Serendipity, page 15
Because he’d had sex many times in his life. And that hadn’t been just sex.
* * *
Faith remained tight-lipped on the car ride home, and Kate, good friend she was, didn’t push. She dropped Faith off at her apartment because she had to get back to the center, and Faith was grateful for the time alone.
Not that she wanted to think. She didn’t. So she threw herself into her to-do list, starting with buying a new car. She no longer wanted to be on anyone’s schedule but her own. Ironically, she’d need Kate to take her to a dealership to look for a vehicle, but then she’d have wheels and freedom.
Feeling the beginnings of a headache, Faith realized it was almost dinnertime, and she hadn’t eaten anything in hours. She called Tony’s Pizzeria and ordered a small plain pizza for delivery. An hour later, she’d eaten and showered, and she was watching some mindless television. By ten o’clock, she could no longer avoid the inevitable, and she let her mind wander to this afternoon.
To Ethan.
At sixteen years old, she’d wanted him. She just had no idea what that really meant. At twenty-seven, with boyfriend experience and a marriage behind her, she thought she’d been prepared. But how could she have anticipated anything like the explosive chemistry they’d shared? She’d never craved any man like she did him. No man had ever made her bold enough to ask for what she wanted in bed. None had made her scream out loud. And none had ever taken her to such unbelievable heights of passion. He was alternately tender and giving, strong and demanding, taking everything she had. And she’d willingly complied, both emotionally and physically.
What in the world has happened between us?
She wasn’t sure, but she knew it threatened the very fragile, new foundations of the life she was building for herself. And that she couldn’t allow.
Her phone rang, rescuing her from herself, and she eagerly picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hello, princess.”
It was as if she’d mentally connected to him, and he called. Her stomach curled with warmth and pleasure while her mind rebelled against wanting something that frightened her so much. Just a few short days ago, her independence had been all that mattered to her. Jumping back into another relationship had been the last thing she planned because in her mind, relationships equated to giving up pieces of herself and her needs for someone else. Until she’d cemented who she was, she couldn’t let a man distract her.
“I just thought I’d say hi,” he said.
His sexy voice blanked out every objection she ought to have.
She swallowed hard. “Hi. How’s Tess?” She grasped for a safe topic. “Did she like her room?”
He let out a groan. “Tess is Tess. And I have no idea how she feels about her room. She’s not speaking.” She heard the frustration in his tone. “But I didn’t call to talk about her.”
“Oh.” Faith’s mouth went dry. “What did you call to talk about?” Please say your house, furniture, something safe, she thought.
“Us—as if you didn’t know.” His low laughter reverberated in her ear.
Us. With that one word, heat washed over her body in undulating currents.
“And before you say there is no us”—she figured the man must be a mind reader—“let me assure you there definitely is.”
His rich voice oozed through her like maple syrup on Anna’s pancakes, warm, gooey, and delicious, one taste making her crave so much more.
“Ethan—”
“Don’t worry. I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment. I’m not even asking for that pesky relationship you don’t want. I’m just saying it’s pointless to lie to yourself and say there’s nothing when whatever it is was so damn good.”
That did it. Liquid fire settled between her legs, and she squeezed her thighs together, which only served to heighten the tension, not ease it.
He was right. Whatever it was, was damn good and too potent to ignore. They were both adults who could indulge and walk away when it was over.
“I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing,” he said lightly.
She clenched the receiver tighter in her hand. “I’m here.” Adult, she reminded herself. Go with it. “You’re right,” she said to him. “It’s something.”
He exhaled hard. “Good.”
She nodded. “Good.”
“Night, princess.”
“Night,” she said over a lump in her throat, but she didn’t know why.
He’d offered her exactly what she could handle at this stage in her life. She ought to feel good. Then why did she feel so empty and abandoned inside instead?
Faith awoke the next day, determined to keep building her life. She and Kate went car shopping, resulting in her buying a white Volkswagen Jetta. The car fit her new lifestyle and didn’t put a major dent in her savings, especially thanks to Ethan’s house job. She frowned at the notion. Everything came back to Ethan. Her thoughts, emotions, and now even her financial state.
No more.
She picked up her new car a few days later, and her first stop was the newspaper office, where she intended to purchase an ad for her business. The classified editor recognized her name and tried to push for information about her father’s time in prison, something Faith wouldn’t know anything about. She still hadn’t spoken to her father and didn’t intend to. Nor did she plan on filling this little weasel in on her personal life.
Upon learning she was in the building, the editor-in-chief came out to attempt to coax her to sit for an interview about being the daughter of the town’s most well-known felon. Again, she declined to comment. He wasn’t happy.
Nobody appreciates the high road, Faith thought.
After dodging the small-town press, she managed to take out an ad for Faith’s, hoping to drum up business.
Next, she distributed her business cards to local shops like April’s Consign and Design, asking her to recommend Faith to people who came into her store.
She called Kate and informed her that she wanted to join her monthly book club and then headed to the coffee shop to let Lissa know in person that she’d better accept her because Faith wasn’t going anywhere. Lissa seemed to appreciate Faith more when she was outspoken than when she meekly allowed the other woman to verbally abuse her. So a wary truce was formed, and Faith felt like she’d taken a further step toward inserting herself into the fabric of Serendipity.
