WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard

We Gather Together Chapter Eighty-Five

Cara McCulloch pulled her minivan into the Drexler driveway and idled behind the Suburban and Jack's red Corvette parked next to each other in front of the garage. She reached over and hugged Annie who then blew a kiss to a sleeping Lindsay in her car seat in back, got out of the passenger side, opened the back door and lifted out two reusable shopping bags filled with her groceries. Both Cara and Annie knew they would be cooking this afternoon and evening – and would both be thinking about what they had just heard about Scott from Brian Gardner.

"Thanks, Cara. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm taking the kids to the service tonight at church with Mom and Dad. The kids won't be happy about it, but I will. After what Brian told us, I think we all need to pray for Scott."

"I wish we could go, but I'm afraid Lindsay could get cranky and disrupt the service. It's past her bedtime. There'll be a part of church tomorrow when we sing the hymn."

"Have to sing the national anthem first, before kick-off. What would Thanksgiving be without football on TV?"

"Or the Macy's parade in the morning. Courtney loves watching it. Traditions and all that. We'll see you at your parents' afterward."

"Talking about a family with traditions. . ."

"I love all of them, Annie."

"Thanks again, Cara."

Cara waved to Annie as she backed down the Drexler driveway, being careful not to scrape the bottom of the minivan on the rise in the road when she proceeded into traffic.

Annie hoisted her two shopping bags and lugged them toward the front door. She was greeted there by Jason and Kelly who both tried to help her but found the bags too heavy to lift. Jack came up behind them and announced to Annie, "We just got here ourselves."

He took the shopping bags from her, mumbling to himself as he hauled them to the kitchen, "What have you got in here? Bowling balls in this one and free weights in that one?"

"How was breakfast, everyone?" Annie asked her kids, hugging them both.

"Don't say anything just yet, kids," Jack countered, making her curious. No one said anything while Jack deposited the two bags on the kitchen table and returned to the living room.

As he approached Annie, Jack took his cell phone from his pocket, which made him notice that the portable phones had been returned to their saddles in the kitchen and living room. He was about to say something about the portable phones when Annie interrupted him, "Jack, you can leave now that I'm back. If you want. Thanks for looking after the kids."

"Thanks for what? They're my kids too."

"It's okay if you want to leave. That's all I'm saying," Annie repeated, "If you have something else you need to do. . ."

"Actually, I do, but it involves you," he said, indicating his cell phone.

Annie wasn't in the mood for any of Jack's games. She was still pondering what she'd heard at the supermarket from Brian – when Jack showed her pictures on his cell phone, which only served to get Jason and Kelly excited.

Jack was trying to calm down his children as Annie took the cell phone from him. She studied an image of studs and sheetrock lining a room with a concrete floor. "What's this?"

Jason couldn't contain his excitement, "Guess, Mom."

"It's a room under construction," she responded. "That much I know. Where is this?"

"It's the old movie theater, Mommy," said Kelly, holding onto Chelsea.

"We went there after breakfast. Uncle Drew and Courtney were with us too."