CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
You will get some unexpected news today, Libra. And while it may seem disconcerting, try to look for the upside. A problem you’ve been having with a friend will come to a head today. To avoid an argument, you may need to take a break and walk away. Today is not the day to invest .
Faith set aside the Sunday paper. It had been a few days since she’d looked at her horoscope, and she wished she’d skipped another. Both things on today’s to-do list—come clean with Tess and say goodbye to Nick—were vulnerable to tension. Tess entered the living room and sat, setting her coffee on her knee.
“Whatcha got goin’ on today?” she asked.
“Oh, thought I’d take a drive to Boston.” No time like the present to get this one over with.
Tess froze, the mug halfway to her lips. She knew Nick was leaving today, so Faith didn’t have to spell out what she meant.
“He asked you to drive him back? I assumed my parents were taking him. How serious is it?”
Faith shrugged.
“Oh, dear.” Tess resumed sipping. “You’re in deep, aren’t you?”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen. I don’t know how it happened. It just sort of did.”
Tess cast a dubious look. “That’s the only reason you’re coming clean, isn’t it? Because I would find out anyway?”
“I didn’t want to lie to you about where I was going. Plus, I’ll probably spend the night and didn’t want you to worry.”
“You okay?”
“We both understood it was short-term. Said we’d have some fun while he was in town and then move on when he left.”
“I don’t know, Faith. You seem kind of smitten. Are you sure it’s gonna be that easy?”
No. “Yes, of course.” They were too good of friends for Faith to get away with the lie. But also so good that Tess wouldn’t push her on it. The meat of the conversation was going unspoken, as could only be done with best friends.
Tess sighed. “I don’t know whether to kill him or to kill you.”
“No killing necessary,” Faith said. “It’s all worked out.”
“Uh-huh,” Tess said. “When are you leaving?”
“Not till like two. You gonna say goodbye?”
“Yeah. My parents are having a brunch. I’m heading over soon. You wanna come?”
Faith shook her head. “I’ve got a few errands to run.” It was a courtesy invite, and she knew it. They needed some family time to say their farewells.
She stopped by the bookstore to check in and clean Tiger’s litter box. They’d all taken responsibility for making sure the food and water bowls were full, but no one ever wanted to deal with the poop.
After packing an overnight bag and gassing up, she picked up Nick, and they hopped on the road to Boston. She had given herself a pep talk and decided rather than focus on the goodbye, she’d put on a happy face and have a good time with what they had left.
They weren’t in the car five minutes when Nick broke the “unexpected news” her horoscope had warned about.
“I found your biological father,” he announced without preamble.
Her jaw dropped, and she turned to look at him.
“Watch the road, woman,” he said, grabbing for the steering wheel as they drifted toward the shoulder.
Her attention snapped back to the windshield. “Your timing could use some work. Breaking news like that at eighty miles per hour is dangerous.”
“You don’t say,” he muttered. “We’re not in a hurry. There’s no need to speed.”
“Whatever. Back to my thing. Where is he? Does he live around here? Do you have a phone number? Should I call him?”
This topic had been simmering on a back burner, but now that it had been forcibly moved to the front, the questions came hard and fast.
“Slow down,” he said. “And I mean that literally. You’re going ninety.”
She let off the gas. “Oops. Sorry.”
He took a deep breath. “I ran him through the FBI database—which is a huge no-no by the way—and found him online. I don’t know where he lives, but I do have contact information. Email and phone. Do you want me to reach out?”
“Thanks for doing that. I know how you Walkers hate to break rules. Let me think about it?”
“Sure. No problem. I’ll email you the info, and you can do what you want with it. If you decide to meet him though, call me. Who knows how he’ll react, and I don’t like the idea of you meeting him on your own.”
It was sweet that he was looking out for her. Too bad there was a huge gap between watching out for her safety—which he would do for any woman—and changing his life for her. That was too much to ask. She knew that, and so she wouldn’t.
According to her horoscope, she would need to avoid an argument today. Since her conversation with Tess had gone all right, did that mean it was Nick she might have to walk out on?
* * *
Nick was doing his darnedest to keep his mouth shut about Faith’s driving. Her attention to the road seemed faint at best. Every two seconds, she would fiddle with the radio, sip her drink, or mess with her hair. He was pretty sure that at no point so far had she simultaneously had both hands on the wheel. In fact, more often than not, she drove with her knee and had no hands on the wheel.
