“Sam, honey, you have always taken such good care of us. Now it’s our turn to look after you. Don’t shut us out. Something is obviously bothering you. This whole breakup thing with Eli makes no sense. I know how much he means to you. Talk to me.” Faith tried to hug her, but Sam pushed her away.
“Nothing is bothering me. I don’t want to get married. It’s that simple. I’m not like you, Faith. I’ve been alone all my life. I’m the giver, not the taker. And that scenario works for me.”
“Really?” Faith cocked her eyebrow and gave her the look. “Because it doesn’t seem like it was working so well for you last night.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Sam pushed off the wall and began pacing back and forth in the parking lot. “I’m willing to admit I screwed up last night. Everyone is entitled to a slipup every now and then, especially after what I went through yesterday at the bank. It won’t happen again.”
“I’m certainly not one to judge you.” Faith stepped in line beside Sam as she paced. “Lord knows, I’ve made more mistakes in my lifetime than most. What I’m trying to say is, I love you. And I’m here for you. I don’t want you to suffer alone.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you. I am a loner. I don’t like burdening people with my problems, even if those people are my family. I can handle it.”
“If you’re such a loner, explain why you’ve been so happy with Eli these past months?”
“Eli was a fling. But Jamie is my life. He has always been my primary focus. I can’t let anything interfere with that.” Head bowed and shoulders slumped, Sam increased her pace, trying to shake off her sister.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Faith grabbed Sam by the arm so she couldn’t move. “Jamie has a girlfriend. You are no longer the center of his universe. Don’t get me wrong. He still adores you. But Jamie is your past. Eli is your future.”
She eyed Faith’s hand, her fingers pressed into Sam’s forearm. Her sister’s strength surprised her. “Let go of my arm,” she said with vehemence.
Faith released her grip. “You’re misunderstanding what I’m trying to say to you. Whether Jamie comes back to Prospect after college or not, he will have a life of his own. You say you like being alone, but you’ve never known it any other way. Sharing your life with someone else can be pretty amazing.”
“Spare me,” Sam said, throwing her hands up in the air. “I don’t want to hear your newlywed hogwash. You don’t need to remind me how great your new life is. It’s written all over your glowing face.” When her sister’s chin began to quiver, Sam knew she’d gone too far. “I appreciate your concern, Faith. I really do. But nothing anyone says is going to change my mind. You’re wasting your time. I’ve made my decision.”
“Did Jamie tell you he went to see Mama on Sunday morning?”
Sam paused, trying to recall if her son had mentioned a visit to Lovie’s. She’d been so distracted the past two days. “I don’t think so. Why? Is something wrong I should know about?”
“I meant to tell you about it yesterday, but we were so busy I never got a chance. I happened to be at Mom’s on Sunday when Jamie got there. He was real down in the dumps about your breakup. I don’t have to tell you that your son sees Eli as the father he never had.”
So her mother knew she’d broken things off with Eli. Funny, she hadn’t mentioned it. Yet. “Great,” Sam said. “So now I have to hear about all this again from Mom.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. You know Mama. She’ll take your side no matter what.”
Sam stared at her sister as though an alien had landed on her head and sucked out her brain. “We must have two different mothers. Because my mom likes to tell me every time I do something wrong.”
Faith cracked the first smile of the morning. “Now that you mention it, when I do something wrong, my mom makes me suffer by giving me the silent treatment.”
Recognition crossed Sam’s face. “Ah, yes. The silent treatment. I know it well.”
“You can always talk to me about anything. If this breakup is really what you want, then I’ll support you.” Faith looped her arm through Sam’s and they reentered the market together.
Thirteen
Faith
Faith had been involved in a mental tug of war with her daughter since breakfast when she’d broken the news that Annie and Bitsy would be spending the morning together at their new house instead of the farm.
“Puh-lease, Mama,” Bitsy begged in the truck on the way to pick Annie up. “Our house is boring. There’s nothing to do there. It’s more fun at the farm with Cooper and Sean.”
The throbbing behind Faith’s left eye intensified. She couldn’t stand this torture another second. “All right, fine. You can stay out at the farm today, but starting tomorrow, Annie will babysit for you at home.”
