“Still, it had to have hurt.”
She nodded but didn’t answer. The emotional lump that had come and gone for days now was back, filling her throatand making it impossible. Long moments passed and she finally managed to remove it.
“I’m sure I’ll be processing it for a long time but being here has helped me navigate things. Fire Lake is special. It’s my home now.”
“I was born here.”
She frowned and inched closer, sensing his turmoil.
“My name is Gus . . .” He swore and rolled his shoulders. “Myrealname is August David Boone, and I lived in Fire Lake until I was seven. That’s when my mother took me and my younger brothers, Oliver and Harry, as well as my sister, Iris, and we left. It was the middle of the night, and I remember that it was raining hard. I couldn’t see the house as we drove away. We went to Boston. Mom had some family there and we had nothing to do with my father and older siblings. I never saw them again.”
God. That’s why he reminded her of Ford. She frowned. “Ford is your brother.”
He nodded. “Yes. Sunday is my sister, and I know, the situation is fucked up.”
“Do they know? I mean, they act like they don’t, but I can . . .” She searched his face, her eyes all but caressing the lines she ached to touch. “I see it now. You’re so much like them.”
“Porter does. Ford and Sunday should know soon enough. He’s going to talk to them.”
“So, you came back to Fire Lake to reconnect? To have a relationship with your father?”
“I don’t even know if Porter is my father.” At her shocked expression he shrugged. “I told you; it’s fucked up.” He looked away. “I don’t know why I came exactly.”
“You felt like something was missing.”
“Maybe but I sure as hell didn’t expect to feel anything. It’s easy when the lines are black and white. It’s the gray areas thatfuck things up.” His eyes darkened, which in turn made her pulse take off. “Being here with you made things better.”
“I’m glad,” she replied softly. “Will you come back?” Did she sound as pathetic as she felt?
“I’m not sure how things are going to play out with Ford and Sunday. They might not welcome us, and I guess, I don’t blame them if that’s how things go.”
She swallowed thickly and moved closer still until she was practically sitting in Gus’s lap. “So, we have a week?”
“Maybe less.” His voice was husky.
Faith could have asked Gus to leave. Should have if she were thinking straight. But her heart wouldn’t let her, and instead, she pressed her mouth to his. If she only had him for a few more days, then she would take them. All of them. She’d hold them close and tuck them away to remember when she was alone in the dark.
“Well then, let’s make the most of it, shall we?”
With a groan Gus pulled her onto his lap.
They spent the next four hours doing exactly that.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Wednesday morning came with rain. Gus listened to it pelt the windows as he sipped his coffee and contemplated his day. He had a meeting with Ford at nine a.m. As far as he knew, the meeting was to tie up loose ends for the cottage project. It would be done by Friday, with the last bit of electrical and painting on the books for today and tomorrow.
Once he closed out the project and his family situation was squared away, he’d be gone. He was due to fly to Dubai the following Monday, and then on to Germany and France. Gus would be away most of August and would be busy as hell. There would be no time to overthink. To wonder about the woman who slumbered across the hall. The woman he’d left an hour earlier.
They’d spent the night eating pizza and having sex. She was going to be hard to forget.
“If at all,” he murmured, emptying the remnants of coffee into the sink. He decided not to think about Faith Winters-Brooks because she was a rabbit hole he would have a hard time digging himself out of. He had shit to take care of, and it was time to move on.
He hopped into the shower and got dressed. He figured he’d make an effort and pulled out a pair of dark-navy slacks along with a cream-colored shirt. His tobacco-brown loafers and a belt completed his outfit. He grabbed his keys, and as the sunlight broke through an overcast sky, he drove out to the lake.
He had fifteen minutes to spare when he pulled up, and with no reason to stay put, Gus hopped out of his truck. Out of respect, he rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer. After a few moments, Porter’s nurse answered, looking more than a little harried.
“Sorry, the maid is out sick today and I’m doing three jobs.” The woman grumbled though she did give Gus a smile. “Yousure are a sight for sore eyes.” She pointed. “They’re expecting you in Mr. Boone’s office. It’s the last door down to the right.”
