In that wooden church in Kathmandu, God or something divine had poured through Maxence. It wasn’t a trick or technique, but something innate inside him had focused the light of heaven and allowed them to experience it, together and with him.
When he looked up, radiance shone in his face.
Dree’s legs were shaking, and she lowered herself to sit on the pew without letting go of the one ahead of her.
Other people were doing the same thing.
It wasn’t that Maxencewantedto become a priest.
She saw why hehadto be a priest.
Chapter Three
Mission Team
Maxence
The initial team meeting for the rural NICU micro-clinic project was held Saturday afternoon in the rectory’s living room.
Deacon Father Maxence leaned on the fireplace and rested his elbow on the mantle.
Dree sat on the far end of the couch near the windows, which seemed to be as far away from him as she could get and still be in the room.
Maxence was aware of his effect on people when he read the Scripture section or the homily at Masses or even when he channeled his soul into what he was saying. He’d been able to do it to some extent all his life, though he hadn’t understood what he was doing as a child. When you can convince your nanny that you should have candy, ice cream, or some other kid’s toy anytime you wanted it, your parents ship you off to boarding school when you’re five.
That was how he explained it to himself for years until he realized that they’d also shipped his older brother off to the same boarding school when he was the same age, and Pierre wasn’t nearly as persuasive as Max.
Not that boarding school had stopped his eloquence or even slowed him down.
Dree huddled in her chair over by the windows, looking over the front garden. Winter afternoon sunlight showered her with golden light.
After they’d shaken hands when she’d arrived, she hadn’t looked at him since.
At Mass this morning was the first time Dree had seen Maxence open his heart and his voice, except for that very quick, light moment at the charity ball at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
And now she was sitting across the room from him, and she couldn’t even look at him.
Maxence considered her to be smart from the moment she’d sobered up. This confirmed it. Being around Maxence was flying very close to a flame.
They should discuss this before it became a problem.
But just then, Max had a roomful of people and an orientation to run.
Rather than stand at the fireplace and lecture them the whole time, Maxence suggested they go around the room and introduce themselves.
The first person to talk was a tall, white guy who was at the end of the couch nearest Max. Alfonso’s hair was dark blond, and when he looked up at Maxence, his eyes were a clear shade of green. He sat with his feet placed evenly on the floor together, his knees tight, and his back ramrod straight with his fingers laced in his lap.
Alfonso had always beenuptight.
He said, carefully pronouncing the Spanish words precisely, “I am Alfonso de Borbón y Grecia. Maxence and I met at Le Rosey boarding school when we were five years old, and he’s been dragging me along on these charity missions ever since.”
Alfonso sounded like he was making a joke, but his voice was a bit flat like he wasn’t sure he could pull it off. He stole glances at Dree while he spoke like he wasn’t paying attention to his own words.
Unease swirled in Maxence. He’d never considered Alfonso to be untrustworthy before, but the way he was looking at Dree seemed predatory.
Alfonso continued, “I have a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I live in my native Spain. I have been on several trips with Maxence with Catholic Charities over the past decade. We traveled together on charity trips on holiday breaks from school, too. I am pleased to be of service again. I have two nieces, Princesa de Asturias Leonor and Infanta Sofia.”
Maxence rubbed his eyebrow and temple. Alfonso had managed to speak volumes about who he was without actually saying it, which always amused Max. Anyone who didn’t know what they were listening to would probably wonder why parents would name one of their daughters something so long and unwieldy and give the other the first name of “Infanta,” not realizing those parts weren’t names at all.
