He interpreted her seconds of deliberation as a yes.
"I was biased against you and upset about Mrs. Sloan's arrangement. In all the years I'd known her, I'd never disagreed so completely with any of her decisions as I did then. But, after meeting you, I began to see things differently, so much so that now I feel extremely grateful to her for linking me with you.
In short, Kathy, I'm falling in love."
She did her best to hide her emotions and speak gravely.
"You must understand I have several reasons to be skeptical."
He stood up.
"Come," he said. "I believe this bench has got too many memories attached already."
Jesse took Kathy's hand. She followed him till he stopped under a beautiful willow. Its weeping branches and leaves reached low enough to keep them from indiscreet walkers.
And they kissed. It came so natural, that Kathy felt as if they'd kissed many times before.
He smiled and warmly clasped both her hands in his.
"How about we celebrate in the hotel's cafeteria with a smoky Viennese?"
She involuntarily smiled too.
Their holding hands did not go unnoticed by Steve Grant, who, displaying his customary discretion, barely nodded when they passed him in one of the corridors. The rest of the staff had not even had the time to realize they weren't a couple in the first place, so the fact that they now touched did by no means represent a trigger for gossip.
"You agree with my showing you that I love you from now on, don't you? You're so quiet."
"I do," she answered. "I'm sorry, it's just that you've so perfectly orchestrated the magic moment that I didn't want to alter a single detail."
"But you're worried too."
"Yes," she said, both hands around her cup in an attempt to retain the warmth achieved. "About too many things. So many that I'll most probably ruin this special atmosphere you've created with my negativism."
"You're not negative: you're responsible. And I like that. I can also name some of those things which are bothering you: Are you really over David? Should we just hand everything in to Mrs. Sloan's family?"
"How come you know me so well?"
"Because you're transparent. Your eyes, your whole face tells everything."
"Well," she sighed. "It's rarely worked in my favor."
"I promise I'll do my best to change that."