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Danny answered on the first ring. Michelle was busy in the Bauer kitchen trying desperately to look domestic. She had decided on a souffl� and was terrified at every noise. If it fell now she would have to fake a fatal disease. She tossed the salad and hoped that it tasted as good as she had made it look. She didn�t think she could ruin a salad but the day had not gone well and so she wasn�t really sure if this was going to be the coup de grace. A sunken souffl� and a salad that tasted like grass. She sighed and looked at the roast. At least it looked like a roast, here�s hoping it tasted like one.
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She heard Danny talking to Ray. She wondered how Ray knew he was here.
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"Ray, I sure will do what I can. Why do you need this information though?..O.K. I won�t ask anymore.. sure .. no it�s all right. We were just about to eat dinner..at least I think it will be sometime tonight." He looked at Michelle struggling mightily with a salad and laughed.
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Ray hung up the phone.. he hated using the family like that. He just had to know who this woman was and who her husband was. He decided to go take a walk and buy a paper. He didn�t usually bother reading newspapers.. his only contact with the local news was on TV for about 15 minutes .. he hated all the bad news.
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It was starting to rain lightly and Ray walked to a small corner store around the block from the church. He was glad to see Armond .. he was a good man a struggled to keep his little store together.
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"Good Evening Father, what can I do for you this rainy night?"
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"Just a newspaper tonight.. seems I neglect the local news .. have to pay better attention to the things of this world sometimes." Ray laughed.
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"Well, it�s mostly bad seems like these days"
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"Have to agree there.. goodnight Armond"
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"Goodnight Father Ray"
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Ray walked home and just as he entered the rectory the phone rang. Danny had his answer.
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"Ray it looks like your talking about Therese Howard she is Senator Howard�s wife. They are a very prominent family and he is connected, if you understand me?"
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Ray sighed.. he wondered if everybody in Springfield was "connected."
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Danny asked how he came across these people.. they sure didn�t live in his parish. Ray said he couldn�t talk about it. Danny told him "be careful where you step, cousin"
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Ray picked up his paper and scanned the social pages.. nothing there. It seemed he would have to keep a better eye on the state political situation. He tried to read the rest of the paper but it seemed so depressing he laid it down on the table and picked up St. Thomas Aquinas instead.
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The next morning Ray was to say Mass. He rose early for prayers and sometime to reflect on yesterday. He knew that his feeling yesterday were not very priestly. He hoped that if he saw her again he would not show how and why he was so interested. "Please let me keep some perspective," he prayed silently.
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As he walked into church he saw her again. It was only 6:30 and she was the only one in the church.
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She was kneeling in the last pew. Her head bowed. He walked past her and went to the altar to prepare for Mass. He tried to pretend she was any other parishioner.
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She looked up from her prayers and smiled at him. She wore no makeup and still she looked beautiful. He could hardly take his eyes from her face. Her eyes seem to see his very core. He felt exposed.. that she knew his every thought. He hoped she didn�t ..not at this moment anyway. He felt ashamed to have these feeling standing here on the altar. He tried to tell himself that he could not separate man from priest. They had warned him about this in the seminary.
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He stepped down from the altar and genuflected before it, crossed himself and prayed silently for strength. He turned and she was standing directly behind him. She was much closer that she should have been. He backed away and almost fell back on the altar step. She smiled and grabbed his arm.
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"Sorry Father, I seem to have startled you." she said with concern in her voice.
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"No , really it�s all right" Ray said. He wondered why he always felt the fool. He hoped his face didn�t show what he was thinking.
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"Therese, how are you doing this morning.. things any better?"
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"No father.. worse if that is possible. He is angry with me again. I told him I had to go to mass and he wanted to go with me. I had quite a time escaping from him. I was saved by a last minute meeting. He loves to have the press around for every visit to church. Makes him look so pious, you know."
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"I am sorry" Ray didn�t know why he was sorry.. because the truth was he was glad that she was here at this church and not her own this morning.
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The sat down in the nearest pew and she told Ray a little more about herself. She was a local attorney in corporate law. She had wanted to be a lawyer from the time she was a little girl.
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"My mother said since I loved to argue.. that seemed a logical choice" We didn�t have much money. I grew up not 5 blocks from this church. I made my first communion at this church. When I was 17 I helped with a political campaign. I married the candidate. He put me through school. That is how all this started. I was so grateful to him. He trained me in the ways of politics.. I loved it ..at first. "
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Ray started doing a little math in his head and realized she must be about 30 years old. She looked 22. He didn�t know why he wanted to know how old she was.. what did it matter.
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"Anyway, here I am.. crying on your shoulder again.. must be because it looks like such a strong shoulder" she touched his shoulder.
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