Casiuss was trapped and he knew it. He raised his hand in surrender but angled his body so he wasn't touching her. He kept his eyes carefully on her face."Why are you doing this?" He asked in a tightly controlled voice. "What does it matter? I want you and you want me.""You're Devlin's girl. He is my boss and friend.""I am not Devlin's girl," she snapped. Cassius raised his brow wordlessly. "Okay, let me ask you this... Is or is Devlin not f*cking his secretary?"A look of surprise crossed his face. Whether it was still surprise that this was happening at all or surprise at the fact that she'd found out, she couldn't tell."What makes you think that?""I heard them myself. Stumbled upon them in the study. Remember how easy it was to hear that day?"Cassius nodded. He remembered. "I'm sorry," he said implacably."So you really didn't know?""No... not this time." Faith nodded. She believed him. "But that day we overheard them, it was her as well, wasn't it?"He nodded reluctantly.
Sheila moved back a step, allowing the other ladies to see who was at the door."You have some nerve coming here!" She said to the man in the doorway, staring at them with irate eyes."Devlin!" Faith gasped.She hadn't seen him since the day he asked her to return to Barbell. It felt like ages ago. Seeing him again now was like a punch to the gut.His eyes, his nose, his mouth, every bit of him so familiar to her that she could trace the outline of his body with her eyes closed.It was like a shot to the heart, seeing him standing there so unexpectedly. He looked good, good enough to eat. Her reaction, the thumping of her heart, revealed to her exactly what she knew, that she loved this man to insanity.She would have given everything for him... everything! But he'd thrown it all away and for what? He'd betrayed her in the worst possible way. He'd become her world and then brought it crashing down around her. Oh, that he would have just left her alone. That she would've never met hi
The road stretched out before and behind Faith. The miles she'd already covered swept behind her like a wedding train. The miles left to cover spread before her as far as the eyes could see.Faith Donovan was going home. After all the tears and sorrow, she was returning to the one place where she felt most comfortable. It was true what they said after all. There is no place like home.It'll be a bit of a shock for everyone to see her come home in her pearly white car and her fancy new dresses. Someone might just keel over and die from shock.The truth was Faith was no longer that girl that left home all those months ago. She was changed inside and out.Her thinking, her behavior... just everything. She hoped this new her wouldn't rub anyone the wrong way. Not just her family, but the neighbors as well.When you grew up with next to nothing around families facing the same struggles and hardships as you, you ended up as more of a community, a family, than just neighbours.But her new re
"Is this yours?" Her father asked, circling the car."Yes, Dad. It's mine.""Wow, that is incredible!""Do you want to drive it?""Yes, but not now. We can go on a drive later, okay?""Sounds good.""Pop the hood, will you? I want to see what it looks like in there."Faith got back in and popped the trunk. She started up the engine up again, knowing that was what her father wanted.Then she climbed back out and joined him in front of the car. "Wow, that is a sweet purr," he gushed. "Devlin bought this for you?""Yes, dad," Faith answered simply.Still, her dad must have caught something in her tone because he slapped the hood shut and dusted his hands off. "That's enough for now. Let's head in."Faith nodded, turned the engine off and followed her father into the house. The house was quiet."Your mom's at work and the kids are still at school," he said by way of explanation.She nodded. "I figured they would be.""I was just waiting for you to arrive. I should head off myself. That m
Kaylee walked past Faith as if she wasn't there and disappeared into the house. If not for the telltale sign of her clenched jaw, Faith would have freaked out worrying if her sister had gone blind.She gave her brothers a helpless look. They shrugged and rolled their eyes.Kaylee was the drama queen of the family. Everyone knew not to mess with her when she was in a mood. Faith knew none of the boys would willingly get involved in their drama. It had been the same growing up. This particular drama had been on for a while."Is she still mad?" She asked.It was little Toby who answered. "She's big mad.""So everytime Dad told me she wasn't around for me to speak to her on the phone..."Paul winced. "Sorry.""How have you been coping?" Faith asked Paul sympathetically. "By reminding myself that I only have one year left in the madhouse," he answered with a sigh."You've only been at it, what? One year? Remember, I was in charge here for my entire childhood.""And I salute your fortitu
It was almost dinner time, the only time when the entire Donovan family was able to gather. Faith had been locked up in her room with her sister for hours, gisting and catching up.Russ and Toby had tried to come in and join them but they kicked them out and locked the door to keep them out.All their pleadings had fallen on deaf ears as Faith simply reminded them of how they tucked tail and ran when she needed their support.Eventually, they wandered off and left the girls to have their alone time. Faith and Kaylee lay face up, head to head, feet swinging over the edge of her newly made bed. She turned over and tugged at her sister's hair."It's almost dinner time. Who does the cooking now?" She asked."Paul does," Kaylee answered."Paul?" It had been one of the things Faith did when she was here. She'd simply assumed that her sister would step into that role once she left.Faith groaned. "Please tell me that you at least help him with it."Kaylee shrugged. "He never asks for help."