A few days later, an older woman walked into Faith’s. Since it was the first person who’d come in off the street, Faith took it to heart. Although she hadn’t been in business long, it seemed obvious the people in town weren’t flocking to Faith Harrington’s new venture.
As the woman came closer, Faith recognized her. “Mrs. Bretton!” Faith rose from her desk where she’d been busy planning the schedule for construction on cabinets and wall units in Ethan’s house.
The dark-haired woman had been a friend of Lanie Harrington’s for as long as Faith could remember. Unable to have children of her own, Caroline Bretton had been one of Lanie’s country club friends who busied herself with tennis, golf, mahjong, and whatever other social activities could keep her busy.
“Faith, dear, welcome back to town,” Caroline said.
Faith smiled. “Thank you.”
Faith was surprised to see her. These days, she didn’t know if Caroline was one of the women who’d abandoned her mother or whether Lanie had just frozen her out as she had her daughter. Her mother was tight-lipped about her post-scandal personal life.
“So what are you doing here?” Faith asked.
“I saw your ad in the paper. It just so happens I’m ready to redecorate my family room. I thought I’d give you a chance!”
Faith blinked, stunned. “Really? That’s wonderful. Thank you!”
“If it works out, I’ll hire you for the rest of the house.” She patted Faith’s hand.
Faith’s heart beat faster inside her chest. “I don’t know what to say.” Faith was grateful for the other woman’s generosity.
“I know you haven’t had an easy time. It’s the least an old family friend can do.” Caroline smiled.
So her mother’s friend hadn’t turned her back on the Harringtons. Lanie just hadn’t informed her that Faith had opened her own business. Faith was hurt but not surprised. Her mother had already made her feelings about Faith’s business clear.
“I hope my mother knows what a good friend you are.”
The older woman shook her head and met Faith’s gaze. “No. She doesn’t. But you knew that already.”
Faith sighed. Her mother hadn’t had many real friends that Faith could recall, just people who had wealth and status in common, but she remembered Caroline had always been different. She’d called the house, seemed interested in Faith whenever she saw her, and even her mother knew she could count on Caroline. Lanie didn’t know how to return friendship any more than she knew how to be a real mother. Yet Caroline had seemed to accept her mother for who and what she was, and apparently, that hadn’t changed.
Maybe I ought to take a lesson from her, Faith thought. “Mrs. Bretton—”
“Please, call me Caroline. We’re going to be working closely together, after all.”
Faith nodded. “Caroline, how is my mother really?”
“In complete and utter isolation. Yes, most people in our social circle ostracized her, thinking she knew about your father’s illegal activities or afraid they’d catch the scandal by breathing the same air. But there were those like me, who knew better. Your mother was too concerned about her lifestyle to worry or think about where that money came from.”
Faith bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. “That about sums her up,” she agreed. “I don’t believe she knew either. That isn’t to say she shouldn’t have, but like you said, she wouldn’t look too deeply as long as her life went along the way she wanted it to.”
“Exactly.” Caroline’s hazel eyes bored into hers. “I always liked your mother. Despite the fact that she could be so superficial, she was also smart and honest. I respect a woman who tells it like it is. And give her one martini and she became an excellent listener. Just not anymore. Now she’s holed up in that house on the outskirts of town, refusing to have anything to do with real friends like me.”
“So she has no one?” Faith asked, surprised and a lot guilty.
She’d reached out to her mother, but it was superficial, doing her duty as a daughter, Faith admitted. A phone call here and there to tell herself she was trying.
“No, but that’s her own choosing,” Caroline said. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
Faith disagreed. How could she not? She was an adult, but she still viewed her mother through a child’s eyes. Instead, she should have looked deeper, should have made an effort to push herself into her mother’s life, to see what was going on.
“I appreciate your honesty,” Faith said. “I know my mother is who she is, but I’ll try harder to reach her.”
Caroline fingered her overly large pearls. “Just don’t expect too much, or you may be doomed to disappointment. I still call her weekly, but she shuts me down and never returns the gesture.”
“I’m sorry.” Faith didn’t know what else to say.
“Oh, no. Never apologize for someone else. She’s your mother, but you are your own person. You don’t know how much I admire that. If I had a daughter, I hope she’d be as strong as you.” Caroline’s voice softened.
Warmth spread inside Faith. It surely wasn’t a sentiment her mother had ever thought about her. But Faith realized she had to be more like Caroline, accepting Lanie for who she was instead of being angry with her for her inability to be who Faith wanted her to be.
“That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s said to me,” Faith told Caroline.
“I’m sure there haven’t been many pleasant things said to you at all since your return. Our set of friends doesn’t know how to rally around someone when they’re down.”
“I appreciate you saying that.”
Caroline straightened her shoulders. “Well then, back to business! When can you come over and look at the room? I have some ideas I’d like to discuss with you.”
Faith was grateful for the subject change and returned to her desk. She pulled out her appointment book. They agreed on a date and time, and Caroline walked out.
