She nodded. "Ok."
"And you have my number. I'll keep my phone beside me all day long. Even if you just want to look like you're talking to someone cool, I'll answer, ok?"
"Yeah, because I don't have anyone else," she admitted.
"Cy, Luke, and Ash all have theirs."
"I can't text my dad," Faith groaned.
"And that still leaves you three other people." Then I stood and offered her a hand. "Now, breakfast, because we have to feed your mind so you can be the next amazing woman in this town. I mean, you can give me a couple of years to enjoy being at the top, right?"
Faith actually laughed at that. "Ok, two," she said, glancing at herself in the mirror one more time. "And I'm going to make a friend today. Well, talk to someone, at least, but I'm going to do it."
"That's my girl," I said, steering her toward the door. "You've got this, and if those girls still hate you - or if anyone says mean things - just remember that you've been through worse, ok? You are a strong and amazing young lady. You can handle this, and we will all be here if you needanything. Promise."
I came around the corner as I said that to find Luke looking at me with a smile on his face. "Breakfast is downstairs, cupcake. Ash made you the same thing Violet ate before a show."
She hurried off, so I went back to get my coffee, knowing it was probably cold by now and not even caring. When I came back, Luke was still there, waiting. I stopped before him, not wanting Faith to hear me.
"You know I never ate before shows, right?" I asked.
He just shrugged. "That's what Ash said it was. I was just delivering the message. Two eggs, bacon, and fresh preserves on toast."
"That's what he ate," I said.
"Well, then you'd better keep up the act, because he made a plate for you too." Luke tossed his arm over my shoulders and turned me that way. "And thanks. I was ready for a complete meltdown, and now she's bouncing. I don't know how you do it, but thank you for teaching her to be proud."
Chapter Sixteen
I'd cornered Luke in my office before he could vanish to the barn again. The man sat in my chair scrolling through the hardware store website I'd given him, looking at toolboxes. I couldn't help myself. My fingers toyed with the short hair where his hat usually sat. A little smile curled his lips, but he didn't stop what he was doing.
"So serious," I teased, leaning in to flick the edge of my tongue across the shell of his ear.
His eyes closed and a deep groan sounded in the back of his throat. "You are distracting me, Ash."
"I'm enjoying myself," I assured him. "Never thought it would be this hard to find a toolbox."
Then Luke paused. "That one."
I glanced up to see some fifteen-hundred-dollar monstrosity. It was black with chrome edges, but I had a funny feeling the look of it wasn't what had caught his attention. I also loved the way this man's mind worked, so I had to ask.
"Why?"
He pointed at the screen of my laptop. "Good drawer rollers so it won't wear out, they're all deep enough to hold actual tools instead of becoming a storage place for nuts and screws - "
"Screws," I whispered beside his ear.
He chuckled. "Oh, is that all you wanted?" Then he turned to look at me, those pretty green eyes of his doing something naughty to my insides.
"Is it perfect?" I asked.
"Well, I was hoping for something wider, but I can get about half the stuff in there."
"Hm." So I reached over to the touch pad, scrolled up, and selected a quantity of two, then clicked to add it to the cart. "What else?"
"Ash..." he breathed.
"It's for Southwind," I reminded him.
