As Catherine carried the feast into the dining room, the old doctor appealed to her once again.
“Catherine, we really must talk.”
Catherine shrugged him off. “Why, Walter? There is nothing to talk about. I have a restraining order. If he comes within fifty feet of me, my husband will shoot him. I’m not kidding.”
Catherine briskly made her way to the far corner of the dining room. She selected a record from the bookcase and placed it on the record player with care. She placed the needle upon the record as a crooked smile escaped from her lips. Vivaldi graced the room with his melodic genius, as “Concerto in D Minor” played. Catherine closed her eyes for a moment as the music filled the room, making her briefly forget that there was a visitor in the room.
*
Jack stomped his boots against the porch floor, knocking snow loose from the soles. His calloused hand grabbed the brass knob on the old oak door and was met with resistance. Catherine had locked him out of the house again. Jack opened his tan coat and grabbed his keys from a lanyard that hung from his belt loop. He inserted a long handled key into the lock and twisted forcefully. Jack tried to turn the knob again, but the door simply wouldn’t budge. He shook the handle so hard that the wreath that adorned the door shook off the nail that secured it.
“Damn deadbolt! I’ll remove it!” fumed Jack.
In disgust, Jack slumped down on the porch step. He decided not to knock on the door just yet, because if he spoke to Catherine right now, he would be cross, an argument would ensue, and he couldn’t have that on Christmas Eve. He followed his mother’s number one rule: Never argue on Christmas. That is when he noticed Dr. Lapidus’ car parked on the lawn. Walter Lapidus was his father Angus’ oldest friend, but he also happened to be Bernard Kendricks’ psychiatrist as well.
The doctor had made a special trip on Christmas Eve for the sole purpose to discuss Kendricks’ erratic behavior of late and to give the Morrow’s warning. As if Catherine wasn’t already enough on edge. He wondered how bad it would be this time. They had already gotten the restraining order after he showed up here last time. Thank God he had been home at the time, if she was alone, who knows what he would have done. He worried about her safety day and night.
In the spring, Jack planned on putting a secure perimeter around the property so that no unwanted visitors could surprise them. He was simply ready for Catherine to return to some sense of normalcy. She could not continue on this path much longer; that he accepted with his whole heart.
Jack peered out across the horizon. The sun was setting over Cavegat forest as the snow continued to fall to the ground, blanketing the valley with several inches already. The rumbling of tires transferring from gravel to dirt caught Jack’s attention. The rest of the family had arrived home safely. Angus’ black sports car struggled up the natural incline, going slowly in the still-falling snow. Roughly twenty yards behind the struggling car was a white pickup truck, waiting patiently for the car to climb over the hill. From the porch, Jack could faintly make out the faces of Frank and Bridgette in the cab of the truck clearly laughing as Angus held firmly to his pride as he forced his car up the hill. Moments later, the car had plowed through the snow, and thick layer of gravel underneath and made its way to the path in front of the Morrow house.
Suddenly the heavy front door swung open slamming into Jack’s shoulder. Catherine had heard the children arrive and opened the door for them. Jack’s face contorted in pain, as his three eldest sons ran past, snow covering the shoulders of their jackets and the tops of their hats. They ripped off their winter gear and threw it on the floor for someone else to clean up. Jack called up to them as they raced up the stairs to the second floor.
"Adam, Liam, Tommy, go straight upstairs, wash your faces and hands and come straight back down!!” Jack yelled up the steep stairway that led to the second floor.
Quietly, Jack closed the door over again to keep the chill outside. He turned back around to face the doctor as the door slammed open again, this time hitting Jack square in the knee. Jack groaned and rubbed his now sore knee as two massive dogs burst into the foyer, a gray, scruffy Irish wolfhound and a massive black and tan Newfoundland. The two animals, covered in snow, playfully frolicked into the den where they jumped on the couch and rolled around to get the snow off them.