Page 15 of The Sin of True Love

“Ma! Are you all right?” I ask, rushing over.

“I should be asking you the same question,” she replies. She holds something out for me, but I can already see it in her eyes.

She knows.

I reach out and take an envelope from her and open it to find my final pay check. The Reverend must have had his friends rush it to make sure I was out of his hair as quickly as possible with no reason to come around again.

“Ma, how did you get this?” I ask, opening the door.

“A man brought it by the house.” We step inside, and I pull out a chair for her at the table. “He said you’ve lost your job. Something about inappropriate conduct? Casey, what’s going on?”

Christ, these bastards are crossing the line now. Bringing my mother into this? I can see the worry plastered across her face.

I visit her as much as I can, take her out for brunch on the weekends, a gelato in the evenings when I’m free. Ma never remarried after my dad’s heart attack, so she likes to see me. I’m used to seeing her smile when I sit across from her, but now all I see is worry.

And because of that, I’m raging inside.

“Nothing, Mom. It’s nothing. Just some internal politics at work, that’s all.”

“Internal politics? Casey, honey. What have you gotten yourself tangled up in?”

I take a breath and try to calm myself down. Michelle’s gorgeous eyes fill my mind, staring deep into my heart, reassuring me of what I know I need to do.

“Ma, you remember that friend of yours that works at the church? The one who told you that stuff about the Reverend?”

My mom shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “Yes. Margaret.”

“You said she had proof that he was skimming funds from the church.”

“Oh, Casey. You’re not going to get mixed up with Patrick Tuttle, are you?”

I reach out and take my mom’s hand. We’ve always been there for each other, and I feel awful seeing her this anxious right now.

But this is no time to back down. Michelle needs me. As do the rest of the innocent people Patrick has been stealing from for all these years.

“I finally met someone, Mom.” I smile. “Someone who makes me happy.”

Mom’s eyes light up. She’s never outwardly said anything to me, but I know she’s been wanting me to settle down for a while now.

“You have? And you…you really care about this girl?”

I nod. We both smile in sync as we look at each other. “I’m going to settle down with her, Ma.”

“Oh, honey! Casey, this is so exciting!”

“I’m going to make it happen, Mom. But I need to do some things first. I need Margaret to get me those files.” My mom’s face goes tense again. “Can you ask her for me? Please?”

8

MICHELLE

This is it, I think to myself as I sit in the corner of the study of Jerry’s enormous home–so grand it resembles an old English estate.

This is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life.

I feel as though I’m looking at the world in slow motion as I stare out across the room, watching Jerry and his friends drink whiskey and tell stories.

They’re dressed up as 19th century gentlemen tonight, complete with top hats and canes, lounging across the furniture as though any of them had a hand in the work it took to purchase it.

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