Chapter 21: The Thanksgiving Meal and Weekend.

The Thanksgiving meal was amazing! The only time I think I ever saw more food on a table was at the Golden Corral buffet restaurant and that was on the serving line.

We sat down to the meal and everyone was nicely dressed. We could have stepped into any restaurant and not looked out of place. Thank goodness Kay had warned me in advance. The three farmers didn't look comfortable in coats and ties but the ladies looked nice in their dresses. They were both even wearing pearl necklaces, Janice a double strand and Kay a single strand. If I had thought about it a little more it would have made sense. Thanksgiving is a celebration of the harvest; this is a farming family and has been for a few generations so this is an important holiday to them.

We did the traditional holding of hands while Robert said grace. It was thanks for the bounty of the season, the fellowship of the meal and the good health we all shared. Yet it wasn't some sort of religious grace, still, it was humbling and impressive. I hadn't said grace at a meal since leaving home.

It took more than just a few minutes for all of us to get what we wanted on our plates and they weren't big enough for everything. "Janice, this is wonderful, everything looks so good. I already want seconds and I haven't even tried everything yet. Kay, when we get back to San Diego you're going to have to make sure I get out on my bike every day to work off the ten pounds this meal alone is going to put on me, not to mention what I'm gaining from all the other great meals."

Janice blushed and looked pleased. "Thank you, Rob, that was very nice of you. I don't think you're gaining anything from my meals though."

"Oh, I'm sure I am. I'm going to be afraid to step on my scale back home and I won't be able to fool my pants."

Kay and Robert were both smiling; I was saying the right things.

Robert joined the conversation directing a question to me. "What did your family do back home for the holiday, Rob?"

"We had a big traditional meal like everyone else. Mom made a turkey, sweet potatoes, a green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. She always made two pies too, a pumpkin and an apple crumb. These extras are way more than I'm used to for a meal, the squash, the corn, the broccoli and cheese and all the rest of this. No wonder you started cooking early yesterday."

"Yesterday I did my baking and prepared some of these so all I had to do was cook them today. We have pies too, pumpkin, French apple, cherry, rhubarb and mincemeat."

"And I promise to have at least one slice of each before we go back to San Diego but I don't think I can get to them all tonight."

I caught Kay by surprise and she laughed. "Nobody is going to twist your arm, Rob, but no one will chase you away either."

Junior and Tommy were both chuckling but I noticed neither one of them put down their forks.

"It's not all that much, Rob. Everything will be gone before the weekend is over. I get one, maybe two days out of the kitchen. By tomorrow the turkey will be completely gone and we'll have to make something for Saturday's dinner. If he's feeling up to it and has the time, Dad will do barbeque. It's getting cooler this time of year but it shouldn't be too cold to grill."

I saw an opportunity to score some points with both Janice and Robert. "If you'll permit me, I'd be happy to do the grilling for Saturday, I'd really like to."

Robert looked up at that. "You don't have to do that, Rob. You're a guest here and that's not right."

"Really, Robert, I like to grill and I do it all the time at home, just ask Kay. It's an opportunity for me to repay your kindness."

"Thank you, Rob, if you really want to do the cooking it's alright with me." He turned towards his sons. "Why didn't one of you make that offer?"

They looked at each other, then me and then back towards Robert. Neither one said anything but they were looking sheepish.

We continued the meal and the conversations. At one point I was asked about football. "Do you watch the games on Thanksgiving, Rob?"

"No, I'm not much into sports of almost any kind. They never interested me, possibly because I have almost no talents in that direction. Do you folks watch the game or games?"

Junior took up that question. "We don't normally. While I was in school I had some interest but I think it was more to go along with the crowd than anything else. The sports people at school tried to get me involved with the teams because of my size but I was too involved in my courses to waste my time. It insulted them when I referred to sports as wasting my time. It didn't matter to me."

Tommy joined the conversation. Up to this point he hadn't said much, deferring to his older brother. "I haven't done anything with sports at school either. I played a little baseball in high school but not much."

"If it's any consolation to you, Junior, for the most part I've also thought organized sports a waste of time and at the college level only serves to make schools money and let them pat themselves on the back. The professional franchises are worse, they rip off the public and make a very few people very wealthy at the cost of everyone else, the great majority of the players and all of the public. Of course that is a minority opinion but it's what I feel. How about you, Robert, what do you think of college and professional sports?"

"I never saw the point of team sports, any team sports. Individual sports can be another matter though. Things like swimming, running, tennis and even golf but I've never been much involved with any sports myself. As a farmer I've never had the time."

"Kay's educated me about that. She's convinced me farming is 24-7-365. I suppose I always knew it but never really understood it before Kay moved in to my house and we talked. We talk almost every night when Kay isn't working or studying. We talk while we play cards. If we're not playing cards we read and listen to music, not much talking then. We don't have what might be considered an exciting life but we're okay."

Robert's next statement left me wondering because I didn't know what he meant and I didn't want to make an issue of it. "Yeah, Rob, you certainly are." I figured I'd get a chance to talk with him sometime before we left and I'd ask him then.

