The Promise of Provence (Love in Provence Book 1) (7 page)

“My Katica. I know this hasn’t been easy for you.”

Katherine looked at her mom, wiping her tears on her shoulder. “Sorry, I just lost it for a sec. Every once in a while it still happens. Honestly, there’s nowhere I would rather be than here with you.”

Giving her daughter another hug, her mother whispered in her ear, “Remember, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Always.”

Nodding, Katherine had heard those words from her mother her entire life. She knew her mother lived by them.

“Honestly, I am fine.”

Katherine explained she didn’t miss the round of cocktail parties the law firm held each year. “I’m happy to be here with you. There are no parties I feel like going to, nor have I been invited to any. So there you go.”

When she analyzed it, the Christmas traditions she and James had observed had more to do with her family than their relationship. James had never really shown much Christmas spirit. He had merely tolerated her putting out her beloved Santa collection and other decorations and filling the house with boughs and poinsettias.

She had, in fact, received one invitation, but she didn’t mention that. The secretary of the cycling club had called personally to extend an invitation for Katherine to come to the annual Christmas party. May McNeilly was one of the women Katherine had known well in the club. She had called about a month after “la Katastrophe,” as Molly referred to the anniversary disaster.

The conversation had been awkward at first, but May was a straightforward type and quickly got to the point. She’d told Katherine that James and Ashley no longer belonged to the club, and the members were hoping Katherine would come back in the spring, as she was missed. They also hoped she would consider attending the party.

“May, thanks so much. I appreciate your call and the invitation. I’m simply not ready to party. I still feel awkward about coming back to the club, and I think I’ll need more time, but I truly appreciate your support and the invitation.”

She needed more time for sure, she had told herself as she hung up. The thought of being the single divorcée at social functions was not a scenario she relished.

4

A week before Christmas, Katherine and Molly had tickets for the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir’s sing-along
Messiah
concert at Massey Hall.

“Be prepared to sing your heart out!” Molly encouraged as they walked from the subway to the much-loved old concert hall with its outstanding acoustics. “A little trivia for you.
The Messiah
was the first production here when the then Massey Music Hall opened in 189
4
. How about that?”

“Molly, I don’t know anyone who knows more music trivia than you!”

Katherine was excited about the evening because of the concert, but also because it was her first real night out since the split. Molly had warned her they would have to stand in line, since only general admission seating was available. Keeners who wanted particular seats came early to line up, some with an appropriate warm beverage.

Obviously Molly knew the drill, taking a thermos and two cups out of her large shoulder bag.

“Oh, great idea! I could use a coffee,” Katherine thanked her.

“Katski, I love how shit-straight you are. It’s cocoa and Kahlua, and you’ll enjoy it even more than a coffee right now. Besides we need to toast the occasion.”

“You’re too much! But this is a good occasion to toast!”

“Well, actually, what we should toast is the fact that this is the first frickin’ time you and I have done something like this in about twenty years!”

“You’re exaggerating, my friend,” Kate retorted.

“Nope, I’m not. Just think about it and you will see I’m right.”

They toasted and sipped the delicious beverage while Katherine considered what Molly had said.
Really? How had she allowed her life to be controlled and isolated in so many ways?
This was becoming apparent to her the more she lived life without James.

The concert was an event Katherine had longed to attend for years, but James thought it was “stupid,” an affront to the classical music he loved. So she had never pursued it.

Finally getting to their seats, Katherine burst out laughing when Molly pulled off her wool hat and a wild mane of uncontrolled curls exploded from her head.

“My God, Molly! You usually have your hair pulled back. I haven’t seen it like this for years! You look fabulous! It’s so long!”

Molly smiled and blushed. “I always pull it back into a twist for school and my weekend lessons—prim and proper Ms. Malone, the music teacher!”

“So you only have it down for your singing gigs? Yikes, that tells you how long it has been since I was to one of those. I’m going to fix that!”

Katherine caught a look in Molly’s eyes that hinted there was another side to the story about her hair—
her big sexy hair
, she thought. But just then the orchestra stood as the maestro made his entrance, and Molly put her finger to her lips to end the chat.

“Honestly, Kat, you’re going to be blown away when you hear how kickass-amazing we all sound,” she whispered. “The Tafelmusik choir and orchestra get just as pumped about this as the audience, and the enthusiasm is contagious.”

