Free Father Briar and The Angel by Rita Saladano Page A

frozen in ice. They’d live a traditional,
conventional life, a difficult one, not like the Joe and Marilyn
life his talent could earn them.
    As if paralleling his
thoughts, Mrs. Olsen asked, “do you think they should get
married?”
    Cedric was surprised by the
speed and fervor of his response. “Absolutely not,” he commanded.
“Eighteen is far too young.”
    “ I was married at
eighteen,” Mrs. Herbertson volunteered.
    “ I was married at
sixteen,” Mrs. Olsen said, “best decision I ever made.”
    “ Twenty two years with Ty
Olsen seems like a long, long time,” Cedric thought, but of course
didn’t say anything. “After all, what do I know about
marriage?”
    And this, of course, made
his thoughts turn towards his beloved Julianna and how if she
stayed in love with him, and stayed faithful to him, she would
never be married. He wondered how much that weighed on her, how
much it hurt. It was something he’d never considered. He’d always
assumed he’d be a priest, and he’d also spent some years assuming
he’d be killed in the war, like good old Jake. But didn’t every
little girl grow up believing she’d be married, didn’t she grow up
dreaming of the day?
    “ I don’t think they should
be married, either. I just want them to stop having sexual
intercourse.”
    For whatever reason, the
other woman’s use of such a formal term made Mrs. Olsen giggle. Her
laughter was infectious and soon Cedric had caught it. He felt
rather undignified but he couldn’t help it. Knowing she had such
effect on people (living all those years with a goofy and notorious
eccentric had taught her a thing or two about comedy) she would
deploy her good cheer with strategic intent, often to defuse tense
situations.
    “ Well, I’m glad we’ve all
had this little chat,” Father Briar said, even though nothing had
been resolved and no conclusions had been reached. There wasn’t
much he could do in this situation, anyway, other than to recommend
Scripture and other readings about morality and family and
conscience. Those were three things very much on his mind and he
wanted some space in his office to think. These women with their
catalogue ordered and mail delivered perfumes and bouffant hairdos
were overwhelming him.
    “ Are you making the trip
up to Thief River Falls for the big hockey game this weekend? We
play Mille Lacs tomorrow here at home, but we’ll smoke them.” Mrs.
Olsen asked.
    “ I certainly am,” he said.
He was planning on a way to finagle a seat next to Julianna, too,
but he didn’t mention that. He’d already arranged for her to come
to the home game tomorrow, but would he be able to get her to come
on a road trip with him?
    Oh, how he longed for a
weekend away!
    What would these women
think if he was giving them advice from personal experience,
experience neither he nor any other priest was supposed to
have?
    “ Our family was thinking
of making a weekend of it in the big city. Maybe you could join us
and have a talk with Trigger after the game? Maybe Saturday
morning? We could have breakfast?”
    Cedric couldn’t help but
smile at hearing her call Thief River Falls “the big city.” There
were six thousand people there.
    “ And, quite frankly,”
Father Briar thought, “I was hoping to spend Saturday morning in
bed with Julianna.” It may not have been a bustling metropolis, but
Thief River Falls was big enough to provide a cover of invisibility
and anonymity for the illicit lovers. But his holy clerical duty
called.
    “ Breakfast it is. And tell
Trigger and the rest of the boys good luck from me!”
    Hiding your true feelings
is a gift given through the grace of God.

Chapter Ten: Hockey is
Religion, Religion is Hockey.
     
    “ Come on boys, get to
fore-checking!” Ty Olsen shouted.
    Julianna was stunned by his
passion for schoolboys playing a children’s game. But she had to
admit, there was an adrenaline rush to it; the rush of the team up
the ice, the building roar of the crowd,