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I was confused, but not about my feelings for Faith. What confused me is how she was in a bad financial situation. Jeremy had bragged many times about his expensive condo, thousand-dollar suits, and high-paying job. Did he not have life insurance? How could he pass away, and she now be in such dire straits? It didn’t make sense. She had worked too, for a corporation, I was pretty sure, but I didn’t know the details. Jeremy had always glossed over things about her. When we spoke, he stuck to himself.
Back in high school, it was no big deal, but in college, it had started to get on my nerves. I had still considered Jeremy to be my best friend, but when he moved away, I almost felt relieved. I would have felt better if Faith hadn’t gone with him, but she had made her decision.
Now she was back—for how long I did not know—but I wasn’t going to let her leave so easy the next time. Hopefully I could convince her to stay and raise Luke here. Give him a solid foundation and a safe place to grow up. Even if it wasn’t with me, this was a great town to grow up in, where kids could get a good education. I’m sure she could find a job someplace around here; maybe I could help.
With that thought in my mind, I headed off to work. I was two hours later than usual, but I had called my foreman and told him I’d be late.
Throughout the day, Faith kept coming back to mind. Along with that, memories of Jeremy and I growing up. I was having a hard time comprehending his death, and as much as Faith probably didn’t want to talk about it, I hoped that she would. I needed to understand it more so that I could let it go, or perhaps find a way to help her. Now her Dear Santa letter made much more sense.
Typically, I was only Santa on the weekends, but Ben had a prior engagement he needed to do last night, and I’d taken his place. Damn, am I glad I did. I could not imagine finding out that Faith had been in town for weeks or months and I hadn’t known.
It made me think about what she said earlier about not being sure if she would have contacted me. Why wouldn’t she have? I added that to my mental list to ask her tonight.
The day sped by, and I made it home and showered with enough time to hit the florist on the way to her place. I had no trouble remembering what her favorite flowers were and was standing at the counter, getting ready to pay when I paused. Faith said Luke was allergic to trees. What were the chances that he was also allergic to flowers? Well, damn. I apologized to the shop clerk and hustled out with empty hands.
I was about to climb in my truck when I remembered that she had been drinking a glass of wine last night. I shut my door and crossed the street to walk a block down to the liquor store. Maybe a glass of wine or two would do us both good.
I arrived only a couple of minutes late and knocked on the front door. I heard Luke’s feet slapping on the hardwood of the entryway as he raced toward the door, screaming, “I’ll get it!”
When he opened the door, he stared at me and frowned. “Oh, it’s you again.”
I tried not to take that personally as I laughed and reached for the door handle. “Yes, it’s me again. How are you, Luke?”
“Fine.” He turned from me as I stepped inside. “Mom, it’s that guy from this morning, the one that made you cry!”
I froze. I made Faith cry? What the hell?
Her head popped out of the kitchen doorway down the short hallway. “He did not make me cry, Luke. Hi, Peter, come on back.”
Luke shrugged and looked at me after she disappeared again. “She was crying. Don’t make her cry again. I hate when my mom cries.”
“I’m gonna try hard not to make her cry again, Luke. You have my word.”
He studied me as if he was trying to gauge whether he could trust me or not. Finally, he nodded once and then took off into the living room.
I removed my jacket and put it on a hook by the door before making my way down the hallway. Faith had her back to me and was cutting something on the far counter. Steam billowed up from a pot on the stove, and the aroma of garlic filled the air.
I took in her wild long brown hair. This morning and yesterday, it had been pulled back, but tonight, it was down. My fingers ached to comb through the wavy strands that went halfway down her back.
I stepped to her side, barely placing my hand to her lower back as I held up the wine bottle. “Good thing that I got red since it smells like we are having Italian.”
She glanced at the bottle and then peered at me quickly. Her hazel eyes cut away as if she were nervous. Glad I wasn’t the only one. “Thank you, that will be perfect.”
I took a step back and then another so that I wasn’t crowding her, even though I wanted nothing more than to be up close and personal with her. “How was your day?” I asked, hoping to cut some of the tension that filled the room.
“It was alright, I guess. I managed to make that list that you wanted me to make.”
“Did that take you all day?”
“No.” She chuckled. “I had other things to do too. I needed to get Luke registered for kindergarten, too. They only have three more days until Christmas break, so he won’t start until after the New Year, but he got a chance to meet his teacher today and see his classroom.”
That was good news. It meant that at least she was considering sticking around for a little while.
“Although after Christmas, we might have other plans and be leaving again.”
And damn— “To where?”
She glanced at me as she cupped the vegetables she’d been cutting and dumped them in a bowl for salad. “Back to New York. I have a video interview with a firm tomorrow.”
