WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard

We Gather Together Chapter Eleven

Annie Drexler sat at her dining room table with her laptop open to a screen displaying a joint bank account. Her breathing quickened; her anxiety was certain. She didn't know if they would lose the house or not. She looked around the dining room and then into the living room. She liked this house and wanted to stay here. While most of the furniture in the house had belonged to her husband's family, most of the artwork on the walls were her creations; however, she hadn't painted anything in far too long.

Annie had allowed her thoughts to wander. She returned to the laptop; next to it was an open checkbook and a ballpoint pen. She was convinced that Jack's refusal to use direct checking was his way to maintain control.

Annie compared a stack of paid bills with stamps on the envelopes to a stack of unpaid bills that were still awaiting their return envelopes – and funds to pay them.

She refused to go to her parents for money. And she wasn't going to ask Drew if she could work at the printing plant part-time, just as she had during high school and later up until Kelly was born, overseeing creative layouts and color selections. She didn't want to make Drew feel that he was obligated to help them out financially; it was her problem, not his. Maybe, she thought to herself, she could have a tag sale to get rid of all the furniture and possessions Jack had inherited. He still had things belonging to his sister stored in the garage, forcing them to still park their cars in the driveway, especially during winter when they'd spend all that time and effort sweeping six inches or more of snow off them and then scraping the ice off the windows.

Annie was thankful there was enough money to get through this month's bills. But the holidays were coming up and there was a large family for which to buy Christmas presents. She wanted to get through one holiday first before she even thought about another. Thanksgiving had always been her favorite holiday of the year because it was American and it didn't involve people feeling uncomfortable because of personal religious traditions. "People eat, drink and laugh," she would say to herself. "They hug, kiss and are just glad to be with each other. What's not to love about Thanksgiving?"

Such positive thinking put Annie in a better mood. She even talked to the stack of unpaid bills as she closed her laptop, "You'll just have to wait until Jack brings some money." Nevertheless, she couldn't disguise her frustration. "Patience is a virtue," she continued to say to the bills; however, she saw some humor in the situation, "and it's also a higher finance charge."

Annie stood up from the table and pulled down her cardigan sweater over the waist of her tan corduroy pants. She peered out the dining room window to see dried oak and maple leaves covering the entire front yard of her home, from the hedges by the house all the way to the public sidewalk. The Drexlers were the only yard in the neighborhood to still have foliage on its lawn.

Annie had other things to do besides worrying about unraked leaves. After all, that was Jack's responsibility. She walked upstairs and peeked in on her sleeping four-year-old daughter. Annie felt Kelly's forehead and then her stomach. She took a tissue to wipe Kelly's nose, letting Kelly blow into it.

"Here's Chelsea, Kelly," Annie said, moving Kelly's pink stuffed bunny closer to her.

"My tummy still hurts, Mommy."

"You stay in bed. I'll see later about giving you some more medicine. Okay?"

Annie kissed her on the cheek as Kelly grasped Chelsea and closed her eyes. Annie knew that Kelly was her mother's daughter in looks, with her green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Annie had pictures of herself at the same age; the resemblance was uncanny. In addition to Kelly getting her coloring and features, Annie hoped Kelly would get her mother's spirit and high energy. Annie also recognized that Kelly had a sweetness to her that she no doubt got from her father. What Annie didn't want Kelly to get was her mother's temperament which was where a lack of restraint sometimes caused her to make some statements that she might regret. Annie didn't have anything to repent so far, except maybe not chasing after Jack two months ago when he backed his car down the driveway the night that he left her. That had hurt her deeply.

Their kids were taking the separation better than she thought. Annie was the one who was angry about it. She didn't feel as though she deserved it. She and Jack did need to take a break from each other, but they also needed to see if they were going to get back together. Her medical situation would force them to make a decision at some point soon, one way or another. It was something that she hadn't yet told Jack. Matter of fact, she hadn't yet told anyone. Right now, it was best to keep it a secret between her and her doctor.

Annie looked around Kelly's room and picked up clothes off the floor. She shut the door to her room and put the clothes in a laundry basket in the hallway. She then went into Jason's room. Jason had made his bed. That made her smile. For a second grader, he was a fairly responsible and thoughtful young man. Jason reminded Annie a lot of her own father in that respect, except Jason would be tall and blond like his father. Just as long as Jason didn't act like his father, she thought, that would be okay. As much as it was that boyish charm and his ready smile that attracted Annie to Jack in the first place, she just wished that Jack had more drive and ambition. Maybe then things wouldn't be so hand-to-mouth and uncertain financially. For all the work Jack put into his job, she wished that they paid him more in a base salary. Even a small raise would keep them from falling behind in some of their payments, especially the mortgage.

Annie pulled down the bedspread on Jason's bed to check his sheets. They needed to be washed. He had gone to bed with muddy feet last night after playing tag with a couple of his fellow Cub Scouts after church yesterday. She stripped the bed and then found the dirty socks and pants in a pile on his closet floor. She decided also to wash his sneakers. While she was in his closet retrieving the muddied footwear, she checked to see if the white shirt and dark blue pants he'd be wearing for Thanksgiving dinner were clean and presentable. They were.

Annie tossed Jason's sheets and clothes in the laundry basket and checked in again on Kelly. She was sound asleep, clutching Chelsea. Annie felt her forehead again. At least Kelly's fever had gone down. Annie then carried the laundry basket downstairs

When Annie got to the bottom of the stairs, she turned into the living room and glimpsed past the front window to the street where she saw Jack driving his classic red Corvette. He carefully turned into the driveway. She wondered what he was he doing there now. He was supposed to call or text her before coming over, not just show up when he felt like it.

Annie was furious.