All of Me (24 page)

Lacey swept around the house and onto the deck, holding several shopping bags and a brown paper-wrapped package. “I’m suntanned and I’m exhausted.” She plopped onto a chair. “Honeymoons are awesome.”

Mia grinned. “Sounds like you had a fabulous time.”

“It really was spectacular. What’s wrong?” Lacey zeroed in on Faith.

Before she could answer, Mia filled in the gaps for Lacey.

“Oh, sweetie.” Lacey jumped off her chair and wrapped her in a hug. “Jake didn’t tell me Alec was already gone. I thought he’d wait until we got back . . . never mind. How are you holding up?”

“I tried to offer candy therapy, but she refused.”

Lacey peeked into the nearly empty bag. “Craving much?”

Faith laughed, for the first time in too long. “She’s been eating them day and night for the past week.”

Lacey patted Faith’s knee. “I have something that might make you feel better. I meant to give it to you before the wedding, but things got crazy with last-minute details.” She lifted the package and handed it to her. “It’s sentimental, so be prepared. I just . . . I hope you like it.”

Faith accepted the package, confused. “You didn’t have to get me anything. What’s the occasion?”

“Consider it a late birthday present. It’s not exactly store bought.”

Lacey and Mia exchanged a look she didn’t understand, so Faith tore into the wrapping.

The instant she recognized what she was looking at, tears blurred her vision. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Oh. Oh no. I made it worse.” Lacey moved to sit next to her, their hips brushing. “I painted it, so I can destroy it. Don’t cry.”

“I . . . love it.”

Through the watery haze of tears, she looked at the image of herself and Hope smiling on the canvas. Faith recognized the pose as one from a photo taken in the hospital. The one sitting on her fireplace mantel. Except in Lacey’s painting, Hope had all her hair and the beach spread out behind them.

“Sweetie, stop crying,” Lacey said. “Are you sure you like it? I won’t be offended.”

Mia came over and sat on her other side. The two people she’d grown to love as if they were her own sisters sandwiched her in a hug.

Hope would have loved them, would have loved this place.

“I love you guys. Thank you, Lacey. This is perfect.”

Faith sat on the edge of her bed, phone clutched in her hand and the portrait Lacey gave her a few days ago in front of her for courage. Sunlight spilled into the room through the window at her back, the warmth calming her nerves.

Alec was right. It was time to stop wasting her time and thoughts and efforts trying to make her parents love her. Time to stop offering her heart to those who would never accept it. She’d spoken to her parents twice since Alec left, and both times the conversation had been shallow and brief. She’d tried to talk about Hope, about her feelings, but they’d rushed her off the phone.

She sucked in air and connected the call. Her parents’ answering machine kicked in, playing their greeting. Right about now, Dad would be picking up Mom from choir practice, so it was the perfect time to leave a message. If she waited just ten more minutes, they’d be home. Mom would make lunch and Dad would start a pitcher of unsweetened
tea. They’d stand side by side in the kitchen, as they did every day, barely conscious of each other.

The beep startled her and she fisted her pendant in reflex. “Hi. It’s me.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to leave a message like this, but when I try to talk to you, you don’t let me. I just . . . I want you to know that I loved her, too.” She pressed her hand over her eyes to try to combat the tears and get through the message. “I miss her, too, and I’m sorry, so sorry I couldn’t save her like you wanted.”

She rose and paced the floor, pausing a moment to catch her breath. “I even understand why you did what you did. But she died and I didn’t. I’m still right here and all I ever wanted was for you to love me half as much . . .”

Cutting herself and that thought off, she shook her head. “None of that matters.” Her gaze dropped to the bracelet on her wrist. “I fell in love. I wanted you to know. It’s the best and worst feeling imaginable. And I’m going to miss Hope every day, but I’m moving on. I love you.”

Her voice cracked as she disconnected the call. Hot tears trailed down her cheeks as her chest released a violent sob. She curled up on her bed and wept. Soul-jerking tears that she had subdued for too long. She pressed her face into the quilt and let go.

Afterward, as her cheeks dried and the vise in her throat eased, she vowed to shed no more tears for the past. If it took all her energy and years to accomplish, she was going to move on. She had wonderful friends, a job she loved, and the ocean to heal her when things became too overwhelming.

