Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) (47 page)

“Mommy, can I have punkin pie now?” Davey asked
.

Ann smiled, realizing how much the non-stimulant medication that the doctor had prescribed for her son was helping him
.
David had agreed to it
.
He’d learned in AA that his drinking problem had
probably
started when he tried to use alcohol to self medicate his ADHD
.
He
didn’t want Davey to have to go through all that he had.

“You sure can, punkin,” Ann said, smiling
.
She got up and
went
to the counter.
“Is
anyone else ready for pie?” she asked, turning around to face
her family and friends
.

“I am,” Danielle said, raising her hand.

Bernie,
Olivia, Lawrence and David raised their hands.

As Ann sliced the pie and transferred it to desert plates, she thought about the meaning of Thanksgiving
.
I have so much to be thankful for, she thought
.
It’s not going to be easy but, with a lot of love and patience, we’re going to make it, I know
.
She remembered what her grandmother had told her all those years ago
.
“To be happy, we have to let go of the past, Annie. We have to forgive.”

She turned around
.
“How about you, Louise
?
Would you like some pie?”

“Yes, Ann
.
Thank you,” her mother-in-law replied.

Ann carried two plates to the table
.
She put the first one in front of Louise
.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” she said, smiling.

Louise looked up at her
.
“Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Ann.”

It felt good to Ann to be back on speaking terms with her mother-in-law
.
Maybe they would never be close, the way she’d like
them
to be, but, at the very least, they weren’t enemies
and, with any luck, things between them would improve with time
.
She’d
recently
asked
Louise about the photo
she’d seen
in Father Andrew’s bedroom
and, although Louise was hesitant to “discuss Father’s personal business,” she finally gave in and told
Ann
the truth
.

Knowing that her father was responsible for the death of the priest’s sister and, after all that had happened at the church, she felt uncomfortable going back to work there so, with David’s blessing, she’d quit her job. Reluctantly, at Louise’s insistence, she had invited Father Andrew to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family but he’d declined; he had accepted a previous invitation. She planned to talk to him in person as soon as possible about the accident but, since Halloween night, there had been so much commotion, with reporters and neighbors constantly calling and stopping by, that she hadn’t had the time to go see him or to think about finding a new job.

“Oh, Ann,” Olivia said, “I almost forgot to tell you
.
I ran into John Berkley the other day and I
showed him the pictures of
the incredible Halloween costumes you made for the kids
.
He was very
interested. In fact, he gave me his card and asked that you call him next week. I have a feeling
he might offer you a job at his store.”

Ann blushed at the compliment
.
“That was so nice of you,”
she
said
.
“I’ll call him
.”
A new job would be another prayer answered.

After she’d handed out the rest of the pie,
she
sat down
.
She looked around the table
.
I am so blessed, she thought
.
The people that I care about most are all here, except for one: my sister
.
I wish she could be here.

A few seconds later, the phone rang and Ann stood up and hurried to answer it
.
“Marnie!” she exclaimed
.
“I was just thinking about you.”

“Happy Thanksgiving, little sister.”

“Happy Thanksgiving to you too
.
Where are you
?
What are you doing today?”

“Believe it or not, I’m on my cell, lying on the beach on Fripp
.
The weather’s
remarkably warm but the water’s a little too cool to go in.”

“Are you there all by yourself?”
Ann asked.
             

“No,” Marnie replied
.
“
Actually,
I’ve met someone
.
His name is Sam and, believe it or not, he’s from Cincinnati
.
He
came
down here
a few weeks ago and I’m showing him the
sights
.
We’re having a great time.”

“What happened to Brad?” Ann asked.

“Oh, that’s old news, Ann
.
We’ll talk about that when I come up for Christmas
.
”

“So, you’re coming? For sure?”

“Of course
I am
. Have I ever missed spending a Christmas with you?
Which reminds me, I’d like to bring Sam with me
.
Is that okay?”

“You bet
.
I’d love to meet him and I can’t wait to see you
.
I miss you so much!”

“I miss you too. Well, gotta go. Give my love to the kids … and David. I’ll call you
soon.”

Ann went back to the table and sat down. As she ate her dessert, she couldn’t help but think about her sister. Marnie’s always been successful in her professional life, she thought, but
her personal life is another story; she’s never had a meaningful, lasting relationship with a man.
She’s such a good person
,
she
deserves the best
b
ut she always ends up with guys who turn out to be jerks
.
Maybe this
time
it’ll be different
.
Maybe this time she’ll be lucky in love
.

She
glanced over at Olivia and Bernie who were once again holding hands. They couldn’t seem to take their eyes
of
each other. They’re living proof, she thought, that it’s never too late to find love and it’s never too late to start over.
The
tender way they looked at each
other warmed
her heart.

“Mommy, may I please be excused?” Davey asked.

“Sure,” Ann replied, smiling.

“Come on, Uncle Larry,” Davey urged, tugging on Lawrence’s shirtsleeve. “I wanna show you my new Hotwheels.”

As
Lawrence
stood up,
Ann saw
him
glance over at Olivia and Bernie.
She
had been concerned about how he would react to meeting Bernie; after all, this would mean a big change in his life. But t
he smile on his face
told
her
all she needed to know. This was a dream come true for him; he finally had a father.
And, he had a whole new family in the Kerns.
His infatuation
with her
was
over
and he now
treated
her
like
the sister he’d never had.
It’s
never too late
, she thought,
to have what you want most in this world
:
to make your dreams come true.

Not one of us is perfect,
she
thought
,
b
ut we’re all wonderful
in our own way
.
It’s so important that we accept people for who they are, not who we want them to be
. That includes accepting ourselves for who we are
.
If we want to improve our
lives and our
relationships, i
nstead of finding fault and criticizing, we need to look for the good in others and ourselves
.
Thanks to
our
w
eekly
counseling sessions with Susan Thatcher
and our AA and
Alanon meetings,
we’re
learning how to do
that
.
David
and I are
working hard to overcome the disease of alcoholism
,
to break the cycle
that existed in
both
of
our
families
, possibly for generations.
Amazing, how life sometimes works, she thought. Nana was right; everything really does happen for a reason.

We’ve gone through a lot
, she thought,
but
I’m confident that
the worst is behind us
.
She
smiled. In less than a month, it’ll be Christmas and Marnie will be here.
We’ve got
so much to look forward to.
There
’s
hope for a bright future and, from now on, we’re
going to
do what Alanon and AA recommend; we’re going to
take things one day at a time.

Acknowledgements

I’ve been blessed with such a great family and so many wonderful friends who support and encourage me. Since it would be impossible to name everyone, I’ll just say “thank you.” You know who you are.