Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
He smiled.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to leave?” she asked.
He didn’t like the little pang of guilt and regret that rushed through him. “No, I don’t want you to leave. The roses would miss you, and so would Anne.”
“I do like Anne, even though she loves shopping way too much.”
“She means well.”
Once again, he was watching her with nothing to discuss. He didn’t like this. Normally he was happy to just walk away. When it came to Faith, he liked looking at her, watching her.
She was different from the women he was around. The scar didn’t detract from her beauty, and in fact, to him, it made her shine brighter than anyone else.
Faith was one of the many reasons he loved coming home.
****
The weeks went by, and one of Faith’s favorite times of the day was sitting down to eat with Caleb. Of course, there were long silences, but then there would be a spark that struck a chord with each of them, and they could talk. He’d started to leave a magazine around or a newspaper, and it helped for them to find something to talk about.
She enjoyed their silences just as much as the conversations. Both were amazingly fun. He couldn’t stand the silence though, and it always made her smile thinking about it.
After living in places where the walls were super thin, she appreciated peace and quiet. Not only that, being with Caleb, she felt safe, which, considering who he was supposed to be, was crazy.
He wasn’t a good man, and yet he’d done nothing but show her kindness.
Before long, she’d been with him nearly four months, and one day she was sitting in the library, reading one of the many books when he brought in a beautiful woman, who couldn’t have been much older than herself.
“Faith, this is Hope. She’s my brother’s wife.”
Hope positively glowed, and when Faith looked at her, she saw that she was pregnant.
“Caleb said you needed help with studying, and I do that well.”
Closing the book on her lap, Faith climbed off her seat and moved toward them. “Thank you,” she said, looking at Caleb.
“Enjoy studying. I’ve got things to do.” He left them both alone, and Hope sighed.
“Beast is always doing that. They’re busy men.”
“I think I make Caleb uncomfortable,” Faith said.
Hope chuckled. “I find that hard to believe.”
Faith shrugged. “You’re a Carson?”
“Yep.”
“Beast is a lot older, right?”
Hope shrugged. “I don’t care. I love him, and he’s amazing, and I shouldn’t be babbling right about now. I need to focus on helping you study. Caleb told me that you’ve been out of school for a while, and to help me find where you’re missing things, I’ve printed out a couple of tests. I can see where we need to start off.”
Faith stared down at the test, and Hope placed a pencil in front of her, taking a seat. She held open a study book and started to read.
Faith saw no point in arguing as she really did want to finish high school. Being a dropout hadn’t been in her plans until she got her scar. Tucking some hair behind her ear, she sat down and started to read the test.
Every now and then she found herself glancing at Hope.
She couldn’t recall a time she’d seen another woman so happy, and she was married to Beast, one of the most feared men in their world.
Pushing all of those negative thoughts aside, Faith focused on the test and began to work her way through it. After answering only a few questions, she felt that rush she used to love about being in school. She loved learning new things, and she had missed it so much.
She found herself glancing over at Hope, who was working on a couple of assignments. On her finger was a wedding band, and it made Faith curious.
“Do you love your husband?” Faith asked.
Hope smiled. “It’s a test. I really shouldn’t be talking to you, but when it comes to Beast, I can’t seem to stop myself.”
“You love him?”
“More than anything in the world. I lost my mom a couple of years ago, and I was living with my aunt, and out of nowhere, Beast helped me. He had his reasons, but one thing led to another, and before I knew what was happening, I fell in love.”
Faith nibbled her lip, seeing the sparkle within Hope’s eyes. She was clearly happy. There wasn’t a time Faith could ever recall really being truly happy like that. She’d been constantly moving, fearing the knock at the door, wondering if her dad would ever come home.
“How are things with you and Caleb?”
“I don’t really know. We eat dinner together. He’s always out for breakfast.”
“You’re not together, together?”
“Not at all. He kind of got dumped with me.”
“Hmm.”
Faith stared at her. “What’s the hmm about?”