Page 76 of Crazy in Love

“It” being Faith’s miserable mood. She and her friends had nursed many a broken heart together, but this one felt especially painful.

It had been two weeks since she’d walked away from Nick at the diner. It was time to return to normal, but she continued to drag her feet. Tonight’s dinner was an attempt to renew her groove. She’d hoped to avoid the topic of Nick, but her friends sensed her glumness and had to reanalyze it. Like they hadn’t talked it to death already.

“So there’s no chance he moves home someday?” Juliet asked, ever the hopeful one.

Tess shrugged. “If falling in love didn’t do it, I don’t know what would.”

“In love!” Faith exclaimed. “Did he say that?”

“Well, no,” Tess admitted. “But I’ve known him all my life. He probably doesn’t even realize it, but I’m pretty sure.”

“That makes it all the more tragic,” Alex said. “’Cause Faith obviously loves him too.”

Faith’s cheeks heated. Though true, she hadn’t publicly acknowledged it. With these three, that would be unnecessary anyway. The odds of hiding such a thing from her best friends were nil. They knew her as well as she knew herself, and there was no denying she’d fallen in love with Nick Walker.

“I’ll get over it.” Faith sighed. “Maybe. I mean, I hope I will.” Nick’s betrayal had been a gut punch. It hurt almost as much as burying her mother. But, like her mom’s death, time had taken the sting out of the initial heartbreak, and she was already rationalizing his behavior.

“You still mad at him?” Tess asked.

“Not really,” Faith said. “I’ve thought about it, and I understand the untenable position he was in. He used his work system to run my father as a favor and risked getting in real trouble for it. Tracking down Gary was his only option to avoid punishment.”

“Not to mention Gary’s a hardcore criminal and needed to be arrested,” Alex said.

“Sure. There’s that too.” Faith popped a fry into her mouth. “I’m still kind of perturbed he didn’t warn me, but I get that too. Anyway, I’m sorry to be such a downer lately.”

“You gonna go back to the internet dating thing?” Juliet asked.

“Don’t really have a choice, do I?” Faith lifted a shoulder and let it fall. She hadn’t been on the site since getting together with Nick but knew she’d have to move on eventually. Holding out for Nick to change was a fool’s errand.

“You’ll find someone soon,” Juliet said.

“In the meantime, I’ve got you guys,” Faith said, smiling. Moping wasn’t in her nature, and she knew it was throwing her friends for a loop. It was time for a curtain call on this pity party. At least on the outside.

And it wasn’t like she didn’t have practice putting up a strong front. When her mom died, hadn’t she kept the family together? Coddled her dad through his bereavement and helped keepHope from a life of crime? And all while coping with her own grief. She’d been through a lot and would get through this too.

A week later, Tess popped into her office to ask about lunch. Faith had just finished a meditation sesh and felt pretty good. An orange and white ball of fur slept on his favorite chair in the corner.

“Wow, it looks great in here,” Tess said, glancing around. “Cleaning up the clutter makes this place look twice as big. Move, Tiger.” The cat shot her an annoyed glare but leaped gracefully out of the chair so she could sit.

“It’s been a project for sure.” Faith had cleared the desktop and drawers, sorted through all the random stacks of paper, and emptied or moved all the boxes. “I couldn’t focus with junk everywhere. A clear mind needs a clear space. Plus, I spend so much time here, I figured, might as well make it my own.”

“That explains the paintings,” Tess said, waving a hand at the wall where several of Faith’s amateur watercolors hung. “The photo of your mom is a nice touch.”

Faith stared at the portrait of her mother and smiled. “It’s like she’s watching over me.”

“She’d be so proud of you,” Tess said. “You’ve changed a lot in the last year. Grown up, ya know?”

Faith’s brows furrowed. “Against my will, but yeah, I guess you’re right. I feel as though I’ve matured ten years in the past twelve months.” Gone were the days of flitting through life doing hair, going on lousy dates, and hanging with her friends. Now, it was all taking care of family, running a business, and dealing with relationship problems. “I gotta say, this whole adulting thing is highly overrated though.”

Tess nodded in agreement. “How’s business?”

“You’re not gonna believe this, but guess what?”

“What?”

“I just finished crunching last month’s numbers, and we finally broke even! We’re on track to make a profit starting next month.”

“That’s fantastic news,” Tess said. “I knew you could do it. You had some great ideas that obviously panned out—the book swag and stocking bestsellers.”

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