CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
DAPHNE
I stood in the line today to say hello to Jace after church. It was the least I could do after what he did for me when my father showed up on my doorstep, drunk and dangerous.
I hung back so that I could be last and when it was my turn, I thought I saw a light in his eyes when he looked at me. It made me happy…and guilty at the same time.
“Hello, Daphne,” he said, taking my hand like he would any other parishioner. “How are you?”
“I’m good, thank you. Thank you again for…” I looked around to make sure no one was hanging back. When I saw it was clear, I simply said, “The other night.”
He smiled and everything inside of me liquefied. He’s so gorgeous, even in his cassock and collar. I’m such a demon. “It was no problem. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
“Well, thank you. I should let you go, I’m sure you have plenty to do today.”
“Actually, I was going to have lunch with my brothers. Would you be interested in joining me? Just as friends, of course.” I wondered if he threw that last part in for me, or him, or us both. Either way, he was right…that was the only way we could do things.
“I’d like that,” I heard myself say. I wasn’t really in control of things where Jace was concerned. My evil body ruled all of those thoughts.
“Great,” he said with another dazzling smile. “Do you mind just waiting for me while I change?”
“No, I’ll be right outside.”
I stood outside of the beautiful old church and asked God again to help me. Am I doing the wrong thing as long as we really are just friends? I cannot control my feelings or my thoughts and I’m sure God will forgive me for those. I can, however, control my actions, and that will have to be the key here.
When Jace came out, he was wearing jeans, a blue t-shirt, and tennis shoes. He looked like that hot guy I met in the bar that night; my heart swelled and pressed up against my ribcage as it pounded. Damn it! Friends, Daphne: that’s it.
We took his car, and on the way, he seemed to be trying to warn me about his brothers. “They’re a lot different from me,” he tried to explain. “Max is the oldest and the more serious one, and Ryan is a fourteen-year-old in a twenty-five-year-old man’s body. Don’t take anything he says seriously, okay?”
I was a little nervous, but I agreed. We went to a sandwich shop called Pot-Belly in Boston. His brothers were already there, and I knew them as soon as I saw them because the three of them looked so much alike. I also didn’t miss the looks on their faces when they saw me or the glance they gave each other.
“There he is,” the dark-haired one said. “And, he brought a friend.”
“Did you bring me one?” the light-haired one with the tattoos asked with a lewd chuckle. My guess was that he was Ryan. I was right.
“Daphne, this is Max,” Jace said of the older one. Then with a hard look at the younger one, he said, “The mouthy one is Ryan. Remember what I told you.”
Max shook my hand. Ryan looked offended and said, “What did he tell you?” I didn’t know what to say and I could feel myself blushing. He looked at Jace then and said, “What on earth could you possibly have to judge me for…Father.”
“Ryan, cool it.” That was Max. He had a deep, controlled voice and as soon as he spoke, Ryan shut up and took his seat. He looked up at me and said, “I’m pleased to meet you, Daphne and whatever he told you is probably true.”
I smiled at him and he winked at me. Jace rolled his eyes. Jace and I sat down and the brothers started talking about people they knew. There was something about their grandmother’s house selling and having a meeting with the attorney.
We ordered our meals before Max looked at me and said, “So, what do you do, Daphne?”
“I’m a waitress,” I told him. He was very well dressed and just the way he held himself I could tell that he was the successful one. I was a little ashamed to tell him I was just a waitress.
“How do you know Jace?” Ryan asked. He had a mischievous glint in his eye.
“We met at…”
“Church,” Jace said, taking it out of my hands. Ryan smiled again and looked like he knew it was bullshit somehow.
“I ran into Lily the other day,” Max said. My thigh was barely touching Jace’s under the table, but I felt him tense at the mention of her name. I wondered why. Is it because of me?
“Oh, where did you see her?” The waitress brought our sandwiches and the conversation was put on hold while Ryan flirted with her and everyone got settled with their food.
Once she was gone, Max said, “She was at McDougal’s Friday night. I was surprised to see her since I’d heard she moved out of town. She told me she went on a church trip with you last weekend.”
“Yeah, we had a kayaking trip. Lily is part of my congregation.” Jace took a bite of his sandwich. He looked uncomfortable, like he was trying to think of a way to change the subject.
“Yeah, that’s what she said. She also told me something else really interesting.”
Jace now looked like he was about to take off running from the restaurant. I could actually watch him visibly relax from head to toe as Max said, “She said that the house she lived in with her husband sold for fifty-thousand more than Grandma’s did.”
Ryan looked amused, Jace looked relieved, and Max looked completely in control. These three were something.
“Oh…I wonder why? I never saw her house. Was it bigger or in a better neighborhood?”
“No, it was on the South End, too, and if I’m not mistaken, it was smaller than Grandma’s. I’m going to find out when I speak with the attorney.”
“God! You guys are so boring,” Ryan whined. Jace was right; he was definitely like a fourteen year old.
Jace rolled his eyes again and said, “What would you like to talk about Ryan?” Then he looked at me and back at his brother and said, “Keep it clean.”
“You’re such an old fuddy-dud lately,” Ryan told him with his lip curled. “Being a priest is making you old before your time.”
He looked at me and grinned. “It’s good to know some people can still bring you out of your shell. Daphne, I never thought I’d see the day when someone could talk my brother into having sex.” Jace looked like he was going to choke as Ryan raised his glass to me. “Good job.”
He drank his beer as if he hadn’t just said something out loud that he shouldn’t know and should have never been brought up. I felt my face go hot again and gulped the ice water in front of me. Damn! Did Jace really tell them? He must have. What the hell?
I survived the rest of lunch, listening to the brothers razz each other over everything from baseball team choices to women. After Ryan’s comment, Max had shut him down with a look and he backed off of whatever he thought he knew about me and Jace.
I thought I was going to ask Jace about it, but when we got in the car, I lost my nerve. I was having a nice day being his “friend.” I didn’t want to bring all of that up again.
“I’m going to watch the All-Star game this afternoon. If you don’t have any plans, we can get some snacks and watch it at my place.”
God help me, I knew that was a bad idea, but I told myself that in order to prove I could handle being alone with him, I should do it. “Sure,” I heard myself say, “That sounds like fun.”
He stopped at a little market close to his apartment. As we walked in, I heard a couple of people greet him as Father, so I kept as low of a profile as I could while we were there. We picked out some chips and dip, and he bought sodas and a vegetable tray.
It was only after he paid and we were outside that I feel like I could breathe. He smiled gently at me. “It’s not a sin for us to be friends, Daphne.”
I think I blushed again. “I know. I guess I worry too much about what people think.”
He loaded the groceries and then looked at me. “We all do. But, as long as we’re okay with God and we know we’re not doing anything wrong…that’s what matters.”
He had a good point. He also meant what he said about hanging out just as friends. We sat on his couch and ate and watched baseball. I wasn’t a fan and he was a hard-core Red Sox fan, so he filled me in on the All-Star league and who he was rooting for and why. He got really into the game and it was cute to watch him be so animated about something.
Every once in a while, he would clamp down on my leg with his hand when he was frustrated, or give me a high five when he was happy…but otherwise, he didn’t touch me and we maintained our appropriateness until early evening when I announced it was time for me to go.
Jace drove me back to the church to get my car and before I got out, he said, “Hey, Daphne?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. Today was the first time in a long time that I’ve felt truly happy and comfortable. I had a great, normal day.”
I smiled. “I had a great, normal day, too. Thank you.” He waited for me to get in my car and drive away before he left. I was still smiling when I got home. It really had been a good day.