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“Love you too.” Katherine stepped away and adjusted her shirt, which Faith had ruffled. “Now, go pee.”
“You don’t need to?”
“No, I just wanted to talk to you in private.”
Faith ducked her head closer to her mother’s and confessed, “I don’t either. I just needed to get away from the table for a moment.”
“Because Shane was groping you?”
Faith’s jaw dropped. “Mum!”
Her mother grinned. “I may be old, but I’m not blind. That man can’t keep his hands off you.”
How much Faith wished that were true.
“Let’s head back then.”
They finished lunch without further issue and then split into two groups, her parents having promised to show Leon the sights. Faith suggested that Shane and the boys get ice cream, so they strolled to The Shack. As they walked, they talked. Dylan told Faith about his cricket match, and Hunter explained how he’d learned to help hang wallpaper. Faith smiled at the image, certain the adorable kid had been as much trouble as he’d been assistance, and the look she shared with Shane reinforced her suspicions.
When they arrived in the familiar peach-and-green retro-flair parlor that was Faith’s home away from home, the boys hustled to the freezer to look over the choices. She was about to follow, but Shane drew her to the rear of the shop.
“I need to run something by you,” he said, his expression serious.
“Sure thing.”
He opened his mouth, seemed to reconsider, closed it, then started again. “While we’re... pretending... to see each other, I don’t think we should be involved with anyone else.”
“Okay,” she agreed readily. It was a single week. Did he really think she had so many men lining up for her that it’d be a hardship to sleep alone?
His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. “That was too easy.”
She burst out laughing, and everyone turned their way. She waved off the attention, well aware by this point in her life that she had no volume control.
“Do you see hunks hiding in the corners waiting to sweep me off my feet?” she asked. “Because I don’t.”
He cocked his head. “I know you like to flirt with the tourists.”
“And what?” She rolled her eyes. She liked to sleep with some of them too, but that was none of his business. Why would he even care? Unless.... Was it possible he was jealous of the men she’d been with? No, it couldn’t be. She shook off the bizarre thought. “For this week, we’re pretend exclusive. Done and done, sugar.”
He still didn’t look like he believed her, so she patted his chest and sashayed up to the counter, where her business partner and best friend, Megan, was serving the boys.
“These ones are on me,” she said.
Megan nodded. “How’d lunch go?”
Faith shuddered. “Ugh, not amazing, but could have been worse, all things considered, so I’ll count it as a win.”
She wasn’t ready to share the news of Mason’s impending visit with anyone, not even her best friend. For one thing, Megan didn’t know what had gone down in senior year, and Faith would rather keep it that way. Yeah, Megan had made her share of poor life choices, but nobody had ever circulated naked pictures of her among the most popular crowd at school purely for the sake of humiliating her. Megan’s mistakes were tragic and understandable, whereas Faith’s were just embarrassing.
“Faith!”
She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of her name and smiled. “Betty White, as I live and breathe.”
Betty beamed, taking the comparison to the actress with the same pride she usually did. “I just saw your parents with a young man. Any idea who he might be?”
Faith’s lips twitched. “Why? So you can add him to the sweepstakes?”
Betty and her friends had an ongoing sweepstakes as to which people would couple off next.
