Where There's Faith

by L. A. Remenicky

  “It’s starting to snow. Do you have any experience driving in this crazy mess?”

  “Well, not really. I’m from California.”

  “That explains why you ran out to get the mail with no coat. Come on, I’ll have someone drive you home later.”

  “Uh, okay, I guess.”

  Robbie motioned her inside. As she walked past him, he took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Pulling her behind him, he hurried up to the registration desk. “Hi, Lisa. What room?”

  “Room three on the second floor. You better hurry. Adam’s been down looking for you every fifteen minutes.”

  “Thanks.”

  Robbie strode down the hall, dragging Faith along behind him, not noticing how she was finding it difficult to keep up with his long strides.

  The elevator doors opened as they walked up, and Adam looked relieved to see them. “Damn, Robbie, way to cut it close. I was just going to give you a call again. She’s asking for you, screaming actually. She insisted she was going to wait to have this baby until you got here.”

  Robbie grinned at the look on Adam’s face—part wonder and part terror. “Lead the way. Adam. This is Faith McMillan, she’s staying in the Romero’s cottage. Faith, this is Adam Bricklin.”

  They exited the elevator before Faith could reply. Robbie and Adam took off running. Faith stood there in the middle of the hall, unsure of where to go. She tried to wrap her head around the fact that she just met Adam Bricklin face to face in a small hospital in Fairfield Corners, Indiana.

  What am I supposed to do now? Robbie has my keys. I guess I’ll find the waiting room.

  “Faith, hi. What are you doing here?”

  Faith turned and saw Cassie from the bookstore. “I gave Robbie a ride. His car wasn’t running, and he needed to get here.”

  “I’m glad he finally made it. Ragan was stressing herself out about him not being here. Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  “Oh, okay. Can I ask you something first?”

  “Of course, go ahead. I’m sure we have some time before the baby makes an appearance.”

  “Why doesn’t Robbie live with Ragan? As worried as he seems today, I would think he wouldn’t want to be away from his pregnant wife.”

  Cassie laughed. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Why do you think Robbie and Ragan are married?”

  “I saw how he treated her when she came for a visit last week. And the boy, he looks like Robbie, except for the eyes.”

  “That explains the comment you made at the bookstore as you were leaving. I wondered about that. Skylar looks like Robbie because he is his uncle, and Robbie and Ragan are fraternal twins. Ragan is married to Adam Bricklin.”

  “Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed.” Faith looked down at the floor and let her hair hang over her face to hide the blush on her cheeks.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Come on, they don’t bite.”

  Faith’s mind was whirling with all the names. It looked like half the town was in the waiting room.

  “And here comes Logan, my husband.” Cassie looked at him with such love on her face. “Hey, Dudley, this is Faith McMillan. Faith, this is my husband, Logan. He’s one of the county deputies.”

  “He’s related to Adam, isn’t he? He’s got the same eyes.”

  “Yes, they’re cousins.”

  “I’m never going to remember everybody’s name. Wait, why did you call him Dudley?”

  “Stop by the bookstore next week, and I’ll tell you the whole story.” Cassie stopped when Robbie stepped into the waiting room.

  “It’s a boy! Mother and baby are both doing great.”

  The room erupted into cheers as Robbie tried to get everyone to quiet down. “Ragan and Adam thank you all for your support today. He will be out shortly to announce the name they’ve chosen, and he’ll have some pictures.”

  Faith sat alone on the couch trying to be inconspicuous during this time of celebration. She hadn’t actually met Ragan, and up until a few minutes ago, she thought Ragan was Robbie’s wife.

  The couch creaked as Robbie sat down next to Faith. “Hey, you okay?”

  “Yes.” She turned and looked at him, smiling in response to the goofy grin on his face. Staring down at her hands, she started to apologize for her assumptions. “I want to apologize for…”

  “For what? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “I need to apologize for what I was thinking about you.”

