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“And you, Blake, are you ready to forgive yourself?”
He frowns. “But I’d have to admit I was wrong in order to do that, wouldn’t I?”
Father shrugs. “We all heard you say it a minute ago, so you can drop the act. No one in this room believes you’re really as horrible as you pretend to be.”
My eyes grow wide, and Blake presses his lips together and stifles a smirk. “You also heard her say I was sensitive, Father. How come I get the bad-cop treatment while she gets the sugarcoating?”
“I grew up as the oldest son in a large family. Which is a nice way of saying that my mother taught me to tread lightly around pregnant women.”
We chuckle as Father leans back in his seat. “It’s also my job to remind you about the sacraments. I find reconciliation to be particularly helpful in situations when you need to drop some of the weight you’ve been carrying around for too long.”
Neither of us says anything, so he continues. “But I think you’ve given yourselves enough to prayerfully consider for one day. Why don’t we plan to meet again in a couple of weeks for the rest of the baptismal prep, hmm?”
“What about the others? Don’t you need to see them?” Blake inquires as he stands and helps me up.
“Oh no, your brother and his wife are long gone,” Father replies matter-of-factly, waving his hand. “This was just a setup.”
I snort as we walk to the door, but Blake grins. “He does owe me a few of these set-up deals.”
“Speaking of your family,” Father Conrad begins. “I noticed the two of you were present for Ethan’s confirmation last month, and I’ve seen you in church a few more times since then. I hope you’ll both make it a habit to attend Mass regularly from here on out, you know, to better prepare for this godparent-slash-actual-parent thing. And possibly even marriage one day, right?”
“I guess that’s doable,” Blake answers, to my surprise. Then he stops short, glancing at me with an apologetic look before he calls out, “Actually, Father, do you think I could bend your ear for another minute?”
“Of course.”
I furrow my brow, and Blake opens the door to lead me out to the front office. “I’m sorry to make you wait, but this won’t take long. I promise,” he whispers before he kisses my cheek and heads back inside.
I pull out my phone and spend the next five minutes or so reading a book until Blake returns.
“Ready?” He’s smiling, and even though it’s not a full-face grin, it reaches his eyes in a way I’m not used to seeing from him.
“Yeah, sure.”
He holds out a trembling hand to help me up again, and I stare at him before I move to take it. There’s something different about his posture. Even his posture seems more relaxed.
“Everything okay?”
He nods quickly. “Yeah. Nothing to worry about.”
“Blake, you asked to speak to a priest alone, but you’re telling me not to worry?”
He shrugs and offers another shy smile in return, then he leads me out to his truck. And I swear, his steps are lighter.
Great, I think to myself as I climb inside with his help.Now I can add “floating” to the list of ways Blake makes walking look good.
“You’re really not going to tell me what happened back there, even after I shared my most embarrassing secrets today?” I prompt, nudging him gently as he cranks the truck.
“I took my brother’s advice for once, okay?”
“About what?” My curiosity is killing me now.
He sighs and gives me a side-eyed glance before he pulls out of the parking lot. “I asked Father to hear my confession,” he admits. “For the first time in … I don’t know, at least twelve years.”
“Oh,” I breathe, not expecting that answer or the way it makes my heart quicken. “That’s … that’s amazing, Blake.”
“I’m not sure yet, but it kind of feels that way,” he says softly, still smiling, and my chest warms. I reach over the center console and hold out my hand, and he doesn’t hesitate to interlace our fingers.
“Loren, while I’m clearing my conscience and everything, there’s something else I want to say.”
