Hope Returns

by Dorey Whittaker

  As Hope continued, Lisa’s mind kept focused on her daughter’s use of the word forbidden. How dare he forbid her, Lisa’s heart demanded.

  “The one I really wanted and thought was a sure thing was pulled away at the last minute. Later, I found out that Mrs. Gundersol had made a call to the owner, a close friend of the family, and suddenly they no longer needed a proof-reader. But that didn’t stop me. My mother gave me a really hard time about pursuing a job when the Gundersols were so dead-set against it, but I decided I needed to develop some adult skills before being manhandled by the Gundersol family and never being allowed to do anything on my own ever again.”

  “So, did you get a job?” Lisa asked.

  “Yes, I did. Actually I missed two phone calls from this company.” Hope paused, obviously trying to decide just how much she should say. “My mother ‘forgot’ to give them to me. Once I found out about the calls, I went down to the company and they hired me on the spot. I started last Monday and I love my new job.”

  “That is wonderful news, Hope, but, with a new job, do you really think you can take time off to come back here during the holidays?”

  “Yes, I can. This company closes down for the last two weeks of the year. The HR director told me they never get much business accomplished during that time anyway, so several years ago the owner decided it was best to close down and avoid all the distractions.”

  Lisa was almost afraid to ask, “How is Michael handling this decision of yours?”

  “Neither he, nor his mother, are happy about it. Mrs. Gundersol is not accustomed to having her wishes ignored. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that phrase over the past month. But every time I hear it, it stings a little less, and right now I really don’t care about her wishes.”

  Lisa said a silent, “Praise the Lord,” hearing such a determined statement coming from her daughter.

  “He is making a lot of schedule demands on me. I think he is just trying to show me how inconvenient my little job is to his important schedule. He is not accustomed to being told no. But I am starting to like the sound of no coming out of my mouth. I’ve even been using it to my mother. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my mother, I really do, and she loves me. She just doesn’t see Michael and his mother the way I am starting to see them.”

  Lisa mused silently, “Asking for wisdom really does work, Lord,” before asking, “Hope, so you must be really busy, holding down a new job while attending all those fund raiser dinners in the evenings.”

  “I am really busy but I love it. I finally feel useful and appreciated. It is such a good feeling to hand over my work and get praised for it. I haven’t had that since college and didn’t realize how much I was beginning to doubt my abilities.”

  Then, remembering the real reason for her call, Hope said, “With all your long hours at the bakery and my busy life now that I’m working, not to mention the three hour-time difference between us, I decided to have a private phone line installed in my bedroom. I bought my own answering machine, too. This way I will never miss one of your phone calls and you don’t have to leave a message with my mother.”

  Lisa quietly thought, “Another little step of independence,” before replying, “That was a good idea, Hope. It is hard finding a time when we are both free to chat, but let’s still make time at least once a week to actually talk together. I love our chats.”

  “As do I, but this upcoming weekend Michael has two huge fund raisers scheduled and then we move into the Thanksgiving week. Only having a three-day work week will mean I have to get five days of work done in three short days, as well as two additional evenings tied up with Michael’s dinner schedules. I don’t think I will have any time to myself until Thanksgiving evening. Even if it is really late for you back there, would you mind if I called you after I get home from the Gundersol event?”

  “Hope, you can call me anytime. I will be here at the house. You remember I told you that Gladys and I decided not to drive up to Atlanta for Thanksgiving once we knew you were not coming?” Pondering if now was as good time as any to bring up Ben, Lisa said, “Hope, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you, but I could never find the right time. At first, I wanted to keep things uncluttered so you could focus on getting to know who your dad was. I wanted to wait for the right time to tell you that there is finally another man in my life. I want you to know this because I don’t want to keep secrets from you and because I don’t want Ben to feel like a second class citizen in my life because he isn’t.”

  “I am so happy you have someone, Mom.” Hope’s response to this news was so open and unguarded it thrilled Lisa’s heart. Hope added with a giggle, “Having met Gladys and Mrs. Bascom, I am sure this Ben of yours has passed muster with them, right?”

