He chuckled at her. “I don’t think he cares about that. You and Josh are good people. I know you are. You still donate to the church even if you aren’t here,” Paddy informed her.
She nodded. “Where are you going with this?” She asked him.
“Yes, you have been blessed. Yes, you haven’t been in church for years. You eat meat on Friday’s during Lent…”
“I’m going to kill Ross,” Sophie grumbled at Father Paddy.
He chuckled. “What I’m sure that God cares about Sophie is inside you and what is inside you is goodness. I know that. I know you. He didn’t give this to you because you’ve not been in his house or you haven’t said your rosary every week. You haven’t forgotten him, and he hasn’t forgotten you.”
Sophie laid her head in the crook of his neck when he hugged her to him. “Am I forgiven?”
“You are. I need to make it official Sophie. I absolve you of your sins,” Father Paddy declared.
“Thank you, Paddy.”
“I think a few Our Fathers and Hail Mary’s, are in order, for your penance.” Father Paddy released her so Sophie could wipe her tears.
“What’s a few?” She asked wiping her nose on her sleeve again when she couldn’t find a tissue in her purse.
“You decide this time.” She might need to say a few hundred since she’d been away so long.
“We’re all coming to mass tomorrow,” she informed Father Paddy.
He turned so he could see her face. “Who is coming to mass?”
“Josh, his parents. Mom and hopefully dad. Heath and Hannah. I want to talk to them about getting Joshua baptized.” Father Paddy was frowning at Sophie. “What’s wrong?” She asked.
“The church is going to catch fire when Brad Russack and Duke Ward walk in the front doors of St. Agnes,” he teased her.
She elbowed him in the ribs. “Father Paddy.”
“It’s true, Sophie. They haven’t been in this church since you and Josh received confirmation at age thirteen.”
“That long?” She squinted trying to remember like he was.
He nodded. “You’ve worked wonders, my girl if you get both those men through those doors.” Paddy pointed behind him.
She smiled at him. “They haven’t sat in a pew yet, Paddy. Wait and see if it happens. I’d better go. Josh will be wondering where I’ve gone.”
“You can come here anytime or call if you need me.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
Father helped her with her jacket then he walked her to the car. “Go home. Relax and say your prayers. He’s there listening, I’m promise. Don’t tell the Pope this but you don’t need me for God to forgive you, Sophie. He heard everything when you were on your knees in front of his altar.”
“Then why do we do confession?”
“It’s good for the soul,” he advised. “It’s part of the sacraments Sophie bestowed by Christ on Peter. We are assured the grace of his forgiveness. We are humbled by confessing our sins to our priests. But in confession, it is him who hears you and absolves you through me.”
She smiled at Father Paddy. He kissed her temple and shut her door for her. Sophie started up the old, red Ford. She backed out of the spot and waved at Father. A sense of peace had settled over her. She called Josh and told him she would meet him at home.
Chapter 8
Josh
His phone dinged with a message from Sophie that she was running errands. He couldn’t begin to guess where she might have decided to run off to. Josh tried to remain focused on what Jagger was saying about his employment history.
When he was done speaking Josh gave Jagger the low down about his clientele. A mixture of large manufacturing facilities and office buildings with nice grounds. Private communities that brought in a medium chunk of their profits. Then, the smaller deals and private homes that they had started with that were only a fraction of their business but had been the heart of it when they first started. They refused to give them up.