Taken by You (17 page)

“Thank you Mr. Statton, but I think I’m the lucky one. You have a wonderful son and I don’t know what I would do without him.”

“Please call me Magnus.”

“Natalie,” he said taking her by the hand and smiling. “We’re pleased you could be with us today.”

Next was Neil’s
adorable and very pregnant sister along with her husband. They embraced her after hugging Neil. “Hi, I’m Jessica and this is my husband Doug. We’re so glad to meet you.” They made Natalie feel welcome as well.

“Jessica,” Natalie repeated
as if the air had been sucked out of her. Her eyes glistened with the sadness she felt.

Kate didn’t think to forewarn Natalie that Neil’s sister had the same name as hers. She gently placed her hand in the small of Natalie’s back, hoping her touch would give
her a little comfort.

“It’s wonderful to meet you both. Neil has told me so much about you,” Kat
e said.

“He’s told me about you
, too. Thanks so much for helping him pick out such amazing baby items for us.”

“Absolutely. When are you due?”

“January fifteenth.”

“That is so exciting. I bet that you have been going a mile a minute with preparations for the baby.”

“Yes, it’s been crazy. The best part has been decorating the nursery. Mom and I have had a wonderful time finding everything to make it an oasis for our child.”

“I know from Neil’s place that your mom is quite t
he decorator,” Kate said, glancing over at Neil’s mom. “I love how you have decorated Neil’s condo. You have an eye for it.”

“Thank you
. It’s kind of my hobby. I get a vision and then have a ball making it come to life.”

Mac had been conversing with Neil while he was waiting for an opening in the conversation.

“Kate, it’s good to see you again,” he said with his devilish grin. She realized that he was far better looking than she remembered. He was tall and well built, with chestnut brown hair and golden brown eyes.

“It’s good to see you too
, Mr. Matchmaker. Natalie, this is Neil’s friend who I met at school the day that Neil stood me up. He’s the reason that I met Neil,” she said glancing at Natalie.

Mac took Natalie’s hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you
, Natalie. I’m Michael, but my friends call me Mac.”

“It’s nice to meet you. How was Mac derived from Michael?” Natalie questioned
with a quizzical look on her face.

“My
full name is Michael Aaron Clark, Mac for short. I acquired it during little league and it stuck.”

Natalie nodded and looked down at her hand. Mac was still holding it.

Neil whispered into Kate’s ear, “He clearly thinks she’s hot.”

Kate whispered back in Neil’s ear, “She seems to like him too.
And look, he’s still holding her hand.”

Magnus offered them each a glass of wine. Kate took a sip, grateful to have something in her hands
. She was still a little nervous, even though Neil’s parents had been so gracious. They had been more welcoming than she could have imagined. Neil had become the most important person in her life and she wanted his family to be pleased that they were together. She didn’t want to relive the disapproval that had plagued her relationship with David. She noticed that Natalie drank her wine a little quickly and Mac refilled her glass. She really didn’t blame her friend. She must be completely overwhelmed right now.

“So
, Natalie, how do you and Kate know each other?” Mac asked, putting his wine glass down on the counter.

“We worked together at
Nordstrom for several years. We’ve been friends since our first day together.”

“Yep,” interjected Kate
, “Natalie is a kind, generous, loyal friend. You can’t find anyone better than her.”

Mac smiled and nodded at Kate as if he knew that she was thrusting her friend in his direction.

“How about you and Neil? How long have you been friends?” Natalie asked in response to Mac’s question.

Mac looked up at the ceiling briefly
. “I think we met in third or fourth grade. It seems like we have been friends our entire lives. He’s like a brother to me and his family treats me like their own,” he said and then took a sip of his wine.

“Are you not very close with your own family
?” Natalie asked, but then tried to take her words back. “I’m sorry. That’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have asked such a question.”

“Please everyone, help yourselves to the hors d’oeuvres on the kitchen table. We are about an hour away from dinner being serv
ed,” Sophia said, motioning toward the table. “You all can take your wine and snacks and go sit out on the terrace if you want. It’s a beautiful day.”

They did as Neil’s mother suggested, each taking a small plate of tasty treats along with their refilled wine glasses to the terrace.
The sunshine’s warmth on their faces, though unexpected for late November, was soothing and added to the feeling of peace. Kate and Neil sat on the sofa while Natalie and Mac each took a chair.

“In answer to your question, my parents are gone and I am an only ch
ild. They died in a plane crash when I was nineteen. So, Neil’s family took me under their wing. You could say that his parents helped guide me through the first few years of adulthood. I view them as my adoptive parents,” he explained and then popped a cracker laden with spinach dip into his mouth.

“Oh, I’
m so sorry. You are lucky to have them. Family is a blessing,” Natalie responded, her eyes filling with tears. “Excuse me. Neil, where is the restroom?”

“Go through the kitchen door and turn left down the hallway. It’s the second door on the left.”

Natalie got up swiftly and fled to the bathroom. Kate made eye contact with a bewildered Mac. “Was it something I said?” he asked, concern covering his handsome face.

Kate took in a deep breath. “You and Natalie have a lot in common, I’m afraid.
She is no stranger to grief, as her parents also died a few years ago and her younger sister was killed just over a week ago in an accident. So, she doesn’t have any family either.”

“
Oh shit Kate. Why didn’t you tell me? She must be devastated.”

“She is. I better go check on her
,” Kate said as she got up and went to find Natalie.