  “Completely, Hope, with a resounding amen from both of them.” Lisa’s voice was so filled with excitement Hope could not help but laugh with happiness for her. “I can’t wait to introduce Ben to you. He has already met you. You see, he was the police officer who was guarding me during my trial. He watched you up on the witness stand and he can’t wait to give you one of his famous bear hugs for coming to my defense.”

  “Well, I can’t wait to meet this Officer Ben. If Gladys and Mrs. Bascom think he is worthy of you, I am sure I will also. Can I meet him during my Christmas visit?”

  “I’m sure that can be arranged. Ben has been a widower for many years. He and his son, Benny, have been invited to Atlanta to share the Christmas holiday with the Thomas family. Bill Thomas is Gladys’s younger brother. He is also Susan’s father-in-law. You see, it was through Susan that Gladys came into my life. You are going to love all of them, Hope. So, this Christmas you will meet the whole family and we will arrange to take a day and go meet Mrs. Reiner. What a wonderful Christmas present you will be to her. You will be like giving her a piece of her son back this Christmas.” With this image they ended their conversation and got back to the work at hand.

  Thanksgiving week was crazy. Lisa decided to start baking at three a.m. instead of four, just to keep up with all the pie orders. By Wednesday afternoon the bakery counters were filled with dozens of pie boxes, tagged and ready for pick up. Everyone was warned that they needed to pick up their orders by six o’clock that evening and all four of the women were out front, behind the counter, keeping the customer’s orders flowing out the door as smoothly as possible.

  Ben stopped by to pick up his order right at six o’clock so he could be there when Mrs. Bascom closed up the bakery. He knew the cash register would be full today and wanted to make sure his presence was clearly visible standing by the front door in his uniform. As the last customer left the shop, Ben locked the door and flipped the sign to indicate the bakery was now closed. While Mrs. Bascom took the cash drawer into the kitchen to count the money, Ben stood sentry, only opening the door to let Brenda and Missy leave.

  Lisa had already made sure the kitchen was clean and ready for Friday morning, so she and Ben chatted while Mrs. Bascom filled out her deposit slip, placed the money in her bank bag, then put the bank bag into her large leather tote and returned to the front counter. Handing the leather tote to Ben, Mrs. Bascom placed the cash drawer back into the register, being sure to leave it open so anyone looking in the front window was sure to see the drawer was now empty.

  They quickly set the alarm as they stepped out front, locked the door and walked the three doors down to the bank night deposit slot. Ben opened the leather tote, all the while keeping his eye out for anyone who might be watching. Ruth pulled out her bank bag, typed in her secret code, which opened the night deposit door and slid the bag safely down the chute and securing the deposit door, said, “It sure does help to have your very own police protection on a night like this. Thank you, Ben. I really do appreciate you. Now, you and Lisa go have a wonderful Thanksgiving.”

  Other than a family phone call to Atlanta, Thanksgiving was all about Gladys, Lisa, Ben, and Benny this year. Hope would not be calling until well after mid
night, so Lisa focused on the four of them having a great day together. Benny was feeling better about things and was starting to handle the teasing with more appropriate responses. Just as the counselor had said, “Teens get bored with things pretty quickly. Once all this news becomes old hat to them, they will move on to other topics. You just focus on what is important for you, Benjamin. You can control your temper by understanding what was making you so angry. Guilt is a hard taskmaster. Now that you realize you are not being disloyal to your mother, the guilt reflex can go away and you can move forward.”

  After dinner, Ben said to Gladys, “You and Lisa go sit in the living room while Benny and I do the dishes. You worked so hard making this lovely meal; it is the least we can do to say thank you.”

  Lisa had just gotten comfortable when the phone rang. “Gladys, I’ll get it. It is probably Susan anyway. You stay seated.” Lisa checked her watch as she ran for the phone and saw that it was just three o’clock as she answered with, “Hello, Happy Thanksgiving.”

