Chapter Five #2
“You’re not driving home. Faith can drive your truck.”
“I’ll call a cab.”
“You’ll be waiting for at least an hour. Eddie’s apparently left his son in charge tonight and that kid is not the sharpest knife if you get my drift. Since you both have the same address, it makes sense.”
Samantha didn’t wait for either one to reply. She walked back inside, and with no choice in the matter, Faith followed suit. It didn’t take long for her to cash out, and she was pleasantly surprised to note she’d made nearly three hundred dollars in tips.
“You’ve got one-hundred-and-sixty-three dollars in cash.
I’ll e-transfer the remainder tomorrow. What’s your email address?
I noticed you didn’t fill that in on your employee sheet.
” Samantha pushed her glasses back up her nose and leaned forward, studying the paper in her hand.
“Actually, I don’t have your social security number either.
” She looked at Faith over her glasses and frowned. “Do you know it?”
Rattled, Faith stumbled over her words. “No, I . . . I’m sorry. I don’t have it with me. Or at least I can’t find it. I’ll um, get it for you I promise.”
“And an email?”
“That too.”
Samantha held her gaze a beat longer than she should have, which made Faith anxious. Was she going to be fired?
“Okay.” Samantha put down the pen and paper. “I’ll get the rest of your tips to you in cash tomorrow, but I suggest you open an account at the bank in town as soon as you can if you don’t already have one we can use.”
Licking dry lips, Faith nodded and got to her feet. “Thank you. I’ll look into all of that as soon as I can.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow at four.
You’re scheduled for the dinner shift.” Samantha got up and led her out of the office.
Gus stood just inside the restaurant, Taco on the floor beside him, happily gnawing on a bone.
When the dog saw Faith, he leaped to his feet, tail wagging so fast it was a blur, and whining, he ran over to Faith and nudged at her legs with his wet nose.
His love for her was pure and perfect and unfiltered, and she sank her hands into his fur, bending over so she could kiss him. She probably needed him more than he needed her.
“My keys.”
Gus handed over a set, and with a small wave to Samantha, the two of them left. The sun had set, but there was a brilliant cast of red over the lake, and the warm night air was alive with the sounds of bullfrogs and crickets.
“Is that why they call it Fire Lake?” she asked as she climbed into the cab of Gus’s truck.
“I’d say that’s a good guess, but it’s not the real story.” Gus buckled up and glanced her way, his handsome face awash in shadows. “The real story isn’t pretty.”
“Are you going to tell it?” she asked lightly as she maneuvered his truck out of the lot.
“Not tonight.” He turned away, rested his head against the seatback, and closed his eyes.
The ride back to Lawson House was silent.
Gus was either asleep or didn’t want to talk, and Faith was fine with that.
Her own thoughts were dark. And out here, under a big sky blanketed with diamonds that sparkled, she’d never felt so alone.
Not even after federal agents had stormed her family home and whisked her mother and stepfather, Michael, away under a dirty cloud of accusations.
Or after her fiancé had dropped her like she had never mattered, or when her friends had stopped taking her calls.
Or when a man named Jack, who’d lost everything because of her family, had assaulted Faith in the backyard of the family house, leaving her with a broken rib and bruises.
Not even then.
Faith pulled into Lawson House and cut the engine. “We’re here.”
“Thanks for the ride.” He held out his hand, and it took her a few seconds to realize what he wanted. She gave him his key fob and jumped out, Taco on her heels as she walked up the path to the house.
She assumed Gus was behind her, but when she reached the front door and turned around, she found herself alone.
An owl hooted in the distance — a melancholy sound, and goosebumps broke out across her skin.
With a shiver, she let herself inside and headed up the stairs.
One minute later, she was standing in the middle of her apartment — in the dark, her body tired, her mind wired.
Taco made his way over to his bowls, and she topped up his food and water, then looked around this place she now called home.
The furniture was solid. Mostly antique.
And the appliances were new. There was an area rug in the living room that gave a splash of color, but other than that, there was nothing to make the space hers.
It was generic. Vanilla.
Maybe it was time to change that. Maybe it was time to stop running away from the remnants of her old life and build a new one. But as a server in a bar?
She’d had so many dreams once. So many things she’d wanted to accomplish, and now? Now, she was happy to be an anonymous face in a town so far from her old life no one would recognize her. It was safer. Or maybe she was just a coward.
Faith crossed the room and switched on a lamp. Taco nudged at her leg, and she glanced down at the dog. “Enough,” she whispered. She had to stop dwelling on the past.
Enough.