remind him again of the change in his life?

He placed her bags on a padded bench at the foot of the bed. Shoulders rigid he stood like a statue in the middle of the room. His expression was tight with pain and his eyes clouded with visions of the past.

Should she ignore his trauma?

Chad sat on the foot of the bed, took a deep breath
and closed his eyes. Timidly, Vicky put her arms around his shoulders and nestled her head against his. Her throat was tight and she couldn't say anything. After a heart-wrenching moment, Chad pulled her around to sit beside him and kept his arm around her waist.

His brows drew together in an agonized expression, his mouth was tight and grim, and a few tears trickled down his face. With the tips of her fingers, Vicky wiped them away.

“I'm so sorry,” she whispered.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “I know you are. I thought I was over it—thought I'd accepted what had happened to me. But walking into this room emphasized my shattered hopes and dreams. I couldn't handle it.”

“It's only natural that you'd feel that way. The first time home after your injury was bound to be difficult.”

“I expected it to be difficult, but I wasn't prepared for the stab of pain that seared my heart.” He shook his head as if he needed to clear his thoughts. “I have to get over this in a hurry. I can't have Mom and Dad see the way I am now.”

“They'll understand.”

“Yes, they will, but it will worry them, and I've caused them enough pain already.”

Chad put both arms around her, and she felt his uneven breathing on her forehead as he held her close.

“And here you are again when I need you so much. Will I ever get over my dependence on you? Someday maybe I can find the words to tell you how much I appreciate you.”

A knot rose in her throat and she made no attempt to
answer him. She hoped he couldn't feel the hammering of her heart against her ribs. Vicky stored up this sensation of being in his arms for the day that was bound to come when Chad would no longer need her.

He held Vicky away from him, searching her face, trying to read her thoughts. Her earnest blue eyes studied him for a moment before she lowered her lashes. Sighing, he leaned forward and kissed her closed eyes then put her gently away.

“You may want to hang up your clothes and settle in. The bathroom is to the left of the stairway. Come back downstairs when you're ready.”

 

Although the Reeces didn't seem to be putting forth any big effort to entertain her, it wasn't long before Vicky felt completely at ease with both of them. If they hadn't wanted her to make this visit, they certainly hid it well. Vicky helped Mrs. Reece clear away the dinner dishes and fill the dishwasher before they went into the family room to watch some clips of Chad's early days playing football. Apparently he had gotten over the earlier discomfort for he discussed the games freely with his father.

After an hour, Vicky pushed forward to the edge of her chair. “If you'll excuse me,” she said, “I'll go to my room. I've worked long hours the past two days to catch up on my duties so I could make this visit, and I'm tired.”

“Why, of course,” Mrs. Reece said. “I'll come with you to be sure that you have everything you need. I want to show you where extra towels are.”

 

As he knew she would do, as soon as his mother returned to the living room, she sat beside Chad on the couch and took his hand.

“Now tell us. How are you? We don't want you to talk about anything that upsets you, but we need to know for our own peace of mind.”

“Betty, give the boy time,” his father said. And he added, “Don't let her rush you, son.”

Chad attempted to conceal the slight annoyance he felt at her probing. He did owe them an explanation.

“I haven't intentionally kept you in the dark, but it isn't easy to discuss the experiences of the past several weeks over the phone.”

Chad stood and wandered around the room, much as he had done when he was in high school, especially after his team had lost. He told them of his disillusionment, his two weeks of wandering in the state park trying to find his way.

“I started to heal when I finally accepted my changed status and stopped blaming God for what had happened. My trouble was that I couldn't think of the blessings I had because I was too set on feeling sorry for myself. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought Vicky with me, but we owe a lot to her. I could talk to her about my feelings when I couldn't talk to anyone else. She could understand because she's had a lot of disappointments, too.”

“Your friends have always been welcome here, as you know,” Mrs. Reece said. “And although Vicky is the first
girl
friend you've brought home, we're glad she
came. It made it much easier for us to leave you in Columbus because you were acquainted with her.”

Chad couldn't decide how much emphasis his mother had given
girl
friend so he let the comment pass.

Because his parents were involved in his will, he tried to keep them abreast of his investments. He told them of his meeting with Howie and the endorsements he had made, and about the book and movie offer.

“This is one decision I won't make without input from you and Perry and Lorene. They're coming to Columbus in January so Perry can be checked by the surgeon, and I'll have this same discussion with them. If I approve having my life's story written, it's going to start with my birth. How much are you willing to have revealed?”

“It's no secret that you were adopted,” his father said. “And there certainly isn't anything about your childhood to be ashamed of. They can publish anything.”

“You took me when I was a week old, so as far as I was concerned, I didn't have any life before that. I didn't want to talk about my adoption. I wasn't even curious. But tell me a little about that now. Why did you choose to adopt?”