Endless Night by Dana Mentink

Author:Dana Mentink
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2010-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

She didn’t know how she’d gotten there, but Jackie found herself in a tiny chapel, soft light shining on the gleaming wood altar. The room was empty and silent. Her legs shook so badly she hardly made it to the front before they gave out, and she sank on her knees to the carpeted floor.

“Oh, God,” she prayed. “Help us. Help us, please.” She was unable to finish the prayer as tears choked off the words. She rocked slowly back and forth, feeling terrible fear and guilt. She knew her information had caused June’s stroke. The weight of it pressed her down. When she thought the sensation would completely overwhelm her, she felt a strong hand on her back.

She looked up to find Roman, worry written across his face, as he knelt beside her.

“Jackie, June is going to be okay. The doctors are hopeful that she’ll recover. Skip is with her now.”

“But…it’s all my fault.” She couldn’t finish. The tears flowed in hot trails down her cheeks.

Roman slowly wrapped her in a tight embrace. “No, honey. It was not your fault. You told June about Fallon because it was the right thing to do. There was no other choice.”

“I should have waited, tried to find Skip.” Shuddering sobs shook her frame. “What will happen now? To the Delucchis and Fallon? I feel so guilty.”

He laid his cheek against her forehead. “They’ll get through this. Don’t worry. You’re not thinking clearly. It’s the shock.”

She pressed her face against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. His presence pushed the darkness back. She had the oddest notion that as long as she could stay there, close to him, things really would be okay. His gentle caress eased the words out of her before she could think about them. “Roman, I feel lost, like I did when Danny died.”

He stiffened and let go of her. Climbing to his feet he offered a hand to help her up. The light shone in his eyes as he took hold of her arms and turned her to face him.

“That’s why I don’t want you to take all this on yourself, Jackie. Guilt is a terrible burden. It makes you feel like you’re cut off from everything you love. When Danny died I couldn’t feel anything but guilt that was so bad it seemed like I had a knife through my heart. I’d wake up praying that it wasn’t true, that I hadn’t killed your brother.”

The anguish on his face took her breath away. “Roman, I’m so sorry.”

She looked at the altar, bathed in golden light, and then at Roman, who stared at it hungrily as if he desperately wanted to reach out and warm himself by its glow. His pain had been unbearable, and she’d been too focused on her own sorrow to care.

The thought stirred inside her. “God will forgive, Roman.”

He was silent for so long she wondered if he’d heard her.

“Yes,” he said in a voice so low it was no more than a whisper.

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