“I would like to propose a toast.” Dexter stood from his seat at one end of the Buchanan’s massive dining room table, his voice deepening with judicial authority. “To the hands that prepared this magnificent meal. Elise, I’m looking forward to my very first taste of your fried turkey…”
“Dex, please, we’ve already prayed. Speed it up, before we have to reheat everything in the microwave,” said Lenore.
“Now hang on, Lenore, you’ll appreciate this,” he said, puffing out his chest to call attention to the Ohio State University logo emblazoned across his hand-knit sweater.
Wearing his favorite University of Michigan jogging suit, Matthew let out an exaggerated sigh and said, “Oh please!”
The rest of the family laughed, more out of obligation than actual amusement, as each Thanksgiving brought the same Ohio State/University of Michigan trash talk. Dexter continued as he raised his glass even higher.
“I would like to give thanks for the greatest coach in all of college football…”
“The late, great Bo Schembechler!” Matthew exclaimed.
Maggie and Joe’s eyes met from their respective ends of the dining room table with expressions that said, “Here we go again.”
“Oh, now, hush, ya big sore loser,” Dexter said. “Here’s to Urban Myer. Long may he continue to lead our beloved Bucks to victory over ‘that team up north.’”
“Amen,” said Lenore. “Now, shut up, make yourself useful, and start carving that bird!”
As was the custom, dinner was a glorious event, made more special by the fact that Joe had opened his home to the Wests as well as his in-laws. His motive was completely ulterior - he simply wanted to be near Maggie. But it was great having the families all together again.
Almost all together.
After what they all declared was the best thanksgiving dinner yet, Maggie took time to clear some of the empty platters from the table. Joe followed her into the kitchen asking over his shoulder, “Who wants coffee?”
Maggie was rinsing a off a plate when Joe intentionally bumped her as he passed. “Hey,” she said, trying to look stern. “Watch it! I’m workin’ here.”
“Sorry,” he said, after knocking into her a second time to reach into a cabinet. “I forgot the filters.”
“Yeah right. I don’t think I heard anyone say that they actually wanted coffee.”
“I know.”
“So, what are you doing?”
“I dunno,” he said with the tone of a schoolboy on the verge of punishment. “You never know. There might come a time in the evening when someone might want something…hot.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow at Joe’s directness. It had been quite some time since any man had paid her genuine attention; even longer since she’d had intimacy on any level. Standing as close as she was to Joe at that moment, she’d never prayed harder for Christmas and the presence of mistletoe.
“Oh, well, that makes sense,” she said softly. “I could definitely see where someone might need something… hot.”
Tilting his head to the side as if to get a better look at her, Joe reached up to push an errant strand of hair away from Maggie’s face. The effect of his contact and the fact that she had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next was nothing short of thrilling.
Her heart raced as she saw his eyes escape her gaze to concentrate on the shape of her mouth. His mind reeled as he took a tiny step closer to her, their bodies inches from touching.
...this is really gonna happen, here? Now?
Joe chuckled at the tiny breath that escaped Maggie as the questions burned inside her head.
The sound of the doorbell escaped their notice, but Maggie’s head did an abrupt snap in the direction of the front door when she heard Dexter’s hearty greeting…
…to Richard.
She went to the kitchen door and peered around, hoping she couldn’t be seen.
“What in God’s name is he doing here,” she groaned as she rested her forehead against the doorway.
Dexter led Richard through the front door and reintroduced him all around. Lenore, unaware of the invitation, successfully veiled her deep concern by offering to fix Richard a plate. “Thank you, Mrs. West, everything smells terrific,” he said.
Lenore caught Dexter’s eye as she left for the kitchen. After four decades of marriage, he knew the look he was getting. This plan had better work, he thought to himself.
Joe hung behind as Maggie slowly emerged from her place of safety. “Richard,” she said.
In two strides, Richard reached Maggie and scooped her in a warm embrace. “Maggie! This is wonderful. How are you?”
“Surprised,” she said, throwing her own look toward Dexter as she returned his hug. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Richard pulled her back and took a long look at his ex girlfriend. “You too. My, my…you look good!”
“Forgive me if this sounds abrupt, but…what are you doing here?”
Richard laughed aloud. “I’m sure this must seem strange, but I got a call from your dad a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that if I didn’t have any plans for the holiday, that I was welcome to come by here.”
“He did, did he?” Maggie asked.
