held on to me when I thought I was going to slip away and he didn’t let go . . .
“You should call and take him out to dinner when you’re back on your feet,” Ed said. “There aren’t many Good Samaritans out there. They deserve a little recognition.”
“I wish I could, but I don’t know his name.”
Maeve looked up from her knitting. “Kate thinks he was wearing a Grateful Dead T-shirt.”
“A Deadhead?” Ed threw back his head and laughed. “I’d pay good money to see Kate with a Deadhead.”
“You make me sound a little judgmental.” Kate’s feelings were seriously wounded. “I wouldn’t judge a man by his T-shirt.”
Her ex-hippie mother couldn’t resist. “Honey, you came out of the womb with a scorecard in your hand and God help anyone who doesn’t measure up.”
She considered the source. This was Maeve French talking, the woman who made her living with her imagination, a copy of the Kama Sutra , and a deck of tarot cards.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Maeve said, waving a bejeweled hand in the air. “You are a formidable woman, but somebody has to tell you the truth.”
Ed had been around the French women long enough to know better than to allow himself to be drawn into one of these impossible-to-win discussions, and feigned a catnap.
“Your heart was trying to tell you something,” Maeve said. “You need to let some whimsy into your heart.”
“I’ll tell Dr. Lombardi,” Kate said. “He’s leaning toward Lipitor.”
Maeve, who was very good at ignoring cheap shots, plunged ahead. “This is a sign from above that it’s time for a change.”
“A sign from above? I thought your goddesses were all earthbound.”
“A woman’s belief system isn’t meant to be parsed like a subordinate clause.” Maeve looked toward Ed for support. “Besides, a little spirituality wouldn’t hurt you, Katherine Margaret.”
“I agree.” So much for Ed’s fake catnap. “Marie and I decided a few years ago to start going back to church. Best decision we’ve ever made.”
Kate didn’t even try to mask her surprise. “I suppose you went back for the kids’ sake?” Ed and Marie had three children, all under the age of twelve.
“That’s how it started,” Ed said, “but I think we’ve gotten more out of it than they have.”
“So you’re a practicing Catholic again.” She couldn’t have been more surprised if he had told her he’d decided to take up ballet.
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh. “I thought twelve years at St. Aloysius had pretty much beaten it out of you too.”
“I found I missed the ritual.”
“You always did like the smell of incense.” She meant it as a joke, but nobody laughed. What on earth was going on today? A sense of humor was definitely an endangered species.
“I’m not talking about the theatrics of religion,” Ed said as Maeve nodded in agreement. “I’m talking about the sense of continuity.” Apparently for Ed it was about family, about his own history, about taking strength from something bigger than he was, bigger than any problem life could throw his way.
It was a side of him Kate had never seen before, and she was intrigued. Funny how you could know a man your entire life, share a ten-year marriage and a beautiful child, and still not begin to understand what made him tick.
“You never miss it?” he asked her.
She thought about it for a moment. “Last Christmas I thought about going to midnight mass but I stretched out on the sofa with some eggnog and the feeling passed.”
“My daughter the comedienne,” Maeve said with a shake of her head. “The closer you get to her authentic self, the more she makes with the jokes.”
“I don’t do that.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Organized religion isn’t for everyone,” she said, wishing she didn’t sound quite so defensive. “I think I’m managing to lead a decent and productive life without it.”
“But are you as happy
“You should call and take him out to dinner when you’re back on your feet,” Ed said. “There aren’t many Good Samaritans out there. They deserve a little recognition.”
“I wish I could, but I don’t know his name.”
Maeve looked up from her knitting. “Kate thinks he was wearing a Grateful Dead T-shirt.”
“A Deadhead?” Ed threw back his head and laughed. “I’d pay good money to see Kate with a Deadhead.”
“You make me sound a little judgmental.” Kate’s feelings were seriously wounded. “I wouldn’t judge a man by his T-shirt.”
Her ex-hippie mother couldn’t resist. “Honey, you came out of the womb with a scorecard in your hand and God help anyone who doesn’t measure up.”
She considered the source. This was Maeve French talking, the woman who made her living with her imagination, a copy of the Kama Sutra , and a deck of tarot cards.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Maeve said, waving a bejeweled hand in the air. “You are a formidable woman, but somebody has to tell you the truth.”
Ed had been around the French women long enough to know better than to allow himself to be drawn into one of these impossible-to-win discussions, and feigned a catnap.
“Your heart was trying to tell you something,” Maeve said. “You need to let some whimsy into your heart.”
“I’ll tell Dr. Lombardi,” Kate said. “He’s leaning toward Lipitor.”
Maeve, who was very good at ignoring cheap shots, plunged ahead. “This is a sign from above that it’s time for a change.”
“A sign from above? I thought your goddesses were all earthbound.”
“A woman’s belief system isn’t meant to be parsed like a subordinate clause.” Maeve looked toward Ed for support. “Besides, a little spirituality wouldn’t hurt you, Katherine Margaret.”
“I agree.” So much for Ed’s fake catnap. “Marie and I decided a few years ago to start going back to church. Best decision we’ve ever made.”
Kate didn’t even try to mask her surprise. “I suppose you went back for the kids’ sake?” Ed and Marie had three children, all under the age of twelve.
“That’s how it started,” Ed said, “but I think we’ve gotten more out of it than they have.”
“So you’re a practicing Catholic again.” She couldn’t have been more surprised if he had told her he’d decided to take up ballet.
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh. “I thought twelve years at St. Aloysius had pretty much beaten it out of you too.”
“I found I missed the ritual.”
“You always did like the smell of incense.” She meant it as a joke, but nobody laughed. What on earth was going on today? A sense of humor was definitely an endangered species.
“I’m not talking about the theatrics of religion,” Ed said as Maeve nodded in agreement. “I’m talking about the sense of continuity.” Apparently for Ed it was about family, about his own history, about taking strength from something bigger than he was, bigger than any problem life could throw his way.
It was a side of him Kate had never seen before, and she was intrigued. Funny how you could know a man your entire life, share a ten-year marriage and a beautiful child, and still not begin to understand what made him tick.
“You never miss it?” he asked her.
She thought about it for a moment. “Last Christmas I thought about going to midnight mass but I stretched out on the sofa with some eggnog and the feeling passed.”
“My daughter the comedienne,” Maeve said with a shake of her head. “The closer you get to her authentic self, the more she makes with the jokes.”
“I don’t do that.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Organized religion isn’t for everyone,” she said, wishing she didn’t sound quite so defensive. “I think I’m managing to lead a decent and productive life without it.”
“But are you as happy
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