“She told you all of that?”
“No.” Alec repeated what Faith had told him to the best of his recollection.
“Sounds like you two are perfect for each other. She’s as screwed up as you are, big brother.”
Alec narrowed his eyes. “This thing with Faith is just temporary. There is no perfect when it comes to us. I go back to the city after your wedding, remember?”
Jake studied him with measured intensity. “Does she know that?”
“It was her idea.”
Jake opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more, but shook his head instead and rose from his seat. He walked to the steps and turned. “Tell her about Laura. She deserves to know.”
Alec stared out at the yard, barren and waiting to be landscaped, until night fell and the mosquitoes started biting.
chapter
fourteen
What had started out as an impromptu powwow about Lacey’s wedding had evolved into drinking wine in Adirondack chairs on the beach and laughing themselves silly. Faith leaned back in her chair and sighed into the night. This was perfect. Together with two new friends, a good Chianti—not that she would know if it were a bad one—and laughter. Her stomach hurt from the hysterics, but it was a good ache.
A gentle, moist breeze blew in off the ocean, bringing the scent of salt and brine. The seagulls had grown quiet. The only sound was her friends’ fading laughter and the crush of waves on the beach.
Faith’s phone vibrated in her pocket as she took another sip of wine. She quickly pulled it out and stared at the screen, both excited and frustrated to see the text was from Alec. Excited because she hadn’t heard from him since her admission on the beach a few nights ago, and frustrated because the message wasn’t from her parents.
I want to see you tonight.
That was it. Nothing else. Was he going to make it official and end things? Without the knock-her-off-her-feet kiss he had promised?
“You look disappointed,” Mia said.
Faith glanced up to find both Mia and Lacey staring at her. “Alec texted that he wants to see me tonight.”
“Why is that disappointing?” Mia asked, her soft voice barely registering over the waves.
Faith wanted to talk to them, the way normal friends did with each other. Share both joy and troubles. But opening up to people was hard for her, especially after the way Alec had reacted when she’d taken a chance with him.
“I think he might break up with me.” It shouldn’t hurt so much. They’d barely gotten off the ground. Yet she liked him. A lot. His humor was dry and sarcastic, his mind sharp. Their conversations never lagged. And then there was the kissing . . .
“Why do you say that?” Lacey wanted to know, sitting forward in her chair to pat Faith’s knee. The touch didn’t create anything like the heat Alec instilled, but it was comforting.
“A few nights ago he found me on the beach. We talked for a while and I told him a few things about my family. He was pretty angry after, so I went back to the guesthouse. This is the first I’ve heard from him since then.”
Mia and Lacey shared a look before Lacey spoke. “None of us are strangers to family issues. It couldn’t have been that bad.”
Faith chewed over the idea of whether to confide in them, and decided to go for broke. Maybe the girls would understand better than Alec. She gave them a version of what she’d told Alec and then took a sip of wine to cool her throat.
“The thing is,” Faith said, “it never bothered me how detached my parents were until I came here. Well, it bothered me a little. Honestly, I don’t think I even noticed how bad it was until I met you guys.” She looked at both women, who stared at her intently. “I shouldn’t have told Alec.”
Mia shook her head. “I’m glad you did. Even if you guys aren’t in a serious relationship, you should be honest.”
“He was so angry, though.”
“Of course he was,” Lacey said. “I’m angry. That’s a terrible thing to do to a child.”
It never crossed Faith’s mind that Alec’s anger might be directed at her parents. She thought he was mad at her for saying too much or perhaps feeling sorry for herself. Maybe he wasn’t going to end things. Was it too much to hope for that he just wanted to see her? Her heart rate accelerated at the thought.
“My mama was the same way with Ginny.” Mia set her wine aside and straightened. “She just never formed a bond with her. I tried to make up for it, but I think Ginny knew.”
“Ginny had you,” Lacey said before returning her gaze to Faith. “Who did you have?”
Faith tried to rub away the pressure in her chest, but it didn’t work. “I had Hope. Every treatment and surgery was worth it to have her as long as I did.” They didn’t look convinced. “I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. I just wish my parents felt something toward me, too, you know?” Ashamed to find tears in her eyes, she swiped them away angrily. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now and starting over.”
“Good for you,” Mia affirmed with a nod.
“And you have us.” Lacey reached for her hand and squeezed. After a moment, she sat back in her chair. “I always wanted friends. Real friends.”
Mia nodded. “I wanted the stability of friends. It just never happened until . . . I came home.” She looked back at the house behind them and smiled.
Home. Faith always thought of home as her parents’ house, but maybe home wasn’t there. Maybe she had yet to find it. “What do you think I should tell Alec?”
Mia shrugged. “That depends. Do you want to see him?”
Lacey laughed. “That smile on your face says yes. Do it, Faith. Have a glorious hot affair and enjoy your summer. Who knows, maybe something will come from it.”
Dangerous thinking, that. To view their relationship as anything more than two ships passing in the night would only give her a broken heart. Alec himself had said he couldn’t do more. They lived in separate states, had very different lives. No, Alec wasn’t long term. But she would enjoy her brief time with him.
She unlocked her phone and thumbed out a text.
* * *
The moment Faith opened the door and Alec saw her, he knew his suspicions were right on the mark. He felt differently about her than he had about anyone in a long time. More so, if he dug deep enough into his memory. She chased away the dark. And somehow, since he’d known her, his writing had grown stronger.
Yet she acted like she could take him or leave him. Faith may have seemed aloof, but he suspected that under the surface there was strength and heart. Right next to insecurity and uncertainty. In fact, she seemed like someone hell-bent on taking care of herself, but failing.
That did funny things to his chest.
She gestured him inside, but he stayed rooted to the spot, taking in the sight of her. If he’d texted any other woman and said he was coming over, they’d be wearing ten pounds of makeup, high heels, and nothing else. That wasn’t arrogance on his part, just stone-cold truth. Women wanted his money, his fame, or his body. No in-betweens or exceptions.
And then there was Faith. A haphazard ponytail left wisps of brown hair around her face. The loose cotton shorts and white tee she wore shouldn’t be sexy. The lamplight behind her hid most of her freckles, but he still wanted to kiss each one, strip her to see if she had more. And where.
“Hi,” he forced out.
“Hello. Are you going to come inside or should we talk through the doorway?”