A Family for Christmas (8 page)

P
erhaps Hilda understood their need to be alone, because after Wendy and Evan showered and ate their breakfast, she asked if they'd do some shopping for her. The days they'd been without power, as well as the extra time it took to care for Karl, had delayed her Christmas preparations.

As they drove into town, Wendy said, “Can I do some Christmas shopping before we go back to the farm? I want to buy some gifts for your family.”

“Hasn't Mom explained our gift-giving customs?” he asked with a grin.

She shook her head.

“Our parents taught us when we were kids that there's more to Christmas than receiving. They buy us
one
gift each, and a gift for each other. The cost of the gifts have increased through the years, but it's still one gift each. We children have never given anything to each other that cost money, unless it's some
thing we make and we need to buy the materials to make it.”

“That seems very strange to me. My mother always bought gifts for me—probably more than she could afford.”

“Daddy and Mom spend a lot of money, too, but it's always for people who need it more than we do. Each year, they look for two or three projects where their money can be used wisely to take Christmas to others. It's a family project now—all five of us decide whom we should help. As much as possible, these are anonymous gifts.”

“Didn't you mind at Christmas when you were a child and your friends received lots of gifts and you got only one?”

“Sometimes. Marcy pouted about it every Christmas for years. But we had all we needed throughout the year, besides a lot of luxuries, most of which we paid for. Our parents paid us for work we did around the farm, and we could buy things ourselves. I paid for my first car, and the ones I've had since then. Marcy bought the car she's driving to college.”

“What kind of work did you do?”

“Fieldwork for me in the summer, and I took one year off from college to computerize our records. Daddy isn't into computers, and he paid me well for that year's work,” Evan said, his mouth twitching with humor. “I've earned the money I have. The girls helped in the garden. They cleaned the house. Also, we had 4-H projects, showing calves or other animals at the local fair. We accumulated quite a lot of prize money on our animals and showmanship.”

“Your life and mine have been so different.”

“Dad and Mom put this emphasis on giving rather than receiving because God gave His Son to redeem mankind from their sins. If it hadn't been for His coming, we wouldn't have Christmas anyway. I hope you won't be disappointed in us, but our emphasis at Christmastime is on celebrating Jesus' birth and the gift of our family.”

“But what could you give that doesn't cost any money?”

“You know that big red scarf you've been wearing when we go outside?”

She nodded.

“Marcy made that for me one Christmas. She bought the wool, but she knitted the scarf. Last year, Olivia gave me a card, promising to write to me every week while I was in Florida. Dad has a woodworking shop, and he's made a lot of gifts through the years. I'm not the craftsman he is, but I tinker around with wood sometimes. Last year, I made jewelry boxes for my sisters. It didn't cost any money, because I used scraps of cedar out of Dad's stockpile. I made Dad a pencil holder one year, and a napkin holder for Mom. It's amazing how many things you can give that don't cost any money.”

“Since I'm not a Kessler, I can buy some gifts. I especially want to buy some flowers for your parents. They can consider it a thank-you gift for their hospitality if they object to Christmas gifts.”

Evan's heart sank a little when she said she wasn't a Kessler. “You do what you like. I just wanted you to know that we're not big on gift buying. We'll do
your shopping before we buy what Mom wants from the grocery store.”

They went to a store that had a floral shop and, using some of the money her grandparents had sent for her Christmas gift, Wendy ordered an arrangement of red carnations that would be ready in an hour. That gave her time to shop for Marcy and Olivia. She'd noticed they had pierced ears, so she bought both of them a pair of earrings. She wanted to buy a gift for Evan, but she couldn't do that when he was with her.

 

Hilda and Karl both appreciated the bouquet, which Hilda took to the large dining room and placed in the center of the table. The Kessler family gathering on Christmas night would be hosted in the old house, as it had been done for generations. This idea of doing the same thing over and over every year was mind-boggling to Wendy. But she was a guest, and so for this year at least, she must enter into the festivities.

“What can I do to help?” she asked Hilda.

