Complete Me (Book Three of The Kirkland Family)

Complete Me: Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Rose decided to attend Mass on Sunday morning and messaged Father Roberts that she would be there. Although she hadn't converted to catholicism, she attended enough services with Mr. Shaw to feel comfortable in the chapel during the liturgy and rites. Afterward, she strolled through the garden and grotto, one of Mr. Shaw's favorite places after Sunday services. The sun shone bright, even as a gray wall of clouds threatened on the horizon. They would see rain before the end of the day.

"Miss Rose," a voice said behind her. She turned to see Father Roberts approaching. "I am pleased to see you today. How have you been?"

She took his offered hand and smiled. "I am well enough."

He waved at a nearby bench. "Sit with me a moment? I apologize for not coming to see you sooner, but I have been absent from my parish since Mr. Shaw's passing. Family matters took me away."

Rose smoothed her skirt under her as she sat on the stone bench. "Is everything well with your family?"

An intense sadness overtook Father's eyes. "God has called my mother home."

"Oh, I am so sorry," Rose said.

He offered her a kind smile. "Thank you. She was ready. We all were, but we know she is at peace." He patted her arm. "But I see in your eyes that you have not made peace with your own sorrow."

"It has been difficult," she admitted. "I was healing, but then we found Mr. Shaw's journals, and now nothing makes sense anymore."

Glancing around the garden, Father Roberts inhaled deeply. "Did you know that Mr. Shaw donated all these rose bushes when the garden was first designed thirty years ago?"

Rose shook her head. No...another thing she did not know about Mr. Shaw.

"He always had a fondness for roses," Father Roberts continued and turned to her with another gentle smile.

"I didn't realize," Rose said. "He has no roses at his house. Only the pepper plants."

Father Roberts sighed. "Ah, yes. The peppers. Sister Una has begun a strict ration of the sixty jars in our pantry. I think she fears the day when we run out of Mr. Shaw's pepper jelly."

Rose laughed. "Well, please inform Sister Una that my mother's store now has the peppers and will sow new plants each year, and I happen to know Mr. Shaw's jelly recipe. He guarded it with his life, but I will be happy to donate it to the church."

"That will please Sister Una greatly," Father Roberts replied with a soft laugh. "Mr. Shaw guarded many secrets during his lifetime. We had many private conversations outside the sacrament of confession. Purely as friends. I've known him my entire life, actually, and as did my father before me. Mr. Shaw is the reason I followed my calling."

"Is he?"

"He saw something inside of me that I didn't understand when I was a boy. My family had always been spiritual, but Mr. Shaw introduced me to Catholicism."

She smiled. "I guess I assumed you were born Catholic."

"Oh, no. My family was Methodist, like yours. Mr. Shaw explained the Seven Sacraments to me when I was fifteen, and I felt as though the entire world made sense. With my parent's permission, Mr. Shaw guided me through the next few years."

Rose watched a bee flitting among the flowers. "He guided me through the last part of my teen years, too. But lately, I feel that I don't know him like I thought. Can you tell me anything about his past?"