“Jane and I come here sometimes.” She means Abe’s mom, and I tuck this information away.
Jane Fujimori acts like everyone’s mother, at least when it comes to her son’s friends, but I’ve never thought about the woman outside the context of the restaurant she owns.
“I want to hang out with Jane,” Adeline says as we walk out, understanding this is a privilege not afforded to most.
Isolde says nothing, sipping on some sort of coffee concoction with more sugar than actual espresso. We walk another block, pausing outside a cathedral.
Adeline tips her head back. “Yeah. . . This could work.”
“Hi!” Lennie wraps her arms around Isolde, squeezing tight.
Isolde stiffens slightly, but she smiles.
“Yeah, sorry,” Lennie admits, stepping back. “I know you’re not touchy-feely.”
Isolde shrugs. “It’s all right.”
“I think this could work,” Adeline says, pulling everyone’s attention back to the cathedral.
I’m not sure of Isolde’s religious preferences, but she’s at ease as she opens a thick door and ushers us inside. “I’vealready checked with Father Francois. It’s available the day you need.”
Lennie gives her a funny look, her thoughts similar to mine. “Do you go here?”
“Nah.”
The sun shines through the stained-glass windows. The bright, airy space will easily accommodate whatever massive guest list Lennie’s mother comes up with. A few people currently sit in the pews, and I note Isolde scanning the seating. Like she might recognize someone.
It has me taking in the cathedral again. But other than the idea of Cade, there are no visible threats.
I do, however, feel the ghost of my mother.
My mother was a deeply religious person. She’d write out different scriptures on sticky notes and tape them to her bathroom mirror. She taught me to pray. To believe in grace and empathy.
Most of those teachings faded away after her death.
Dad says he still believes in God. He just never had the time to go to church. Not when he worked almost every day.
The last time we were in church together, it’d been for a baptism. My cousin’s baby, because I’m now at that age where everyone I know is getting married and having kids. I got asked a bunch of questions by all my aunts and thoroughly reminded that I had yet to achieve either of those.
“My mother used to always take us to light a candle,” Adeline murmurs, bringing my attention back to them.
She and Isolde have wandered over to a display of candles.
“It’s beautiful,” Lennie whispers, the light from the stained-glass windows reflecting in her dark eyes.
“You gonna admit to them that you and Elijah are already married?”
Her head snaps to mine, her mouth hanging open. “H-how do you know?”
I shove my hands in my jean pockets. “You’re calm.”
“I’m always calm!” A second later she sighs. “Okay, I mean, I’m not always nervous anymore.”
I allow a smile to flicker over my face. Lennie openly talks about going to therapy, but I’ve seen her hesitation sometimes at Fujimori’s if the restaurant is too busy.
She might be admiring the cathedral’s architecture, but there’s a distinct lack of wringing her hands.
Lennie checks to make sure her friends are distracted. “A couple days ago, we went to the courthouse. I just. . .” She shrugs as she tries to find the right words. “I wanted something for the two of us. Just us.”