“You and Evan can go cut the trees this afternoon. We put a big tree in the parlor and decorate it on Christmas Eve. We like to have a smaller one in the family room.”

Cut the trees! Preparing the tree in their apartment meant taking the pieces out of a box, assembling them and putting the tree on a table. But life here was different.

Again, Evan bundled her into heavy outerwear for their venture outside.

“Victor always goes to help bring the Christmas trees,” Evan said. He whistled, and Victor stirred
from his warm place near the fire and galloped into the utility room. He barked at Evan and pawed at the threshold of the outside door.

When Evan opened the door, the dog ran toward the barn. The ice and snow were slowly melting from the onslaught of the bright winter sun, and the pathway was slippery. Evan held Wendy's hand, but his feet hit a slick spot, and he fell backward, pulling her down with him. She landed on his spread-eagled arm. Laughing, he pulled her close, and his lips brushed against hers. They were in plain view of the house, and Wendy hoped no one was looking, but she put her arms around his neck while she enjoyed the sweetness of his kiss. Their eyes locked, and the glint of wonder in his steady gaze caused Wendy's heart to miss a beat.

Victor circled around them, barking excitedly, and when they didn't move, he pounced on them and licked Evan's face.

Laughing, Evan pushed the dog aside. “Spoil-sport!” he said to the dog. But he struggled to his feet and helped Wendy to stand.

“I have on so many clothes, I can hardly move,” she said.

Evan dusted the snow from Wendy's garments, and shook himself like a dog to get rid of the snow on his back.

“I'm not a very good protector,” he said. “Sorry you fell.”

One corner of Wendy's mouth pulled into a slight smile, and she looked shyly at Evan. “I'm not complaining,” she assured him.

Evan opened the door of a machinery shed near the barn that contained several tractors and other pieces of farm equipment that Wendy couldn't identify. He backed one of the tractors out of the barn and hooked it to a wagon.

Wendy's attention was drawn to a sleigh that looked as if it would be at home in a Currier and Ives painting. The small sleigh had one seat, and it was painted a shiny black.

“My grandfather bought that sleigh,” Evan explained. “If we get enough snow, I intend for you and me to go to the Christmas Eve service in it.”

The tractor had a cab, and when Evan opened the door, Victor scrambled inside. Evan helped Wendy into a seat before he settled behind the steering wheel and closed the door.

They passed through three fields before they came to an acreage of cedar trees. Evan parked the tractor, picked up a chainsaw from the wagon bed and motioned Wendy to follow him into the cedar thicket. A rabbit ran out of the evergreens, and with a loud bark, Victor bounded after it.

“We want a tree about seven feet tall,” Evan said. “There are twelve-foot ceilings in the living room, and anything shorter than seven feet looks ridiculously tiny. We'll get one about a third that size for the family room.”

“I'm surprised you didn't come armed with an ax or a hatchet. It can't be traditional to cut your trees with a chain saw and haul them home on a tractor,” she added with a touch of sarcasm.

Evan darted a quick look at her. “Are you getting tired of hearing about our traditions?”

She flushed a little and refused to meet his eyes. “I shouldn't have said that, but I'm drowning in all these things that you do simply because it's been done for the past hundred or so years. You cut your own trees every year, rather than buy fake ones. Maybe newer things are better—like the chain saw. You're wise to use it. It seems to me that it would be stupid to cut a tree with an ax just because your great-grandpa did.”

She could tell her words had hurt him, because a nervous twitch appeared in his jaw. He walked on into the forest without answering. How could she tell him that every day brought some new obstacle to show her how unsuitable she was to be his wife? She wished she'd stayed in Florida; then she wouldn't have had these mood swings. She was happy one minute, sad the next. Thinking of Florida made her miss her mother and wonder what she would do on Christmas Day. She'd always considered herself a dutiful daughter, but she shouldn't have left her mother alone on a holiday. And feeling very alone now that she'd made Evan mad, she didn't even have him as a buffer for her guilty feelings.