Faith hurried back in with a small luggage. She made everyone move their plates aside and placed it on the table top.She probably should just wait until they were all done eating but she couldn't bring herself to. She was so excited to give them what she brought and see their reactions.Faith unzipped the bag and threw it open. "So there's something for everybody," she announced. "Except you guys, mom and dad. Sorry.""It's fine. You shouldn't have bothered getting any gifts at all," Her mum said."Yeah, you didn't have to go to any trouble," her Dad added."I disagree!" Kaylee exclaimed, making them all laugh."It's fine,' she said to her mum, then announced, "I'll start with Toby."She pulled out a small package and passed it to him. He grinned, bopping up and down on his chair as he hurriedly unwrapped the present.He unvieled his gift and gasped. "A Nintendo switch! No way! Mum look."She looked it over in his hands. "What is this?""It's for playing games. Nobody else at school
"Shush! It's me!"Faith continued to struggle half-asleep against her captor but the familiar voice eventually registered in her brain.She fought the sleep from her eyes, blinking rapidly until the face in front of hers began to take shape. The light of recognition went on in her eyes."Dad?" She mumbled against her father's hand. He removed his hand from over her mouth. He had a slight smile on."Yes, it's me." He kept his voice at a whisper so as not to wake Kaylee who was snoring lightly in her bed. Faith followed suit."What is going on?" She asked, confused."I thought we could go for an early morning ride before I go off to work; talk and catchup."Faith looked around the room. It was still very dark. There was no light coming in through the windows. "What time is it?" "5 am," he answered."5 am?" She exclaimed quietly. "That's so early.""It's the only time we can talk alone. I'll be off to work in an hour, and I won't be back till late in the evening. I figured we could talk
"Dev! Get out!" Faith yelled. "Out! Out!" Sheila yelled too, determinedly pushing Devlin out of the room. "You shouldn't be here. Don't you know that it's a bad omen to see the bride before the wedding?"Devlin groaned. "Come on! I don't believe in superstitions. Can I just see my lovely wife?""She's not your wife yet, mister. Not until the ceremony is complete. Plus, you saw her last night. You too idiots slept in the same bed. I don't understand why you can't stay apart for even a second." She got him out the door and slammed it shut in his face."Done," she declared, dusting off her hands and returning to Faith. There was a short knock at the door and it opened again.Sheila turned around in exasperation. "Devlin, if I have to tell you one more time--"But it wasn't Devlin who stepped in. Adele squealed and rushed over to Faith, pulling her into a hug. "Oh my gosh, honey, congratulations!"Faith hugged her back. "Thank you, Adele. I'm so glad you could fly in.""Girl, I wouldn't
Immediately Faith saw Devlin walk through the door, her heart started beating faster, her palms started sweating and her breathing became heavy.She was scared of how their encounter was going to go, but damn did he look good. He was dressed in black cargo pants and a teal green shirt. His hair was rough and uncombed. He'd obviously come straight from bed.As soon as he entered, his eyes started scanning for her until he saw her and their eyes met. He pressed his lips together and started walking towards her, not breaking eye contact.From the corner of her eyes, she saw Adele pulling a reluctant Sheila away and into the house to give them some privacy.“Faith”, Devlin said softly as soon as he reached her.“Devlin”, she replied, breaking their eye contact now that he was close. It felt uncomfortable to continue to look him in the eyes like that. Also, she was worried her heart would go into overdrive at the sight of him.It wouldn't do to show him how much he was affecting her. Not w
As she drove to his house, she could not help but feel nervous. This would be the first time she was seeing him since they went on the road trip together and he had all but said he’d be fine with whatever direction their relationship took.She had been a friend when he desperately needed one but now that she had offered all the help she could as a friend, she could not continue with that. And even though she was the one who severed their relationship in the fist place, she loved him too much to be able to accept that.She drove like a madman, remembering ironically that she'd called Sheila that just earlier that day. She was mostly nervous and worried for him but underneath the nervousness, she was excited to see him again and maybe that had a part to play in why she drove so fast too.She arrived at his house several minutes earlier than she should have, jumped down and practically ran to the front door. She pressed on the door bell.Devlin himself answered the door, but the sight th
After they had breakfast and washed the dishes, they moved to the living room to hang out. The next few hours were full of light-headed conversations while munching on snacks.Sheila suddenly reached out and smacked Faith on the head. "Hey! What was that for?" Faith complained.“We’re going to a pool party. You should come with us”, Sheila said with wide, innocent eyes. But her amused smile gave her away.“Yeah, you should come. It’ll be a lot of fun”, Adele added.“I don’t know. You know pool parties aren’t really my scene”, Faith replied shaking her head. “You guys go have fun.”“Not without you, babe”, Sheila said.“Yes, pleeease”, Adele added pleadingly.“I don’t know”, Faith said. She was not really feeling it.“Come on, you had a lot of fun yesterday, right?” Adele asked her.“Yeah, but that’s different. That was you two. This time it’ll be a bunch of people I don’t know”, Faith replied trying to convince them.“It’ll be a lot of fun. And you won’t be with the bunch of people,
