Page 52 of Sin With Me

“No, I didn’t.”

“Look at it this way. Your family of” – she quickly looked up and counted in her head – “six has grown to a family of millions.”

She waited for my reaction. “Because you’re like a Father of the whole church.”

“Yes, I get it, Kate.”

I just wanted to hear her speak some more. I bet half the time she didn’t even realize the impact of her words. What I didn’t get was how easy it was to be in her company. It was so easy to get lost in a conversation withher.

“Sorry. You look grumpy today.”

“It’s one of those days, you know. When your faith is tested and the choices you make end up affecting more than your own life, you begin to wonder whether you’re making the right choices.”

I glanced across the table and held her gaze, savoring the genuine smile. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been staring, but on my next blink, I cleared my throat. “Hey, I think I found another clue to your family roots.”

“Really?”

“I asked Father John about your mother. I didn’t ask him directly, so I didn’t mention that she’s your mother. Get this – the two of them used to be inlove.”

“What?”

“Yeah, and then she fell in trouble with the Cortez brothers and had to leavetown.”

“My mother knew the Cortez family?”

“Yeah, Father John thought she’d died, so he decided to become a priest. Also, he called her Anna. Not Joan or Joanna, just Anna. So, I was thinking that maybe your mother said John, not Jack afterall.”

“Hhm, maybe – but I don’t think so. I mean, she’s ill. It’s all she’s said in the past half year. Do you think she remembers him? Do you think I should bring her to Pace?” After a quick thought, she added, “No, I can’t do that. It’s too risky.”

“Not yet, Kate, but maybe soon.” If Cortez was on the move and Anna had left town because she was in trouble, then it wasn’t safe for her to come back. “We need to find out where Cortez is hanging out first. I’ll call Brook. He canhelp.”

She shivered.

“And it makes sense to wait until Father John is healthy enough.” Lying to Kate wasn’t in my plan, but it was better not to trouble her. I didn’t want her to panic and leave town aswell.

“There’smore.”

“More? That must have been some talk the two of youhad.”

She had noidea.

“Anna’s parents, your grandparents, are buried in a chapel just outside of town. Their house used to stand there. I haven’t found the papers yet, but that land should still belong to your mother.”

“Really?”

I nodded.

“Do you think my brother’s there as well? I’ve combed through the cemetery at least a dozen times, and I couldn’t findhim.”

Her eyes were so focused on me that I couldn’t take my gaze away from her. “Possibly. I don’t know. I know it’s a lot to takein”

“Right. I’m going to have to speak with Father John. Maybe he could tell me stories aboutMom.”

“That sounds like a great idea. What are the plans for today?”

She took a sip of her coffee and swept a tissue across her lips. And urge to pocket it tingled in my palm. Her hand was trembling, but so was my heart. I wanted to take her in my arms and celebrate this news with her a little differently, but that would have been wrong.

“Well, we have geocaching this morning. The students will use GPS technology to find treasures. They need to use the cardinal coordinates to check in at different points around the camp. Once they collect all the treasures, they return to base camp. I’ll be walking around to see if anyone needs help with theGPS.”

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