Dropping the bomb about her dad at freeway speeds wasn’t the smartest play, but he’d made up his mind to get it out early. That way, they could deal with it and move on before getting to Boston.
Unfortunately, coming clean did nothing to ease his conscience. Mainly because it was only the first step in his plot to lure the guy out of hiding and arrest him. Using Faith as a pawn to do it.
An hour into the drive, they came to a rest area. “I gotta pee. Mind if we stop?”
“No,” he said. “I need to stretch my leg anyway.”
They got out, and she headed for the restrooms while he hobbled around stiffly, trying to ease his cramped leg. When he thought she was taking too long, he went searching for her. A tall, burly man sporting a flannel and a long beard stood next to her. As Nick approached, he overheard part of their conversation.
“No, I don’t work around here,” Faith said. “Just passing through.”
“I could use a friend. Are you lookin’ to make some extra money?”
“Doing what?” she asked innocently, clearly not realizing what the man was after.
“A man’s got needs, you see. Being on the road all the time makes it hard to meet those needs.”
“Oh, are you hungry? I have animal cookies in the car.”
Nick approached from behind, and she turned at his grunt. “That’s not what he’s after. Come on, let’s go.”
“I saw her first,” the man challenged.
“Beat it,” Nick growled. The guy was the size of a moving van and uninjured, but Nick had a way with “looks” that made people think twice about continuing to talk. After sizing up Nick, the man thought better of pushing the issue, and left muttering something about a jerk.
“That was kinda rude,” Faith said.
“He thought you were a hooker. Do you want me to apologize and bring him back?”
“What?” Her eyes popped open, followed by her mouth. “Why would he think that? Are you sure?”
He tried not to laugh at her indignation. “On the other hand, we could use the extra cash to buy more Funyuns.”
He took her side-eyed sneer to mean no.
“Let’s just go,” she mumbled.
She matched his gimpy gait back to the car.
“You need to get out of Green Valley Falls more. The world’s not as sweet as you think.”
“Humph. At least he didn’t want my animal crackers.” She popped one into her mouth. “I wasn’t in the mood to share anyway.”
They arrived at his place safely, and it was all he could do not to kiss the ground. He wondered—a little too late—how often she actually got on the freeway. If all she did was ride her bike around town and drive to and from the neighboring cities, her driving experience was severely limited.
Once inside, Faith’s smile went into hiding. Ever since he’d mentioned coming home, her perpetual state of happiness seemed forced. Her perky attitude, fake. Having her drive him back might not have been one of his better ideas.
“You wanna get something to eat?” he asked. “I know a great Italian place nearby.”
“I’m not really hungry.” She patted her stomach. “Too many animal crackers.”
He approached and put his hands on her waist. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said but wouldn’t look him in the eyes.
He studied her. “Remember when I said I could tell instantly when someone was lying?” He cocked an eyebrow.
“Fine. I will be fine,” she amended.
“I’m sorry, Faith. I had to come back. You knew that. My life is here.”
She stepped out of his arms and turned away. “I can’t do this, Nick,” she said. “I thought I could handle a fling. Thought that after you left everything would go back to normal. But it’s turned into something more for me. I think I’m in love with you.”
He shouldn’t have been surprised. Either that she’d fallen in love or that she was so blunt about telling him. Truth be told, love had crossed his mind too, but he’d brushed it off as impossible. They’d only been together a few weeks, she was his complete opposite, and she lived a hundred miles away. None of those things boded well for anything long-term.
“Faith, I really like you.” She turned to face him, a glimmer of hope in her pretty blue eyes. “But I don’t see how we could make this work. You don’t want to leave GVF, and I can’t leave Boston.” His heart sank as the hopeful glint died.
“I understand,” she said. “I knew goodbye would be hard. I just didn’t think it would hurt, you know?”
“Yeah. I do know.”
“Don’t tell Tess,” they said simultaneously and chuckled.
She approached, put her arms around his waist, and looked up at him. “I’m gonna head back,” she said. “It wouldn’t be good for my heart to stay another night with you.”
“Okay,” he whispered. She was right, but selfishly, he still wanted her to stay.
She kissed him tenderly and walked out the door. Taking a small chunk of his heart with her.