She chuckled. “So, like Catherine the Great or Richard the Lion-Hearted, your ancestor’s name was Francesco the Malicious?”
A smile lightened her voice, and his heart thrilled to hear it. He imagined her sunny, beautiful smile like he’d seen so often in Paris. “Just so. All Grimaldi have a streak of evil running through their souls.”
“I should have suspected that.”
More smile in her voice. Maxence felt an answering smile lift his mouth. “Anyway, Francesco Grimaldi disguised himself as a Franciscan friar. He wore the coarse brown robe and a crucifix, no shoes, the whole deal. He went to the gate and told them that he was a simple monk and needed someplace to shelter for the night. The guards tried to turn him away because they knew that there was an army out there trying to take the castle. Finally, he convinced them that if they opened the gate just a little bit, he could slip in sideways really quick, and the invading army wouldn’t even know the gates had ever been opened at all.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yes, cue the ominous music. As soon as Francesco Grimaldi was inside the gates, he pulled out a long knife that he had hidden in his monk’s robes and slaughtered the guards with it.”
She gasped, “Oh my God.”
“Once he had killed the guards, he opened the gates, and his army poured in and took the fortress.”
“Holy cow!”
“The way they tell the story, he fought and killed four guards who were wearing armor and held swords with just his one knife, but the victors do write the history books. There’s even a statue of him in the courtyard of our castle, which is still the fortress above the harbor of Monagasquay, and he’s dressed as a Franciscan friar holding a long knife.”
“Wow,” Dree said, her voice happier. “That is quite a story.”
Maxence felt himself smile, captivated by the lightness in her voice. “I have lots of them. Maybe next time, I’ll tell you about my evil Uncle Jules and what an asshole he is. We should start calling him Prince Jules the Malicious.”
A few days later, one of the towns that they were assessing for a NICU micro-clinic was large enough to support a three-room inn with a tiny restaurant run out of the owning family’s kitchen in the apartment where they lived behind the tiny hotel.
Again, the innkeepers were thrilled to have guests during the off-season and rapidly kitted up the rooms for guests. The wife of the family asked, through Batsa, what they would want for dinner because she would make anything they had supplies for.
When the six of them asked for whatever was convenient for her, she assured them she would make a superb supper for them and they would love her dessert.
Maxence had no doubt they would. They were hungry and tired from the road, and the inn had showers in the adjoining bathrooms. Maxence had lived in third-world countries for much of the last several years, but he still appreciated a warm shower wherever he found one.
Supper was indeed a magnificent feast, and Alfonso seemed thrilled to be eating food he hadn’t cooked. Through Batsa’s translation, he praised the woman’s cooking to the point where she was blushing and giggling.
Because this small town was nearer to a major city, medical care was more accessible for the villagers. Dree got a day off, and Maxence made sure that she rested and had some time to look around during it. She was still tired after supper, and she excused herself to turn in early while the rest of the guys sat around the table and enjoyed a Nepali beer.
Maxence watched as Dree walked up the stairs, her hourglass figure swaying as she ascended. He could watch the way she moved forever, feeling something between the aesthetic appreciation for a dancer’s grace and a deep male desire to touch and caress every inch of her skin.
After she disappeared up the staircase, Maxence looked back at his beer and noticed that Alfonso was also just looking down at his drink.
Maxence was not jealous. His plans to be a priest would not be derailed by mere carnal lust nor inappropriate jealousy.
Alfonso caught Maxence’s eye and grinned ruefully. “Andrea Catherine is an extraordinary woman, yes?”
Maxence felt safe agreeing with that.
Alfonso said, “She is very beautiful, and her dedication to helping other people is commendable.”
Maxence also agreed with that, though discomfort rose in him at the effusiveness of Alfonso’s praise.
Alfonso said, “I have great admiration for her. I think perhaps that you admire her, too, Deacon Father Maxence.”
The world and all he believed crushed Maxence. “Dree is an excellent medical professional, and her dedication to helping people is without limits. She is a truly good human being.”
Alfonso said, “This mission is not an appropriate place and time to express my feelings, but I have a growing attraction to her. When we are finished with this survey and return to our normal lives, I would like very much to see her, to see if something could work out between us.”
Maxence quietly said, “It’s only been a week. How can you know if you like somebody in a week?”
Alfonso’s green eyes went dreamy. “Sometimes, you just know, or sometimes, someone is so special that a week is enough.”
