Chapter 2 1967
"Abbey, I can't wait for you to meet my mother. She'll just love you."
Jed and Abbey were on their way to Manchester from Boston. Abbey had been nervous all week about meeting Jed's parents. She knew that the relationship between Jed and his father was strained. And he talked very little about his mother.
According to what Jed had told her, John Bartlet was a stern father who gave his two sons very little in the way of emotional support. Catherine was the one who apparently provided them with the emotional support they had craved in their childhood.
When John had learned about Jed dropping his original goal of becoming a priest in order to date her, he had become extremely angry and withdrawn his financial support from Jed's education. But Jed had persevered in spite of this action. In fact, the very next semester, he had been awarded a full scholarship at Norte Dame for the remainder of his college career. His father's hold on him was gone.
"Jed, I'm so nervous. Do you think your mother will like me?"
"Abbey, there's nothing about you that she won't like. Just be yourself and things will go fine." He reached over and grabbed her left hand. "I love you and I know Mom will love you as well."
It was becoming very obvious that his mother was not going to be the problem.
"Jed, what about your father? I know he blames me for you not becoming a priest."
"Abbey, it doesn't matter what my father thinks. I love you and we're getting married. Look at your hand. Doesn't that ring prove to you that I don't care what my parents think? I love you. I'm marrying you, not my parents."
Abbey laughed nervously. "I hope you're marrying me and not your parents. You would be the talk of the town if that was the case."
Jed laughed. They both were tense. He had asked Abbey last night to marry him and she had said yes. The timing was planned. He knew that his father would have something negative to say about this relationship so he wanted to 'seal the deal' before Abbey even met them. He only hoped that after this visit she would still want to go through with the wedding.
"We're here." He pulled the car into a driveway and cut the engine. A two-story, brick house with a neat lawn stood before them. Jed's parents had moved here two years ago after John had retired as headmaster of New Hampshire Academy, a position he had held for twenty-five years.
Abbey turned to Jed, who was just staring out the windshield. "Jed, we really should go in. It'll be fine. Really." She leaned over to kiss her husband-to-be. She knew, in spite of his words, that he was just as nervous as she. She said a quick prayer that this meeting would go okay for both of them. The ring on her finger symbolized the only relationship that mattered to her. Regardless of the outcome of this meeting, the only person that truly mattered was sitting next to her.