Chapter 3 continued: saving christmas manor

The Drive

Friday morning came quickly, but Ben was ready. His bags were packed, and so were the contracts. He fed and walked Winston, leaving specific instructions for the dog walker. He put his suitcase, hanging bag, and his briefcase in his car, and set off. He wanted to get an early start so he could avoid Manhattan rush hour, when the highways were little more than parking lots. It was around a four-and-a-half-hour drive, since Hopestown an hour north of Boston. He figured he’d arrive in the early afternoon, check into his hotel, get settled in, and then head over the Noel Manor for an early dinner with Mrs. Parker and her attorney. She had reached out to him via the Museums manager, Olivia Cameron.

Her email had been professional, cordial but brief. Mrs. Parker wanted to have a conversation about the manor and the Frost Marley contract. After reading the email, he thought it was a good sign that the owner wanted to talk. Perhaps this was going to be easier than I originally thought. Truth to told, Ben was actually excited to see the house. He had done some research on it while developing the contract, and thought that the manor was fairly impressive.

The house was built in 1919, right after World War I, and had become a financial and charitable staple for the town. The annual Christmas Gala made the majority of the profits for the house for many years, until recently. Local folklore even had it that each year at the Christmas Gala, a miracle would occur. He knew he mentioned it to Katrina, she would only further deride where he was going as a small country backwater town. Ben, for his part, just thought it was a lame idea. Miracles didn’t happen. Unless buying the house by Christmas Eve was considered a miracle, which in that case, Ben would take it. As Ben headed through the Bronx onto the George Washington Bridge towards Fort Lee in the Bronx, his phone buzzed.

He pressed the hands-free calling button on his dashboard. “Hi mom, I’m in the car crossing over the bridge heading toward Massachusetts. What’s going on?”

“Hi, honey. I was just calling to say hi, and ask what we needed to wear for when we visit. Specifically, your father wants to know if he needs to bring a suit. You know he hates wearing suits, so it will be a struggle with him.”

“Mom, I told him yesterday, we are going to see a Broadway play for Christmas, and he needs to dress up. So, yes, he will need to wear a suit. Sorry you have to be the bearer of bad news.” Ben’s father, John, was far more comfortable in jeans, a sweater and a pair of well-worn in work boots with thick socks. Ben was very comfortable in a suit, but likewise enjoyed thick socks.

“I told him that, but he asked me to call and check. I’m just going to pack it for him, and we will have that discussion once we are in New York. Is Katrina going to be joining us for the holidays? I am looking forward to finallymeeting her.” Anne Spencer was a sweet and lovely woman of 62 years old. She was petite, with chestnut brown hair, and a calming personality. She rarely got angry, and had been the peace keeper in the family. Ben was like his mother in a lot of ways. He rarely became so angry he started yelling. He was low key, which had served him well throughout his career, as he didn’t often find himself overcome by his emotions.

“I’m not sure she will be able to join us. Her family haven’t finalized their plans for the holidays, but if she can, should would love to see you.”

“What does her family usually do for the holidays?”

“Well, it depends on the year. Some years they will go skiing in the Alps, some years they go to London for the holidays, or the South of France. Katrina loves Provence.”

“Wow, they sound like very well-traveled and fancy people. Very different from us, but Katrina sounds lovely, so we are excited to hopefully meet her this trip.”

“They are very different from us, mom. Katrina’s father is an economic consultant who used to consult for Alan Greenspan. He has worked for Presidents, so they are a prominent, but are very nice people.”

“That is very impressive. What does Mrs. Farlington do? Is she a consultant as well?”

“Well, Katrina’s father and mother are divorced, and her mother lives in Paris. I’m not sure what his current wife does for a living, or if she even works for that matter. Katrina is not very close with her. Mr. Farlington’s second wife was an economic consultant though.”

“Well, we are really looking forward to seeing you in a few days.” His mother said, a little unsure of what to say next. “Well dear, I will let you get going. Have a safe trip, and I hope your meetings go well. We will see you at the end of the week. We are really looking forward to it. Your brother and sister in law and the kids can’t wait to see you. Grace has been talking to me all week about wanting to go Tiffany’s, and to shop on Fifth Avenue. The kids want to ride the Ferry to Staten Island and back, and Adam wants to see the Statue of Liberty. Did I ever tell you that grandpa came through Ellis Island as a little boy? Is there any way we can go to the Ellis Island Museum and look for his name?

“I’m really excited to see everyone, and yes, we can absolutely go see all of those places. I never knew that. Why haven’t you mentioned it before?”

“I never knew when we would be coming to New York so I forgot to mention it. Grandpa moved to Virginia after being in New York for the first few months, and that’s when he came to live on the farm.”

“Well, believe it or not, I’ve never been to Ellis Island, so I would love to do that with you, and dad, Adam, Grace and the kids. As soon as I’m back on Friday, we will go.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Yes, that’s a promise, mom. We will go. I have to get going, but I can’t wait to see you at the end of the week. I’m excited to see all of you, and spending Christmas with you guys.”

“Oh honey, me too. It’s been such a long time since we have all been together for Christmas! I just am so happy.”

“Well, I am excited too. See you at the end of the week. Bye, mom.”

“Love you, Ben.”

“Love you, too.”

Anne sighed. She was so excited to see her son at Christmas for the first time in three years. She was so proud of him, but he worked so many hours, she worried about it. It didn’t seem like he was getting any work life balance support from that girlfriend of his. She seemed like a spoiled party girl who was selfish and only thought of herself. She was trying to keep an open mind about her, and her family but it was difficult since Anne blamed Katrina for not seeing her son over Christmas for three years.

She probably thought she was too good to come down to Virginia and spend the holidays anywhere but on her stupid yacht or whatever. It just seemed like her, and Ben were such different people. Were all women in New York like Katrina? Well, at least she would get to see her son this Christmas. Maybe meeting Katrina wouldn’t be so bad, and perhaps Anne was jugging Katrina a little too harshly.

If that woman and Ben got married, the family would probably never see him, and heaven forbid they had children! Anne would never get to see her grandkids. Why did certain people think they were so much better than everyone else? The Spencer’s were great people. They worked hard, were generous, helped in the community, and always believed in the good in people. Anne just couldn’t believe her son was dating someone like Katrina. It just didn’t make sense. There’d had to be someone better out there for Ben. There just had to be…

Ben had been dreading Katrina and his mother meeting for three years, and had put this off for as long as possible. It wasn’t that they wouldn’t like each other per se, it’s just that they couldn’t be more opposite. Katrina was used to the finer things in life, and had high expectations of the people around her.

She expected a lot, and tended to look down at those who didn’t meet her high expectations. Ben’s mother spent most of her time shoveling horse manure and washing rescue horses all day when she wasn’t helping Ben’s dad with the family business. Ben wasn’t sure if Katrina or her father would understand that, much less not judge that lifestyle. He knew that they would have to meet eventually, but he was hoping to delay their meeting for a little while longer.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind, and focused on the traffic going out of the city heading into Upstate New York. He was ready for the week, and ready to make the big sale that would change his career trajectory, and earn him approval from Katrina’s family. He would deal with his family later. Little did he know what was awaited him in Massachusetts…

Thanks for reading! Until next time...All my healing love,

K.