He dragged her over to the coffee table and pressed on her shoulder until she dropped on the couch. Gesturing to the laptop, he said, “Eighty-five pages. That’s roughly twenty-two thousand words. All thanks to you.”

He’d started writing again. Her heartbeat tripped behind her ribs. Congratulations was on the tip of her tongue, but Ginny made a noise from the doorway and distracted her.

Ginny’s round eyes looked back and forth between them. Finally, her gaze landed on Alec. “Are you mad?”

“No.” His gentle voice contradicted the energy emanating off him. “No, Ginny. I’m not mad at all. I’m just a little excited. I’m—are those cookies?”

Ginny seemed hesitant, but passed him the plate. “You didn’t get any.”

“You are my favorite person.” He made a show of biting into a cookie and moaning. “Best cookies I ever had.”

Ginny beamed and clapped her hands. “Yay. Faith! Faith! He likes them.”

In the span of five seconds, Alec had Faith’s utmost respect and deep appreciation. Tears welled in her eyes. How a person treated the mentally handicapped, animals, and elderly said a lot about their character. Alec not only soothed Ginny, he complimented her and distracted her from why she’d grown upset. Above all, it clearly came naturally to him.

Faith bit her tongue and blinked rapidly so she didn’t embarrass herself. “I told you he’d like them.”

“I don’t like them. I love them.”

Oh boy. Time to go before she melted into a puddle at his feet. “Come on, Ginny. Back to math.”

Ginny pouted and waved good-bye.

Alec’s gaze followed Faith, his mouth twisting mid-chew. “Thanks, Faith. I mean it.”

She nodded because she didn’t think she could talk.

When they made their way back into the Covington house, Cole was leaning against the kitchen counter, reading a stack of papers and eating a cookie. “Don’t tell Mia.” He saluted them with the last bite and shoved it in his mouth.

Mia chose that moment to come downstairs. “Don’t tell me what? That you’re eating cookies again?”

Cole frowned. “But they’re good.”

Ginny giggled.

Faith sat at the table and waited for them to finish chatting before refocusing Ginny on her lesson. Mia had Cole on a high-protein diet, rich with fruits and vegetables, because of his injuries from when he was in the military. Cole abided by the diet, most of the time, and his leg cramps from his thigh wound were better for it. Mia also made him work out in the home gym every morning.

Faith watched them together, this mismatched family who loved each other so much. Cole was always touching Mia, smiling at Ginny. Mia put her sister above everything else, but never let a day go by without letting Cole know he was her true love, whether through words or subtle actions. They laughed and smiled and spent time together. Touched, hugged, and kissed.

Longing pulled at her chest. She wanted just a piece of that for a day. An hour, even. Some days she missed Hope so much it hurt.

Mia snatched a cookie out of Cole’s hand. “Have you thought about the trip, Ginny? How do you feel about us leaving for just a little while?”

Cole and Mia were supposed to be flying out on Monday, yet the contingency plan was to take Ginny along if she still appeared uncertain.

Ginny shrugged, her posture relaxed. “Okay.”

“Really, pretty girl? Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Mia patted her chest and sighed. She pulled Ginny in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you. You’ll have so much fun while we’re gone, you won’t even miss us.”

“Can I have a party?”

Cole laughed and covered it with a cough. “A party, huh? What kind of party?”

“A slumber party.” Ginny nodded emphatically. “With Lacey and Faith. Can I?”

Mia grinned. “Great idea. How about you and I make supersecret invitations this afternoon?”

chapter

eight

Alec parked the car next to Cole’s in the pier’s lot and turned to Faith. “You’re going to love this. Jake and I used to come down here as kids. Ready?”

“Yes.” Her stomach twisted and coiled, from excitement or nerves, she wasn’t sure.

Ginny bounced in the backseat. “I’m ready.”

Faith laughed. “Come on, then. Just stay close, sweetie. It looks like it’s pretty crowded.”

They exited the car and several scents accosted her at once. The salt from the ocean. Popcorn. Grilling meat. Roasted corn. Rain-drenched grass.

Ginny came up beside her and stared. “It’s so cool!”

It was pretty awesome. Against the fading sun, three massive piers jutted out over the ocean. The one on the left held a twenty-story-tall Ferris wheel. Food vendors lined both sides of the one in the center, and the one to the right had carnival games inside small tents. The beach in front of the piers was crowded with people sitting in the sand or at picnic tables. A DJ played music from a stage behind the dunes.

She looked at Alec only to find him staring at her feet. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Forgot you said you painted your toenails. It’s a turn-on.”

She looked down at her toes peeking out of her flip-flops, polished the pretty iridescent blue. A turn-on? Alec couldn’t possibly be flirting with her, could he? He really knew how to shut a girl up. Or knock her over. He drew his gaze away from her feet and out over the piers, while she fought to control her breathing.

“It’s busy,” Alec remarked when the others came up beside them.

Cole grunted. “Tourist season.”

Mia gave Cole a worried look that Faith pretended not to notice. After his injury, he didn’t go out in public often, and when he did, he hid the scars on his shoulder and neck. Tonight he’d worn a polo shirt, which covered most of the scars. Cole smiled and winked at Mia, letting her know he was fine. Faith pretended not to notice that, too. She’d never had that kind of unspoken bond with anyone, not even Hope.

She trailed behind the others as they made their way across the grass and to the beach. Alec fell in step beside her, watching her from the corner of his eye.

“If I buy you popcorn, will you eat it?”

Why wouldn’t her stomach calm down? “You don’t have to buy me popcorn.”

“I don’t have to do anything besides breathe and pay taxes. I want to do it.”

She fought a smile. “Yes, I’ll eat popcorn if you buy some. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ginny wanted games first, so they headed in that direction. Jake found a tent that had a ball toss, and they stopped so he could attempt to win a stuffed animal for Lacey. On his third attempt to knock down the pyramid of bottles, Faith sought a nearby bench and sat, figuring he’d be at it a while. Lacey clung to Jake’s arm, doing everything in her power to distract him. Ginny clapped and cheered him on, while Mia and Cole were involved in their own conversation.

Faith found herself laughing when Jake finally earned enough tickets to get a small stuffed animal. A dolphin, it looked like. It may as well have been roses the way Lacey responded, pulling him in for a kiss.

“Looks like you’re a people-watcher, too.” Alec sat next to her and handed over a bag of popcorn. “I can sit for hours, observing, imagining.”

“Imagining what?” She took a bite of popcorn, letting the salt and oil melt onto her tongue. If she had a weakness, popcorn was it. Usually she just air-popped some for herself at home. This was divine by comparison. She had to bite back a moan.

The others moved one tent over so Ginny could shoot water through a pine-board cutout of a clown’s mouth.

“I imagine everything. What encompasses their lives, who they go home to, their fears, desires. I get the best ideas watching people. Sometimes I just make up stuff and go with it.”