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“Why do you bristle when you see him, just out of curiosity? Because I think there is more to it than Hope.”
“How can there be more to it when he’s just returned?”
“I don’t know; you tell me.”
She couldn’t tell him that part of the reason was Ryan had seen her naked and Faith had seen the fire in his eyes when he’d looked at her. Just as she’d felt that fire right back. Passion was a kicker, Faith thought. You just never knew who was going to inspire it in you. But to be fair, it was likely the first person you’d slept with would be one of those.
She’d also had a monumental crush on Ryan Lawrence from the day she was old enough to understand what a crush was.
So the truth wasn’t an option, because while Noah was the calm Harris twin, and therefore less likely to react to a threat to her, he was still her twin and overprotective.
“I think hurting Hope is enough reason, don’t you?”
“Sure, and it is. But remember that like us, Ryan has responsibilities, Faith, but on a much larger scale. You don’t become a superstar without them. And your reaction to him is more than just pissed-off-ness about his treatment of Hope.”
“No, it’s not!”
“I tried to remember back to when he was here and can’t come up with anything that may have triggered this. In fact, the last summer he was in town, I thought you guys saw each other a lot and hung out.”
“Sure we did.” Faith knew she’d have to tread carefully here. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m being a bit small-minded. But you know me and holding a grudge.”
“I know what you’re like when you get it in your head someone has done something wrong or annoyed you. They are then in your bad books for a while, if not forever.”
“I’m not like that so much now.”
Noah laughed.
“I’m not, and you do lecture,” she said, to poke at him as he was her.
“I don’t.”
“I saw Mom today, Noah,” Faith said, needing to change the subject and speak to him about what happened at the nursing home. “She didn’t recognize me when I first arrived.”
He pulled her close, brushing a kiss in her hair.“It was the same for me yesterday. She’s deteriorating fast.”
There was nothing more to say to that, so she just wrapped an arm around his waist and hugged him back.
“Oh look, a Texan is approaching,” Noah said. “That’ll give us a good laugh.”
Faith looked at the tall, handsome man walking up the street slowly, holding his daughter Christie’s hand. He was dark, with all the right configurations to make a woman sigh. His daughter wore denim dungarees and little white sneakers. Her shirt was purple with small flowers over it.
“There is absolutely no hope for the male population when she reaches her teenage years,” Noah said to her father. “That child will break hearts.”
“Annabelle and I have discussed this. She’s being homeschooled, then she’s going into a convent,” Ethan Gelderman the Third, aka Tex, said.
He’d come to visit his friend Jake in Lake Howling and ended up marrying a local girl, Annabelle. He was now a friend.
“Hey there, baby girl.” Faith bent to hug Christie, enjoying the warm little body in her arms. “Is that new?” She touched the small pink band on her wrist.
“It’s a magic unicorn bracelet. Daddy said it needs lots of sleep though, and I have to stay in my bed with it until the sun rises.”
“How’s that going for you, Daddy?” Faith looked up at Tex.
“Rising time of 5:30 a.m. this morning, so not that good. Is that…. It can’t be.”
“What?” Noah followed Tex’s gaze.
“That looks like Ryan Lawrence, from Talon.” Tex squinted. “Surely not.”
