I Promise You This (Love in Provence Book 3) (26 page)

Molly spoke with Tony almost every day on Skype. Often, Katherine and Philippe were invited to join in.

Katherine avoided having any discussion with Molly about Tony, other than to regularly say what an impressive man he was and how much she liked his company. Molly always agreed and then changed the subject.

“Everyone looks for happiness. I mean, why wouldn’t we? But we each find it in different ways. Look at what you thought made you happy for so many years and compare it to what makes you happy now. Wow! I’m happy to simply be alive, and for now, that’s all I need.”

“I think she does that from habit,” Katherine commented to Philippe one night in bed. “She’d had to keep him secret for so long, it just comes naturally now. Besides, she doesn’t know that we’re aware of their relationship.”

“I think it’s time you encouraged her to talk about it,” Philippe said. “Let her know Tony spoke to us. I’m in touch with him a fair bit, so I’ll check to see if the time is right to begin the conversation.”

The opening night of André’s art exhibit, titled
Les Images de Nos Rêves/The Images of Our Dreams
, was the Friday of Molly’s second week. Invitations had been sent, but it was also open to the public so no one would feel unwelcome.

Attendance was overwhelming, and André swore every person from Antibes was there. “I always have been fortunate to have good attendance at all of our exhibits, but this is exceptional,” he kept repeating.

Many of Katherine and Philippe’s friends from Nice came, including the Johnstons, who brought some friends. Almost all the women from Katherine’s expat walking group arrived together. She was constantly touched by enthusiastic support. They were also eager to meet Molly, inviting her to join them as soon as she could.

Henri and Sylvie drove down from Roussillon and brought best wishes from Joy and Oncle François, with instructions to take many photos and bring them back for their consideration. “François is determined for one of your photos to grace his wall, Kat.”

Kat replied, “Tell him everything was sold. I’m going to do something especially for him, as a gift. But don’t tell him that part.”

Before the end of the evening, several pieces on display—including two of Katherine’s five entries—had been purchased. She was floating on air and kept insisting Philippe assure her that he had not been the buyer.

The exhibit would last for two weeks, and Katherine had committed to spending time there each day. The more time she spent speaking with photographers and people who were interested in seeing the exhibit, the more she felt herself making her hobby a serious component of her life.

The thought excited her more than she had anticipated. Another new chapter in her life was beginning.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

By the last weekend in March, Molly was walking with just a hint of a limp. Her shoulder was also responding well to treatment, and it looked like she would have a full range of motion, after initial doubts. Her hard work was paying off.

She also was finally given permission by Claire to stroll the cobblestone streets. Molly was instructed to be careful and to bring along her cane if she felt it was necessary. They knew she wasn’t about to take any foolish chances.

“There’s no frickin’ way I want to go through this again,” Molly assured Claire and everyone else within earshot. After a few wanderings with Katherine and Rococo, she felt stable and confident.

Now Kat and Molly were able to enjoy hilltop lunches as they browsed along the cobblestone lanes of Eze and Saint-Paul-de-Vence. They lingered over portside seafood snacks in Molly’s favorite town of Villefranche-sur-Mer. Often, they ambled along the Prom in Nice after meeting Véronique for coffee or took restorative strolls along the sandy beaches of Juan-les-Pins to build up Molly’s strength.

“Katski, I’d forgotten how close all these exquisite places are. Why would you not want to be here, I ask you! I could be persuaded without any effort!”

There had been many opportunities for long conversations.

One day, as Molly was telling Katherine how thrilled she was that Kat and Philippe had fallen in love, Katherine broached the subject of Molly’s love life.

“Molly, I know you’ve always told me you weren’t interested in the dating scene. I didn’t see you a lot for many years, and the only time you mentioned anyone in your life was, as you described him, your Italian lover, Antonio—your friend with benefits. Didn’t you ever date anyone else?”

Molly said nothing for a few seconds, bobbing her head around as they continued walking. She pulled her jacket a little more tightly around her, even though it was quite a warm day.

Looking straight ahead, she began, “Okay, Katski, here’s the condensed version of my dating life. Prepare to be amused.”

Katherine knew if anyone could spin the dating scene into a comedy routine, it would be Molly. “I’m ready, Moll. Don’t hold back.”

Molly cleared her throat and took a deep breath, which she then immediately blew out. “A few years ago, I enrolled on LFL—Looking for Love—an online dating website. Besides a bunch of total assholes, there really are a lot of sincere people on the site who are looking for a good match.”

