Park Avenue Player(94)
The priest’s brows shot up. “Sorry. We’re not supposed to show any emotion, but that’s one I hadn’t heard before.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, those weren’t my finest moments. But anyway, I definitely lied a lot. I also curse like a sailor and use the Lord’s name in vain occasionally. Oh, and I’m divorced. But my ex-husband cheated on me and is a jerk, so I think I should get a free pass on that one.”
“Alright. Anything else?”
“I don’t think so. Oh, wait. Premarital sex is a sin, right?”
“It is.”
“But I love him. So that should count for something, too, right?”
Father Joe smiled. “Say four Hail Marys and two Our Fathers.”
“Okay.” I started to shut my eyes and then changed my mind. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Is it possible to love two people at the same time?”
“That’s a big question.” He was silent for a long time. “I think it’s possible to love many people at the same time. But I don’t think it’s possible to love two people in exactly the same way.”
“But can a man fall in love with someone new, if he never stopped loving the person he was in love with first?”
“There are some people who come into our lives and take a little piece of our hearts when they go. So they’ll always have that love with them. But the heart is resilient and will eventually heal itself. Though the new heart isn’t the same as the old heart, and that’s why we never love two people the same way.”
“I guess.”
“Are you worried about the man you’re with now?”
“It’s a long story, and it’s incredibly selfish for me to even be thinking about it now, but yes.”
“I see.”
“He loved a woman, and she broke his heart. Like you said, she took a little piece of it with her when she left.”
“Do you love him?”
“I do. So much so that it scares me.”
Father Joe smiled. “That’s how you know it’s real—if it scares the heck out of you. I’m not personally that well versed in relationships of the man-and-woman kind, obviously. But I’ve counseled a lot of couples in my forty years of the priesthood. My advice would be to give this man some time. Perhaps he’s feeling just as scared as you are right now.”
I sighed and nodded. “You’re right. Time. We definitely need some time. I should probably say those prayers and get going now, before your mass starts. But thank you for talking to me.”
“Anytime, Elodie. I’m here from eight to six or so every day. But if I’m not here…” He pointed to the cross hanging over the small altar. “He is. So come by and talk to either of us whenever you need to.”
Chapter 42
* * *
Hollis
“How are you holding up, son?” Richard walked into the small waiting room outside the ICU while I was waiting for my coffee from the vending machine to finish brewing.
“I’ve been better. You?”
He smiled sadly. “Same.”
I slipped the cardboard cup out of the machine and sipped. My face scrunched up, and Richard chuckled.
“Looks like coffee,” he said. “Smells like coffee, too. Tastes like shit. Though you look like shit. So it’s a match.”
“Thanks,” I grumbled.
“Were you here all night?”
“I left to drive Elodie home and run an errand, then came back.”
He took a dollar from his pocket, and the vending machine sucked it in. “This has gotta be hard on you both.”
“It’s definitely not something I saw coming.”
Richard frowned. “I’m sorry about that.” He took a deep breath and pushed the button to add cream and sugar to his coffee. “I spoke to the pulmonologist on the phone a little while ago. He’s going to come in about two o’clock and talk to us. Said he’s bringing the neurologist at the same time, and wants to discuss prognosis. He didn’t sound too optimistic.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Okay. I’ll head out before then so you can have some privacy.”
“I wasn’t telling you so you would leave. I was telling you so you could be there. Bree would want us all to be together at a time like this.”
“Not sure Anna—Bree—envisioned I’d be around again. But I appreciate that.”
Richard sipped his coffee. “You might not have been together anymore, but you were always in my daughter’s heart, Hollis.”
She had a funny way of showing it. But this wasn’t the time or place for bitterness.
Instead, I nodded. “I’ll be there when the doctor comes. Thank you.”
“Can you let Elodie know about the time, too?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll get in touch with her.”
She’d disappeared after she saw me sitting with Anna early this morning. I was sure she’d put two and two together and figured out I couldn’t have gone to the city and back. She probably thought I’d lied to her when I dropped her off—saying I needed to go home. But I really hadn’t planned on coming back. Then I saw a billboard for the pediatric oncology unit of the hospital and suddenly my car was crossing three lanes of traffic to turn off at the next exit for a Walmart.