The Perfect Family (45 page)

By four thirty, Gretta, Lucy, and BJ had arrived, as well as Caroline’s family, who’d picked up Allison. They socialized with other parents and kids on the deck and in the backyard. Mike and Maggie were outside when Anabelle came around the outdoor walkway on the side of the house with Lisel in tow. Anabelle gave Maggie her characteristic hug when she climbed the stairs to the deck.

“Mike, you remember Anabelle. And this is her partner, Lisel.”

Mike smiled at them. “Nice to see you again, Anabelle.” His words were genuine, his handshake firm. He didn’t let go, either. Instead, he brought his other hand up to hold hers in both of his.

“You, too, under better circumstances.”

“I read your sermon on family last week. Maggie brought it home. I liked what you said. It was meaningful for me.”

“That’s God for you—letting us hit the mark, now and then.”

He was equally gracious with Lisel. “Welcome to our home.”

When Jim and Shirley Lewis arrived, Mike barely spoke to them. Caroline and Gretta took over, ushering them to the backyard. An even tenser moment came when Heather showed up on their doorstep wearing a yellow satin gown, strapless and sexy with her dark hair and eyes. Maggie panicked. Brian’s ex-girlfriend coming to their house with another boy would be disastrous.

“Heather, hi.” She glanced anxiously at the driveway.

Heather smiled. “I’m here with my girlfriends, Mrs. Davidson. I wouldn’t hurt Bri by showing up at your house with a date. But I wanted to go to the prom, so when Jamie gave me the invitation to this, I thought, what the heck? Why let Brian being a tool keep me away from you guys?”

“Oh, honey.” Maggie hugged the girl.

She glanced to the second floor at the still-closed door. “Is he here?”

“Yeah, you want to go up?”

“No, thanks. I’ll find my friends.”

Maggie drew in a deep breath. Poor Brian. When Caroline had come back down from his room, she said he was doing okay, but Maggie seriously doubted that.

Right behind Heather was Casey Carson with two other teachers, one of them the man from the Gay Pride Parade. Lisel, of all people, answered the door when Craig Johnson showed up to take pictures of Tyler and his date. Judy didn’t come, but that didn’t surprise Maggie. The Johnsons were no longer their best friends, and she felt bad for Mike, but Judy and Craig had made their choice. Lisel took him out to the deck and chatted amiably with him. Craig had no idea who she was, which made Maggie smile at the moment of irony.

At about five thirty, the kids started making noises about leaving for dinner. Mike approached her. “Mag, look.”

Turning, she saw Brian come out of the porch.

He was dressed in a spectacular white tux. His hair was curling around his face and his shoulders were relaxed. There was a self-effacing smile on his lips.

“Honey, what are you doing?” she asked when he reached them.

“I’m going to the Junior Prom, hopefully with Heather.” He nodded across the deck, where Heather stood agape at him. “She invited me weeks ago and I got tickets even after she broke up with me. Just in case. I’m gonna—what’s the word, Dad, when you gotta make something up to a girl?”

“Grovel,” his father told him dryly.

“Yeah, grovel. In front of everybody, so maybe she’ll let me be her date.”

Maggie smiled but wondered how Brian would handle seeing Jamie with Luke, arms around each other, dancing. Would they kiss on the dance floor like the other couples?

“Besides,” Brian added, “I wanted to be there, just in case, you know, for Jamie.” He gestured to his brother. “Come on, let’s get a picture.” He led them both over to where Jamie stood with Luke. Brian greeted Luke with a warm handshake, but Jamie stood speechless, staring at Bri. Then he hurtled himself at his brother and they hugged, too.

Brian said, “How about a picture of Mom, Dad, and us two, Jame?”

Jamie barely got out, “Sure.”

The four of them posed by a hydrangea bush, arms linked. Gretta snapped the photo.

After, Mike embraced both of his sons. Then Brian walked over to Heather.

When Gretta tried to hand the camera back to Mike, he shook his head. “Wait a second, I want one more.” Mike motioned to the figure standing off to the side. “Luke, come on. Let’s get a shot of you and Jamie and me.”

Maggie’s sister stood beside her as she watched Mike take his place behind and between the two boys. A bit taller than both, he placed a hand on each of their shoulders. Before he faced to the camera, he winked at Maggie. “We’re ready now,” he said, smiling at Gretta. “Save this for posterity.”

Maggie turned her face into Caroline’s shoulder to hide her tears. Funny, how you could cry at one of the happiest moments of your life.

Kathryn Shay is a lifelong writer. At fifteen, she penned a short story about a female newspaper reporter in New York City and her fight to make a name for herself in a world of male journalists. She never stopped writing, even as she went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system—a true vocation for her. But by the early 1990s, while still teaching, she began her first novel. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.

Since that sale, Kathryn has written twenty-five books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances, and two novellas for the Berkley Publishing Group. More books are contracted and on the way!

Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing. In testament to her skill, she has had one of her books serialized in the December 2003
Cosmopolitan
magazine and has been quoted in People magazine and
The Wall Street Journal.
For her romances, she has won five RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, four Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and The Bookseller’s Best Award.

Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where she began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. “My life is very full,” she reports, “but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve both my dreams.”

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