  “You were thinking about me? After the way I treated you the day you moved in?” Robbie put his finger under her chin and brought her face up, so she was looking him in the eye. “I want to explain about that. You caught me at a bad time. I have some issues that I’m working through, and it was a bad day.”

  “Okay, as long as you let me apologize for thinking that you and Ragan were married.” Faith’s cheeks turned pink as she remembered how much the idea of Robbie being married had bothered her.

  “That’s a first,” Robbie chuckled. “I’ve never had anyone think my sister was my wife before. Tell you what, let’s start over from this moment.” He stood and pulled Faith up with him, positioning her at arms-length. “Hi, I’m Robert Newlin,” he said with his hand held out for her to shake.

  “This is silly.”

  “Just humor me, please.”

  “Oh, okay.” She wiped her hands on her jeans before taking his hand. “Hi, Robert. Pleased to meet you. I’m Faith McMillan.”

  “See, now we can forget about everything that happened before.” He looked down at her, wondering how two people in his world could have those same whiskey-colored eyes.

  Adam walked into the room with his phone in his hand. “Hey, everyone, I’ve got pictures. Ragan is exhausted and says that Adam, Junior will be at the Thanksgiving feast at The Corner Pub on Thursday.”

  “While you have the masses entertained with the pictures, I’m going to go see AJ,” Robbie said to Adam. “Come on, Faith, time for you to meet my sister.”

  “Oh, no, I couldn’t. This should be family time, and I don’t want to intrude.”

  “Get over here already,” Robbie said with a smile. “I want to show off my new nephew. Besides, Cassie let it slip that you wrote that book that Ragan loved. She’ll be excited to meet you.”

  Robbie smiled at Faith’s blush. It still amazed her that someone wanted to meet her just because she wrote a book. “If you insist.”

  “Yes, I insist.” He took her hand and strode down the hall.

  “Slow down. My legs are a lot shorter than yours.”

  “Oh, sorry. I just can’t wait for you to meet Ragan,” he said with a chuckle. “She wants to express her appreciation for you getting her knuckleheaded brother here in time. Those are her words, not mine.”

  “I think I’m going to like your sister. I can’t believe you were going to ride your motorcycle in this cold. You would have been a popsicle by the time you got here.”

  Robbie pushed the door open and stepped through, pulling Faith with him. “Hey, sis, this is Faith McMillan. She’s the reason I made it today. And, she wrote that book you were nuts about last summer.”

  “Hi Faith,” Ragan said with a grin, looking up from her hospital bed with the baby in her arms. “Thanks for making sure this brother of mine was where he was supposed to be today.” She grinned at Robbie as he looked at his feet.

  “Come closer and meet Adam, Jr.” She gently brushed her fingers over the light hair on the baby’s head. “Robbie, the nurse was supposed to bring me some more water. Can you please go find her and remind her?”

  “Sure, Ragan.” He smiled at Faith as he walked past her and out the door.

  Ragan sat up straighter in the bed. “I want you to give my brother a chance. He told me about how he treated you when you first met, and I want you to know he normally isn’t such an ass. He’s been through a lot, and I just want to see him happy.”

  “What? How did you get the idea…?”

  “I
’m sorry, I must have misread the way you were looking at him. Please, forgive me. Ever since Adam and I got back together, I seem to have this insane idea that everyone around me needs to be part of a couple to be happy. Let’s just put it down to pregnancy hormones and forget about it.”

  Faith stepped closer to the bed. “It’s not that I’m not attracted to him, but I have my own problems I’m working through, and it wouldn’t be fair to him to subject him to my issues.” She looked down at the floor. “Not that I didn’t enjoy being plastered up against his chest.” She looked up and saw the smirk on Ragan’s face. “Oh my God, did I just say that out loud?”

  Ragan laughed. “I won’t tell anyone. Just be his friend. I worry about him being out there at the lake by himself all the time.”

  Faith’s cheeks were still red when the sound of the door opening brought her attention to Robbie walking into the room.

