Page 51 of He Loves Me Knot
“No wonder. And when is this thing that Sergio’s supposed to be going to?”
“Not sure.” Callum started the car. “He just said it was late. But we should probably go to the church. See what we can find out about any events scheduled for this evening. It’s Saturday, so I’m thinking it might be a wedding.”
“Don’t Catholics have Mass on Saturday nights?”
“Yeah, but . . .” Dread filled the pit of his stomach.
She’s right.
Catholicsdidhave Mass on Saturday evenings. And he didn’t know for sure what time the event Sergio had been invited to was. What had he said? That it was “late?” What did late mean, though? The term was relative.
He typed the address for the church into his Maps app and then left the parking lot for the clinic in a hurry, worry clawing at him. What if he’d completely misinterpreted?
Whatever his fears were, he didn’t want to pass them along to Liddy, who had said nothing more. His leg was hurting from driving so much, and he was hungry, but at least he hadn’t passed out from eating a pepper.
But all of it would be for nothing if they didn’t find Sergio.
They found the church, and Callum pulled into a space at the park across the street. The two enormous front doors to the church were open, the sanctuary visible from the park, but threatening afternoon clouds were taking shape. The weather in the rainy season here, especially in the mountainous valley near San Jose, was predictable—morning sun, afternoon rain. Cool evenings.
As a kid, his friends from school had all talked about how lucky he was that he got to go to paradise in the summer. Little did they know that most of the time it meant being stuck inside playing board games with his sister every afternoon. Or worse yet, visiting relatives with his mum and listening in bored silence as his mum and her cousins or aunts and uncles had coffee.
Boredom was why he’d started playing football. Even in the rain, you could usually find someone willing to play.
Liddy moved more slowly than he liked, but he said nothing as they crossed the street toward the church. She blinked up at the sky. “Is it supposed to rain?”
“It rains almost every afternoon here in the summer. It’s their ‘winter.’”
“Did Elle and Quinn know that when they booked the wedding for June?” Liddy asked, a baffled expression on her face.
“Probably not. But Quinn didn’t tell me much about what he was thinking until after they had booked the wedding.” He led the way into the church and glanced around. In terms of size, it may as well have been a cathedral, with high vaulted ceilings and enormous windows all along each side. Statues and paintings depicted saints and Jesus and Mary, and candles were lit in offering in front of some statues.
He hadn’t been in a church like this for a while, but it took him back to his childhood, the twang of guitars playing during the Mass, the pews so packed that people stood in the aisles.
Callum shook off the memory. Few people were in the church now. Some older women knelt in prayer near the front, but that was it.
“Should we sit and wait?” Liddy asked. “We could hide out near the back here so he doesn’t see us.”
Callum nodded. “Why don’t you sit there for now? I’ll see if I can find the priest and ask about any events scheduled for today.”
She looked relieved at the suggestion. “Sounds good.”
He left her in the back of the church and then crept up the side aisle, his footsteps loud in his ears. They’d hedged so much on this one chance.But what if nothing comes from it?He couldn’t pull a magic trick out of his hat. That he’d overheard anything in the first place had been an astronomical coincidence. And even if they found Sergio, it’s not as if he’d have the dress with him. It would be a miracle if they could even get him to tell them what he had done with the dress.
His shoulders bunched with tension as he walked behind the sanctuary.
He didn’t see anyone.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to take a glance. Isla was calling.
He picked up, taking a subconscious step closer to a wall. “Hello?”
“Don’t hello me, Cal. You’ve been impossible to get in touch with, and Mum is completely freaking out about the fact that you showed upwith a girlfriend—which, by the way, when were you going to tell me about her? How serious is this? Mum said something about Quinn’s fiancée’s sister. The one you work with. I didn’t even know you got on with her. What is going on?”
Callum smiled. His sister was always one to leap to conclusions, but a conversation with her usually was about ten percent him talking to ninety percent listening. He checked his phone log. “I don’t see any missed calls or texts from you.”
“Well, check WhatsApp. That’s what I was using.”
Right.He’d forgotten to check it.