With the remnants of his ghost.

I’d ignored it for so long. Pretended I couldn’t hear his whispers trapped in the grain of the wood.

“She’s beautiful, Faith.”

Emotion swam.

Old love that tried to claw out of the rubble of demolished dreams.

“She’s the best thing I have ever been given.”

“You named her Bailey,” he murmured, hurt and regret wound with the pained taunt.

“I guess some dreams don’t die, after all, do they?” I whispered.

His lips twisted, and he cast his face toward the floor. “And sometimes those dreams are stolen from us.”

I had the urge to move across the hall, force him to look at me, and demand he tell me what he was really thinking, what he was really feeling. To demand to know how he could have walked away from me the way he had.

But I couldn’t regret our history. My direction ripped out from under me before I was set on another.

My daughter at its end.

I’d never, ever wish for that to turn out differently.

“I think I’m going to call it a night,” I forced myself to say before I did something stupid. “There’s a casserole in the refrigerator you can heat up if you’d like something to eat. Make yourself at home.”

It was only eight, but I wasn’t prepared for this. For the moments when he would actually be here and not just working.

Telling the man to make himself at home was a foolish statement in and of itself.

I knew I needed some space. Time to think and clear out the muddle of thoughts clouding my brain.

“Yeah,” he agreed, pushing off the wall and heading for his room.

He paused at the doorway and peered back out. “I’m going to hire a few guys to help me work on the house, Faith. I might be able to do it myself, but Bailey would probably be grown by then, and I’m thinking that’s not exactly what you had in mind.”

There was a sadness mixed in with the amusement he tried to inject into his tone, and there was a really stupid part of me that wanted to tell him that was fine, he could stay for as long as it took.

There I was again, playing the fool.

“I’ll never be able to fully repay you, Jace, for doin’ this for me. For doin’ it for Bailey. For being here for us.”

There was no question some of this was about the money. After all, it was what made the world go round.

It might not buy happiness, but it sure was the solution to some dire situations.

But it was more than that. He’d returned, put a hold on his own life to come here and make sure ours was safe.

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t find anger in that anymore.

He offered a short nod. “The only repayment I need is that one day I might see a real smile on your face.”

He rapped his knuckles on the doorframe after he said it, not giving me a chance to respond before he disappeared inside the room, quick to snap the door shut behind him.

Leaving me staring there at the vacant space.

Space that had never felt so alive.

Seventeen

Faith

Sixteen Years Old

“Can I get this, too?” Faith asked, grabbing a Snickers bar from the display.

Her mama glanced up from where she was scrolling through her shopping list for the hundredth time and double-checking to make sure she’d gotten everything.

Faith swore that it didn’t matter how many times she checked, every time they got home, they’d forgotten something, and her mama would have to turn right around and send her back to the store.

“Just as long as you don’t ruin your dinner,” her mama said.

Faith all but rolled her eyes. “I’m almost seventeen, Mama, not four. I don’t think you have to tell me not to ruin my dinner.”

The belt moved forward, and Faith grabbed a divider, tossing the candy bar onto it, and she began to load the contents of their cart onto the belt.

“Just because you’re almost grown doesn’t mean you’re not my baby,” her mama shot back. “It’s my job to warn you of all the dangerous things in this world. The pitfalls of chocolate bars included.”

Faith fought the affected smile that pulled at her mouth. Her parents were the best.

Courtney would have loved to pretend her parents didn’t exist, but Faith hadn’t ever reached that stage where she felt as if her parents were dumb or embarrassing.

She guessed she should be embarrassed that she spent more time with them than anyone else.

“Well, I’ll be sure to save it for after then. Daddy is grillin’ my favorite, after all.” Faith waved the package of sirloin toward her mama before she set it onto the belt and continued to unload the rest of the groceries.

Veggies and rice and potatoes.

Eggs and bacon for the mornin’.

All the makings for a fresh-baked apple pie.

Tags: A.L. Jackson Confessions of the Heart Romance
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