“What’s really going on, Faith? You’re upset. I can tell. I wish you’d talk to me.”
Talk, like friends do. Maybe they just felt sorry for her. Perhaps that’s what all this was about, them including her out of pity. How would she even go about asking?
This thing with Alec was making her question everyone and their motives. Since landing on this strip of beach, nothing in her life had fallen into its normal pattern.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry to ruin the mood. I guess I’m just having a melancholy day.”
Mia opened her mouth, but Lacey was back from the dressing room. “They’ll have the dress finished by next week. Did you guys find anything?”
Mia held up both dresses.
“I love them. The yellow for Faith?”
Faith nodded. “Except yellow is Ginny’s favorite color. We should let her have that one, or at least first color choice.” She was family, Faith wasn’t. “I’ll find something else.”
Lacey fingered the material. “But this cut is perfect for your frame.”
Faith smiled as if her chest wasn’t hurting and perused the racks. She found a mint-green dress, as Mia had suggested, and held it up for inspection. A swath of satin crisscrossed over the bodice and flowed to a whisper below the knees. It reminded her of those old movies from the forties Hope liked to watch. Dreamy and timeless.
“Would you look at that? I love it. Is it your size?” Lacey leaned over and checked the tag.
“It’s a size too big, but maybe it can be altered.”
Faith glanced around for the attendant and asked, pleased when they said they could take in the dress so it would fit.
As they were checking out, Mia turned to them. “With regards to tomorrow, I’ve got the wine and beer, Lacey’s doing sandwiches and salad. Faith, would you mind bringing fruit and your amazing brownies?”
Faith had forgotten all about the Fourth of July bonfire. The Covingtons had invited a few people for a small get-together to watch the fireworks. “Sure. I can get Ginny to help me bake. She’d like that.”
“I’m nervous,” Lacey said. “Jake’s parents are coming.”
Mia frowned. “They love you. Why are you nervous?”
Lacey lifted her hand and dropped it. “I don’t know. I guess it’s the first time they’ll meet Dad. I’m hoping they’ll behave.”
Faith followed them out of the store and into the scorching heat, her own nerves going into overdrive. If the Winstons were coming, that meant she’d meet Alec’s parents. Faith didn’t know where she and Alec stood, though it seemed to her their summer romance was prematurely over. What would she say to them? Would they like her?
Sighing, she trailed Mia and Lacey to the car while they chattered about wedding cake. It didn’t matter what Alec’s parents thought. Alec didn’t want more between them, so she’d just fade into the background where she belonged.
* * *
“Why are you pouting?”
Alec looked away from the Fourth of July beach party to glare at Jake. “Men don’t pout.”
“Fine.” His brother took a long pull from his beer bottle. “Brood, then. Why are you brooding?”
“I’m not brooding.”
“You are.”
“Am not.” Alec grinned, partly because he couldn’t help it with the childish banter and partly because it would get Jake off his back.
Their family and friends were gathered around the bonfire, which was set past the dunes but clear of the water. To the left and halfway up the beach, Faith was standing with Ginny, rearranging the table of food for the fifth time.
Maybe he was brooding.
“You keep staring at her and people will notice.”
Alec rolled his head to stretch his neck. It did nothing for his tension. “Ask me if I care.”
“Don’t need to. I know you care.” When Alec said nothing, his brother plowed on. “You care about her, too. Why aren’t you over there with Faith instead of brooding?”
Alec had spent a week holed up in the guesthouse, doing zilch on the writing front, going crazy with thinking about nothing but Faith Armstrong. What would it hurt to talk to Jake? Besides pride. “We broke it off.”
Jake remained silent. A first.
“No witty comeback? I’m disappointed.”
“So am I.” Gone was the laid-back pose and affable grin. “I thought . . .” He shook his head. “I thought you were finally coming around. Letting go. What happened in New York?”
Alec was tempted to avoid the question, but hell. He was miserable and Jake was his lifeline most days. “I told her everything.”
Jake’s glance landed on Faith before returning to him. “And she freaked out? Left you?”
“Quite the opposite.” Alec rubbed his hand down his face, remembering the petallike softness of her skin, the humming in her throat when she came. “We made love, then I called it off.”
Sort of. That part wasn’t exactly clear. Faith had gone into his bedroom and slept for the remainder of the night, while he laid on the couch in his creepy living room, desperate to touch her again. And again. Neither had actually said the phrase It’s over.
“‘Made love,’” Jake repeated dully. “Interesting phrase from you.”
“What are you? Freud?”
“Doesn’t take a shrink to point out you said made love instead of had sex. Because something tells me it wasn’t just sex. You’ve had sex with any and every female who caught your eye since you were sixteen.”
“Jake,” he growled a warning. He did have standards, for fuck’s sake.
“No, listen to me.” His brother turned and faced him head-on, an unusual fire lighting his eyes. “In nine years, not one woman has gotten close enough to breach your wall. You told her, man. You told Faith about Laura. That right there should tell you something.”
Yeah. It told him he’d let his guard down and left his heart open for slaughter. Alec was amazed there was anything left of the organ to kill. And Jake wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. Point was, he didn’t know what to do about it. He wanted Faith so bad that there wasn’t a stray thought that didn’t lead back to her. Staying away seemed to be the best thing for both of them.
Jake sighed. “Mom and Dad are here. Lacey’s nervous about them meeting her father. I’m going to go find her.” He glanced across the dunes, already searching for her. “Go find Faith. Kiss and make up.”
As Jake wandered off to seek out Lacey, Alec’s gaze drifted over the twenty or so guests milling about the beach. Some were clients of Jake’s, others were old high school friends, and there were a few of their cousins in the mix. He’d also been introduced to a handful of Mia’s coworkers from the VA hospital. Their faces were illuminated by an orange glow from the bonfire as they laughed and swapped stories. None of it interested him as it used to. People-watching had once been his favorite pastime.
What in the hell had Faith done to him? Staring out at the ocean, he wondered if she was a mermaid after all. From the moment he’d first heard her speak, that was the image that stuck. Her soothing voice, the lulling hum of calm surrounding her, plus some kind of mystical magic.
She had complete and utter power over him.
He finished his beer and tossed the bottle in the recycling, noting Ginny had wandered away from Faith and was now chatting it up with a couple of girls who were summering down the beach. Faith crossed her arms and looked around, staring at the others. Her white top and blue pants clung to her in the breeze as her hair caught and danced. He’d bet her freckles would be more pronounced against the firelight.
Fishing in her pocket, she hastily drew out her cell and stared at the screen before answering. Whoever she was talking to didn’t stay on the line very long. Soon, her excitement was cast aside by disappointment and she hung up. Her shoulders slumped. Her head bowed.