After dinner and cleanup, Janice got out a much used Monopoly game set and the six of us sat around the dining room table playing and having a good time. It seemed the boys were ganging up on Kay and me so we went after them and after a while forced them into bankruptcy one at a time. Robert and Janice didn't cooperate with our efforts but they didn't stifle them either. Once the boys were out of the game they still stayed and were part of the conversations that went on in the background while the rest of us continued to play the game. The talk was mostly farming related and I couldn't have contributed if I wanted to, I was so out of my depth. We played on, having a good time, for a couple of hours. We didn't stop until Robert said it was getting late for farmers. At that point the boys went to bed and Kay went to the kitchen with her mom talking about Saturday's dinner. Robert asked me into his den.

I hadn't really been in the den before other than to take a look at it when Kay was showing me around the house. Other than being smaller and not having a fireplace, the den was similar to the family room but more masculine. Clearly this was Robert's domain. "How are things going, Rob?"

"They're going well, I just picked up, what I hope will be, a new long term client in Colorado."

"Really? You can take care of a client that far away from your home office?"

"Absolutely, the great majority of what I do is via the internet. I have clients all over the country, mostly west of the Mississippi but a couple on the east coast. As long as I have a connection with my client's system, I can take care of them anywhere in the world. I have to visit them sometimes but not often once I have my system properly set up to monitor their computer communications. I even can, and do, monitor them when I'm away from my office. I checked on my clients earlier today from my laptop."

"You checked on them from here, in my house?"

"Oh yeah, it's not difficult. I just plugged a cell card into my computer and used the cell signal to get to the internet and the system in my office. Once I had the internet connection, it was the same as if I was sitting in my office, or close to the same anyway. There are some things I can't do when I'm not actually in my office but the routine things I can, particularly the monitoring of my clients."

"Hunh, I didn't know you could do that. How often do you do this monitoring?"

"My system at home is set up to monitor constantly and it makes a log entry every four hours routinely as well as anytime it detects an anomaly. When I'm not home I try to get on line and do a monitoring sweep at least once a day. It doesn't take too long for a sweep but if I have to tweak something it takes a little longer."

"I don't know too much about computers. I have one in my office I use for record keeping mostly. Junior has a laptop he uses but he has to connect a wire when he wants to do something on the internet. I suppose I'm going to end up getting a laptop for Tommy too but I'm going to have to think about it."

"They're real nice to have and very convenient. Once you get used to having one, you don't know what you did without one. I'm sure Tommy is using computers at school and I'm sure he'd like to have his own."

"Like I said, I'll think about it."

"Well if you have any questions I'd be happy to help you out, they are my business."

"I'll remember that. What I really wanted to know is how is Kay doing? She told me her story when I visited you and I thought things were under control. Then Junior took her phone call and you know what happened from that. Is she okay? I mean is there any danger for her out there?"

I should have seen this coming and been prepared for it. He was looking at me and giving me a chance to put my thoughts together to answer his question. "Robert, she is as safe out there as she would be here if she had an unwelcome suitor. That's all this Todd guy is. I personally haven't met him, only seen him at a little distance and only once at that. I know it shakes up Kay when she sees him but she's smart and has taken some steps to both avoid him and protect herself from him and his football squad buddies. Kay doesn't know it but I also took a step to cut off one of the ways Todd was getting to her. Since Junior came out and braced Todd and the buddy who was with him, there haven't been any more confrontations. Todd has backed off, which is great and what we were hoping for."

"You don't think he'll start up again?"

"No, but if he does, Kay has already notified her advisor of what's been going on and he has it all documented, including Junior's face off with Todd. If Todd approaches her again, she will let the advisor know and he will document it. She's building a case against Todd with her advisor. If it's warranted, his assistance will get the school involved which will involve the police and even get him kicked out of the school or arrested. She's okay on and around the campus. In my house I have an alarm system that includes a monitoring service and a couple of panic buttons so she's okay there too."

"And she's handling it all okay?"

"She had a couple of rough days early on in this debacle when she turned to me for support but I was right there for her and I always will be if she needs me."

"I appreciate that, Rob. With you not being a parent, you can't understand how much it means to me to know she has someone nearby she can turn to when she needs help or support. What about you though? How are you doing with Kay in your house? I can see that, at least right now, everything is okay but she hasn't been in your home all that long, about three months if I've got the right of it."

"Yeah, three months, give or take a week or so. I'm doing okay with her too, more than okay really. I enjoy her company; I enjoy her being around and near me. She has filled a hole in my life I didn't even know was there. I'd be terribly saddened and disappointed if she were to leave."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. She set me in my place when I went out to bring her home back in September. She was right, you know, I hadn't thought it through before coming out. I'll be honest with you, she shocked me. She never spoke to me that way before and I didn't know what to do about it. Now I think I did the right thing by not doing anything. I was very glad to meet you though. You showed me you are a good person and I trust you. We're happy she brought you home for Thanksgiving."

"Thank you, Robert, that's very nice of you. I enjoyed meeting you then too and I'm having a good time now in your home."

