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“We are all worthy.”
“I’m not,” she choked.
He hushed her sob and whispered confidentially as if the idols had ears, “Would you like to make a confession?”
“I can’t.”
“Something is obviously bothering you. Let me take away your sins.”
“You can’t.”
She stepped back, needing to put some distance between them. Slowly she raised her fingers and touched the patch of white showing on his collar. “This suits you, Colin.”
“Father McCullough,” he corrected. “Would you like to join me in saying the rosary, Sammy?”
“I don’t pray those prayers anymore.”
“But you used to.”
“Yes. A long time ago. I stopped after…”
“After what?”
“After I lost my faith in God.”
“We all misplace our faith from time to time. God is patient. He waits for us to find Him again. Come. Let’s pray and see if we can reacquaint the two of you.”
He reached for her arm, but she shied away from his touch.
“What are you afraid of, Sammy? God is forgiving to all who are repentant.”
“I’ll never be deserving of forgiveness. Even now, I’m accumulating more sins from my impure thoughts.”
“Tell me what you have done, Sammy.”
“No. I don’t talk about her.”
“Who?”
“My sister.”
“Meghan,” he offered compassionately and she blinked in confusion. How did he know?
“Yes.” Samantha could no longer stem the tears filling her eyes. They trickled hopelessly over her lashes.
“You are not to blame, Sammy.” Again, she was taken aback by his knowledge. The place she was standing began to flicker and dissolve, hazing over like a dream slipping out of her grasp. This wasn’t real and she had no business dreaming of him.
She tried to force herself to wake up, but she failed. Frustrated, she looked for an escape. The doors were too far away now, an illusion she couldn’t reach. She turned to him.
“You know nothing,” she accused. She didn’t deserve his empathy. The angelic voices suddenly silenced and Colin looked over his shoulder at the cross. When his eyes returned to hers they were set in shrewd certainty.
“You think you are the only one who struggles with sin. Do you know your Act of Contrition?”
She shook her head. “I’ve forgotten it.”
He ran a hand over her hair, his fingers holding the ends. He smiled, then let go. The severe set of his eyes was at complete odds with his gentle, longing touch.
“‘Forgive me my sins; the sins of my youth; the sins of my age’. You were a child, Sammy. Let God take away your pain. Let Him end the suffering.”