Katherine smiled and felt more excited than she had in some time.

As they joined in the standing ovation after the final notes rang through the hall, Katherine hugged Molly. “Thanks! This was everything you promised and more!”

Having taken the subway downtown, they splurged on a taxi back. The plan was for Molly to stay overnight.

“
Tessék
, Molly. It’s so nice to see you again,” Elisabeth said, after a warm hug in the living room. “You haven’t dropped by for a while.”

Note to self
, Molly thought. “You’re right, Elisabeth, and I’m ashamed of that. I got a little caught up in life, but that’s no excuse for not popping by. I always enjoyed our chats, and I’ll start coming by more often again. It’s good to see you looking so well.”

“
Na
, Molly, I didn’t mean to make you feel badly. I just wanted you to know I missed you—and your funny stories.”

“Well, I can see you have certainly been busy decorating!” Molly exclaimed, taking it all in.

Elisabeth glowed. “Katica has made this season so special. We retrieved our old decorations from their storage boxes—many I haven’t seen for years, and for sure since Jozsef left us. We have only recalled happy memories. There’ve been some painful moments, but we’ve tried to find the good in even those.”

Katherine moved behind her mother, putting her hands gently on her shoulders. “We decided that nothing was going to spoil the time we’re sharing right now.”

Molly raised her eyebrows quizzically at Katherine while Elisabeth wasn’t looking. Kat responded with a move of her hand that indicated they would talk later.

Stifling a yawn, Katherine suggested they all get to sleep. “
Anyu
, I can’t believe you stayed up this late!”

Her mother smiled, a gentle look in her eyes. “Just like when you girls were teenagers,
nem
?”

“Except this time, I’m not sharing a bed with Katherine so we can yak until the early hours!” Molly said. “I need to sleep!”

In the morning, after a typically delicious breakfast, Katherine walked Molly out to her car.

“For Christ’s sake, Kat, are you really handling things as well as your mom makes it sound?”

Putting her hand on Molly’s arm, Katherine spoke with assurance.

“Molly, I’m not saying this is easy or that I’m not hurting, but one night when I was at my lowest point, I went for a long walk. I thought about this mess and decided I only had one way to go—up! I felt I couldn’t get dragged down any further, and I was darned if I was going to let James ruin the rest of my life—”

“The shit-for-brains bastard . . .” Molly interjected.

“Exactly!” Katherine agreed. “I’ve spent every minute from that evening on attempting to move forward, and I have to tell you, my mother has been my biggest inspiration. I look at her every day and think about what she had to move on from in her life. Then I realize my problems are nothing compared to that. It’s that simple.”

Molly shook her head, followed by a look of pure admiration. “I don’t know how you can do it, Kat. You know how I used to go off the deep end whenever I had a fucking breakup—hence my aversion to any kind of relationship . . .”

“Excusez-moi,”
said Katherine. “What exactly is your . . . let’s see . . . how many years . . . ?”

“Seven,” muttered Molly, looking up at the gathering snow clouds with a grumpy expression.

“Okay, I would say seven years qualifies as a relationship . . .” Katherine replied. “With the enigmatic Antonio.”

“Friends with benefits—that’s what it’s called these days. They just made a movie about that,” Molly curtly informed her. “We see each other maybe once a week—and it’s strictly physical.”

“Ha! It’s got to be more than strictly physical if it’s gone on that long.”

As Molly always did when the conversation turned to this secretive affair, she changed the subject. “Wait a frickin’ second, we’re talking about you, not me! I just wanted to say that I think you’re doing a helluva job dealing with everything. And the fact that your eighty-
five-year-old mom is such a positive influence is a bonus. She’s a great lady, and you’re lucky to still have her.”

Hugging, they wished each other a Merry Christmas. Molly had a busy singing schedule through the holidays, and Katherine knew that somehow the trysts with her elusive suitor also factored in.

She is a character
, Katherine thought as Molly hopped into her Zipcar and backed out to the street. She often wondered what on earth Molly’s secret might be.

Christmas Eve was on a Saturday, making it very convenient for Katherine and her mother to visit the local tree lot at the nearby Anglican church. The pickings were slim, but they were happy to choose a needy-looking little blue spruce to be delivered that afternoon.

