Blind Love (29 page)

“And the other one on the last night,” said DeeNae.

Catherine hoped that was what Henry wanted to hear. She knew DeeNae would be going home next. Competing against Jenny was one thing.

Competing against an adorable three-year-old was another.

Catherine tried to tell herself that if Tony wanted another woman, she was better off without him. Her head said if he didn’t love her, she didn’t want him. Her heart told her he was her one true love, and she’d lead a miserable life without him.

<>

Tony’s mother arrived, and he met her at the plane. On the ride to the house, she talked about the family, filling him in on what his siblings and cousin were doing. Since the day Nick ran away from his drunk mother and appeared on the doorstep of their tiny house in LA, he was one of them. Poor kid was skinny and scarred, inside and out, but Ma took care of him the same way she took care of her own kids. With love.

They were almost back at the house when she asked about the cooking segment. “Catherine is one of the women here, Ma. Nobody is supposed to know you’ve met before, so don’t treat her any different than the others.”

Ma’s eyes lit up. “Catherine? Oh, Tony.”

She loved Catherine, and she was probably already planning the wedding. “Don’t go calling the priest or anything, Ma.” She patted his cheek and smiled, and he knew she’d have those rosary beads clicking tonight, praying for another wedding and more grandbabies.

“There’s a change in the plans for the cooking lesson. Since Catherine knows you’re my mother, she thought the others should know, too, so all three girls—DeeNae, Jenny, and Catherine—know you’re my mother. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and Catherine hurt her foot, so she can’t stand up too long.”

“Oh, poor baby,” she said, and he knew Catherine would be getting a big dose of TLC from an expert in dishing it out.

“Jenny has her little girl here. Jessie is three.”

“She’s divorced?”

“I don’t think she’s ever been married,” said Tony, but he didn’t know. Jenny said Jessie’s father left after she was born and that he was a mean drunk. She didn’t say they were married. After finding the birth control pills and condoms in her purse, he didn’t know what to think. He just knew it made him uneasy. This woman had secrets, important things she hadn’t told him.

Things he needed to know.

<>

Catherine trooped into the kitchen with Jenny and DeeNae. Sophia wore a big white apron and a sweet smile. DeeNae walked up to her first and offered her hand. “Mrs. ... You know, I don’t know your last name.”

“It’s Donatelli, but you can call me Sophia.” Sophia pulled her into a warm hug.

Catherine watched Jenny’s face when she heard the name Donatelli. Either she didn’t recognize it or she already knew, because she didn’t react. Tony might have told her, but that was unlikely. He didn’t want anyone to know. DeeNae didn’t know before, because she was gushing again, asking if Sophia was related to the man who’d married Cara Andrews.

“Nicky is my nephew, but I love him like my own son,” Sophia replied. “Nicky and Tony are like brothers.”

The camera was on them, and Catherine knew Henry would be delighted. The Donatelli name would pull in viewers, and they were shooting here in Cara’s home. Henry would play this for all it was worth. Someone should have warned Sophia.

Jenny introduced herself next, and Sophia hugged her and asked her about her little girl. DeeNae kept shooting Catherine wide-eyed looks. Now that she knew who Tony was, the game had changed for her. Nothing had changed for Catherine. It didn’t matter to her what Tony’s last name was or if he was rich or poor. She loved him. He had a great family, but she’d love Tony without his family.

She should have used the fireman on the show and kept Tony for herself. If she lost him to Jenny, she had no one to blame but herself.

Sophia hugged Catherine and fussed over her sore foot while DeeNae launched into the story about the relative with the gout. The girl from Tennessee was nice enough, but Catherine had grown to hate the sound of her voice.

Sliding onto a stool at the island, Catherine listened to Sophia talk about Italian cooking. DeeNae interrupted often to talk about Southern cooking, and after the third such interruption, Jenny snapped. “DeeNae, please be quiet. I want to learn something, but I can’t hear Sophia with you running off at the mouth.”

“Well, I never!”

Catherine and Sophia ended up doing most of the cooking, because Jenny and DeeNae were too busy sniping at each other to accomplish anything. By the time Sophia sent DeeNae and Jenny out to set the table in the informal dining room, Catherine was ready to shoot them both.

Sophia asked Catherine, “Is it always like this?”

“It was worse before the last girl left. I’ve been fighting the urge to crawl under the bed and stay there until it’s over.”

“You won’t do that, because you want my Tony.”

Oh, yes she wanted him. “DeeNae and Jenny want him, too.”

<>

Tony sat at one end of the table and his mother sat at the other end. The smell of anger was stronger than the smell of garlic, which was a good trick, because Ma put garlic in nearly everything. Jenny and DeeNae sat on either side of him, and Catherine sat between Ma and DeeNae. “It smells good,” he said. “Is it safe to eat?”

“Well, of course it is,” said DeeNae, and that was the last time anyone else could get a word in. Why had he kept her around so long?

<>

Before the evening session by the fountain, Morgan called all three girls into the library. “Well, ladies, now you know Tony is related to the woman who owns this incredible estate. Does that change anything for you, DeeNae?”

“It’s exciting to think I could come back to this wonderful house again if Tony chooses me, and I love his mother. She’s such a nice lady.” DeeNae ran on and on about how much she was looking forward to meeting the rest of Tony’s family.

“Jenny?” Morgan prompted. “Does it change anything for you?

“Not at all. I love Tony, and I don’t care who he’s related to. This house is wonderful, but it isn’t his, and he doesn’t live here all the time.”

Catherine didn’t wait for the prompt. “I love Tony’s mother, and having a big family is a plus, but what it comes down to is love and compatibility. Could I see myself spending the rest of my life with Tony? Absolutely, because I love him, and I hope he feels the same way about me.”

