Angels Everywhere - Debbie Macomber [187]
The mechanic’s chuckle slowly faded. “You do that to me,” he said, his voice low and serious. “You make me want to dream, but then I wonder . . . Never mind. I didn’t call you to talk about dreams.”
“Oh?”
“I want to take you to dinner.” His voice grew so serious that she wondered if there were some hidden significance behind his request.
“When?” she asked, not that it would have mattered to her. He could have suggested next June and she would have agreed readily.
“Is Friday all right?”
“Yes,” she said automatically.
“I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.” How formal he sounded, as though he were unsure of himself.
“That’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I’ll look forward to it.”
“Me, too.” The smile was back in his voice, as if to say now that the awkward part was over, he could go back to being himself. “Thank you, Brynn.”
“Whatever for?” She was thinking his appreciation had something to do with what Emilio had told him about the class discussion.
“For agreeing to be my date.”
Not until Brynn was talking to Father Grady did she realize the significance in Roberto’s having asked her to dinner.
She met the parish priest after school, responding to a message he’d sent asking to speak with her. She guessed correctly that Father Grady had heard about her talk with her students.
“Are you going to lecture me about the error of my ways?” she asked him directly. They were walking toward the rectory. Father Grady’s hands were folded behind his back, and he avoided meeting her eyes.
“No,” he said slowly, “although I fully suspect you know the church’s teachings in the area of birth control.”
“I know, I just don’t happen to agree.”
Father Grady released a long, slow breath. “I’m not going to say anything about this again, but I’m disappointed in you, Brynn. I don’t know what happened for you to decide it was your duty to discuss this particular subject with your class, but my guess is this entire matter was spontaneous on your part.
“I strongly suspect one of the girls is pregnant. Well, it isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last. These things happen.”
“Birth control—”
“Promotes promiscuity,” the priest argued.
“It would be better if we agreed to disagree,” Brynn said evenly. She didn’t want to get into a verbal battle with the one person she considered her friend.
They didn’t speak for several moments.
“Roberto asked me to dinner Friday night,” Brynn said, wanting to break the tension between them.
Father Grady’s face broke into a wide smile. “He asked you, did he?”
“Is there something important about this dinner date I don’t know about?”
“Not particularly,” the priest informed her, “only that it’s probably the first time Roberto’s dated in the last four or five years.”
“You’re joking!”
“No. While he was in high school, he held down two part-time jobs in an effort to earn enough money for his mother to travel to the United States. Every penny went toward that goal. There wasn’t time for dances or anything else a normal teenager enjoys.”
“But he’s an excellent dancer.” Being in his arms had seemed as right as rain, as the saying went.
“He comes by that talent naturally,” Father Grady explained. “But he’s never taken the opportunity to indulge in the small pleasures in life. He sacrificed his youth for the sake of his mother.”
“I’ve never met her.”
“You won’t,” Father Grady said sadly. “She died before Roberto had saved enough money.”
Brynn felt Roberto’s frustration. “I’m so sorry.”
“Roberto blamed himself.”
“But how could he?” She hated the thought of his taking on blame when he’d already sacrificed so much.
“He seemed to think that he’d failed her.”
“Surely he understands that isn’t the case.”
“Intellectually I believe he does, but not emotionally, although I have hope now that he’s taken such a keen interest in you.” Father looked well pleased with himself, as though he were the one responsible for bringing her and Roberto together. “You’ve been good for that young man, but by the same token Roberto has been good for you.”
“I like him so much,” she whispered.