“I wish I could agree, but I can’t. Just . . . be aware and then you won’t be hurt.”
I heard her resigned tone, and for a second, I couldn’t reconcile the possessive way Aidan held Lena, with the notion that he’d cheated on her.
I couldn’t imagine Finn cheating on me. Not because I was stupid, but because what we had together was so explosive, it surprised even him. Which told me I was the best he’d ever had. And yeah, that made me preen, I wasn’t about to lie.
Still, marriage was for a long time, and we’d only been together a short while. Life got in the way, and things happened that no one could foresee. Though I appreciated her warning, I took it with a grain of salt. I wasn’t about to condemn him before he even left the starting gate.
She patted my hand, maybe sensing my rejection of her words, and asked, “Aidan tells me you’re seeing the priest tomorrow.”
“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve been to church.”
When she rolled her eyes, I hid a laugh. “I’m not as ardent as Aidan, so I won’t judge. It’s enough for me that you’re Catholic, but not for Aidan. The Church is… Well, we all need a crutch, and his is our Lord and Savior. Doyle will make you pay for not having gone to confession. Just be warned when he doles out the Hail Marys like they’re going out of fashion.”
And there was the voice of someone who’d been on the receiving end of such treatment.
I wanted to like Lena. Back at her place, this Sunday, I had. She’d invited me to her kitchen, and together, we’d cooked. Though she’d put me on edge with this discussion, could I blame her? She wanted the best for a man she considered to be her sixth son. Wouldn’t I do the same to protect my child? Yeah, I damn well would.
Still, I needed to know. “Will you say anything to him about my knowing his mom?”
She smiled at me. “No. You passed my test, so that’s the end of it as far as I’m concerned.”
I’d never know what Fiona had or hadn’t done. I’d never know how much she’d known about Finn’s suffering. A part of me couldn’t reconcile this knowledge with the woman I knew, but Lena wasn’t bullshitting me. And I’d heard Finn’s nightmares for myself. I’d thought they were centered around the crap he’d had to do as a Pointer, but now that I knew this? It was an insight into the man I was going to marry.
Having loved Fiona, it hurt me to think she’d been aware of what her husband had done to Finn and hadn’t stopped him, but there was nothing I could do to change what was done to him in the past.
I couldn’t take his pain away, nor could I make things better.
But, I was Finn’s future, and I fully intended on making a brighter path for us both, one that would enable him to let go of the past and hopefully drag him from the shadows and toward the light.
Chapter Fourteen
Finn
Father Doyle stared at me over his glasses. “This is very fast, Finn, my child. Do you have something to confess?”
I scowled at him. “Aoife is not pregnant.” I glared at her when she choked back a giggle. “Tell him, Aoife.”
Her lips curved. “I’m not pregnant.”
Sighing, I mumbled, “You could have said that with more conviction.”
She snickered, and Father Doyle glared at her disapprovingly. “You think it’s a laughing matter to be with child?”
“No, Father, but Finn’s reaction was too amusing not to laugh.”
Father Doyle narrowed his eyes. “Your parents are dead?”
She stiffened, and because I knew her secret, I knew why. “Yes.”
“Shame, shame, for two good Catholic souls to be taken from their daughter while she’s so young. They were, I presume, Catholic?” That was what he really wanted to know.
“Indeed, Father. Both of them. My parish is over on Hawk Avenue.”
Doyle stiffened. “You’re a part of Father James’ flock?”
“Yes.”
“When was your last confession? We stick with the old ways here, Aoife. I know Father James is very slack on that front.”
She cleared her throat. “A while ago?”
Doyle tsked. “We’ll have to remedy that.”
I shot her a sympathetic look, and she grimaced at me, then tightened her fingers about mine.
The priest’s office was dour, cold, and very, very brown. Except for the avocado green desk chair he sat in,