When she thought she could manage, she got up and padded down the hall to the kitchen to start a kettle for tea. A knock on the front door came as she took a bag out of the cabinet. She wasn’t expecting anyone, especially not Jake, as she opened the door.

“Hey.” He rocked on his heels. “Mia said you were on the market for a new place?”

She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Um, yes. I’m not in any hurry, but I planned on looking for an apartment next week.”

He nodded and swallowed, seeming nervous. “I think I found the perfect spot. Are you up for a short drive?”

“Well . . .” She glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen. What the heck? She needed to get out of the house anyway. “Sure. Just let me turn the burner off.”

Pocketing her cell and keys, she moved the kettle and switched off the stove.

They climbed in Jake’s pickup truck and made their way down the drive.

He turned the radio down. “It’s not far.”

“Okay.”

She tilted her face toward the window and the trees whizzing by for all of thirty seconds before Jake pulled into another driveway. She lifted her brows in question.

“Told you it wasn’t far.”

A house came into view. It resembled something more appropriate for the mountains than the beach, and it needed a lot of help because it had obviously been left unattended for a long time, but she liked the unique architecture. The front porch wrapped around both sides. Unlike Lacey and Jake’s house, or Cole and Mia’s, this one was higher up on the bluff. Behind the house, the ocean gleamed in the sun for as far as her eye could see.

“Jake, I can’t afford this.” By like five million dollars or so.

He turned to her but didn’t meet her eye. “Just trust me. Let’s go take a peek.”

Sighing, she followed him out of the truck and over the broken concrete driveway. Palm trees, mixed with pines and overgrown fauna, surrounded the property. The porch seemed sturdy. The exterior was in decent shape. Considering it was composed of logs, it didn’t need paint.

Instead of knocking, Jake turned the knob on the front door and stepped inside. “Come on.”

“Jake, we can’t just walk into someone’s house.”

“It’s been in foreclosure for years.” He rolled his eyes when she still wouldn’t budge. “Come on, darlin’.”

She stepped inside and through a small foyer to a living room that was way bigger than it looked from the outside. A floor-to-ceiling redbrick fireplace was situated in one corner. To the right was a staircase and straight ahead the kitchen. Nearly the entire ocean side of the house was glass. There were hardwood floors throughout, although they needed to be refinished. Two small rooms with built-in shelves were off the living room, and she imagined they’d make a great office or library.

Jake hurried her along to the second floor and pointed out three bedrooms. “The master is through here.”

Again, she wondered what they were doing here. Never in her wildest dreams could she afford this house. It was lovely and full of promise. It spoke to her of serenity and just enough seclusion to be comfortable. But still, it could never be hers.

She walked into the master bedroom and gasped when she saw the wall-to-wall windows. The ocean spread out before her, and a set of patio doors led out to a porch. It was so amazing her eyes misted. Oh, to have this view every day . . . Not that she could.

Jake cleared his throat from behind her. “Do you like it?”

“Yes. I love it . . .” She turned and the words died in her throat. The blood rushed through her veins with such force that the roar in her ears deafened.

Jake slipped from the room.

Alec crossed his arms and smiled. “I’m glad you like the house. Because I bought it.”

*   *   *

Faith stood staring at him through those round amber eyes that he missed with every beat of his heart, and he knew he hadn’t prepared himself enough for what seeing her again would do to him.

Ten days. Ten of the worst goddamn days of his life he’d spent away from her. It was an eternity as far as he was concerned. His hands itched to touch. His arms needed to hold. But he stayed where he was—he had to follow the plan.

“Alec?”

Her mermaid voice whispering his name was nearly his undoing. He took a step forward.

“What are you doing here?” She fisted her pendant. “Wait? You bought the house?
This
house?”

Distracted by the way the light softened her pale skin and haloed around her body, he almost didn’t answer her question. He’d missed her freckles, too. Every last one of them.

He cleared his throat. “Yes. I bought
this
house. Would you like to know why?”

She nodded and ran her hand across her forehead as if not believing her own eyes.

“I pictured you opening your eyes every morning here in this room, with the view of the ocean you love so much, and you’d smile as you woke up. You would drink your tea out there on the deck, shaking your head at me for eating a donut and guzzling coffee. You do have much healthier eating habits than me. I may try to break you of some of those in the next thirty years.”

Her eyes went from wide to bulging. “Alec—”

“Not done.” He nudged his chin toward the hall. “The three other bedrooms are to fill with kids. Loud, energetic little monsters with my sense of adventure and your big heart.”