  Through the sobs, Lisa could barely make out that it was Hope on the other end of the line. “What’s the matter, Hope? I didn’t expect your call until midnight.”

  “I wasn’t going to call you at all, but the last two days have been so terrible I just needed to talk with you.” Hope tried to gather her emotions so she could get a sentence out. “After all of his demands of me, Tuesday afternoon Michael up and announced that he was not going to be home for Thanksgiving. He decided he was going to Mammoth on a ski trip with some of his buddies.”

  Lisa measured her response, “Well, that is an interesting turn of events.”

  “Oh, this is so typical of him,” Hope offered. “He wants what he wants and doesn’t care that he left me high and dry, sitting here when I could have been there with you. I think he did this on purpose just to punish me.”

  “So how comfortable was it at the Gundersol’s without Michael?” Lisa probed.

  “Oh, Mom, that is really the worst part of this. Actually, to be very honest, I wasn’t even that upset when he told me he was leaving. Sad, isn’t it? I should have been, but he is so very difficult to be around, I rather like it when he goes away.”

  Pulling the telephone into her bedroom, Lisa sat on the bed as she asked, “So why are you so upset?”

  “Because when he announced he wasn’t going to be there for Thanksgiving, Mrs. Gundersol canceled and my mother is really upset with me. She said it is all my fault that Michael pulled this stunt. According to my mother, if I hadn’t been such a brat, trying to show Michael how independent I am, he never would have done this. I’ve never seen her this angry.”

  “Hope, I suspect that Mrs. Gundersol is putting pressure on your mother so she will put pressure on you.”

  “That is usually how it goes,” Hope’s frustration obviously bubbling to the surface. “I actually told my mother this morning that I am seriously considering calling off the wedding. That did not sit well.”

  Guarding the thrill of hearing this, Lisa calmly said, “Hope, are you seriously considering calling off your wedding?” What she wanted to say was, run, Hope, run. Run as fast as you can. Run here, run to me. But instead, she said, “Hope, you have taken some bold steps recently. You got a job, decided not to allow them to keep you away from us, and you are demanding some respect. If Michael can’t handle that, maybe you should call it off. At least put it off until he grows up a little.”

  “I did learn one very important lesson this morning,” Hope snickered. “I will not quote you to my mother ever again. I know she feels threatened by you, or at least my feelings for you. She has to sit there, day after day, listening to Mrs. Gundersol’s opinion of wretched women; those are her words, not mine. She does not believe anyone can change and she demands that anyone who is to be her friend must believe as she does. Then my mother comes home and tries to convince me that I, too, need to fall in line. When I don’t, and then dare to quote some wisdom from you, well, you can guess the response I get from her.”

  “I think you are right, Hope. It is best you not quote me. There is no reason to pour fuel onto the fire. Your mother needs reassurance from you that your love for her has nothing to do with our relationship and even more importantly, it has nothing to do with the Gundersols. Until your mother realizes that her friend is using her, I think she will continue to be a pawn in Mrs. Gundersol’s quest for control.”

  “You are right. I think my mother fears losing everything—me and the Gundersols. One day she will have to decide which one of us is more important to her.

  Chapter 10

  Lisa’s emotional crest, knowing Hope was beginning to see Michael for who he is, did not last very long. The following Tuesday, as Lisa changed out of her uniform, she clicked the button on her answering machine and heard a very different-sounding Hope.

  “Hi, Mom, this is Hope. I know you are still at the bakery but wanted to let you know that things have changed out here. You won’t believe how sorry Michael is for having pulled that stunt on Thanksgiving. Mom, he really is sorry and he promised me he would never do that again.”

  Listening to this message from Hope, Lisa just dropped onto the bed in utter disbelief. “Hope, please don’t tell me you bought that line.”

  “Mom, he said he just didn’t realize that I would get so upset, but because I was upset, he feels I just proved to him how much I do love him.”

  “Oh, brother,” Lisa bellowed at the answering machine. “Hope, don’t you see Michael is so vain he interpreted your being upset as missing him and not that you were upset at his behavior? Hope, you cannot be this blind, can you?”