"She's grown quite a bit since she moved into your home, she's more confident in herself, more assertive. I learned that the hard way but I'm happy to see it. Still I'm glad you're there for her. I don't know if you realize it, but she depends on you, she's made a heck of an attachment to you. Janice noticed it too; she talked to me about it last night. We're happy for her, and for you."

What was he saying? Did he think Kay and I were more than what we were, that there was more to our relationship than friendship and her being my housekeeper?

"Kay told Janice your parents are in Florida, is that right?"

"Yeah, they've been living there for a few years now. I've tried to get them to move closer but they have put down roots where they are and refuse to move, at least for now."

"I take it then you don't see them that much."

"No I don't, even though I'd like to. I usually see them around the Christmas holidays. I go to Florida or they come out to California."

"So they're coming out to see you this year?"

"No, it's my turn to travel. When Kay and I get back home I have to make my travel plans and book my flights."

"I see, I assume you're taking Kay with you. She needs to meet your parents I think."

That rocked me back on my heels. I didn't need to ask him anymore about his comment at the dinner table earlier. "I haven't discussed it with her yet."

"Don't wait too long; she may want to get some new clothes before she goes."

It was my turn to feel pole axed. I not only hadn't discussed it with Kay, I hadn't even thought of it.

"You've been real good to our little girl, Janice and I both think so. Like I said before, she's grown in your home and we like what we see. We're real glad she brought you home and we've all gotten to meet you now."

"I like your whole family too, Robert. Tommy is a little on the quiet side but that's not a bad thing."

"Oh, he'll open up more as he gets to know you; it just takes a little time with him."

Now what did that mean? Does it mean he thinks I'm coming back? Why would I be coming back? What does he think is going on between me and Kay? What have I gotten myself into here?

"Well it's getting late; I've got to be heading to bed now. The boys and I have to get up in the morning to get the work done. There is some that should have been done today but we put it off for the holiday. G'nite, Rob, you're welcome to stay up if you'd like but please turn off the lights before you go to bed."

"Good night, Robert."

He left me in his den; I sat there for a few minutes going back over the conversation since we came in here. Everything pointed somewhere I hadn't planned to go. What did Kay know about this? Was she even aware of it? I better find her, maybe she can help me decipher this and show me I'm all wrong in what I think is going on.

I turned off the light and went looking for Kay. She was nowhere to be found. The kitchen was dark as was the rest of the house except the family room. I turned off those lights and went to Kay's room; I knocked softly on her door.

"Come in."

I went in and shut the door behind me. Kay was sitting up in bed, in her tee-shirt, reading by her bed light. It looked like she wore the same thing to bed here that she wore in my house. Somehow I pictured her in a long flannel night gown, don't ask me why.

She patted the bed for me to sit down. "Did you have a nice talk with Dad?"

"Yes and no, I'm more than a little confused after talking with him. "Did your mother say anything to you?"

She got a questioning look on her face. "About what?"

"About me, about us, about what we're doing together, anything along that line."

"She seems to like you but she didn't say anything I thought was peculiar. Why?"

"Are you sure she didn't say anything to you about us?"

"She did say she was really glad we came home for Thanksgiving and was happy I brought you with me to meet her, but that's about it, nothing earth shattering. She asked about your family and when you saw them and had I met them but that was yesterday when I was helping her in the kitchen. What DID my dad say?"

"Well, if I understood him correctly and read him right, he and your mom think we're a couple and are quite happy about it."

"WHAT? Are you sure that's what he meant?"

"I'm pretty sure. I mean he didn't come right out and say it but it sure sounded like it. He was talking about Tommy opening up to me when he gets to know me. About how you've grown since you came into my home. About how glad he and your mom are that I'm there for you. That you depend on me and you've become attached to me. All that and a bunch more but the real clincher though is, from what he said, he thinks, make that expects, me to bring you home with me to Florida because you need to meet my parents. His words, not mine, you NEED to meet my parents. Is there any other way to interpret all that other than they think we're a couple?"

She sat there for a minute digesting what I said. "I've got to go talk to them." She threw back the covers and started to get up.

"He's already gone to bed. He said he and the boys had to get up early and catch up on things that didn't get done around the farm today. If he's not already asleep I'm sure he will be very soon. Kay, what's going on here? Is there something you haven't told me that maybe you should have?"

"Rob, I told you she expected me to be married and raising kids by now but I didn't see this coming. It helps make a little more sense of what she said Tuesday. But you just met her Tuesday, what you're saying is they already thought we were a couple before we came in."

"I don't know about that. One of the things he said was that he and your mom discussed us last night and were happy about us. They sure must think we're a couple now."

"Let me think about this. I've got to talk with them tomorrow."

"Alright but I don't want you having a big hoorah about all this."

"I won't but I can't let it just sit either."

"If you want me to be there I will, but it's up to you."

"I don't know yet. I have to think about how I want this all to go down and when. Now though, I want to think."

"You think, I will too, I don't know what else to do right now. I'm going to bed, good night, Kay."

I left her sitting up and thinking. I went to my room and thought for a while myself but didn't come up with any suggestions or plans. This was a problem and yes I was directly affected but it was primarily Kay's problem, wasn't it? I finally gave up and went to bed.