Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 155903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
“And money has been tight here,” her dad admitted. “The workload is still there, and I just don’t have money for help. It’s no excuse and we were planning to come soon.”
“But every time we talked to Cammie, she said you were busy and didn’t want us there,” her mom said. “Brett even saved up enough money to come visit but when he spoke to Cammie she told him that you’d said not to come.”
That bitch.
Betrayal made her heart race. “Cammie said that?”
Her mom nodded, eyes glistening.
“Cammie and I aren’t friends anymore. She was . . . she was using me for money. And now I find out that she was lying to you, I don’t think we can ever be friends again.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” her mom said. “I shouldn’t have listened to her.”
“You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault. I did want to see you. I just didn’t know how to reach out and tell you that because I was so ashamed of losing your money.”
“Oh, sweetie, that wasn’t your fault,” her mom said, wrapping her arms around her.
“We never blamed you or were upset with you,” her father told her gruffly.
“I hate that you thought we were,” her mom said. “And we didn’t want you to know how bad things were because we didn’t want you to feel awful.”
“Plus, we were ashamed.” Her father dropped his head and Faith reached over to hug him.
“I guess we’re all at fault. No more, though. I missed you guys so much. All of you.”
“Anyway, the shop failing had nothing to do with you. It was all Matt’s fault,” her father said. “Asshole.”
“What do you mean? Matt isn’t an asshole.”
“He is, Faith,” Rod, her second oldest brother said as he and Brett walked up to them.
Brett nodded. “A complete dick. We’d give him a hiding if he’d fight like a man, but he runs away when he sees us coming.”
She was aware of Reuben walking toward her; he had set Eloise down somewhere.
“There you are,” her grandpa said, frowning at him. “What sort of car is that you’re driving?”
“A rental,” Reuben said smoothly, sitting across from her.
Grandpa Jake grunted. “You’re a city boy.”
“I am.”
“You think you can take care of our Faith?”
She groaned at her Grandpa’s questions.
Reuben met her gaze, looking unfazed. “I can, and I will.”
“How’s that?” Grandpa Jake asked.
“By destroying anyone who harms her.”
Everyone gaped at Reuben.
Grandpa Jake nodded. “You’ll do. Better than that other weasel.”
“You’re talking about Matt?” Reuben asked.
“Yes, the asshole stole all the money from Faith’s shop,” Brett said.
“What are you talking about? No, the shop just went bankrupt.”
“Yeah? Then how come he’s got so much cash to wave about?” Lance said, coming up behind Reuben. “Him and Shelby.”
“What?” she asked. “My nemesisisis, Shelby Colby-Dolby?”
Her family didn’t blink at her mispronunciation of nemesis. They were used to her Little peeking out.
“It’s just Shelby Colby now. She’s separated from Bart. Matt started living with her a few months ago,” Brett said.
“But it wouldn’t surprise me if they were together earlier than that,” Rod added.
“What? Do you think he was cheating on me?” she asked.
They all gave her sympathetic looks.
“Boy’s an idiot, that’s clear,” Grandpa Jake said. “Other than your penchant for trying to please everyone and your fear of thunderstorms, you’re a damn good catch.”
“Uh, thanks, Grandpa.”
“Of course, can’t blame you for getting scared of storms when you got stuck outside in one that time at my place. Couldn’t hear me calling over the noise. Found you when it had passed, you’d hidden under a tree. Not your smartest idea.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Dad!” her mom snapped. “You never told me that!”
Her grandpa scratched at his chin. “Didn’t I? Well, I probably had my reasons.”
Her mom looked like she was about to explode. Even though Faith wished her grandfather had said something earlier, at least she knew why she was scared now.
Seemed like everything was coming out now.
“I’ve been looking into Matt,” Reuben said, shocking her.
“You have?”
“Hmm. And I’ve had someone check into his finances.”
“You can do that?” her dad asked.
“Well, not me.” Reuben grinned. “And for a man without a job, Matt has a lot of money.”
“I was sending him some,” she said.
Her family all glared at her, but she kept her gaze on Reuben.
“He’s got more than what you sent him, baby. He just bought a brand-new Jeep. And went on a trip to Vegas.”
“I’m going to be sick. I trusted him, and he swindled me.”
Reuben crouched in front of her and took her hands in his. “Look at me. This is not your fault.”
“I lost everyone’s money!”
“Money we freely gave, Faith,” her father said. “We’re not upset with you.”
“But I overheard you talking about how tight things were. And putting off retirement.”
“Oh honey,” her mom said, eyes filling with tears. “You heard that? We never expected you to pay that money back. It was an investment in your future. We’ve just had a bad couple of years is all.”