AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her stomach filled with a myriad of things that made it hurt and she didn’t dare examine a single one of them. “It will be what it will be,” she whispered, hurrying to the bed and getting a pillow.
“This bed is big enough for both of us. I trust you not to touch me.”
The smile he gave added to the mess in her stomach, making it hard to breathe. He was teasing her again. “I trust you,” she reminded him, or herself.
He looked right at her. “Do you?”
Holding his terribly handsome expression felt like a grave sin. “I do,” she said.
He patted the mattress. “Prove it.”
She eyed the spot, her head already shaking. “I shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because... I’m very sure Handy wouldn’t like that at all. I know I wouldn’t like it if Handy were to...lay this way with one of my sisters. Unless he...didn’t choose me of course.”
He returned to staring at the ceiling. “I’m behaving like a two-day old,” he muttered. “I just... don’t like being alone.”
Her heart lurched at hearing this as she remembered his age and inexperience. “I suppose I could sleepnearyou if you agree there can be no touching.”
His gratitude came in his smile and Celeste was sure it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Mercy, how could such a thing be? She returned to the bed with her pillow. “Don’t you want to...get under the covers?” she wondered. “Or do you not get cold?”
He hopped up and opened the covers, climbing back in with them up to his neck. The look on his face reminded her of an innocent child and tugged in her chest. “Oh dear,” she whispered.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just realized I’m not even dressed for bed!” She hurried to the bathroom and got out of her habit then into her night gown. She stared at herself in the mirror, wondering what to do about her hair. She normally slept with it down.
She removed the pins and then the braids, quickly passing her fingers through it before turning from the mirror. She didn’t like looking in it more than was absolutely necessary. Vanity had no place in her vocation and mirrors were portals of that exact temptation.
She left the bathroom light on for a nightlight then turned off the room light before hurrying to her side of the bed. She dropped to her knees, clasped her hands before her and closed her eyes. “I must pray first,” she thought to inform him, remembering he likely didn’t know. “I do this every night.”
“What do you pray?”
She cracked one eye open, finding him lying on his side, facing her with his arm propping up his beautiful head. She forced her attention on the question. “Well, I pray for many things.”
“Can you do it out loud?”
Both her eyes opened now, considering it. “I prefer to do it in secret, but a demonstration is probably the right thing in your case.”
“Why do you prefer to do it in secret?” he asked, his voice low and soft.
“Because God hears in secret.”
“Why can he only hear in secret?”
“Oh, He most certainly can hear in any way I speak, but He doesn’t like people to make a production of it. I guess He likes when we treat it more...”
“Intimate?”
Her heart skipped a beat at the way he said it. She was sure it was not that sort of intimate. “It’s more special I guess.”
“I can understand that,” he said, watching her.
“I’ll... go ahead now.” She closed her eyes, getting to her usual list. “Lord please bless Sister Isla and Sister Rowan and Sister Lucy and Sister Miranda, and Sister Elanore, and Sister Rosalie, and Sister Maya, and Sister Callie, and Sister Charlotte, and Sister Scarlett, and Sister Julia, and Sister Gina. Please bless the Sisters at St Mary’s Sisterhood and all the Sisters everywhere in the world. Please help Mother Superior find her way to repentance that she may lead the Sisters in your love and mercy. And please help Father Larson reap the sins he sows, that he too may find the path to repentance and forgiveness. Lord, bless all the children in all the world, may their angels protect them at all times. Bless the mothers and the fathers, guide them in their vocations to love their children in a way that is pleasing in your sight. Bless our fearless leader and soldiers being prepared to fight the war of good and evil. Give us all the courage to do what is good and right in your eyes. And...please continue to protect Handy as I know you have been, wherever he is. Please comfort him at this very difficult time in his life and lead him back to me if this is your will. And finally, please bless my dear friend Kaphas. He’s brand new in the world and needs all the guidance he can get. Please direct me in how to best help him and...let Handy know he’s just a dear friend. And when Handy does come back, give me the strength and courage to accept my fate with him. I pray these things dear Father in your son’s precious name. Amen.”
She crossed herself, kissed her fingers and sent it up to Heaven then hurried under the covers, putting her back to him.
