“Mr. Hale,” he says and shakes Kurt’s hand, then bows a bit to Paula. “Mrs. Hale. It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”
I can tell instantly that Paula is taken with him; she flushes and fluffs at her hair. Normally her brown hair is streaked with gray, but she’s clearly had her hair dyed since the show, and cut in a cute bob that looks great on her. She’s also wearing what I’m pretty sure is a new outfit, since I have never in my life seen her wear a silk blouse. Kurt, however—a stocky guy whose hair has been mostly gray since his late twenties—hasn’t done a single thing to his appearance and is, in fact, actually wearing socks and sandals with his ever-present cargo shorts.
God, I love these two.
“It’s quite an honor to meet Prince Charming,” Paula gushes.
Kurt eyes Preston skeptically. “We hope you’ve been treating our daughter well.”
“He’s been great,” I say, to spare Preston the interrogation—for the moment at least. I have no doubt that will come later.Though it doesn’t escape me that Kurt may not be the best judge of who will treat me well.
“I want to see the castle!” Rosie shrieks happily, running around us in circles.
Preston laughs. “Well, let’s go. Do you know that we’re getting a private tour today?”
I don’t think Rosie particularly cares how private the tour is, but she cheers anyway.
“Hi,Thea,” Preston says with a wave.
Thea smiles and waves back, but it’s fake. She keeps looking around at the crew, clearly seeking out Nate. She has a different interpreter today—a young woman who can’t be more than nineteen or twenty.
It also doesn’t appear like Preston has bothered to learn any sign. I mean, I know the guy’s busy dating all these women and is also probably even more exhausted than the rest of us, but it wouldn’t take much. Just a couple minutes on YouTube.
Nate was busy too, and he figured it out.
I try to push that aside for now. It’s another thing to examine to death in my journal later. Right now, I’m going to enjoy my family and a date with a nice guy and the fact that we’re all together in France.
Neither my in-laws nor the girls have traveled outside the US before the show. I hadn’t either. Rob was never positioned overseas except when he deployed, and with money being so tight and then my restaurant dreams, I never thought I’d get the chance to do something so amazing with them.This show may be slowly driving me insane, but this is definitely a perk.
Before we’re able to go past the walls and into the quaint little town surrounding the castle, the producers want to pull everyone aside for interviews. When Kurt and Paula are being jointly interviewed—Paula keeps fluffing her hair like a nervous tic—and Preston is listening to Rosie go on and on about that horse she’s still pretty sure he has,Thea tugs at my hand.
“Where’s Nate?” she asks.
I suck in my lips. “He’s not with the crew today.”
Her brow furrows. “Why not? And why did they have someone else with us before we left the hotel?”
Shit. I can already tellThea isn’t going to let this go. But I’m not going to explain it to her—even as much as is appropriate for a child—right here with all the producers and cameras.
“I think they switch who does what job,” I say carefully. “But we can talk more later, okay?”
Her green eyes squint at me and then she nods. “Okay.”
It’s not a bullet I can dodge for long, but at least this gives me time to plan what I’m going to say to her. Because I can’t let her keep hoping I’m going to end up with Nate. She’s already too attached to the idea.
God knows I was.
We spend the morning touring the castle, which it turns out is a functioning abbey where a few dozen monks and nuns live and worship. It’s got this austere beauty—not the kind of gilded frescos I’ve seen in pictures of palaces, but lots of muted stone and soaring, arched columns reaching up to the heavens. It’s awe-inspiring and humbling all at once.
I’m a little disappointed when it’s time to leave. We walk around the town a bit, which is adorable and looks every bit the picturesque small French village I’d hoped for, and we sit and eat at a place called Crêperie La Cloche, which has crepes so good I try to remember every little taste and texture so I can replicate them at home one day.The kids, tired from all the stairs at the abbey, perk up at the crepes, and the crew eagerly watches as Kurt and Paula grill Preston.
Preston handles it like a champ. His answers are smooth and considered and exactly the kind of thing parents would want to hear. Which, for some reason, bothers me. Not that I want them to dislike him, but . . .
Maybe part of me does. Maybe part of me wants to be told this isn’t right, because I know I can’t trust my own gut on anything.
So fucking naive, Becca.
We leave the city and go back to the beach that surrounds the town when the tide’s gone out. More interviews, in which I talk about how great it is for my in-laws to get to know Preston, how great he is with them, how great the day is, all sogreat. Rosie plays by the wet sand and at one point manages to catch a toad, which she brandishes with glee. “Look, Mommy! A frog! You should kiss it!”