  She thought she saw a look of desire in his eyes before his attention went to Ragan. “I’ll just let you two have some time…” she said as she backed up towards the door, uncomfortable being the center of attention.

  Another step back, and she ran into Robbie. She trembled when his hands wrapped around her upper arms. Breathing faster, she tried to quell the feelings of helplessness and fear.

  “Hey, it’s just me.” Robbie let go and stepped around, so he was facing Faith. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

  “It’s okay. For some reason, if anyone grabs me from behind, I start to freak out. I wish I knew why.” The concern in Robbie’s eyes made her want to step into his arms and hold on tight.

  Ragan looked from Robbie to Faith. “I hope you’ll join the crowd on Thanksgiving at the pub. I have a copy of The Highlander’s Lass that I would love to have you sign.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. Nikki is flying in on Wednesday, and we are going to her grandparents down in Indianapolis. Maybe next time.”

  “That’s too bad,” Ragan said with a smile. “We’ll have to make plans to get together some other time.” She yawned. “Robbie, go make sure Faith gets home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Robbie kissed AJ on top of his head before laying another on Ragan’s cheek. “Love you, sis. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Faith’s heart clenched, wondering if she would ever get to have a family. The door closed softly behind her as she quietly walked out of the room. Brushing a stray tear off her cheek, she turned around at the sound of Robbie walking up behind her.

  “Hey, why’d you run off so fast?”

  “Just giving you some privacy. Can you take me home now? I need to work on my book today, and it’s getting late.”

  Robbie jingled the keys in his pocket. “Okay. Just let me tell Adam we’re leaving.” He stepped into the waiting room, leaving Faith alone in the hall.

  She pulled out her phone and checked her messages, anything to keep from thinking about a family. How could she have a family when she didn’t even know who she was? Just a couple of texts—one from her agent and one from an unknown number. To be sure it wasn’t something important, she opened the one from the unknown number. Her hand shook when she read it: I will find you. She deleted the message, looking around to be sure no one had seen her.

  Faith spent the drive back to the lake trying to push the look of concern in Robbie’s eyes out of her head. She didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her, even if they didn’t know about her memory loss.

  Pulling into Faith’s driveway, Robbie put the car in park. He had known the exact moment she fell asleep because something about her pulled at him. She looked so peaceful that he was reluctant to wake her. He didn’t like the shadows he saw in her eyes when she thought no one was looking. What put those shadows there? And why did she freak out when I put my hands on her arms from behind her?

  He leaned back in the seat and sighed, tired from the excitement of the day and tired of being alone. What was it about her that made him want to open himself up to her? Somehow, she was able to chip away at the ice he had built around his heart without even trying.

  Chapter 5

  Swiping the mascara wand over her eyelashes, Faith’s excitement grew as she anticipated picking Nikki up at the airport. She didn’t have to hide her condition from her friend; she could be herself.

  Her thoughts turned to meeting Robbie’s sister Ragan the day before. The yearning for a family of her own had flared up as she had stared at AJ in the hospital. He was such a sweet baby. She knew she wanted a family. A husband and child would be enough.

  Determined to stop living in a past she couldn’t remember, she removed her necklace, staring at the pendant with the numbers engraved on the back. What do the five and thirteen mean? She would probably never know.

  “You can do this,” Faith whispered as her shaking hand placed the necklace in a heart-shaped porcelain box on the dresser. Time to look forward instead of back.

  Her phoned chimed, reminding her it was time to head to the airport.

  Faith stood in the baggage area watching the monitors. When the status of Nikki’s flight changed to “Arrived”, her excitement grew.

  Faith’s phone buzzed with a text.

  Just landed. Are you here?

  She hastily typed her reply.

  Yes, can’t wait to see you. Feels like it’s been three months instead of three weeks.

  Time slowed to a crawl as she waited for the rapid clicking of Nikki’s heels on the tile floor. Not even the chapter she had brought with her to edit could keep her attention.

  Shoving the printout into her bag, she stood as Nikki came into view—her height making her hard to spot. Five feet tall before the stilettos on her feet, she was dwarfed by most of the people around her.

