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DESPITE MY RESOLVE of the previous Sunday, I could not wake up early enough to make it to seven o'clock Mass. Nine o’clock was the earliest I could manage. The pew Davison and I had occupied the previous week was taped off, still awaiting the repair of the kneeling bench. I spotted Iker Legazpi near the front of the sanctuary and went up to join him. We sat together and listened to a homily on forgiveness.
“Do you think forgiveness is always the right approach?” I asked Iker as we walked out afterwards. “What if forgiving someone’s bad behavior only enables it?”
“You are having trouble with forgiveness?” Iker asked.
“I’m struggling with this idea of a blanket approach. Do you always have to forgive, in every single case? What if someone does something really terrible? Like falsely accuses you of something, for example. Are you just supposed to say it’s fine?”
“Ah. If the accusation is true, then perhaps I am angry because the thing I wished to hide has been brought into the open.”
“Well, the accusation is most certainly not true.”
“Then it is my accuser’s error, not mine.”
“A-ha. So the accuser is wrong.”
“As we all have been wrong at times.”
Iker’s compassion was infuriating. But he was right. I had assumed Donnie was back together with his ex-wife, when he hadn’t even known she was in town. But then Donnie had turned around and accused me of messing around with Davison, which was far worse. It was the royal flush of insults, as far as I was concerned.
“What if they don’t even say they’re sorry? We’re not obliged to forgive the unrepentant, are we?”
“Perhaps we need not ask whether we are obliged to forgive,” Iker said. “Here is another question: What is the effect upon my spiritual health, when I bear a grudge?”
As I started my car, I heard my phone humming in my bag. The caller ID told me it was Donnie.
“Molly. I’m calling to apologize. About Friday night. I’m so sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“Are you at the Drive-Inn?” I asked. “I’ll come over.”
The early breakfast crowd had thinned out. Donnie brought over two Styrofoam cups of coffee and we sat at one of the gleaming red picnic tables.
“So what made you decide to actually believe me?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, Molly. It was being confronted with...I overreacted. Of course I believe you.”
“Did you ever get the truth out of Davison?”
“He didn’t deny your version of events.”
“It’s not my version of events, Donnie. It’s reality’s version of events.”
Donnie knew I liked cream in my coffee, so he had fixed my coffee up with a double dose of powdered creamer. I took a sip, and tried not to make a face.
“I made an appointment with Davison’s counselor,” Donnie said. “This relationship with his stepmother seems unhealthy to me.”
“Can’t disagree with you there. Well, it’s good she’s found a distraction for now, but what happens when he goes back to school? The next time Sherry gets bored, she’ll just go find him again.”
“He’s not going back there,” Donnie said.
“Isn’t he almost finished with his degree? And what about his scholarship?”
“He lost his scholarship.”
“He what? I thought he brought his grades back up.”
Donnie sighed.
“I didn’t tell you. He was caught cheating.”
“You don’t say.”
Good thing I was sitting down for that astonishing news.
“Davison needs an environment with more structure,” Donnie said. “He needs boundaries.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I found a military academy that’ll take him.”
“Military academy? Is Davison okay with getting packed off to military school?”
“Davison doesn’t have anything to say about it. I’m paying the bills.” Donnie glanced at his watch. “I don’t want to make you late for Mass. I think Davison might already be there.”
“I went to an earlier service. I guess I missed him this week. So we’re good, then?”
“I hope so.” Donnie smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “Thank you for being patient with me.”
“I don’t know Donnie. Should I forgive you for accusing me of fooling around with...ugh, I can’t even say it.”
“I hope you will forgive me.” He gave me a wry smile. “I forgive you for accusing me of fooling around with my ex-wife.”
“Yeah, touché. Okay, I’m going to meet Leilani pretty soon. She’s going to show me some other houses.”
“So are you still thinking about moving into a bigger house?” Donnie asked.
“Should I still be looking for a bigger house?”
“Do you want to look for a bigger house?”
“You’re really sending Davison to a military academy? Not another cushy private college?”
“Davison needs a lot of guidance. Much more than I’ve been giving him. I know. You’ve been telling me and I should have listened. You were absolutely right.”
“Well. When you put it that way. So should I postpone my appointment with Leilani? I mean, if we’re going to be looking for a house for both of us, you should probably be there too.”
“I trust you, Molly. If you love it, I’ll love it.”
Donnie stood and gave me a big hug—a real one, not just a polite embrace for show. I hopped into my car and sped joyously up the hill to my house. As long as I didn’t have any more interruptions, I would still have a few minutes to review Honey’s documents before I went out to look at houses with Leilani.
But there was another interruption. Detective Medeiros was waiting on my front porch.