“Well…I figured that a fine, dashing, man about town wouldn’t have needed to stop by. It was merely a suggestion,” said Dexter, stepping forward and putting his arm around Richard.
How could I resist?” Richard said. “There were so many warm family moments that I’ve experienced with you all…and it was a chance to see you, again, Maggie.” His smile was sweet and seemingly earnest. But Maggie was convinced something was up. In her soul, she knew two things: That when it came to her relationship with Richard, her father was like a dog with a bone, and that nothing positive could possibly come from it.
Sissy had spent much of the evening sulking over the bonding between Joe and Maggie, but Richard’s arrival put an immediate bounce in her spirit. Leaning on the wall next to Joe, she said in his ear, “So, this is the infamous Richard,” she whispered with delight. “Very Nice. Who on earth would let him go?”
As buoyant as Sissy had become, Joe felt his own hopes take a slight dive. “Interested?” he asked with a less than upbeat attitude.
“Oh, not for me, but this could be a nice little reunion for him and Maggie.”
“You don’t know him,” Joe said cautiously.
“Well, that’s a West family situation,” Sissy said. “Not our business.”
“My house, my friend, my business,” Joe said, walking into the dining room to greet Richard. Best to keep one’s friends close and one’s rivals closer, was his thought.
Sissy tried to call after him, but he went quickly out of earshot.
As Richard dove into his dinner, Dexter and Lenore sat on either side of him, catching up on the events of his life since parting ways with Maggie. And while Maggie took a few moments to speak to him in passing, she spent most of the evening occupying her time with Joe and the children in every other available room.
Forty-five minutes into Richard’s visit, Dexter had reached the end of his patience with his daughter. He cornered Maggie in an upstairs hallway as she emerged from the bathroom. “Young lady,” he said sternly. “What do you think you’re doing?”
”You have got to be kidding me. I might ask the same question of you.”
“You don’t have the right to ask me anything,” Dexter retorted, “I am your father. And if you’re not gonna have the sense to see a gift staring you right in the face, then it’s up to me to help you!”
“Daddy, you have gone too far!” Maggie said, her voice lowered to a whisper with the intensity of a shout. “I cannot believe you! I’ve told you for months that Richard and I are not meant to be together. What is it going to take to get you to understand that?”
“Um, guys?” Lenore said, quickly ascending the stairs to meet them on the landing. “I know you think you’re whispering, but we can hear that something tense is happening up here.”
“Mom, please help me out here,” Maggie pleaded. Dexter merely folded his arms and dared his wife to defy him. But Lenore was determined to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible.
“Maggie, go downstairs and at least talk to the man. No one is saying you have to marry him.”
Maggie’s mouth dropped in shock as Dexter said, “Thank you! That’s all you’ve got to do: Go downstairs.”
“You really don’t want to risk your life by speaking any further,” Lenore said, making her emphasis clear by once again pointing her index finger in his face. “Maggie, go. Now.”
Maggie returned to join the rest of the eavesdropping group, who quickly rushed back to their previous places upon hearing her descend the steps.
Dexter, in the mean time, tried to defend his actions to his wife. “Honey…”
“Stop. Do not speak,” she said. “I know what you were trying to do, but you have got to let that child live her life. We’ve been over this a million times! When are you going to get it through that head of yours that she doesn’t want this man?”
“But the last time I spoke with him, he mentioned how much he missed her and how good it would be to see her again. I honestly didn’t think he’d come.”
Lenore sighed and took her husband’s hand. “I know honey. Your heart was in the right place. But she’s not 17 anymore. Please…let this obsession go, okay?”
Dexter knew he was on the ropes on the issue and nodded his head in agreement. “And one more thing,” Lenore said.
“What’s that?” said Dexter.
“Next time you pull a stunt of that magnitude, warn a sistah. You and I are a team, remember?”
“I really wanted to tell you, but I was certain that if I did, you’d tell me how foolish I was being.”
Lenore put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “That’ll teach you,” she said laughing. “There is a reason for that verse in the Bible that says, he who finds a wife finds a good thing. You’d do well to remember that.”
Joe watched with a degree of disappointment as Maggie fixed herself a soda and sat with Richard as he finished his meal. Maggie still felt that undefined knot in her gut, but she chose, for the sake of peace, to try and ignore it.
“So, Miss Maggie,” Richard said, laying his fork down. “If your ears were burning last week, there was a good reason for it. I was talking about you.”