She’d given Faith a lot to think about where her mother was concerned. Lanie was the only family Faith had. And while Faith was watching Ethan’s struggles with his family firsthand, she’d been ignoring her own. In Faith and her mother’s relationship, Faith was more the adult, Lanie more the child. If anyone was going to make a true overture, it had to be Faith.
But right now, Faith had something else to think about and celebrate. A new client.
“Woo hoo!” She hung her head back and let the blood rush to her head, spinning around in her chair. She understood the importance of Caroline’s offer. If Faith got this job right, a reference from Caroline would open all sorts of doors.
Faith had wanted independence, and now she was on her way.
* * *
For Ethan, the weeks after he’d slept with Faith were all about Tess. Both his business and his personal life took a back seat to settling the teenager into his life and finding a routine. He followed up on Kate’s recommendations and narrowed down the list of therapists, calling each and choosing the one he thought sounded like a good fit for Tess. Ethan met with the doctor by himself first to make sure his phone impression held up to real life.
He liked Dr. Tina Sinclair. About his age, she was young enough that Tess would be able to relate to her and seemed “with it” enough not to turn the teen off with conservative views. That set, he took his silent, fuming sister for her first appointment.
Dr. Sinclair’s first suggestion? Ethan and his brothers needed to form a tight-knit unit, setting up a schedule and a family the teenager could rely on. Easier said than done, Ethan knew. Yet his brothers were coming tonight for their first family dinner, cooked and served by Anna. His housekeeper had reacted to hearing about Tess just as Ethan expected.
She’d folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “You’re bad, Mr. Barron. I’m not surprised you have a naughty sister.”
But Ethan thought he caught a twinkle of amusement in her eye this time, then decided he knew better. She still hated him.
“Tess is misunderstood, like me. Give her a chance,” he’d said.
Anna had agreed, the woman having more integrity than to judge a child by her looks. Anna had extended her hours, coming in around ten and staying until dinner was served and the dishes cleaned. Of course, his housekeeper and Tess had gotten off to an expectedly rocky start, arguing over everything. But like Faith had promised, Anna dealt with the angry teen just fine, and her firm hand was exactly the help Ethan needed.
Then there was Faith, whom Ethan had given a bullshit line to about not wanting a relationship when everything in him screamed in protest. He damn well wanted something more than casual—because, so far, casual meant Ethan hadn’t seen or heard from her since the night he’d found heaven in her body.
Except for an email exchange about fabric and colors in the family room, she’d gone silent. So no, casual wasn’t working for him. As soon as he survived this family gathering, he’d turn his focus to bringing Faith back into his orbit.
Ethan didn’t kid himself that his brothers’ willingness to come over meant they had forgiven him. But other than his promise to stick around, he was at a loss for how to handle them. Just like he was at a loss for how to handle Faith. Or his business, since Franklin had called earlier with the news that Ethan’s onetime partner, Dale Conway, was sniffing around Amelia, Ethan’s executive assistant, in his Washington, D.C., office. Since Amelia handled all the government contracts—sensitive information—transferred from the office in New York City to D.C., Ethan knew he was in trouble. The PI was now monitoring Amelia and promised to report back soon.
The doorbell snapped him out of his thoughts and brought him right into the present.
His brothers had arrived.
Ethan had instructed Anna to bring them right into the kitchen. No sense pouring drinks when they didn’t want to give Tess the idea that they approved of drinking. Not to mention the fact that it would only lead to three men standing around, glasses in hand, in awkward, angry silence. Might as well have an awkward, angry meal instead. Though he hoped Nash and Dare would bury their real feelings for Tess’s sake, he was about to find out.
He met them in the kitchen. Like Ethan, who’d dressed in jeans and a crew-neck shirt, Dare too was casually attired in worn, faded jeans and a New York Yankees T-shirt. Nash, the professional, wore a pair of khakis and a short-sleeved polo shirt. They couldn’t look more different, but they stood shoulder to shoulder, facing Ethan.
“Thanks for coming,” he said to them.
“We’re here for Tess,” Dare said.
Didn’t Ethan know it.
Nash nodded. “DNA tests confirmed it,” he said, repeating what he’d already told Ethan on the phone. “Where is she?”
“Tess is right here.” Anna gave the girl a not-so-gentle nudge in the back, forcing her into the room.
“Hey, watch it,” Tess muttered.
“You need to learn how to speak to people,” Ethan said. “Thank you, Anna.”
The other woman nodded and headed to the working side of the kitchen.
Dare walked over to Tess. The more casually dressed of the brothers, he’d have more of a shot of relating to Tess on an overall looks level—except that she knew he was a cop. Ethan doubted she’d cut either brother any slack.
“So how are you doing?” Dare asked Tess.
She folded her arms across her chest, which had the effect of hugging that damn jacket closer around her slender body. “What’s it to you?”
Ethan was about to reprimand her, but Dare shot him a warning glare, accompanied by a shake of his head. A silent Stay out of it.
“You taking your coat off for dinner?” Dare asked, ignoring her attitude.
Ethan hadn’t seen her remove the old surplus jacket ever.
She merely glared.
