“No! Of course not. Sorry, Father. I just didn’t hear the sound before, but now that you mention it . . .” I convinced myself I could hear it too.

He told me to sit tight as he got out of the car, lifting up the bonnet and tinkering around under it for a few minutes. I cranked my window open. I was wearing a dress and skirt that Ma had sewed using material too thick for the summer heat. Beads of sweat had begun to gather at my temples and between my breasts, and the backs of my thighs were sticking to the leather seat.

I’d just hitched the side of my skirt up to wipe at the sticky perspiration when Father Thomas dropped the bonnet and walked around to my side of the car, leaning in through the window. I yanked my skirt down but saw his eyes flit to my bare thigh.

“We’ll need a replacement part,” he said.

I was crushed that we’d have to turn back.

“We’ll stay here for the night while we wait for it, and then we can leave tomorrow.”

“Oh!” I was so relieved to hear that I wouldn’t have to return to the farm that I tried not to think about what my mother would say about such arrangements. The place looked seedy and run-down, but it’s not like I was there by myself. Father Thomas was there to protect me.

“Stay here and I’ll go and see if they have rooms and if I can phone around for that part.”

He returned five minutes later with two keys. “There’s room at the inn.” He smiled, reaching into the boot for my suitcase before pulling out another bag for himself. Its presence confused me. Why would he have packed a bag for the night when the plan was to return to the convent the same day he’d set out?

“This is apparently the better of the two rooms,” Father Thomas said, unlocking one of the doors. “You can sleep here. I’ll head out a bit later to see what I can find us for dinner.”

The motel room was clean, which was a relief. A small Gideon Bible was placed next to the bed. It was the first time I’d ever stayed in a hotel room on my own, or had any kind of room to myself. I was used to sharing with Ruth and knew that I wouldn’t have much privacy at the convent, so I felt intoxicated with the freedom of it.