Evan wasn't mad. He was disappointed and unhappy. It boiled down to one simple fact—he couldn't live without the farm, and Wendy obviously couldn't live with it. He didn't blame her. She had lived in a city all of her life, and she hadn't had a good introduction to rural living. Why did her visit have to coincide with the worst weather southern Ohio had seen
in a century? He blamed himself. He should have anticipated this situation and not extended the invitation for a winter visit.

Wendy watched Evan's expression as he searched for the perfect tree. The tree he chose was far from perfect in Wendy's eyes. The tree, which Evan called a Virginia cedar, was a slender, round tree with fine, short branches that drooped so much they couldn't possibly hold heavy ornaments.

Trying to include her, Evan asked her opinion on the trees. But compared to the ones she'd seen in tree lots in Florida, the trees were scraggly and ill shaped. The second tree he chose was a pine, and the branches were sparse. But she supposed the trees would suit the Kesslers.

They returned to the farm in silence. Evan knocked all of the snow from the trees and left them in the machinery shed until time to decorate them. It was Kessler tradition to trim trees on Christmas Eve, so perish the thought that anyone would see an ornament or any tinsel before that.

She knew her attitude was bad, but now that Wendy had started thinking about her mother, she knew she was homesick. Wendy longed for familiar surroundings. If she'd had enough money, she would have bought a plane ticket and gone back to Florida.

Perhaps sensing Wendy's unhappiness, when Hilda and she were alone, Hilda said, “Does your mother have plans for Christmas?”

Wendy bit her lip. “We always stayed at home alone on the holiday. I asked her if she'd invite some
of her single friends to spend the day, but I don't think she will.”

“Would she come to Ohio if we invite her?” Hilda said, and Wendy looked up quickly.

“I have no idea. I doubt it.” Wendy stopped short of saying that her mother couldn't afford to fly to Ohio.

“Perhaps Evan has explained our gift-giving customs?”

Actually, Wendy had heard all she wanted to hear about Kessler customs. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“We consider it Christ-like to give to others at Christmas rather than to spend everything on our own family. I want to invite your mother to come spend Christmas with us at our expense.”

“She works in a department store and will be busy working until six on Christmas Eve.”

“Well, perhaps she could get a plane early on the morning of the twenty-fifth. She could still be here in time for our family gathering on Christmas night.”

“It's nice of you to want to ask her,” Wendy said, wondering how Emmalee would react to Kessler traditions and the large family gathering. Her own parents had died before Emmalee had married, and her extended family had never been close. Wendy had a maternal great-aunt, two great-uncles and a few second and third cousins, but she didn't see them often.

“If you'll dial your home phone number, I'll talk to your mother and invite her.”

“I'll call from the extension in the utility room,” Wendy said.

Emmalee was at home because she'd worked the early shift at the store, and answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Mother. I want to introduce you to Hilda Kessler, Evan's mother. She wants to talk to you.”

“Emmalee, we're enjoying Wendy's visit very much, but I feel a little guilty separating you from your daughter at Christmas. Will you come to Ohio and spend the holidays with us?”

Wendy heard Emmalee take a deep breath but not answer. “My husband and I will cover your expenses,” Hilda added, “because we'd like to meet you.”

Wendy cringed, because she worried Hilda had taken the wrong approach. Wanting to know what Wendy's mother was like before they agreed to her daughter's marriage into the family would seem like a put-down to Emmalee.

Surprisingly, Emmalee said, with a touch of pride in her voice, “I'm not sure I can arrange a visit on such short notice, but it won't be necessary for you to pay my expenses. My department was cited for top sales this year, and I received a sizable Christmas bonus from the store.”

“Mother, it would be nice if you'd come,” Wendy said. “I don't want us to be apart at Christmas.”

She expected Emmalee to tell her that she'd chosen the separation, but again Wendy's mother surprised her. “And I miss you very much. Mrs. Kessler, let me check flight arrangements and call you back. It may be impossible to get any flights on Christmas Day.”

“Evan and Wendy can meet you in Columbus or Cincinnati, whichever works better for you.”