  “Faith! You look good. Lake life must be agreeing with you.” Standing on her toes, they embraced. “I’ve missed you. No one else I know in Los Angeles will watch old Looney Tunes cartoons with me.” Nikki hugged her again. “That’s from Penny. She misses her Aunt Faith.”

  “Has the situation with Stephen improved? Any chance you will get shared custody?”

  “Unless I can get something on him to use as leverage, nothing will change. Can we talk about something else? We can’t fix that situation today, and it’s making me miss Penny.”

  “Let’s grab your bag and get out of here. I’ve got so much to tell you.”

  “What, did you finish the book already? I knew the quiet would help you get some work done.”

  “It’s quiet, that’s for sure. But no, I didn’t finish the book yet. I did have some excitement a couple of days ago.”

  Nikki was practically bouncing up and down in her seat as Faith pulled out onto the highway. “So, there was some excitement on Little Beaver Lake? You must be joking.”

  “Nope, I’m totally serious. I told you about the good-looking guy next door? Turns out, he is Robbie Newlin. I don’t know the whole story, but he just got out of rehab six months ago, and now lives out at the lake by himself.”

  “Something must have happened when he was out in California. We used to meet up for dinner every couple of months. Last I talked to him, over three years ago, he had a girlfriend and was doing well at work. I wonder what happened?”

  “I don’t know. He told me he’s working through some issues but didn’t mention what they were.”

  “So, you said there was some excitement a couple of days ago?”

  “Yesterday, I looked out the window and saw Robbie frantically trying to start his motorcycle, which was odd as it was only thirty degrees, and it looked like snow. I could see him cussing and kicking at the bike, so I ran over to see if I could help.”

  “So…you forgave him for being a jerk that first day?”

  “Yeah, I did. He treats me like a friend one day, and then it’s like he can’t stand me the next.” Faith’s full attention went to the road as she merged onto the highway. As soon as she was up to speed, she set the cruise control.

  Nikki checked her lipstick in the mirro
r as she prodded. “And…go on. You’ve got my attention.”

  “Robbie was frantic. He needed to get to town as Ragan was in labor, but he was in the middle of replacing the brakes on his car and couldn’t get his motorcycle started. I felt sorry for him, so I offered to drive him to town.”

  “That sounds like Robbie. He was late for class a lot in high school because he got distracted working on his car or bike.”

  “Anyway, I got him there just in time. Cassie chatted with me while we waited, and I was so embarrassed to discover that my assumption was totally wrong.” Faith was glad she had to keep her attention on the road. “I thought Robbie and Ragan were married.”

  “What?” Nikki yelled before laughing hysterically. “You thought Robbie was married to Ragan? Oh my God. How did you get that idea?”

  “Never mind, forget I mentioned it.”

  “Hmmm… So, enough about Neighbor McHottie. How are you? Any more strange texts?”

  Faith stared out the windshield at the road ahead. “No. Must have been a wrong number. They seem to have stopped.” She hated lying to Nikki, but she didn’t want her worrying.

  “Good. They were getting a bit creepy.”

  Faith was glad to pull into the drive at the cottage. It had started to snow. Not enough to cause any problems, but it put her on edge. Talking about the threatening texts she had received increased her anxiety. Who was it, and what did they want?

  Nikki laughed, snorting with glee.

  Faith looked over at her. “What? Those texts aren’t funny.”

  “I was just thinking of the look on Robbie’s face when I call him Neighbor McHottie.” Saying it out loud made her laugh harder.

  “Don’t you dare,” Faith cried. “I’ll die of embarrassment if you do.”

  Chapter 6

  The noise hit her first as she stepped into the pub. The murmur of voices and a song playing on the jukebox competed for her attention. She smoothed a non-existent wrinkle out of her skirt as she looked around the room. Nikki’s grandmother was under the weather, so they were attending the Thanksgiving dinner at the pub instead of driving to Indianapolis as originally planned.