Chapter 10: Losing Faith

Faith sat at her desk sorting yesterday's work orders. She never heard Edwin come in behind her and jumped as his hands gripped her shoulders and started massaging them.

"Oh, geez!" Faith yelled at him. "Bark or something, will ya?"

She couldn't see him, but knew he smiled. "Should I stop?"

Faith lowered her head and relaxed, allowing herself to enjoy the shoulder massage. "Maybe in a year. For now, keep going. I like."

Edwin Coldwell just laughed. "If you turn around, we can both enjoy it."

Faith spun her chair around without warning, her face stopping before his waist. With a mischievous grin, she said, "Sure. Let's see what you've got."

He tapped her nose with his finger, still chuckling as she wiggled her eyebrows at him. "I came to tell you your sister will be late."

"And that's different how?"

"I know. I know." Edwin leaned back on Cherish's vacant desk. "Apparently little Jordie was sick this morning. She's taking him to the doctor and will be here at noon."

"I hope she brings lunch."

"If you need something to eat...." Edwin pointed to his crotch, grinning.

"I already said whip it out. You're the one who backed up." She held up her hands and spun back around to her desk. "Hurt a girl's feelings, why don't ya?"

Edwin pushed himself off the desk, walked up behind her and kissed the top of her head. "One day, I'll surprise you and do it. Then what'll you do?"

"Surprise me, and we'll find out."

She heard him chuckle as he kissed her head again and walked out.

Nine minutes after noon, Faith's sister walked in and dropped her purse on her desk. "I hate doctors." Faith swiveled her chair to face her sister, who wore the look of aggravation on her pale face.

"What was wrong with Jordie?"

Cherish plopped into her chair, glanced at the list of to-dos on her desk, then quickly ignored them. "A cold. That's it, a cold. They gave me a fifty-six-dollar prescription for medicine and a 'Have a nice day.'"

"Well, it is March. Cold weather and warm weather flipping back and forth every few minutes. Florida weather breeds colds throughout the year."

Cherish just shrugged. "So, what did I miss?"

Faith turned back around. "Not a thing. Morning paperwork is done. Everyone's at their jobs, and the guys are at lunch. A typical day."

Cherish picked up the thick manila folder of applications that sat in the middle of her desk. "Yea, typical."

Faith just laughed as she returned to the task of answering emails. Cherish had worked for Rutherford Construction two years prior to Faith's getting hired on and was, in fact, the reason Faith got the job. Cherish was the human resources person for their office, and three years ago, when the previous secretary, Betsy Farmer, moved to one of the offices in West Palm Beach, Cherish got Faith hired. Not wanting her younger sister to regret getting her the job, Faith busted her ass and soon became more valuable to the company than Cherish.

And Cherish knew it.

"Hey, Faith," a baritone voice interrupted her thoughts as she entered the laborers' time sheets for the Nasa Medical Complex. Jed stood in the doorway. His smile was bright in the center of his dark beard and mustache, and his chocolate eyes always matched his smile. "Edwin needs you to do a check on the spare trucks for the teams he has to send beachside for those new condo units."

"I'll get right on it." Faith couldn't help but smile back. She finished her email and then scooped up her clipboard. "I'll be out back," she told Cherish as she passed by her desk.

"Whatever," was all the response she received back.

Faith shook her head once as she passed through the door but came up short as she was instantly tangled up in another set of arms.

"Where to, gorgeous?" Deon wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight.

"Oh, for....You scared the hell out of me, Deon." Faith didn't push away. Deon was half Mexican and half American and thought he was a god to the ladies. At twenty-two, he was merely a player.

He squeezed Faith's ass before letting go. "You're all Heaven, baby." He winked at her and then walked off.

Faith closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could still feel the kid's hands on her ass, and that brought a smile to her face. With another deep breath, she continued down the hall to the building's back door. Deon was a player, all right. He would nail any girl he could and brag on it to everyone who would listen. Still, it was fun to imagine. And Faith imagined it. A lot.

