Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
“How about we have some fun? I know I’m old, and you probably don’t think this, but I can be a laugh.” Anne held onto her arm, and smiled up at her.
Faith giggled. “Okay.”
“Caleb’s not going to hurt you. I hope you know that.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore, to be honest. I’ve never … I don’t know what to do.”
“Learn to have a little faith, dear.”
This time she did smile. “Like my name.”
“I think your name is beautiful.”
“Dad told me that my mom gave it to me. He didn’t want her to name me that, thought it would make me too big for my boots.”
“Men don’t get it, sweet. They never do.”
“Do you have any children?”
“Nope. I don’t have any, and I never want to have any either. I’m happy taking care of my Carson boys. I’ve been with them for so long they feel like mine.”
She laughed. “I bet you’d have made one hell of a mom. Baking cookies, and just being you.”
Faith liked Anne. She felt comfortable with the other woman, more so than anyone else in her life.
“I’ll never know. Now, let’s get you dressed.”
Before Faith could argue, or try to get out of going shopping, Anne took her from one shop to another. She’d never liked clothes shopping. There was nothing more boring than looking through piles of clothes, hoping to find something that fit. This was just another of those reasons that she never fit in.
Of course, no matter how difficult she made it for Anne, she still ended up in a changing room trying on jeans, shirts, skirts, and even dresses.
She hated it.
Some of the dresses showed off her knees. Others fit to her curves, which she didn’t like. After years of wearing her father’s hand-me-downs, or just buying clothes way too big for her to grow into, she wasn’t used to this kind of luxury.
“You look absolutely beautiful. Now, we’re going to have your hair cut.”
She quickly pulled away from Anne. “No. My hair stays.”
“I don’t mean all the way off.” Anne held up some of her hair. “Just the split ends to clean it up a bit. Don’t worry about a thing, sweetheart. I’ll be right there.”
Faith hated being treated like a child, but seeing no point in arguing, she followed Anne toward the hairdressers, where she then sat for over an hour while a man worked. She didn’t even get a woman working on her hair, which only served to piss her off.
Anne at least stayed true to her promise. She stood right there the whole time, talking, and making sure the guy did a damn good job.
By the end of the day, Faith was exhausted. She didn’t want to do anything else other than collapse in her bed, far away from everyone and everything.
When she entered home though, there was no such luck as Caleb was waiting for them. Anne had asked her to dress in one of the skirts and blouses, and Faith had only agreed to one that fell below the knee. It was a blue one with flowers all over it. The white shirt went well with it, and she also wore a jacket.
“Did you have a nice day?” Caleb asked.
She looked toward Anne, who shrugged. “She hates to shop, and I don’t think you should get used to it. I got as much as I could this time.”
Anne left, making her way up toward Faith’s bedroom.
Caleb stepped in front of her. “You don’t like shopping?”
“I know. It makes me weird, right?”
His gaze traveled down her body, and she didn’t like the way she responded to that look. How she liked it. Her nipples tightened, and she was so pleased the jacket covered her reaction so he didn’t see it.
In the past few weeks, she’d noticed that she responded to him in ways she never had to any other man.
She wasn’t immune to him, and she found that hard to deal with.
“You look pretty, and this really suits you.”
She ran a hand down her skirt, lifting it just a little. The fabric was soft and nice. “I like it.”
“But you don’t like shopping.”
“Nope. Anne made it fun though. She’s a hard one to say no to.”
“That’s why I put her in charge.”
“Will you be staying for dinner?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know, Faith. Will you be joining me?”
She tilted her head to the side, thinking about it. “I may.”
“Good, I’ll stick around for dinner so long as I have you for company.”
Before either of them could say anything else, his cell phone rang.
“Excuse me.”
He stepped away, moving toward his office, and for a long time she just stood there, watching him.
Finally, after several minutes had passed, she shook her head and made her way upstairs where Anne was already putting away her clothes.
“I can do that.”