Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Needing to shift the focus of my stupidity, I ask, “Why are you here? What happened to the priest who is usually here?”
A moment of hesitation flares through his eyes before he replies, “This sanction is being disbanded and reformed.”
“Why?” The remorseful glint in his eyes is all too familiar. “Is that who hurt Jake? The priest here?”
I’m torn between being grateful and angry when Santiago shakes his head. I go for the latter when he murmurs, “Jake’s abuser was his uncle. This church…” he waves his hand around the derelict building, “… helped remove him from that situation.”
I laugh as if he told a joke. “The church doesn’t help with situations like that. They encourage it.”
“That isn’t true, Caleb.” He steps closer, bringing my defenses up a notch. “Just like every man who has been abused doesn’t become an abuser. They are sick, vile people who need help. Then there are people like your grandfather who are beyond saving.”
When I read between the lines, I snap out, “He killed himself. The church can’t take credit for that.”
“I’m not saying they can, but by speaking up, I like to think we made a difference.”
He smiles at Jake to ensure him he isn’t in any trouble for interrupting us before encouraging him to wash his hands. Once he does that, he hands him the Lego set I purchased for him as a reward for using the bathroom before telling him there is wrapped candy hiding in jar in the confession chambers.
When Jake strays his wide eyes to mine, hopeful for a treat, I jerk up my chin. “Just make sure you come straight back, okay?”
He nods before racing off.
Just as quickly, I shift my focus back to Santiago. He’s said too much to act as if my curiosity isn’t sky-high, so he needs to finish what he was saying.
Mercifully, he clicks on to my wordless demand remarkably quick. “What do you know about the event that occurred after your grandfather’s trial?”
“The ridicule? The hate? What are you wanting to know? How hated my family was?”
Remorse is the main expression on his face when he says, “I meant the massive lawsuit that followed it.”
“The one Jack’s firm heads?”
I’m left a little baffled when he shakes his head. “The one that followed that. The investigation that saw multiple members of my society named, shamed, and prosecuted for their horrendous crimes.” Disgust hardens his features. “As they should have been. It is not something the church accepts, Caleb. What happened to you—”
“You don’t know what happened to me.”
He acts as if I didn’t speak. “Shouldn’t happen to anybody, and we did, and have done, everything we can to ensure it will never happen again.”
“We?”
He nods before saying, “I assisted in the investigation. The church fully supported it. We wanted and still want that type of abuse to end.” He peers down at his feet for a minute as if embarrassed before returning his eyes to me. “When you’ve been through something like that, you have a better understanding of the victims. You get them as you wish someone had gotten you.” He waves his hand to Jake who is re-entering the bathroom. “And you protect them as you wish someone had protected you.”
He tugs Jake in close when he curls his arm around his leg like he has no clue what he does for a profession before saying, “You stop it from happening no matter the cost. But when your enemy is yourself, it makes it so much harder… as I’m sure you’ve learned the past three months.” He bobs down to Jake’s level before saying, “It was lovely seeing you again, Jake, but please make sure you don’t run off again. Don’t lessen your securities to that of others if it could get you hurt. Your safety is all that matters.”
His smile when Jake nods doesn’t belong to an evil man, but I’ve been fooled in the past.
“Come on, Jake. We need to get home.”
My strides out of the bathroom are nowhere near as shaky as the ones that led me inside, but they gain a slight quiver when Santiago mutters my name. He waits for me to face him before saying, “Call Jessmina. She hasn’t been the same since you left.”
Honesty speaks before both my heart and my head. “I don’t want her—”
“It is too late for what you want, Caleb. Your choices were no longer yours the moment you met her.” He can’t hide his smile, so he sets it free. “She is very much like her mother. You can fight it for years, but you will never win, so why waste time being miserable if you don’t need to be? Haven’t you both suffered enough?” All my defenses are knocked hard when he confesses, “And placing Jake into your care worked better than anyone could have predicted. It has done wonders for your confidence… as Jessmina knew it would.” His last five words are muttered to himself.