Page 56 of Choosing Happily Ever After

Faith let out a deep breath as she pushed through the branches on the trail that led to her special place. It was exactly the same as she’d remembered it during all of those yoga classes when the instructor told her to close her eyes and picture a calm, safe space.

A smile crossed her face as she made her way to the riverbank and sat.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling the familiar scent of grass and the distinct scent of fresh water.

The sense of calm washed over her just like the water flowing over the rocks.

Finally, she was home.

Home.

Was the ranch really home? Could it be? Her condo in the city had never really felt like home. It had always just had the slightest sense of temporary. But Ever After Ranch had to be temporary too. There was no way she could settle here. Not permanently.

Hell, it was pushing every single one of her boundaries to commit to staying for the next—however many—months. Because no one really knew how long Hope and Levi would be gone. But even with such an open-ended offer, there was no way she could have said no.

It didn’t matter what she had back in the city. A job? Not important. A condo? She’d get rid of it. A man? He’d understand.

None of it was even remotely as important as what Hope was going through. And she was her twin sister. Her only living family member. Faith would do anything for her. It didn’t matter. None of the other stuff mattered.

The man.

Noah.

Shit.

Maybe that was the one thing that mattered. Just a little.

She’d done her best over the last few weeks to let him down gently, but he wasn’t taking the hint. He still called and texted every day. It was almost like he had feelings for her. Which was not the deal. Not. Even. Close.

Faith pulled her cell phone from her pocket and squeezed her eyes shut as she inhaled deeply.

It would be so easy to just keep ignoring his texts and messages. But that wasn’t okay and she knew it. Besides, overnight she’d taken over the operations of a wedding planning business. Hell, if anyone could do hard things,shecould do hard things.

Before she could chicken out, Faith dialed his number, and like a chicken shit prayed silently that it would go to voicemail.

“Hello? Faith?”

Shit.

“Hey, Noah. I’m glad I caught you.”

“Are you?”

Yes. No.She took a deep breath but before she could answer, Noah continued. “I miss you, Faith. I know you said it wasn’t supposed to be anything—”

“Noah, please.”

“Please what?”

Please don’t tell me you love me. Please don’t tell me you miss me. Please don’t tell me anything that will make this harder because I…“Please listen to me.” It was such a cop-out, and there was no doubt they both knew it. “I have to tell you something.”

“Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” There was an edge to his voice that she’d never heard before. “Because one day you say you’re going to go help your sister for a few days and then you tell me it’s over and then you stop answering my calls and then I have to find out from management that you quit your job! So seriously, Faith. What the hell is going on?”

Faith exhaled slowly. “I’m moving here, Noah. There’s been a lot going on and I can’t get into it right now, but I need to stay here and run the ranch for the foreseeable future. You and I were never going to…well, I told you how I felt about relationships, so it’s not like I’m breaking any promises or anything.” The words came out in a jumble, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Even so, I thought you deserved to hear it from me.”

“What? You’re going tostay?”

There was so much hurt and confusion in his voice that something inside Faith’s heart clenched.

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