  “Mom, he made me promise not to talk about canceling the wedding. He asked me to give him another chance to prove that he does respect me and my feelings. He is trying and I need to be a little more understanding. Mom, I’ll try to call you Saturday. Have a great week. Love you, Mom.”

  Lisa sat on the bed replaying this message over and over. Every time she pushed the button, she was hoping the message would change, but it didn’t.

  Gladys sat quietly on the living room sofa, hearing this message over and over, knowing her girl’s heart was breaking with every replay. Lisa came out a few minutes later, took her usual seat across from Gladys and said, “I suppose you heard all of that. Can she really be that gullible?”

  “I don’t think Hope is really gullible, Lisa. I think she is trying to find a way to keep loving Michael, but in order to do that she has to ignore lots of warning signs. We need to be very wise right now. If we go on the attack, she will feel obligated to run to his defense.”

  “Gladys, I am so thankful that was the answering machine and not Hope on the phone. I don’t think I would have been able to shut my mouth.”

  “Lisa, if he is the kind of man we all believe him to be, Hope will see it.”

  “But when, Gladys, after she marries him? After it is too late? She has so many people working on her, lying to her, pressuring her.”

  With great assurance, Gladys answered, “Hope has just as many people back here who care about her and are asking God to open her eyes. We might not be able to tell Hope what we believe is best for her, but we can ask the One who knows what is best for her to help her.”

  Knowing that Gladys was usually right, Lisa pondered out loud, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, right Gladys? Hope gives in to Michael’s pressure, worst of times, but she also said, ‘I love you, Mom,’ best of times.” Pausing for a moment, Lisa determinedly stated, “Christmas is coming, best of times. Hope will be joining us for Christmas, best of times. I have a sneaking suspicion that Ben is planning to officially propose to me on Christmas Day, best of times. But Hope is still in danger, worst of times.” Turning a weary glance toward Gladys, Lisa asked, “How do parents get through things like this without God. I know God loves me. I know God loves Hope. I couldn’t survive this without that knowledge.”

  “Well, not to be corny or anything,” Gladys replied. “To quote our
favorite movie line from Fiddler on the Roof, ‘Then we must leave it in God’s hands.’ ”

  Throughout the week Lisa could be heard saying, “I must leave it in Your hands,” as she went about her daily routines. As soon as she got home each day she would check her answering machine and find no message. “I must leave it in Your hands.” For six long days there were no messages, no phone calls, just silence. Then, late Wednesday night, the phone call came and Lisa was almost too afraid to answer it. “Good evening.”

  “Hi, Mom, how are you tonight?” Hope’s voice sounded strained, but controlled.

  With Gladys’s warning swirling around in her head, “Don’t attack, no matter what Hope says. Let God handle this.” Lisa simply replied, “It has been crazy busy back here, Hope. How about you?”

  “I’m okay.” Hope responded, although she did not sound okay. “I guess you are looking forward to Christmas in Atlanta, right?”

  “Yes?” Lisa answered with a question instead of a declaration. “We leave here after church next Sunday.” Then, almost afraid to ask, “Hope, you are still flying in next Monday to join us, aren’t you?”

  “I want to, Mom, I’m just not sure I should. Michael is really upset. Ever since Thanksgiving he has been absolutely wonderful. He even told his mother to back off, something he never does. He listened as I told all about my work days, even giving me compliments without a ‘but’ at the end of his sentences.”

  Dreading the answer, Lisa asked, “So what happened?”

  With anger in her voice, Hope said, “He knew I had already purchased my airline ticket. He knew that well before Thanksgiving.”

  “Right, and so?” Lisa prodded.

  “Last night everything blew up. After a wonderful dinner together and a relaxing stroll through the mall, we stopped at his favorite coffeehouse and, out of the blue, he said, ‘Hope, I’ve accepted an invitation to attend an awesome Christmas Eve party. Absolutely everyone who is anyone in this town will be there. I’d like you to wear that hot pink suit that I like so much.’ ”