The three of them stood on the steps beside the fountain. One of them would be going home tonight, and Catherine knew it would be DeeNae. What she didn’t know was which one would be going home on the last show.

She watched Tony walk out with Riley by his side. A man in a tux with a golden retriever should look silly, but for Tony and Riley, it seemed natural. Tony loved that dog.

Catherine stood on the lower of the three steps, with DeeNae behind her and Jenny on the third step. Her shoe was too tight, but she wasn’t going to falter tonight. She wore a black dress with muted red flowers scattered here and there. The fabric skimmed her body, and she could see Tony’s eyes on her. She cocked her head as if asking if he liked what he saw, and his eyes sparkled. DeeNae needed words—a whole dictionary and then some—but Catherine and Tony didn’t always need words. He understood her, and he had to know how much she loved him.

Or did he?

Tony gave his speech about how much he enjoyed spending time with them, and then he called DeeNae’s name. A mournful sound too low to be caught by the microphones came from the girl’s throat. Catherine turned to hug her. Although they’d been fighting all afternoon, Jenny hugged her, too.

Tony said kind words about her, as he’d done about every one he’d sent away except Fawn, and DeeNae walked away, tears streaming down her cheeks.

<>

After the session outside ended, Tony walked into the library to speak with Morgan. “Are you satisfied with your selection, Tony?”

“DeeNae is pretty, bright, and articulate.” He smiled. “Too articulate. She needs to go back to law school, because an opponent in the courtroom would never have a chance.”

“You’re down to the wire now, with only two women left—Jenny and Catherine. Tomorrow, you’ll spend an entire day with Catherine, and the next day you’ll be with Jenny. And then we’ll give you a day to yourself while you make your final decision.”

Morgan left, and Tony stared at the two portraits remaining on the wall. The man beside the camera motioned to Tony to talk, and he did. “I hate the thought of hurting either one of them, but I can’t choose them both. I hope the final date will help me make the right decision.”

<>

After DeeNae left, Jenny turned on Catherine. “What do you care if you lose him? Your family is rich and you can have any man you want. I grew up poor, and I’m still poor. I want better for my little girl.”

“Isn’t her father paying child support?”

“How, when he can’t keep a job?”

Catherine stared at her. How would she know that? She’d told everyone that Jessie’s father was out of her life. “Jenny, are you still seeing him?”

“That’s none of your business,” she snapped.

The hell it wasn’t, thought Catherine. “You knew who Tony was before today.”

Jenny picked up her hairbrush. “Mitzi let it slip when I came for a fitting on my costume.”

“Is that why you brought Jessie along?”

Jenny stopped brushing mid-stroke. “Mitzi said it would be all right.”

Catherine shook her head. “I can’t believe you’d use your own daughter as a pawn in a stupid game.”

“She needs a new daddy, one who can afford to buy food and provide a decent place for her to live. Tony’s family is rich.”

“
Wrong
. Cara Andrews Donatelli is rich. Tony is a carpenter, a man who works with his hands. He’s not rich. If you’d quit tugging at his heart with your little girl and listen, you might learn something about him. All you care about is money.”

Jenny didn’t care about Tony, and if he chose her, they’d both end up miserable. Tony wanted a woman to love, and Jenny wanted a better life, one only money could buy.

Jenny’s eyes widened and Catherine turned to see the camera on them. She hoped he’d caught enough, because she wasn’t about to talk to that damn thing tonight.

<>

Tony went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep that night. After a half hour of tossing and turning, he took Riley out for a walk and found Catherine in the pool, swimming laps. The way she beat at the water, he knew it wasn’t just for exercise. She was trying to work off some of the tension. He stood back, watching and wondering what was going on in the women’s suite.

Only when she pulled herself out of the water and sat on the side of the pool did Catherine acknowledge his presence. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long. What’s wrong?”

“Jenny. First it was Rachel and then Fawn. Today, in the kitchen, she turned on DeeNae.” She wiped her face with the towel. “And tonight she turned on me.”

“Why?”

“Mitzi told her who you were before the show began. She must have done her homework, because she knew you liked kids. That’s why she brought Jessie along.”

He stared at her in stunned disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“Ask Ross, the cameraman. He heard it all. Better yet, ask him to show you. Jessie’s father is still in the picture, but he doesn’t support them the way she wants. She thinks if she marries you she’ll be rich.”

He pulled his shoes off and sat beside her, dangling his feet in the water. “She’s wrong.”

“Tony, I don’t care if you have money or not, and it doesn’t matter to me what you do for a living as long as you’re happy. But I don’t want Jenny turning on you when she finds out you can’t give her the life she wants.”

He stared at her, trying to absorb what she was saying. “Are you being straight with me?” Did Jenny think she’d be rich if she married him?

“Have I ever lied to you?” She waved her hand. “Aside from the deal about the show?”

He thought about it for several seconds before responding. “You didn’t even lie to me about the show. You said you couldn’t talk about it.”

“I hate lies, Tony. I don’t like deception of any kind, and I felt bad about putting you on the show without letting you know what you were getting into. I actually thought you’d get rid of me first.”

“I thought about it, but by the time I got through the first interviews, I understood. You want men to think backwards, to look at the character of a woman first.”

“Women aren’t just arm candy or a sexy body,” said Catherine. “For some men, that’s all they care about.”

“You’re talking about me.”

“No, Tony—”

“That’s the way I lived, Catherine. If the package wasn’t appealing, I didn’t bother. I’m not proud of that part of my life. If I’d had sense enough to see beyond the package, I never would have dated Melissa.”