AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Valerie felt a chill as she pulled her hand away. “Is there a Catholic church here in Hart Hollow? I hadn’t seen one when we moved in.”
The man’s smile grew wider. “Yes. It’s smaller than the Baptist congregations here.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “Steele Heart is on the hill overlooking the town. On Steele Bluff Road. Are you Catholic?”
Valerie shook her head, then blushed, grateful he couldn’t see her. “No, but I’m looking for a fresh start here. A new church.” She finally spoke the words she’d refused to say out loud, especially not to Nicholas. She knew he would reject the idea. Their ideas for Tabula Rasa were quite different.
Deacon Rex nodded his head. “You should join us on Wednesday nights, then. Father Dodson sadly left us recently, so I’ve been practicing my public speaking since he’s been gone.” He chuckled. “It’s not that scary when you’re speaking the Lord’s word to a dozen people.”
Valerie smiled. She liked the sound of that. No crowds. No pressure. No swaying believers like back on the ranch.
“That sounds nice. Maybe we’ll come.”
The Deacon nodded. “We would love it if you and your husband came.”
Valerie shook her head. “No, no, I’m not married. I meant my nephew and me. We just moved here.”
“How noble. Raising a child is no small feat for a young woman like yourself.”
Valerie cocked her head. “How do you know I’m young?”
“Do I not have eyes?”
“Yes, but—”
The Deacon smiled. “I’m jesting. Yes, I’m blind, but I can read a voice like a face. So forgive me. I just sense the freshness of youth in you.”
“I’m twenty-six,” Valerie said, wondering why she was still conversing with this man. He made her feel warm.
“And how old is your nephew?”
“Seventeen.”
“Ah, the throes of youth and adolescence. Teenage hormones and defiance. Am I right?”
“Mm, somewhat.” Valerie didn’t know. Not really. Nicholas was practically a stranger to her. They’d spent little time together on the ranch before they left. Family units meant nothing when you were all one bigfamily. And in the two years they’d traveled before landing in Hart Hollow, they’d been busy. Valerie with work, gathering money for their new life. And Nicholas with new schools and studying, trying to catch up with a world that didn’t belong to either of them. They slept in motels and forged addresses on paperwork for jobs and school districts. Lying was an exhausting endeavor.
“Well, we would love to have you,” the Deacon said, just as Charla emerged from the back.
“Deacon Rex. Here for your usual?” the waitress asked.
The Deacon looked beyond Valerie, and she wondered if he moved in such a way to appear normal. To make other people feel more comfortable with his blindness.
“Yes, Charla, I am.” He patted his stomach and smiled widely. He was very handsome, Valerie thought, as Charla led him to his table.
She retreated to the back, patiently awaiting his order. She loved cooking for people. And would love to cook for this man, especially.
FOUR
My first two weeks of school at Hart Hollow High felt like quicksand, a slow descent into a world I was not familiar with.
At the schools I’d jumped through during the two years Valerie and I traveled, I took little seriously except my schoolwork. I was engrossed in catching up and playing pretend in the world of the living. I didn’t make friendships; instead, I actively avoided them to bypass questions I didn’t want to answer.
Where are you from? Where do you live?
In Hart Hollow I fell into many of the same habits, but this time I memorized the faces of the surrounding students, sketching their likeness into permanence in my notebooks. Creating poetry out of the mundane. I’d been burning the candle at both ends, but it was comforting, in a way. Because being consumed with school meant I wasn’t consumed with my dreams, with wondering about the red haired girl from the cemetery. I hadn’t walked around the town at night, but I would soon.
Kyrie and I became fast friends, and when she told me she liked to befriend the rare new kid at Hart Hollow, I didn’t question her—or reject the friendship bracelet she gave me. I didn’t wonder why she wanted to shield the new kid from the politics and intricate web of high school. She was a kind soul. I was a damaged one.
She also liked to talk, and that worked with my taciturn nature. I could escape to the places in my mind safe from my dreams, where I created poetry. And Kyrie didn’t notice. Or pretended not to as she caught me up on the lives of each of my fellow students.