She paused and met Katherine’s gaze. “Even though everyone says they don’t have baggage, each person lugs at least one Samsonite along with them. Anyone over six feet does not lie about his height. Otherwise, short men exaggerate by two or three inches, and you find yourself kissing the tops of their bald heads.”

Kat snorted.

Molly screwed her face into an exaggerated grimace before rolling her eyes and continuing. “There are all kinds of guys looking for all kinds of different connections. Some want to book the church after the first meet and greet. Others, as soon as they meet you, give you the Italian once-over from head to toe, then their eyes glaze over and they’re polite for the requisite half hour. You never hear from them again. It’s a lot like high school. The ones that like you, you don’t like, and the ones you don’t like, stalk you. You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs to get to a prince.”

Katherine chuckled. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It sounds pretty awful.”

“And don’t get me started on the subject of kissing . . .” Molly opened her mouth, stuck two fingers partway in and made a loud gagging sound.

Kat was laughing again before she said, “Getting serious for a minute, Moll, I suppose it’s important not to invest all your hopes in the possibilities.”

“Absofrickinlutely! You really have to remember that these websites are simply an avenue to meet a person of interest and then see where that goes. A lot of the men I met told me the same stories about women not looking anything like their profile picture. That’s what impressed a lot of guys about me. What they saw was what they got.”

“I can only begin to imagine what it was like,” Katherine said. “I’m thankful I didn’t have to go through that. I’m not sure I could.”

Molly looked at Katherine with a frustrated expression. “It wears you down, Katski, and within no time, it’s no fun. I met some guys who looked nothing like their profile photo. Ten years older, twenty pounds heavier and—oh, you thought I wouldn’t notice—half a head of hair lighter. Or they say they don’t smoke, but there’s a photo in their profile where they have a cigarette in their hand. Or, a real classic, the guy who posted photos of himself cleaning fish, with blood and guts all over the place—including himself.”

Kat snorted at that last remark, and Molly gave her an exaggerated eye roll as she shook her head.

“But that’s just me. I know a few women at work who have met great guys. Two have even gotten married.”

By this time they had reached the ramparts that ran along the coast. They stopped and looked down at the Plage de La Gravette, the picturesque beach they liked best. Molly sighed and said, “You know, it looks inviting even though I know it’s freezing right now. We sure had a few good days floating in that beautiful cove.”

“And we’ll have some more. You’ll just have to come back again in the summer.”

They turned and began walking along the ramparts toward the apartment. “So, getting back to online dating—did you ever meet anyone interesting?”

“Sure. I met some guys who were nice, kind, fun, even interesting . . . but not necessarily for me. Most of the time on dates I sat looking through guys, trying to be polite, so I could get out of wherever we were as soon as possible. It doesn’t take great intuition to know when a guy is going to ask for another date. Whenever I sensed that coming, I would excuse myself to the ladies’ room, throw cold water on my face, give myself a pep talk, and go back out with my standard response ready.”

“Which was?” Katherine asked.

“After they popped the question, I would look at them sweetly and say, ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’”

Kat stopped again and looked Molly in the eyes. “You did not say that! Tell me you didn’t.”

Molly laughed. “Well, there was a day when I might have but . . . no, I never did. I had an extremely polite response about feeling more friendship than romance for them. I might as well have said the other. It was never well received.”

Katherine sympathized, “Rejection is never easy.”

“That’s one of the pieces of advice these dating websites stress. It’s not that simple to put into practice. You learn it’s hard to find someone you connect with in all three departments: head, heart, and pants. Nothing clicked for me. Certainly not Fish-gutting Guy.” She sighed. “I mean, nothing.”

Katherine looked at her with compassion. “Oh, Molly, it must have been depressing.”

“Yup! That about sums it up. That’s why I stopped.”

“I can’t say I blame you,” Kat muttered, putting her arm around Molly. They stopped to untangle the leashes the dogs had managed to wrap around each other.

“The pups obviously need more leash training, Kat.”

“Maybe we need more leash training!” Kat laughed. “We can’t talk and keep Rococo untangled at the same time.”

As they continued walking home, Molly picked up the conversation where they had left off.

“I have my music, and you know that comes straight from my heart. I’m so relieved my singing wasn’t affected by my injuries. And I have my students. You know how I love teaching. Now I’ve experienced whole new dimensions of life that I hopefully can share with the kids. So screw the dating scene. I simply don’t need it.”

