A Family for Christmas. Dana Corbit

excessively thin, and her mouth had a perpetual droop. Emmalee’s expertly applied makeup did little to hide the unhappiness in her eyes resulting from her broken marriage. She worked in the women’s clothing section at a local department store, and she had her pick of fashionable clothes at a discount, so she and Wendy were always well dressed.

      “Dinner will be ready soon,” Emmalee said. “I brought sweet-and-sour chicken with rice and salad from the deli. I’ll put the meat in the microwave to warm now that you’re here.”

      “That sounds good. I’m hungry.”

      Wendy brought a pitcher of tea from the refrigerator and poured a glass for each of them before she took her accustomed place at the small table. Emmalee served the food in the deli containers, saying, “We won’t have many dishes to wash.”

      “Are you working tonight?”

      “No, thank goodness. Our store has been a madhouse this week. I think people start their Christmas shopping earlier every year. I’m off tomorrow, but, as usual, the day after Thanksgiving will be the busiest day of the year at the store. It’s hard to tell when I’ll get home Friday night. I have to work Saturday and Sunday, too, so we won’t see each other much this weekend.”

      “That’s all right. I have a research paper to finish, and I want to start studying for finals.”

      Emmalee talked about problems at the store, and Wendy answered when it was necessary. With her mind full of Evan’s proposal, and his sudden trip to Ohio, she couldn’t think of anything else.

      “I’ve arranged for you to work at the store during the Christmas holidays. I know you’d be bored staying home while I’m away, and we can use the extra money.”

      Wendy’s thoughts strayed, remembering that Evan wanted her to come to his home during their Christmas break. But considering his father’s illness, the invitation would probably be withdrawn.

      Realizing that her mother was staring at her, Wendy tried to keep her features composed. She knew she hadn’t succeeded when her face colored under Emmalee’s suspicious look.

      “Wh-what did you say, Mother?” she stammered.

      “I asked if you preferred to work in the lingerie or housewares department?”

      “I don’t know much about housewares, but either place will be okay.”

      They cleared the table in silence, and Emmalee carried a cup of coffee into the living room. Sitting in her lounge chair, she looked at Wendy, who had curled up on the couch, the television remote in her hand.

      “Do you have anything to tell me?” Emmalee asked, an apprehensive look in her eyes. “You’ve been staring into space most of the evening.”

      “No. Well, maybe I should tell you,” Wendy began uncertainly. Suspecting that her news would hurt and anger her mother, she hesitated, searching for an easy way to explain about Evan. There didn’t seem to be an easy way, so she tried a direct approach. “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 bounded off the couch, went to Emmalee and put her arm around her mother’s shoulder.

      “Mother, 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.

      “How 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.

      “Of course not!”

      “Well, 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.”

      “Surely you didn’t accept his proposal!”

      “Yes, 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.

      “When am I going to meet my future son-in-law?”

      “I 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.

      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?”

      “Not 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.”

      “I’m sorry, Evan.”

      “I’m sorry, too. Not only for Daddy, but for you and me.”

      Wendy’s joy over his phone call diminished sharply.

      “What 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 continual animosity 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.

      “It 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.”

      “But you’re already registered for next semester!” Wendy said, her body stiff with shock.

      “I can probably handle most of the work online. If not, my Ph.D. will have to be postponed.”

      “What 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 irritated that she’d asked the question.

      The silence that greeted his comment stabbed at Evan’s heart. “We can still be engaged, Wendy. And after you graduate in the spring, we’ll be married. You can come here to live.”

      Live on a farm when she’d fleetingly envisioned being the wife of a college professor! Disappointment turned Wendy into the kind of shrew she despised.

      “The Bible says that a man is supposed to leave his mother and father and stick with his wife.”

      Evan laughed shortly, surprised that she knew anything about the Bible. “When did you learn that?”

      “I had to sit through Sunday school and daily Bible readings during the ten years when my grandparents had visiting rights. I still