Page 63 of A Lot Like Forever
Chapter 13
Faith’s hands were shaking as she zipped up her bag. Nate had risen early, had bent over to kiss her cheek before he’d left, and she’d just stayed still and listened to him go. The second the door had closed she’d jumped up, hurriedly dressed, and grabbed her two bags, stuffing in as much as she could.
She glanced at her phone, left discarded on the bed while she got ready to flee. The screen was lit up, so she grabbed it and scanned the message. It was Sam.
Tried to call u before. Driving. Be there in 15. Hope u ok.
Faith pulled another tissue from her purse and wiped her nose, blinking the tears away as they started to fall. She just needed to hold it together a bit longer, not completely fall apart just yet. She’d check into a cheap motel for a few nights until she found somewhere to rent; now that she had a job she could afford to cover her own expenses, and she already had enough money saved to finish her post-grad to get through that. It was going to be tight, but she was in charge of her own destiny and doing it on her own started now, even if she had called her brother to come get her.
She put her coat on and pushed her phone into her pocket, taking one last look around the bedroom. It was the last time she was going to see it, going to be in Nate’s room, part of his life. It would have been so easy to throw everything back in the closet, undress and hop into bed, wait for him to get back from his run, and join him in the shower. Lather him up, both slick from the water, and let him have his wicked way with her.
But she couldn’t. It was time to go, and she needed to leave now while she had the chance to go in private. Faith stopped in the kitchen, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and reached for the notepad she’d put on the counter earlier in the month to jot groceries down on. She picked up the pen and leaned forward, taking a deep breath before writing. She had no idea what to say, especially after the night they’d had, but she couldn’t go without saying something.
Nate. This seems irrational and stupid after the night we just shared, but I have to go. Thank you for making me feel beautiful, for the weeks of fun & telling me so genuinely to follow my dreams. I will never forget the time we spent together, & I will never, ever forget you. Faith.
Her tears fell onto the paper, soaked through the notepad as she dropped the pen and backed away. She’d been planning what to write all morning, trying to figure out how to tell him how she felt, but all the practicing in the world didn’t make it any easier.
A noise outside made her look up and she grabbed her bags and walked toward the door. Sam’s pickup truck was outside and she moved quickly to the front door, opening and closing it and hurrying toward him. Her brother was already out and walking toward her, his face turning from surprised to angry when he came closer.
“What the hell did he do to you, Faith?” Sam demanded.
She started to sob then, unable to keep it together any longer. She thrust her bags at him.
“Nothing,” she managed. “We need to go. Now.”
Sam stared at her, then started toward the house. “He in here? I’ll goddamn kill him!”
“Sam!” she cried. “Please. Just get in the truck and go.”
He turned and looked back at her, eyes wild with anger.
“Please,” she begged. “Just get me out of here before he comes back.”
Sam glanced at the house again and then to her, grabbing her bags and walking past her to throw them in the bed of the truck. She got in quickly and clicked her seat belt, leaning her head deep back into the seat and staring out the window at the homestead. The wisteria growing along the porch was so stunning, the house type of home that she’d always dreamed about living in as a little girl, all part of her childhood dreams of an idyllic life. There had been so many times she’d wished to live in a house just like this, to have a family like Nate’s. Only as a child she hadn’t realized that her brother’s best friend had experienced pain like she had with his own parents, that the family she saw was, in fact, his grandparents caring for the three boys as if they were their own.
Sam started driving, and she kept staring, hoping they didn’t end up seeing Nate. He was usually gone an hour, which meant they were cutting it fine.
“I told you he was going to hurt you, Faith. I told you he was going to break your heart and I was going to have to pick up the pieces, and look what I’m doing,” he seethed. “I warned him what I’d do and I wasn’t damn well kidding.”
Faith let him rant, knowing he had to get it all off his chest before she interrupted. “Nate hasn’t done anything wrong,” she managed, finally back in control and no longer sobbing. She wiped a few stray tears away, brushing them aside, and dabbed at her nose with a tissue she found in her pocket.
“You’re my sister, Faith; I know when someone’s hurt you,” Sam said. “Tell me what he did and I’ll--”
“Sam, listen to me,” she quietly demanded. “Nate hasn’t hurt me. I’m the one who’s doing the hurting here, and he’s going to hate me for leaving like this. Which is why we have to get out of here now before he tries to stop me.”
“But why are you leaving?” Sam asked, taking his eyes off the drive as they neared the road. “What did he do to make you leave?”
“Nothing,” she admitted. “Nate did absolutely nothing wrong, he’s been the most incredible man to me, and that’s why I have to go.” Faith didn’t expect him to understand, hell, she didn’t truly understand why she was so scared of being hurt or falling in love herself, but what she did know was that she’d had to do it.
“You’re sure?” Sam asked, slowing before turning out onto the road.
Faith breathed a sigh of relief as they left King Ranch. It had been her home for over a month, and it might just have been the best month of her life. But it wasn’t real; it was just a moment in time of them both having fun and wanting the same thing at the same time. The bubble would have burst one day; it was just a matter of when.
“Where am I taking you?”
“A motel. Somewhere cheap where I can wallow for a few days before finding a place to rent.”
“No way.” Sam took a hand off of the steering wheel and reached for her. “You can come stay with us.”