Kat debated dropping the subject. Molly sounded convincing and sure of her feelings.
Why should I push it?

But then she did.

“So do you still have your friend with benefits? The enigmatic hot Italian lover?” Katherine asked, feeling as if she was completely crossing a line. On the other hand, as she’d told herself often during the past two months, she and Molly were true friends who cared about each other, and it was time to put all their cards on the table.

Molly stopped walking. Rocco took advantage of the halt in their stroll to engage in serious sniffing around nearby bushes, and Coco soon joined him.

Katherine spoke again. “Molly. After all these years, I think you can be honest with me. You know you can trust me.”

Molly spoke slowly and clearly. “You know who my friend with benefits is, don’t you?”

“I think so. I just need to hear you say it. You said this accident was a game changer for you. Why not change your life in every way? What could possibly be a better time than now?”

The two friends faced each other. Their eyes met.

“Okay,” Molly said, taking a deep breath and not breaking Kat’s gaze. “So all that online dating stuff happened intermittently. Tony is the lover I’ve had all these years, but there were times when we tried to go our separate ways.”

“I can imagine,” Kat said, filling in a long pause on Molly’s part. Katherine could tell this was emotionally difficult for Molly.

With her voice almost a whisper, Molly said, “He means everything to me. I will never look for anyone else again. We both realized that a few years ago. The only problem is that we can never be together because of his calling in life.”

Katherine continued to meet Molly’s eyes. “His obvious concern for you in the hospital certainly caught my attention. Probably not everyone else’s, so don’t worry about that. His caring for you took precedence over everything else when your life hung in the balance. You’re very fortunate to have that kind of love in your life.”

This time Molly snorted. “Well, I’m not sure how fortunate a woman is when her primary competition is the Catholic Church—or God.”

They began walking again, and Molly poured her heart out. She spoke of the early days of her friendship with Father DeCarlo. She first met him through the drug-addiction problems her brother, Shawn, faced and her involvement in trying to help him.

“We were friends for a few years before it evolved into a relationship. No one put more effort into helping Shawn kick his drug habit than Tony. I had—and still do have—so much respect for him. He was kind to me and spent a lot of time getting to know me and Shawn and learning the details of our past, of our childhood. I trusted and respected him before I ever realized how attracted I was to him.”

“So how do you see your love affair continuing?”

“I guess we will simply carry on as we have . . . in secrecy.”

“But wouldn’t it be better for both of you if you could be open and honest about your love for each other?”

Molly’s expression saddened as she struggled to get the words out. “Impossible. The Catholic Church would never accept our relationship. We’ve talked about it.”

“But what if he left the church? Wouldn’t that make it right for you?”

“I couldn’t live with the guilt. Tony is such a . . . well, such a man of God. He lives his faith in everything he does. That’s one of the reasons I love him so very much. He makes me a better person, and he even put up with my f-bomb issues for all those years.”

“Philippe and I got to know him—pretty well, we think—for the short time we had in Toronto. I mean, I’ve known him for years, of course, but only in his role as a priest. We were able to get to know Tony DeCarlo, the regular guy, in the hospital with you. He’s quite something.”

Molly’s face lit up. “I don’t know anyone else like him. Such simple things about him are exceedingly special. I guess if I had to describe him with one sentence, I would say that he lives life in the superlative.”

Kat looked amused. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone described that way. What do you mean?”

“Whenever he tells me something, it’s always, ‘Moll, I met the most interesting person today.’ Or, ‘I ate the hottest, most delicious curry for lunch.’ Or ‘I read the best book this week.’ See what I mean? Everything is in the superlative. He sees the good in everyone and everything. Nothing is ever a problem that cannot be solved. His glass is always half full. No, let me correct that! His glass is always full . . . or, as he likes to say, his cup runneth over.”

Katherine could hear the love in Molly’s voice amid her restraint. “I’m sure he loves you in the superlative too!”

Molly looked at Katherine with an expression mixed with sadness and relief. “I guess I’m glad that I’ve told you. I’m not sure, though. Please don’t let on to Tony that you know anything about our relationship . . . maybe you shouldn’t tell Philippe either.”

Katherine was torn between continuing the conversation and revealing all that she knew. But Tony had also spoken to her in confidence. She knew she had to respect that until he told them otherwise.

At least the door to talk about it had been opened. She hoped Molly would let her walk through again.