They got to the movies just in time to see a rom-com movie. Sheila wasn’t much for it but it was the only movie left that hadn’t started. They got some popcorn and drinks and went in to the cinema.It was always nice to spend time with Adele and Sheila, though they did not do it very often. A little into the movie, they started started talking to each other, making funny comments about the actors.One of the attendants came up to them and told them to keep quiet. Apparently, someone somewhere had complained they were disturbing everyone. They agreed to keep it down and the attendant walked back up t his post.A little later, they could not help it and just started talking again. Adele who did not seem too enthusiastic about the movie at first started shouting out her comments loud enough for the entire cinema to hear them.The attendant started for them once more but seemed to decide against it halfway and turned back. Maybe because everyone was laughing and no one was complaining. Sh
They ate the dinner prepared by Laura and once again, they offered to wash the dishes. Laura agreed after much persuasion. Once they finished with that, they went back to the living room where they struck up a conversation.“So Faith, how did you meet Devlin," his father asked.“Devlin reapplied to College. He needed a tutor and fortunately for him, I was available--the highest scoring entrant that year.”“Tutoring him could not have been easy. He must have been a pain in the ass. Pardon my language.”Faith smiled. “Oh, don't worry about it. And yes, he we incredibly insufferable. He’s lucky I was patient because I don’t know what he would have done without me.”“Well, thank you for staying by his side even when he’s such an idiot”, he said looking at her in a way that made her feel like he also understood what was going on. Was that something every parent had, she wondered.Devlin didn’t seem to understand since he was just laughing. He looked like he was really happy to be back home
Walking up to the house seemed to take forever. Now that they were here, Faith could not help but be nervous. She was nervous for him of course, but she was also nervous for herself, because she was going to meet the parents of the man she had been dating. Well, use to date.She had no reason to be nervous since they were not seeing each other anymore- for the moment- and she was only supporting him as a friend. Her body however had a mind if its own as she could not stop fidgeting.Eventually, they got to the door but nobody knocked. Devlin seemed to be a little scared so she fought down her own nervousness and knocked for him.A few seconds later, a man who looked exactly like Devlin, except older, opened the door. Immediately he saw who his visitor was, his eyes widened in surprise and a smile gradually formed on his face."D-Dad, its-its been a while", Devlin said looking down unable to meet his father's eyes."Devlin. What are you standing there for? Give your old man a hug."Wit
"So, tell me what happened", Faith said immediately."Well, I got in, and we talked and...""Oh no, my bad. First, what happened at the door?""This is going to be long, isn't it?""Well, the faster you answer, the sooner it'll be over"."How about I just give you a detailed summary of what happened?""Ok, alright." "When I rang the doorbell and she opened up, she was of course surprised to see me. I couldn't tell if she was scared because she sent the letter or was just still angry. Either way, I was still to blame"."She asked me what I was doing there and I told her I just came to talk. Of course, she replied that I was a few years too late and I did not have any right to come into her home after all that time.""Then I remembered what you said about speaking from my heart and I just told her, "I know that I ran away, but I loved your daughter. And it's because I loved her so much, that I risked coming all this way and getting turned back to get a chance to make things right.""By
Two days later, Faith and Devlin were in her car on their way to Isabella's parent's house. They chose her car since it wasn't as flashy as his and conveyed at least a bit of humility.They had left very early in the morning. He had to drive to her house first since she insisted they take her car. He arrived to meet her ready, so they started the journey without him having to enter her apartment.It had been a very silent trip. He was terrified of what he was on his way to do. She didn't quite know what to say to him, so they spent their time doing separate things, her on her phone and he pretending to be focused on driving.After a while, he stopped the car on the side of the road and said to her, "Would you please take over driving. My hands can't seem to stop shaking"."Of course", she replied at once. She then immediately came out of the vehicle and switched seats with him.Once they were back on the road, he turned to her, "I don't even know what I'll say, how to start. I just te