Page 57 of Losing Faith

We remain like that until Isabelle finishes her cake and I’m snapped out of my thoughts as both girls turn to me.

“Ready to carve?” Belle askes before chugging her water like she’s been lost in a desert all day.

“Yeah, let’s start.” I cut the bottom of Belle’s pumpkin first. When I set it in front of her, she starts carving out the insides with a spoon, dumping all of the waste in the bag between us.

“How’d you get such a clean cut?” Lisette voices from beside me. When I turn to her, I let out a laugh at how she’s holding the knife like an axe murder.

“Okay, have you heard of the wordgentle?”

She rolls her eyes at me, not sparing a glance my way as she stabs the pumpkin.

I jump in my seat before sliding closer to her. “You’re going to cut off a limb. Let me help you.”

She pulls the pumpkin away from me. “I can cut a vegetable on my own.”

“Fruit.”

“What?” She turns to me.

“Pumpkins have seeds. Technically it’s a fruit.”

She rolls her eyes. “If it’s not sweet, it’s not a fruit.”

My brows furrow now and she immediately looks like she wants to take that back. “So… there’s these things called pineapple—”

“The last thirty seconds didn’t happen. I have a college degree.” She waves me off.

I quickly put my hands up in defense. “What do I know? I’m just a man and you’re a smart, independent woman with a college degree. It probably is a vegetable.” I smile over at her.

Her eyes narrow further before she grabs the knife. She tries to pull it out of the pumpkin but struggles and a snort escapes me. Her brows rise now before she swipes the knife I have in front of me.

“Are you being smart?” She holds the knife out to me.

I bite back a smile. “Never.” I shake my head.

“Carve the vegetable for me and speak when you’re spoken to.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I hold my hand out and she places her stabbed pumpkin in my lap. I pull out the knife with ease and bite back my laugh when I see her roll her eyes.

In silence, and with her pointing a knife at me, I carve the bottom of the pumpkin. When I’m done, I grab a spoon and turn to her.

“Here you go, reina.”

Her eyes narrow again as she slowly takes the pumpkin. “Belle, what’d he just say? Is he calling me bad names in Spanish?” She keeps her eyes on me.

“No silly, reina is queen,” Isabelle voices from behind me, immersed in her pumpkin. I smile at how perfectly she rolls her R’s.

I keep my eyes on Lisette and I don’t miss the small smile on her face before sheshoosme.

“Thanks, I guess.” Her smile is on full display now. “This is a competition in case you didn’t pick up on that.”

“What do I get if I win?” The words fly out of my mouth before I can think of a more appropriate response, my eyes scanning down her frame.

When I look up at her, her eyes are already on mine. “If you ask nicely and behave, you can have whatever you want.”

I let out a low laugh before shaking my head at her. Her brother sneaks his way into my head and the guilt seeps into my pores when I see her smile.

As if she read my mind, she simply nods before looking down at her pumpkin again. “This feels familiar,” she teases. “Are you going to voice what you want?”

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