“Dude, I appreciate you wanting to set me up with someone, but it seems a little soon for her to meet anyone. She’
s grieving,” Mac said, taking a sip of wine.

“
Ah, you figured it out. Well, maybe you could just be her friend for right now and see where it might lead in the future. She’s a quality woman and I don’t see her as someone who would only like you for your money.“

“Yeah,
I can tell, but we all know how easy it is to be friends with a woman you are attracted to. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of her. Could you be just friends with Kate?”

“Point well made.
No chance I could just be her friend. I want her too badly. Speaking of Kate, I want you to be the first to know that I am going to propose to her tomorrow.”

“Wow, this is serious.
Are you sure? You have only known each other for a short time. I mean… You know what I mean.”

“I’m ready man. I want her to be my wife. I want the next phase of our lives to begin.
She’s changed everything for me.”

Mac nodded. “I’m happy for you.
You deserve to have a good woman in your life. I can see how much she loves you.”

“Thanks. I want the same for you.
I think that Natalie is as attracted to you are you are to her.”

“I kind of got that feeling too. I’ll just see what happens. Who knows, maybe you just found the right girl for me like I did for you.”

As the words left Mac’s mouth, Kate and Natalie returned. “Your mom said that dinner is almost ready. Probably another ten minutes or so.”

Neil and Mac shared some funny childhood stories. “Do you remember that time that we found a barrel?” Neil asked laughing.

“Yeah, we almost killed ourselves,” Mac chided.

“What happene
d?” Kate asked.

“A neighbor threw out some old barrel and we took it out of the trash. We totally thought we had found a treasure. Then one of us,” Neil said
, pointing at Mac, “got the brilliant idea to use it as some sort of vehicle. Mac got inside of it and rolled down the street. Cars were honking their horns and swerving to not hit the barrel.”

“How old were you guys?” Kate asked.

“I think we were about ten,” Mac responded.

“Anyway, when it was my turn, my dad was just about to pull up the driveway when he saw me getting into the barrel and Mac in the ready position to give me a push. He started honking and yelling for me to get out of it. Of course I did. Boy, were we in trouble that night. I think we both got grounded for that one, huh?”

Mac nodded. “We both got grounded often for the crazy ideas that we came up with.”

Natalie listened intently but she hadn’t said a word since she returned from the bathroom. Kate had done her best to console her
but Natalie’s emotions were just too raw. It was too soon after her sister’s death for her to be social. She figured that Natalie probably wanted to leave but was too polite to say so. She’d talk to Neil about leaving early so that Natalie could go home and rest.

Sophia
came to the terrace door and announced that dinner would be served momentarily. They all got up and proceeded to the kitchen. Sophia and Jessica began dishing up all of the sides and asked Neil and Kate to deliver them to the dining room. Magnus began carving the turkey. In under a minute, the table was adorned with food and they all sat down to begin their Thanksgiving meal together.

“It’s Thanksgiving and I want to give thanks for our
many blessings. Would everyone please join hands and bow your heads?” Magnus said, looking around the table to see that everyone was ready. “Dear Lord, we want to thank you for the many blessings that you have bestowed upon us this year. Please keep us all safe, happy, and healthy. Thank you for my wonderful family and bless this food to our bodies, amen.”

Everyone around the table repeated amen and began eating. After his first bite,
Magnus picked up his glass of wine to make a toast. “I want to toast the wonderful woman who prepared this sumptuous meal for us. Sophia, you are a blessing to all of us and we are so lucky to have you in our lives.”

“To mom,” everyone repeated together and began clinking each other’s glasses.
The next minute or so was spent oohing and awing over the delicious meal. Natalie got up abruptly and excused herself to the bathroom again.

“I better go check on her,” Kate said
a minute later, breaking the awkward silence that hovered over the room.

“Why don’t you let me? I’m pretty sure that I understand what she is going through,” said Mac.

Kate nodded as Mac got up to find Natalie.

***

Mac checked the bathroom, but Natalie wasn’t there. He decided to go outside, where he found her sitting on the terrace. He sat on the sofa next to her. She was crying and had her head down, resting it on the back of the sofa. She barely noticed his presence.

“Are you doing okay?” he asked, taking her hand.

She looked up him with a trembling lip. “No, I can’t take it. It’s only been a few years since my parents passed and just about two weeks since my sister was killed. I just can’t stand that they are gone. It was a mistake for me to come today. When Mr. Statton prayed about being thankful all I could think about was what I have lost. I feel so alone without my family.”

Mac nodded and kept holding her hand. “I can understand to a degree how you feel. I felt the same way when my parents died but for me it was many years ago. I miss them but I’m not grieving anymore.”

“When does the grief end? I just want it to go away.”

“I hate to say it but it’s going to take time.
Years probably. You’ll think that you are fine and then something will hit you and you’ll miss them. I’m not sure it ever completely goes away.”

Natalie exhaled loudly. “I had finally felt okay with it being just Jessica and
me. We had made it through the darkest part and were moving on. Now that she’s gone, I feel like I have fallen down a deep well and there is no way out.”

Tears
continued streaming down Natalie’s face.

“Come here,” Mac said pulling
her closer. He put his arms around her and held her as she cried, her head resting on his chest. He didn’t know why, but he felt strongly connected to Natalie. Perhaps it was their similar pasts. He felt a need to protect her and watch over her. He wasn’t sure where it came from.

“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked.

She pulled away far enough to look him in the eyes. “Would you? I really want to go. I can’t stay and do small talk.”

He got up and held his hand out to her. She took it and he escorted her back into the house.