“Oh Lord,” Maggie said lightly.
“No, no, it was a good thing,” Richard said. “Just a mutual friend of ours - Joe Jackson.”
“Really? I remember introducing you at the Grammy after party, but I didn’t know you were all that chummy with the president of Athens Entertainment.”
“Well, my dear,” he said raising his wine glass, “That’s because of you. He is now a solid golf buddy, and I am working with several of his artists, andnot just musicians. He just hooked me up with that hot new comedian out of the Bronx. Not to mention I am now his personal attorney.”
“Richard, that’s great! Congratulations,” Maggie said as she reached out and touched his arm.
“Thank you, Maggie,” he responded as he put his hand over hers. “I never realized how much of a godsend you were to me until you left. Not just in matters of business. I really miss you.”
Maggie slowly slipped her hand from under his, and sat back in her chair. “Man, when it rains, it pours,” she said softly.
“Sorry?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, anyway, when your dad extended the invite, I confess I was hesitant. You and I ended things rather bitterly.” Maggie attempted to speak; Richard held up his hand to stop her. “Yes, I know, I was the one. But since this is a time of family and good feelings, I thought now would be a time to, I don’t know…” his hand reached out for hers again. “…extend an olive branch and see if we could, at the very least, get together every once in a while?”
The laugh that emitted from Maggie’s mouth was loud enough to surprise even her. “You’re joking, right?”
Richard was shocked. “No, Maggie. I’m not. I thought your father’s phone call was like a sign from God or something.”
“Oh Richard. Please, don’t be offended, but being apart has been really good for me. And while I’d like to be in a relationship, well, I just think that you and I getting together would be…”
Richard leaned forward as Maggie searched for the appropriate words.
“…an emotional and spiritual step backward for both of us, don’t you think?”
This was not the answer that he expected. He figured that their time apart, coupled with the fact that she was still single, would have been enough to bring this woman back to her senses. It would have worked with any other woman.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Life goes on, right?”
Maggie was relieved. “But I do appreciate the offer. Let’s just enjoy the evening. Everything’s been so great.”
Matty tapped Maggie on the shoulder. “Aunt Maggie? Can you help me and M&M with this puzzle we started?”
That was all the opportunity she needed to release her from the awkwardness her honestly had brought to light. “Sure, baby. Give me a sec. I’ll meet you in the other room. Excuse me, Richard.”
Once again, Richard couldn’t help but focus on the fact that it was a Buchanan who came between him and Maggie, completely messing up the order of his life. He was angered beyond words. “Sure,” he said with the sweetest of smiles. “Like I said, it’s the season of family.” Maggie rose cheerfully from her chair and took Matty’s hand as he led the way. Richard’s smile immediately faded to a more rueful expression.
“But they ain’t your family, no matter how many puzzles you fix,” he said bitterly under his breath.
Joe stood in the hallway that led to the family room. His body language communicated that he was watching the twins in the den; but it was actually the best place for him to stand in order for him to hear whatever he could from Maggie’s conversation with Richard.
“Did you catch all that?” she asked as she passed by.
He stared down into the drink he’d been nursing. “I have no idea what on earth you’re talking about,” he said.
They never made eye contact, but she could feel a sense of relief that practically radiated from him.
When Richard had finished his dinner, the rest of the family assembled for dessert. Maggie had trouble deciding between Janice’s apple and Elise’s chocolate chess pies. Feeling comfortable in her surroundings, she took a taste of both. Neither piece was all that substantial, so she indulged without a hint of self consciousness.
Taking her coffee and dessert into the den, she was met by an astonished Richard. “Whoa,” he said as he stared at her plate. “Save some for the rest of us.”
For a split second, Maggie didn’t know he was speaking to her. “Excuse me?” she said.
“‘Tis the season for your diet rules to go out the window?”
“Richard!” said Lenore.
“For real, you’ve gotta appreciate a woman who isn’t afraid to go to town at the dessert table. You go girl with your healthy appetite!”
Hiding her face behind a plate to conceal the laugh she was suppressing, Sissy got up and went into the kitchen. Joe rose from his place with the kids to intervene, but Richard continued his assault.
“I mean, let’s face it, it didn’t work out, Maggie and me, but I know there is a man out there who loves a woman who does what she can…” he motioned directly and brazenly at her backside, his hands positioned like a director framing a shot, “…to keep that big, soft, voluptuous cushion! Umph!”