Page 4 of Choosing Happily Ever After

Not that she was even supposed to be dating Noah. She’d told him, no strings. Nothing serious. Just sex.

And that was the main reason why she had to break up with him. No matter how many times she’d told him she wasn’t interested in a relationship, or anything serious, he insisted on asking her out on real dates. Faith didn’tdodinner or movies or the theater or anything else with a man. It only led to one thing—relationships. And relationships only led to drama and hurt feelings, and that was the last thing she needed.

She didn’t have the time or patience for love and romance and relationships or any of that bullshit. She’d happily leave that kind of stuff to Hope.

Just thinking about her twin sister reminded Faith about the conversation they’d had the night before. It wasn’t unusual for them to have late-night chats. Especially with Hope staying up to all hours during the wedding season. But it was unusual to hear her sister sound so tired. It was concerning. Maybe it was twin intuition, but Faith couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with Hope.

With the majority of her things tucked under her arm, Faith opened the door and slid out into the hallway as quietly as she could before putting her heels on, tugging her long tangled blonde hair into a ponytail and making her way down the hall. It was still early enough on a Sunday morning that she wasn’t likely to run into too many people. Not that she cared. It wasn’t the first time she did thewalk of shame.Man, she hated that phrase—after all, why should she feel any shame at all for being a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and what she didn’t want?

She pushed her way out into the cool early morning air and dug her cell phone from her purse. She wasn’t worried about calling too early. If she knew Hope, she’d already be at the barn, pulling down the wedding decorations from the night before. She was a workaholic, of that there was no doubt.

Sure enough, her sister answered in only two rings.

“You’re up early,” Hope said as a way of greeting. “Whose bed are you sneaking out of?” Faith laughed. Her twin knew her well. “And do I get to meet this one?”

“You know you don’t.” Faith shook her head and glanced behind her in the direction of Noah’s condo. She couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, but it sure as hell looked like his beautiful naked body standing in the picture window, watching her go. She waved, just in case it was him, turned and kept walking. “I’m going to end it right away.” She tried to sound confident, but the words stuck in her throat a little. She liked Noah. More than any of the other men who’d come and gone through her life.

And that was one more—very important—reason why she had to break it off. It was one thing for him to get too serious, but whenshestarted to develop feelings, that’s when the alarm bells really started to go off.

“I don’t know why you fight it so hard, Faith.” She could almost see her sister shaking her head across the phone line. “You could be really happy if you just let yourself.”

“I’m plenty happy.” She plucked the parking ticket off the windshield of her car and opened the door, throwing the ticket on the seat next to her. She really should stop parking in short-term parking. “Besides, you’re one to talk. You’re so busy giving everyone else their happily ever after, but I don’t see you going after yours, sis. You’re not getting any younger, you know?”

Hope laughed. “Don’t I know it? I’m feeling every minute of my age today,” she said. “I can’t believe how tired I am these days. It’s strange. Are you supposed to feel so damn old when you’re thirty?”

There it was again, the flicker of worry. “Have you seen a doctor?”

“I don’t need a doctor.” Hope dismissed her. “I need help around here. You know, I could really use—”

“An employee?” Faith cut her off swiftly as she transferred the call to her hands-free and started the engine. “Because unless you’re on your deathbed, there is no way you’re going to catch me playing the role of happily-ever-after wedding conductor.” She laughed. “You know me better than that. I’d rather—”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. But it wouldn’t hurt if you came back to visit. I miss you.”

That softened her. “I miss you, too.” Faith pulled out into the still empty downtown street. She lived only about ten minutes away, but unlike Noah, her salary definitely didn’t afford her a downtown, river view in a booming city like Calgary. “Are you coming into the city soon?”

“I might. But you know I was thinking you could come here.”

Faith knew exactly what her sister meant. She could count on one hand how many times she’d been back to the ranch since their parents died. It wasn’t because she didn’t love Hope, not at all. But after the funeral, it was too hard to go back. There were too many memories. Most of them good, of course. But it was easier to lose herself in work and stay in the city and then it just became easier to stay away. Especially when Hope’s wedding business took off. Weddings, and all the lovey-dovey bullshit that went with them, made her unreasonably uncomfortable. Still, it made her feel like an asshole that she didn’t visit her sister because of her own issues.

“I’ll think about it.” It was a lie, and they both knew it. “How was the wedding last night? Did you get any sleep?”

For the next few minutes, Hope told her all the details that she never wanted to know about the event the night before. She could hear the excitement in her sister’s voice when she mentioned different details, and for Hope’s sake, she tried her best to sound somewhat interested.

“But did you get any rest?” Faith really was worried about her.

“Not much,” Hope admitted. “But I did take your suggestion and posted a job opening on Facebook. So maybe I’ll get a little help around here after all.”

“Good. You need it. You’re probably up on a ladder right now cleaning up, aren’t you?”

Hope laughed. “Well, I’m not on a ladder,” she admitted. “But I am…”

Faith waited a beat. “You’re what?” she finally prompted. “Hope? You’re what?”

She was about to check to see whether the call had disconnected, when her sister’s voice came over the line again. This time it had a breathy, airy quality, as if she didn’t realize she was speaking out loud. “I’m…I’m…Levi?”

Levi Langdon? The one and only man who’d ever broken her sister’s heart?ThatLevi?

“Levi? What about him?” Faith asked cautiously. “Hope? Are you okay?”

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