schedule.
“So you don’t go back to work until…Monday?” Mick asked.
“Monday at noon,” Faith said, moaning with appreciation as she set her fork down and gazed sadly at her empty plate. “Oh my god, that really was the best rib-eye I’ve ever had. I hate to see it end. I think I’m going to tear up a little.”
Mick laughed. “Don’t tear up. We’ll come back again before too long.”
Faith looked up, meeting his gaze across the table, confusion and contentment warring within her. On one hand, she was so pleasantly full and enjoying herself so much it seemed a shame to go poking at things, but on the other hand, it wasn’t low-key to hint that they’d be dining out at fancy restaurants together for the foreseeable future.
In the end, confusion won out. She was about to ask Mick what was going on, and if this was really what he considered a casual date, when her phone blared like a fog horn inside her wallet.
“Sorry, let me check who it is.” She fumbled to grab the phone before the other diners banded together and threw her out for destroying the mood.
It was an unfamiliar number, but she answered the call anyway, thinking it might be one of her cousins. They were always getting a hair up their butt to take a trip and calling her in the middle of the night from Memphis, Biloxi, or some bar down in Panama City to make sure she knew all the fun she was missing.
“Hello?” Faith moved her napkin from her lap to the table, in case she needed to step outside.
“Faith?” The second the voice on the other end of the line sobbed her name, Faith knew her night was ruined.
“Hold on, Mama. I’m somewhere I can’t talk, give me a second,” Faith said softly, before covering the bottom of her phone with her hands. “I have to take this,” she said to Mick, rising from her chair. “And I’ll probably have to leave when I’m done. It’s my mom, and from the sound of it she’s in trouble again.”
“I’ll pay the check and meet you outside,” Mick said, not missing a beat. “No worries. Go take your call.”
Faith nodded, relieved that he wasn’t going to make a big deal out of her needing to bail. Her first, and only, long-term boyfriend, Eli, had been laid back most of the time—which Faith had appreciated after her drama-filled childhood—but he had hated sudden changes in plans. Every time Faith had backed out of something last minute, whether it was because of her mom, or because somebody at the firehouse needed help, or simply because she didn’t feel well, Eli had gone into a sulk that would last for days.
His final sulk, which started at a Halloween party when Faith asked to go home early because she’d been awake for almost twenty-four hours and was afraid she was going to fall asleep in the punch bowl, had been the last straw. She’d dumped him that night and only occasionally thought of him since.
Sure, there were nights when she was so lonely she would curl up in a ball on the couch and cuddle Mr. Snugglepants like a pathetic old cat lady, but most of the time she was fine. In her mind, it was better to be alone than weighed down by a man who brought more misery to her life than joy.
Her mama, of course, was of a different opinion…
“What’s up, Mama?” Faith stepped out onto the darkened street, wandering away from David’s front door to stand in the warm glow of the streetlight.
“Oh, honey,” her mama said, her voice thick with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Faith said, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Mama always started off with a good five minutes of apologies, but as far as Faith was concerned they were a waste of time and breath. If her mama was really sorry for inconveniencing her and, occasionally, when it came to helping kick men twice Faith’s size out of Pressie’s house, putting her in danger, then Pressie would have changed her behavior.
But she hadn’t changed, not one damned bit since Faith was a little
“So you don’t go back to work until…Monday?” Mick asked.
“Monday at noon,” Faith said, moaning with appreciation as she set her fork down and gazed sadly at her empty plate. “Oh my god, that really was the best rib-eye I’ve ever had. I hate to see it end. I think I’m going to tear up a little.”
Mick laughed. “Don’t tear up. We’ll come back again before too long.”
Faith looked up, meeting his gaze across the table, confusion and contentment warring within her. On one hand, she was so pleasantly full and enjoying herself so much it seemed a shame to go poking at things, but on the other hand, it wasn’t low-key to hint that they’d be dining out at fancy restaurants together for the foreseeable future.
In the end, confusion won out. She was about to ask Mick what was going on, and if this was really what he considered a casual date, when her phone blared like a fog horn inside her wallet.
“Sorry, let me check who it is.” She fumbled to grab the phone before the other diners banded together and threw her out for destroying the mood.
It was an unfamiliar number, but she answered the call anyway, thinking it might be one of her cousins. They were always getting a hair up their butt to take a trip and calling her in the middle of the night from Memphis, Biloxi, or some bar down in Panama City to make sure she knew all the fun she was missing.
“Hello?” Faith moved her napkin from her lap to the table, in case she needed to step outside.
“Faith?” The second the voice on the other end of the line sobbed her name, Faith knew her night was ruined.
“Hold on, Mama. I’m somewhere I can’t talk, give me a second,” Faith said softly, before covering the bottom of her phone with her hands. “I have to take this,” she said to Mick, rising from her chair. “And I’ll probably have to leave when I’m done. It’s my mom, and from the sound of it she’s in trouble again.”
“I’ll pay the check and meet you outside,” Mick said, not missing a beat. “No worries. Go take your call.”
Faith nodded, relieved that he wasn’t going to make a big deal out of her needing to bail. Her first, and only, long-term boyfriend, Eli, had been laid back most of the time—which Faith had appreciated after her drama-filled childhood—but he had hated sudden changes in plans. Every time Faith had backed out of something last minute, whether it was because of her mom, or because somebody at the firehouse needed help, or simply because she didn’t feel well, Eli had gone into a sulk that would last for days.
His final sulk, which started at a Halloween party when Faith asked to go home early because she’d been awake for almost twenty-four hours and was afraid she was going to fall asleep in the punch bowl, had been the last straw. She’d dumped him that night and only occasionally thought of him since.
Sure, there were nights when she was so lonely she would curl up in a ball on the couch and cuddle Mr. Snugglepants like a pathetic old cat lady, but most of the time she was fine. In her mind, it was better to be alone than weighed down by a man who brought more misery to her life than joy.
Her mama, of course, was of a different opinion…
“What’s up, Mama?” Faith stepped out onto the darkened street, wandering away from David’s front door to stand in the warm glow of the streetlight.
“Oh, honey,” her mama said, her voice thick with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Faith said, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Mama always started off with a good five minutes of apologies, but as far as Faith was concerned they were a waste of time and breath. If her mama was really sorry for inconveniencing her and, occasionally, when it came to helping kick men twice Faith’s size out of Pressie’s house, putting her in danger, then Pressie would have changed her behavior.
But she hadn’t changed, not one damned bit since Faith was a little
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