Well, why couldn’t Faith do the opposite? Blow her life up for him. Why couldn’t she risk herself for him?
No one in his life ever had. Not his father, who was drunk and useless and evil. Not his mother, who had allowed the scars and pains from her past to blind her to her own son’s innocence.
Not his wife, who had been so poisoned by selfishness.
And Faith... What would she be protecting if she didn’t?
Her own sense of perfection. Of not having let anyone down.
None of that mattered. None of it washim.
“Because you were...working on a job?” Poppy asked, her expression skeptical, but a little hopeful.
Faith’s lips twitched.
“Some kind of job,” she responded, intentionally digging into the double entendre, intentionally meeting Poppy’s gaze. “So, there you have it.”
“Faith...” Poppy said. “I don’t... With aclient?”
“I know,” Faith said. “I didn’t plan for it to go that way. But it did. And... I only meant for it to be temporary. That’s all. But... I love him.”
The moment she said it, she knew it was true. All her life she had been apart. All her life she had been separate. But in his arms, she belonged. With him, she had found something in herself she had never even known was missing.
“Your brothers...”
“They’re going to be mad. And they’re going to be afraid I’ll get hurt. I know. I’m afraid I’ll get hurt. Which is actually why I said something to you. Isaiah is not an easy man.”
Poppy at least laughed at that. “No,” she said. “He isn’t.”
“He’s worth it, isn’t he?”
Poppy breathed out slowly, then took a few steps toward Faith’s desk, sympathy and understanding crinkling her forehead. “Faith, I’ve loved your brother for more than ten years. And he was worth it all that time, even when he was in love with someone else.”
“Levi’s not in love with anyone else. But he’s...angry. I’m not sure if there’s any room inside him for any other emotion. I don’t know if he can let it go.”
“Have you told him that you love him?”
“No. You’re the first person I’ve told.”
“Why me?” Poppy asked.
“Well, first of all,” Faith said, “Isaiah won’t kill you.”
“No,” Poppy said.
“Second of all... I need to know what I should do. Because I’ve never loved anyone before and I’m terrified. And I don’t want him to be a mistake, and that has nothing to do with wanting to be perfect. And everything to do with wanting him. I’m not hiding it anymore. I’m not.”
“You never had to hide it. No one needed you to be perfect.”
“Maybe I needed it. I can’t let them down.” Faith shook her head. “I can’t let them down, Poppy. Isaiah and Joshua have poured everything into our business. I can’t... I can’t mess up.”
“They would never look at it that way,” Poppy said. “Isaiah loves you. So much. I know it’s hard for him to show it.”
“It’s easy for me to forget that he struggles, too. He seems confident.”
“He is,” Poppy said. “To his detriment sometimes. But he’s also just human. A man who fell in love. When he didn’t see it coming. So, he’s not going to throw stones at you for doing the same.”
“They’re going to be angry about who it is. Levi’s older than they are.”