Warmly bundled up, they slowly strolled the few blocks in the sunshine, Elisabeth’s arm securely tucked in Katherine’s.

“It feels good to be out this morning with everyone dashing about taking care of last-minute details,” Elisabeth noted. “I miss that hustle and bustle. It’s just not the same watching it out my window!”

By dinnertime, the tree was magical in their eyes.

Mother and daughter chatted and laughed. Later, with the box of treasured decorations between them, Katherine handed them one by one to her mother. The colorful ornaments and delicate angels, all of fragile painted glass, were hung with care, along with the traditional sweets wrapped in shiny gold, red, and green foil. Last came small white candles set in brass holders, which cast a sparkling glow when carefully lit by Kat.

When Elisabeth rang the tiny bells gently, their eyes locked in a look of remembrance, a mixture of sweetness and sadness.

“Life seems to pass in a heartbeat,” Elisabeth whispered, her voice filled with melancholy.

They reminisced for a long while, sometimes laughing, sometimes shedding a few tears as old memories surfaced. As they sat in the candlelight and nibbled on Elisabeth’s
palachinta
, they listened to a CD Katherine had made for her mother of her most treasured seasonal music and Hungarian carols. That had been the first gift from under the tree.

This year they had agreed to exchange three gifts with the most meaning and little cost as possible. In the past Katherine and Elisabeth had set aside a day or two to shop together, but this year Elisabeth said she was organized and it would not be necessary.

Her first gift to her daughter was one that held no mystery. The green-and-red-striped cookie tin had been passed between them since the first year Katherine was married and not living at home. It was filled with a selection of the delicious seasonal cookies and sweets that Elisabeth baked every year beginning well before December.

In return, Katherine purchased for her mother the largest box of Laura Secord chocolates available, putting them in a similar tin. The tins were passed between them every year. She knew her mother treated herself to one piece a day until they were gone—and then a replacement box would magically appear. The dates were well marked in Katherine’s day timer.

Mother and daughter appreciated each other’s weakness for sweets.

Elisabeth’s next gift to Katherine was a wooden box, which looked vaguely familiar but very new. She recognized the lid as bird’s-eye maple and then realized she had certainly seen the box many times before, sitting in her mother’s closet.

“When your father and I were first getting settled in Canada, we often went to auctions to find affordable things. He bought this box for my birthday the first year we were here. We had no idea how special the wood was at the time. Imagine! Dad gave it to me to keep my treasures through the years. Cards, photos, letters, poems I would copy. Although it wasn’t a hope chest, it did hold many of my hopes and dreams. It was a reminder to me of what mattered most.”

“But
Anyu
, there is still time for hopes and dreams in your life.”

“
Nem
, as I see it, the hopes and dreams should now be yours, and I want you to realize they still lie ahead in your life. You can collect them and save them in this special box, as I did.”

Katherine knew there was no option for refusal, although she really did not foresee having much to put in the fine-looking box. Hopes and dreams felt dashed to her, and the future was not something she could even begin to visualize, apart from being alone. She definitely was not going to admit this to Elisabeth. “It looks magnificent. Someone has refinished it.”

“Yes, Andrea took it to a Mennonite woodworker who lives near her. He did a fine job!”

Chuckling, Katherine told her mother they had both gone to the St. Jacobs area in their gift search. “I went to a local market with Andrea last month and found this next gift for you.”

Elisabeth unwrapped a beautiful pale-turquoise shawl of the softest wool. “It was woven by hand. The woman even keeps her own angora rabbits and spins the wool herself. Have you ever felt anything so exquisitely soft?”

“It’s beautiful, and just what I need for the hours I spend in my chair by the window. You noticed the one I have is getting a little worn, didn’t you? And such a perfect color!”

When Elisabeth handed Katherine her last present, she kept her hand on it as she spoke. “Katerina,
angyalom,
szeretlek
.
I love you more than you can possibly understand. That’s the way it is between parents and children. You have been my pride and joy.”

“
Anyu
, we have been a wonderful family.” Katherine struggled to keep her composure as her eyes welled up. “I know how much you miss Father, as do I.”

“
Igen
. . . but hush . . . there have been too many tears. This gift is something you have been asking for over many, many years. It is something I was unable to give to you for a long time. Impossible.
Lehetetien.
”

Katherine had no idea what was coming.