But apparently my friends aren’t. “Not taking her home and fucking her means you’re worried you could get serious about her,” Tanner says, sounding almost gleeful. If he can get under someone’s skin, it makes Tanner happy.
“Shows what you know.” I throw the words over my shoulder as I walk out, but I’m very much afraid they are right.
Faith Lancaster is in my head, and I’m beginning to think the only way to get her out is to see what, if anything, could be between us. And now, luckily for me, I have an excuse to see her again.
***
Faith
I wake upand perform my usual routine, settling in for my cup of morning coffee and a look at my website, orders, and sales numbers. Right now, it appears that my online orders have picked up, and in-store sales are strong. My goal with the baskets was to increase both of those as well as my foot traffic, and a click will tell me if I’ve seen initial gains.
I click and… “Success!” There has been an exponential jump in the three short days since I left my baskets in stores downtown. It feels good to accomplish my goal, better to know my ideas have merit and are working for me.
I wonder if whatever notion I gave Jason Dare the other night helped him the way he hoped it would. I picked up his business card a few times over the last couple of days, wishing my life were simple and that I could call him. At the very least to just be his friend. But it seems like lying low is working for me.
Things have been quiet since the tire slashing, leading me to believe it was a freak incident. Maybe one of the neighborhood kids really thought vandalism made for a fun night out. I can’t afford to bring anyone into my life who might bring attention to me or become a target my brother could use against me.
If I’m lonely, well, at least I’m safe. It’s a trade-off I’m willing to make.
After getting dressed, I head out for the day, still on a high from the results of my experiment for my business. But when I pull up to the front of the shop, my world falls apart. Graffiti covers the glass, ruining the beautiful painting I had done of my logo, and the glass on the door has been shattered.
I park and walk to the entrance, my stomach twisted in painful knots, and tears spring to my eyes. I wasn’t able to afford a burglar alarm, and because I’m surrounded by so many other stores, I naively thought I could get by without one.
The shops surrounding me are clothing stores whose salespeople don’t arrive for work until ten a.m. I come in early to prep and cook. Obviously, no one reported this yet, or the police would be here.
With my heart in my throat, I dial 911 and stand outside before entering, only willing to do so with a police officer by my side. While I wait, I’ve never felt so alone or experienced the solitude of my life more acutely. I left behind a life with friends, whom I haven’t contacted for fear Colton will pressure them for my whereabouts.
And though I have Kelsey here, Kelsey is an intern, not a real friend. At twenty-five, I’m four years older than the other girl,who has her own group of friends from school. New York City isn’t conducive to meeting people if you don’t make an effort, go to the gym or classes, and put yourself out there. And I have done everything but. I’ve kept my head down, run my business, and go home alone at night.
My thoughts go to Jason, a man I just met. I feel silly, but I put his business card in my jacket pocket, and I finger the cool paper now, hoping it will make me feel better, but I have no intention of calling him.
He doesn’t need my problems, and he isn’t my friend. He was just a helpful stranger.
I force myself to think about the incident and who could have done it. If my brother was the culprit, and how could it be anyone but him, how did he find me? I put all the paperwork in the business entity name, not my own, haven’t put my picture on any of my social media, including the company website, and I took a new last name to ensure I’ll be protected. But if these two back-to-back episodes tell me anything, there is no such thing as safe.
Once the cops come, they check out the business before declaring it clear for me to go inside, at which point I have to step over a brick that was thrown through the glass. Thank God whoever it was didn’t get inside. My equipment and cases are all intact, and I blow out a relieved breath.
A forensic analyst arrives to dust for prints and bag the brick for evidence, while another officer takes my statement. I debate telling them about Colton’s attack and threats, but that could only lead to them contacting the police department at home to question him, and I don’t want to alert him to where I am on the very off chance this is a coincidence. If they find his prints, they’ll have proof. He has a record, after all. But if they don’t, they can’t accuse him anyway.
Finally, they leave me alone with the mess of my shop. Luckily for me, the man who owns the clothing store on one side comes by and calls a few friends, who board up the door until I can get someone in to fix it during the week. And there is nothing I can do about the graffiti until the window washers can fit me in.
I refuse to let my brother frighten me out of my own shop, so despite the boarded window and mess outside, I prepare my candy for the day and open for business.
***
Jason
Three days passbefore I’m able to give my undivided attention to Faith. I don’t want to approach her with something heavy on my mind, and with my mother’s divorce going on in Florida, her sudden spate of phone calls to me, my brother Alex’s follow-ups, and Sienna’s added distress, combined with the business issues, I’ve had my hands full. When I see Faith again, I want to be wholly focused on more than just asking her to contact Izzy about Noah’s birthday party favors.
I want a game plan forus.
Gabe’s comment about my actions when it comes to Faith stays with me.Letting her go easily doesn’t sound like the Dare way.I’m well aware that Gabe waited a long time for Izzy, and when he finally got his chance, he had to let her go find herself before she could truly become his. However, Gabe kept a silent eye on her the entire time.
With Faith’s face and sexy body in my dreams and firmly entrenched in my mind, I have been fighting my instinct not to get involved when everything inside me screams out for me to check on her. See her again. Make sure the tire was a fluke, andshe is safe and okay. Now, I finally have a reason to seek her out, and I decide to push harder to see what could be between us.
I might not want to add someone else to the list of people I have to worry about, but in one short night, she got under my skin, giving me no choice.
I head for my car and type her store name into Waze, ready to put my plan into motion. Except when I approach the shop, located on the left, as my direction-voice tells me, I see graffiti covering the windows and the door to her store boarded up.
