The nights grew colder, but the heat between them only climbed. They stopped waiting for excuses—unlocked doors, empty confessionals, quiet sacristies. Desire had its own schedule now, and it didn’t care about clocks or consequences.
One midnight, when the town lay dark and silent under a thin moon, Julian sent her a single message through the old parish phone she’d given him the number for weeks ago: Side door. Now.
Esther slipped out of her small rented house without a coat, heart already pounding. The wind bit her cheeks as she crossed the empty street to the church. The side door stood ajar, a sliver of warm candlelight spilling onto the stone steps. She pushed inside.
He was waiting in the shadowed nave—no cassock tonight, just black trousers and a dark shirt, sleeves rolled, colla
