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Back in the living room, Darren and Leon were debating the merits of golf versus tennis. Faith, who preferred to watch shirtless men play sports rather than actually participate, listened to the sound of their voices without paying attention to the details.
When they stopped for breath, Katherine took advantage of the reprieve to ask a question Faith suspected she’d been dying to all night. “How did you and Shane get together, darling?”
Faith shrugged. She and Shane hadn’t discussed the specifics, but she should have guessed her parents would ask. “Nothing special. I’ve been babysitting his boys for a couple of years now, and we just grew closer. Not long ago, we decided to date.”
Katherine looked disappointed there wasn’t a more exciting story. “That’s nice, I suppose.” She brightened. “Why don’t you invite them to lunch with us tomorrow? Shane and his sons. It would be lovely to get to know them.”
Uh oh. Faith froze. They couldn’t all go out together. Not when the boys didn’t know about their deception. Dylan would give them up within the first five minutes. Worse, she didn’t want to confuse the kids. Especially not Hunter, who had no recollection of his mother and had referred to Faith as “Mum" in the past, setting Dylan off on a temper tantrum.
“Maybe,” she said, thinking on her feet. “But Shane usually takes Hunter to DIY Saturday at Sanctuary, and Dylan has cricket.”
“We can go after they finish.”
Her stomach tied itself in knots. This was why she ought not to lie. It was far too easy to get caught. “I’ll talk to Shane and see if he’s free.”
Katherine smiled. “Good.”
They spoke for a while longer, and then, worn out, Faith climbed into her makeshift bed on the couch. She’d almost drifted to sleep when she remembered she needed to contact Shane. She whipped her phone out, selected his name, and typed a message.
Faith: My parents want to have lunch with you and the boys tomorrow. I’m so sorry.
When she didn’t immediately receive a negative response, she wondered if he was already asleep, but then a message popped up.
Shane: We can make it work. 1pm at Cafe Oasis? Hope they don’t mind if we’re sweaty and dirty.
Faith tapped a reply. I’m sure they won’t, but aren’t you worried about the boys?
Shane: Yes, we’ll need to be careful not to cross any boundaries.
Faith: Easier said than done, but I promise to come clean if needed. Thanks for being such a good sport.
Shane: No problem. Good night, Faith.
She sighed, wriggling further down beneath her bedding. Was it wrong that she wished, just a little, that their lunch date would be real? She had a big old crush on Shane. Always had, and probably always would. Unfortunately, he’d never be interested in her. Judging by his ex-wife, he preferred petite blondes. The opposite of Faith. Even if, by some miracle, he was attracted to her, she wasn’t relationship material. Enough men had told her she was fun but too full-on to have around permanently that she had no choice but to believe them. If three people told you to sit down because you were drunk, you should sit down... right?
Shane washedpaint from his hands and scrubbed Hunter’s fingers while Dylan regaled them with a full rundown of his cricket match. He played on a team with his friends, and one of the mothers kindly took him to and from matches when Shane wasn’t able, but he tried to attend at least every second week. He dried himself, then Hunter, and they walked out to the car.
“Can I have cake at the cafe?” Hunter asked, not for the first time.
“You can share a piece with Dylan,” Shane replied, also not for the first time, and made sure Hunter was belted up.
“Why do we have to go out for lunch with Faith’s mum and dad?” Dylan asked, belting himself into the passenger seat.
Shane had given a lot of thought as to how to explain the lunch to his boys and had arrived at the conclusion that it would be best to keep it as simple as possible. “Well, you know how when you stay over with Josh, you have to eat dinner at the table with his parents?”
“Yeah.”
“Faith is my friend, just like Josh is yours, and sometimes even adults have to sit at the table with their friend’s parents.”
He could tell by the way Dylan rolled his eyes that he wasn’t buying it, but Hunter seemed satisfied by the explanation. The fact was, his friendship with Faith was usually pretty one-sided—something he was well aware of. She was always giving him her time and attention. This was his chance to do something for her, and he was determined not to mess it up. Also, he had to admit, he was flattered she’d chosen him to play her fake boyfriend. Either one of the Pride brothers would happily have filled the role, as would a number of other men.
They drove into town and parked on a side street, then walked together to Cafe Oasis where he’d arranged to meet Faith and Mr. and Mrs. St. John. Checking his watch, he noted they were five minutes late. Not bad for him. Usually, he was running at least fifteen minutes behind. An old-fashioned doorbell signaled their arrival, and he scanned the wooden floor, searching for familiar flame-red hair. There she was. At the table by the window. As were her parents and the interloper. Shane’s teeth gritted. Her parents had brought the blind date to meet his family? If they were actually together, he’d see that as a declaration of war.
But you’re not, he reminded himself. Faith isn’t yours.
That didn’t stop him from striding directly to her side and dropping a proprietary kiss on her cheek. For today, at least, he got to pretend she belonged to him.
“Hello,” he said to the group as he sat. Dylan slouched into the chair on his other side, and there wasn’t space for Hunter, so Shane hefted him onto his knee. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. St. John. These are my sons, Dylan and Hunter. Boys, these are Faith’s parents.” He ignored the interloper. The man should have known better than to come on a lunch date with them.
