convent can keep the money, I don’t want it,” I tell him firmly.
“We’ll still need some papers signed, the young lady too,” he adds, pretending not to flinch at my refusal of the money.
“I’ll follow you then,” I tell him. “Where you parked?” I ask.
“Just over there,” he says cheerily, tipping his hat before turning to go to his cruiser.
“Can we make a stop on the way?” I tell him more than ask, stabbing my thumb behind me towards Faith. “Rest stop, we wanna freshen up,” I tell him.
“Sure thing,” he smiles and in less than a half-hour, we’re all back at the convent, with me and Faith noting some peculiar absences.
Her Dad.
“Where’s my Dad?” Faith asks nervously.
I hold her hand, risking some venom from a different nun who’s sitting in today, but she only smiles.
“Uh, your Dad and the Sheriff drove back last night I believe, no need for them to be here,” The trooper offers. There’s only one agent today too, who looks bored. Eager for us to sign some stuff so he can be on his way, probably to try and catch the real fugitive out there somewhere.
“Pity,” I tell the room, eyeing Faith and squeezing her hand tighter.
She looks down, but I know we can drive back and see him, be there today if we’re not kept too long with all this.
“How’s that, Mr. Templeton?” The agent asks, his interest suddenly piqued.
I’m just about to answer, when the door swings open, the agent almost reaching for his side out of reflex.
“Daddy!” cries Faith, who leaps into his arms as he holds her tight, turning them both around.
The agent sighs.
“Great timing, Padre,” I tell him, noting his face is worn but a little less hostile than the night before.
Straining a smile for the sake of his daughter, he asks me how so.
“I was just thinking, we need a preacher. Someone who could marry us,” I say loudly, watching the Preacher’s face drop and Faith’s brighten as her whole body tenses.
But he’s shaking his head, not liking this at all as he takes me by the elbow, begging to talk with me in private.
I let Faith know it’s alright, that we’ll be back in a minute and we both step out into the hall, her Preacher father and I.
Still gripping my elbow, he walks with me, or rather he guides me out onto the grounds. A smaller place than I remember, but everything usually is now that I’m bigger, older.
“You’re a man of many surprises, Noah,” he says finally sighing, shaking his head again.
“I was ready to go home, to pray for strength at the idea that my little girl’s all grown up… But a man old enough to be her father as well? I tell you something, Noah, I haven’t had such a series of sleepless nights, ever!” he exclaims, almost smiling, but its fatigue in his eyes, not irony or even sarcasm.
“She is mine now, Father. Can I call you that?” I ask, noting his sharp inhalation of breath before he nods silently.
“I also just learned that you don’t want any of that money, that you want it all to go to the convent?” he asks, stopping me as he holds me with his eyes.
“That’s right. I’ve got plenty of my own, I have a successful business. I was only delivering the money because it’s what Gramma… What Mother Superior Laurence wanted, kind of her last wish,” I tell him.
“Where did all that money come from?” he asks me and I shrug.
“Gramma was always doing, father. She was always raising money for this or that, I know firsthand she wouldn’t hesitate over parting with a single dollar if it was for a good cause. I think she just did what she did best, put herself second to those in need, and had a greater vision for the convent once she’d finally passed, most of it would have been her entire wages and pension, I imagine. Sixty years of service,” I reflect, feeling something catch in my throat at her memory.
His hand’s on my shoulder suddenly.
“I wanted to tell you… I came back to tell you, that I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. You brought my Faith safely with you, but something tells me that she’s not the little girl I left behind anymore?”
I shake my head. “No, she isn’t, Father. And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I need you to marry us, to make it right. Now, don’t make that face. You