He still looked dazed. “You mean there are people you didn’t invite?”
“Oh, yes.” She sighed regretfully. “We couldn’t invite many of the D’Alessandro family, except for the two brothers who married Walkers, of course, and their parents, Vinnie and Carla. We’ve been friends with the whole family for years, but there are just so many of them….”
“Unlike your own family,” Kyle muttered ironically.
She couldn’t help laughing a little. “You sound as though this isn’t a usual type of thing for us. I know you were here for some of the big barbecues in the past.”
“I remember a couple of big parties, but I didn’t recall them being this huge.”
“The family has grown since you left.”
“No kidding.”
Her sympathy returned. She knew Kyle wasn’t accustomed to big social gatherings. He hadn’t met many of the guests who would be in attendance, and the ones he had met, he hadn’t seen in years. Both he and they had changed a great deal since then. “It will be fun. You’ll see.”
“If you say so.”
Suddenly tired, Molly pushed a hand through her hair. “As much as I’m looking forward to it, it will be nice when it’s all behind us.”
“I’ve heard you’ve been working on the party for a long time.”
She smiled weakly. “Seems like years, though it’s only been a few months.”
“I guess you’ll be relieved when your guests have gone home and your life is back to normal.”
Reading between his words, she knew he included himself in the guests who would soon be leaving. “I’m not in any hurry for you to be gone,” she answered candidly—the only way she knew how to reply.
He gave her a brooding look. “You’ll get over that soon enough.”
“I’m not so sure that I will,” she murmured. “And what about you, Kyle? Will you get over it quickly? Or is there anything for you to get over?”
He released a long breath. “I’ll carry a few new scars back with me,” he admitted after a pause. “But I’m getting used to that.”
A little annoyed by his response, she shook her head. Kyle was so accustomed to thinking of himself as a battered survivor that he couldn’t seem to visualize himself actually coming out a winner. When someone became that accustomed to disappointment, didn’t it become too easy to simply settle for whatever he could get?
Chapter Thirteen
Abruptly deciding that she didn’t want to be the temporary diversion Kyle settled for, Molly squared her shoulders with a sudden surge of pride. She had pretty much done all the pursuing in this awkward affair of theirs, promising not to ask for more than he was willing to give, keeping her own desires to herself, treading carefully to avoid stepping on his ego. But enough was enough.
“It’s too bad,” she said, “that I never learned to protect myself as carefully as you do. Even though I knew what to expect when we became involved, I don’t think it will be quite so easy for me to say goodbye as it will be for you.”
He looked surprised by her sudden curtness. “I didn’t say it would be easy.”
“No,” she agreed coolly. “You just implied that your familiarity with goodbyes makes it less difficult for you to accept.”
His face hardened. “Just hope you never have to learn the way I did.”
“I know you’ve been through some very hard times,” she replied, choosing her words carefully. “But that doesn’t mean you should just give up on ever having better times. Despite what you may think, I’m not talking about us, but about your attitude in general. You’ve become a defeatist.”
He took immediate offense at the word. “I am not a defeatist.”
“You always expect the worst. You sit up there alone in your mountain cabin, brooding about the past, afraid to say what you really want for your future in case that doesn’t work out, either—”
“You’re one to talk, aren’t you?” he snarled. “Sitting here safe in Mommy and Daddy’s house, letting everyone make your decisions for you so there?
?s no chance you’ll make any big mistakes on your own.”
She gasped. “That is so unfair. I told you I’m going to find a place of my own as soon as…”