Deep Betrayal Page 0,63

I didn’t recognize you at first.”

“Ha! A full cassock seemed a little formal for a walk in the park.”

“Yeah, guess so.”

He sat down beside me, and I shuffled to my right. “Am I disturbing you?” he asked.

I shrugged and threw the remaining pastry to the birds. They fought over it, snapping at each other in turns. “Not really.”

“I didn’t see your family at Mass this morning. I haven’t seen your dad in a few.”

“Oh, is it Sunday?” Father Hoole leaned back to see if I was kidding. “Sorry, Father. I guess we all forgot. Rough night.”

“Anything you’d like to talk about?”

“You mean like a confession?”

“Well, if you’d like to go up to the church we can, but I was thinking more like a conversation.”

“Oh. Okay.” I fingered my necklace absentmindedly, trying to think of a good explanation. “Let’s just say I’ve let some things get a little out of hand.”

Father Hoole shifted his weight and looked out across the lake. He was right. This might be easier if we didn’t look at each other. “I see. Maybe you could define ‘out of hand.’ ”

“What if I told you I was hearing voices?”

Father Hoole’s shoulders relaxed. Apparently he preferred this question to the direction he thought our conversation was going. “Ah. Well. The prophets heard voices.”

“They heard God,” I said.

“Fair enough. Are you hearing God?”

I shook my head and kicked at the seagull who’d lost out on the meal. “I seriously doubt it.”

“Are the voices coming from a place of love?”

“Exact opposite. They sound angry.”

“Ah. Common misconception.” Father Hoole leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees, his fingers clasped together. His khakis were frayed at the bottoms. “Anger is not the opposite of love. The opposite of love is indifference. Indifference, neglect … these things can do terrible damage to a person. Apathy can suck the life right out of someone.”

Apathy? Maris and Pavati could be described in many ways, but apathetic was not one of them.

Father Hoole sat back again and folded his arms across his chest. “Find out what the voices care about. If it comes from love, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

In the distance, I saw Calder approaching us slowly. “I’ve got to go, Father.” I pointed to Calder. “Some friends of mine are coming up for the week. We’re meeting them at the ferry in a few minutes.”

“Ah, well, you have fun. I think I’ll sit here for a while longer. Oh, but hey, how’d you get Mrs. Boyd to make you a coffee? Isn’t she closed today?”

“I guess I was just being pushy. I didn’t know she wasn’t open.”

He eyed the seagull that was now tugging at the laces on my boot. “Huh. Maybe I can convince her to make me a cup. So we’ll see all the Hancocks at Mass next Sunday?”

“Um, yep?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

I dropped my empty cup into a trash can and jogged over to Calder, who slipped his fingers through mine. “Who’s that?” he asked.

“Father Hoole. He noticed we weren’t at Mass. Dad still hasn’t come home. Have you seen him?”

Calder squeezed my hand and looked out across the lake. “I heard your mom saw Jason in the water last night.”

“You did see him!”

“Do you think that was smart to tell her?” he asked.

I thought of my mom crying into the morning hours. “Jury’s still out on that one. By the way, it was Sophie’s idea to tell her. She thinks Mom will feel better … eventually … now that she knows.”

“I’ll see what I can do to help that along,” he said.

About fifteen minutes later, Zach’s familiar blue van rolled up to the ferry dock.

“That them?” Calder asked.

“That’s them,” I said, trying to muster up some enthusiasm. It seemed like an invasion, this other part of my life arriving uninvited. Not like I owned the town, but it still felt weird. And it made me nervous to have them here—now—with crazed mermaids on the loose.

Calder rubbed my shoulder, trying to relax me. “Come on, babe,” he said. “Get it together. You’re muddying up.”

“Right,” I said. “Happy thoughts.”

He kissed my hair, and it must have improved my color, because he groaned quietly under his breath.

The sliding side door opened, and Jules practically fell out of the van. Rob tumbled out behind her, laughing and pushing her. Jules ran toward me, yelling, “Lily! Lily! We made it!” but Rob held back to talk to Phillip at the driver’s-side window.

For a second, Jules’s excitement stripped away my