Her gaze darted to the doorway and then back to him. “Kids?”

He shrugged. “I prefer three, but we can negotiate.”

“Three kids,” she mumbled, her tone indicating she wasn’t fully caught up to him yet. His Faith, ever surprised.

Though he grinned—because damn, she was adorable all flustered—his heart was pounding a mile a minute. There was no guarantee she’d want the same things. The option of
a future together hadn’t been a possibility before, and now that it was and he was doing his spiel, he was in full freak-out mode. He had to make her see, make her understand, there was no future for him without her.

“Can you follow me downstairs? I can tell you the other reasons.”

“Oh. Yes. Sure.”

With her following silently at his heels, they descended the stairs and stopped in the living room. “I’d like to tear down the wall between those two rooms and make it one so I can use it as an office. On your days off, you could snuggle on an oversized armchair here and read a book while listening to me type. I know you like the sound because you get this little smile on your face when you hear me working.”

The confusion in her eyes began to clear, and was replaced with hesitant optimism.

He waved his hand toward the kitchen, indicating she should precede him. After only a moment, she walked around the corner and then came to an abrupt halt.

Her gaze swept the room, taking in Cole, Mia, Lacey, Jake, Ginny, and both his parents. Slowly, she craned her head around to look at him.

Alec came up behind her and dropped his hands on her shoulders, touching her for the first time since being home. He brushed his thumbs over her soft skin and inhaled her sugary scent. The pull was still there between them, stronger than ever, even with her in shock at finding the others waiting in the kitchen.

He kissed her temple and spoke into her hair. “The house can hold our whole family. For get-togethers or holidays. Whatever. Not only the family in front of you, because make no mistake, they are your family now, but also the family we can build together. The one I want to make with you.”

She emitted a choking sound—of disbelief or joy, he wasn’t sure. Her hand flew over her mouth, then both hands covered her face. Her shoulders shook with a sob.

Alec darted a quick glance at Jake.

Jake shrugged, looking just as lost.

Alec blew out a breath and dug in his pocket. “Turn around, Faith. Please, look at me.”

She dropped her hands and moved to face him, her teeth working her lower lip and doing everything in her power to hold off the tears. Her eyes shimmered, pleading with him.

“I said good-bye to Laura while I was in New York. I should’ve done it a long time ago, but I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t met you yet.” He dropped his forehead to hers and swallowed past the lump. “I put my apartment on the market. The bank accepted the offer I put on this house. The house I want for us, because I don’t ever want to be away from you again.”

He edged back far enough to hold out a little black box between them. It held an antique ring with a tear-drop diamond. The beauty was in the intricate gold band, as the carvings and design were similar to her pendant’s. It wasn’t big, nor was it flashy. It was perfect for Faith. Delicate and unique. An old ring because she was an old soul.

Her chest stopped rising and falling. Her eyes grew huge.

“I love you, in case you hadn’t figured it out. Marry me?”

Her gaze lifted from the ring to his face, exploring every inch as if searching for a lie. One day, if it was the last thing he did, she’d look at him and accept that she was worth the moon and more. In the meantime, he’d work at it for as long as it took. Forever if he had to.

I love you
, he mouthed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’re my one person.” She smiled and took his face in her hands. “Mia said it only takes one person to make you believe in yourself. You’re my one person. I love you, too. So, so much. Of course I’ll marry you.”

The air whooshed from his lungs. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her to her toes, smacking a kiss on her lips. They had an audience behind her—an audience who was
cheering like fools—so he’d do a proper kiss later. In private. All damn night long.

“I love you, Faith.” He cupped the back of her head and kissed her again, wishing like hell the others would just go away for a while. Two weeks. A year, tops.

Jake laughed. “You had us worried there for a minute, Faith.”

“Yay.” Lacey clapped. “A baby shower
and
a wedding to plan. I can’t wait to get started.”

Faith laughed, but her gaze never left Alec’s. “I can’t wait to get started, either.”

Congratulations went around many times over as he slid the ring on Faith’s finger. Cole warned them to be careful of how much leeway they gave Lacey in planning, and Mia waved her hand, dismissing his concerns. His parents chimed in, chatting about venues and ideas for the house.

But in Alec’s opinion, Ginny said it best.

“Welcome to the
family.”