Page 34 of Crazy in Love

Faith stole a french fry off Nick’s plate and from the look he shot her, you’d think she spit in his eye.

“Hey,” he griped.

“It’s just a fry,” Faith said.

“Yeah,myfry.”

“Nick’s very protective of his food,” Tess said.

“I guess,” Faith muttered. “Here.” She threw a pickle onto his plate. “Now we’re even. Happy?”

“With who?” Tess went right back to the conversation.

“Hope.”

“Faith’s sister, Hope?”

“Yeah. She needs the drive time, and I need a ride. It’s a win-win.”

“You’re okay with this?” Tess asked Faith.

“You mean her driving my car? Sure. She’s a pretty good driver.”

“Whatever.” Tess sipped her soda. “Hey, Faith, I’m off tomorrow. You wanna get nine holes in before you go to work?”

“Sure,” Faith said. “I have a million other things to do, but why not?”

They finished eating, and Faith returned to the bookstore. She jumped online and ordered the book Nick had requested, several vampire romances, and a few copies each of what was billed as “what’s hot now” on the website.

Next, she started in on another drawer of data. Filing hadn’t been her mother’s strong suit, and Faith kept finding invoices and balance sheets in random places.

She dedicated the rest of the day to nailing down the last year’s financial data. Getting a handle on what came in and what went out was vital to figuring out where to go from here.

That evening, Faith arrived home to find her father in the kitchen, attempting to cook. Water boiled over onto the stove, and smoke seeped from the oven. She left the door open and turned on the overhead fan, hoping to avoid the smoke detector.

“Whatcha cookin’?” she asked.

“Oh, Faith. Thank goodness. I was trying to make spaghetti and garlic bread, but things got away from me.”

She smiled. At least he was trying. “Let’s turn this down a bit,” she said, lowering the stove temperature. “And what have we got in here?”

“Garlic bread. Did I set it too high?”

When Faith opened the oven, black smoke billowed out, setting off the fire alarm. She picked up the hot pads, pulled out the charred loaf, and flung it into the yard. Then she grabbed a flexible plastic cutting board and fanned the air under the alarm. After a minute, it stopped. She turned off the oven and shut the door. “We don’t need all those carbs anyway.”

Together, they salvaged what they could and sat down to dinner. Hope had gone school shopping with a friend, sayingshe’d be home late. Faith prayed that was the truth and not just cover for some nefarious rendezvous with that troublemaker boy she’d been hanging around with.

It was just as well that Hope was out. Faith needed some time to break the news to her dad.

“You shaved,” she said, digging into soggy pasta covered in jarred marinara sauce.

“And showered. I’m trying, Faith, really.”

“I know you are, Dad.” She set down her fork. “Look, I’ve got some pretty serious news and figured now’s as good a time as any to tell you.”

He looked up expectantly, and all of a sudden, she chickened out, unable to say the words to his face.

“Well, actually, it’s something I found. From Mom. This was in her desk drawer.” She pulled the envelope out of her purse and handed it to her father. At the sight of her mother’s distinct pink stationery, his eyes filled with tears.

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