Faith, Faith, Faith. What on earth are you thinking? He's a kid. She turned and glimpsed the young, muscular youth as he turned the corner, probably on his way to harass Ashlynn. He was definitely nice to look at. "Faith, stop that," she scolded herself as she passed out the back door and into the afternoon sun. Her thought processes had changed so much since their time in the Keys last October. Sex had been a major no-no before that, at least enjoying it was. Not that she didn't enjoy sex. She did. Very much. It's just that she had to shut that away. She discovered what she liked in high school, but it was wrong. All wrong. And it was contrary to what her parents raised her to believe, at least her mother. Her father shied away from any conversation dealing with sex of any kind, and Faith's mother raised her in an extremely strict legalistic Southern Baptist way. Discussing sex was forbidden.

"Your husband will teach you on your wedding night how to please him. He's the one who will matter, so there's no sense discussing it until then." Her mom gave the same answer every time. Faith couldn't remember a time when her parents would have had sex. No child wants to know about their parents doing it, but there were usually signs it happened. Yet, there never were.

Their mother forbade the Driscoll girls even to comment on whether a boy was cute or not.

That was purely "of the flesh and Satan." Faith didn't know much about it being from Satan, but it was surely from the flesh as her panties were soaking wet quite often. It wasn't until she married Selby that she wore her first pair of thongs. He bought them for her, and it took her forever to try them on for him. Her entire ass was exposed, after all. Good girls didn't wear such dental floss, her mother raised Faith to think.

Faith couldn't help but laugh as she remembered how her mom found a pair when she helped Faith fold clothes one morning. It wasn't an approving reaction.

"What's so funny?" Edwin came out from between two of the trucks, the wind whipping his raven-black hair, a Salem cigarette in his fingers.

Faith hugged the clipboard to her chest as she leaned back against one of the vehicles. "I was thinking of my mom. Remember Cherish and I telling you how strict our family was, well, my mom anyway?"

Propping a foot on the rear bumper of the red Ford F150, Edwin nodded, his hands resting on the closed tailgate. "Your dad was pretty easygoing, but your mom was rigid. Then Cherish broke all the rules and got away with it."

"She was mother's baby, and now, she's momma's bitch." Edwin arched an eyebrow at that, but Faith ignored it. "Anyway, Mom visited us shortly after I married Selby and helped me fold some laundry. Selby had bought me some lacy thongs, and Mom picked up a pair. Oh my god, you would have thought she picked up a snake." Both started laughing as Faith told the story. "'What has that boy done to you?' my mom squealed, dropping the thong on the bed. She only believed in granny panties. I don't think she came back to our 'house of sin' for a couple of months."

"Now see, if I had your thongs in my hands, I'd be back daily." Edwin grinned at her.

Faith blushed as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Promises, promises."

"Oh, I promise."

"I can only imagine." Faith laughed as she pushed herself off the truck. "Now, let me get these inspections done. When do the new crews start?"

Edwin took a drag from his cigarette as he stared into her eyes. "I bet you went back to granny panties."

Faith laughed and reached a finger into her jeans' waist and pulled out the string to her thong. "Nope."

Edwin tossed the stump of his cigarette into the yard as he laughed. "That's not what I was hoping for."

"I know." Faith grinned at him and walked away. "Maybe if you're a good boy."

"Edwin!" Jed called from the back door.

Edwin waved that he was coming. He turned back to Faith, who was unlocking the first truck's passenger door. "Oh, and I can be incredibly good. Promise." He smiled at her and then walked away, hands tucked into his front pockets.

"Don't you have a new girlfriend?" She called out to him.

He spun, walking backward now. "And you have a husband." He shrugged and spun back around.

Faith watched him walk away, wondering just how good Edwin Coldwell could be. And if his girlfriend knew how much of a flirt he was.