“Yay,” Bitsy said, kicking her feet in glee.
Faith had kowtowed to Bitsy’s every want for the past year in an effort to help her recover from the ordeal with her father. Problem was, she’d lost her authority over her daughter in the process. She needed to reestablish some parental boundaries. Time to show the kid who’s boss. If only she knew where to start.
“Y’all are not allowed to play in Jackie’s house,” Faith said to Annie a few minutes later when she dropped Bitsy off. “You may go inside to get a snack or make a sandwich. But bring your food out here to eat.” She looked up at the cloudless periwinkle sky. Yesterday’s storm system had moved out, leaving plenty of sunshine and low humidity. “It’s a beautiful day. I’m sure you can find plenty to do outside. You need to enjoy this fresh air. But stay away from the water.”
Bitsy stomped her foot. “But Mama, Jackie’s house is so much fun.”
“Come on, Bitsy.” Annie motioned for the little girl to follow her. “I saw some sidewalk chalk in the garage. We can play hopscotch and tic-tac-toe, or draw pictures of houses with trees and flowers and butterflies.”
Bitsy beamed up at Annie as she skipped alongside her to the garage.
Faith climbed into her truck, satisfied that she’d established the necessary ground rules. But when she returned a few minutes before noon, prior to the designated twelve-thirty, she found the girls inside Jackie’s house eating bologna sandwiches at the breakfast room table.
Faith’s face flushed with anger. “I thought I told you to eat outside!”
Bitsy and Annie looked up from their sandwiches, surprised to see her back so early. Their pretty faces were caked in makeup so thick they looked like little girls pretending to be prostitutes.
Faith’s temper soared. She hadn’t felt anything but pity and sorrow for her daughter in so long these new emotions scared her. Blood pulsed at her temples. She wouldn’t be able to fight off the migraine much longer.
She snatched Bitsy’s napkin from her and smeared the makeup off her pouting face.
“I’m sorry, Miss Faith.” Annie jumped up from the table and went in search of more napkins. “Sean invited us in. I thought it would be okay, since this is his house.”
Faith stared at her, mouth agape. By taking a teenage boy’s word over hers, Annie had completely undermined Faith’s authority over her child. “Sean isn’t the one paying you to babysit, now is he? Are the twins even here?”
Both girls cringed at the anger in Faith’s voice. “No ma’am,” Annie said. “They went out in the boat a little while ago.”
Faith balled up the soiled napkins and tossed them onto Bitsy’s empty plate. “Listen, Annie. I want this relationship to work for both our sakes. But you have to do as I ask.”
Lip trembling, Annie turned her head away. “I understand. I’m sorry, and I won’t let it happen again.”
“All right.” Faith picked her daughter up and took the empty plate to the dishwasher in the kitchen. “I’m going to give you one more chance. But tomorrow, the two of you are spending the morning at our house.”
As she showed Annie around her home the
following morning, Faith was once again careful to establish boundaries. “Don’t go in here.” She closed the door to the master bedroom. “I haven’t finished unpacking and the room is a mess. You won’t find any fun clothes to dress up in anyway. My wardrobe is nothing like my sister’s.”
“What’re we supposed to do, then?” Bitsy asked.
“We could build a fort under the dining room table and read books with a flashlight.” Annie cast a sheepish look at Faith. “I mean, if that’s okay with your mom.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Faith said. “You’ll find some blankets in the closet down the hall, and you can use the pillows off the sofa or the ones on Bitsy’s bed.”
Faith walked Annie to the kitchen. “There’s ham in the refrigerator, and chicken nuggets in the freezer.”
“I’ll be sure to give Bitsy a big glass of milk to go with her lunch,” Annie said, winking at her little friend.
Bitsy slapped at Annie playfully. “Stop! You know I don’t like milk, silly.”
Faith smiled at the easy camaraderie between the two girls. Perhaps she’d been wrong to get so angry with Annie the previous day. “It’s fine if you want to go outside for a picnic, but I don’t want you anywhere near the dock.”
“I didn’t bring my bathing suit today, but I’m a good swimmer,” Annie said, the tone in her voice full of hope.
Faith smiled. “And we’d love for you to come over sometime for a swim, as long as a grown-up is around.”
Unable to dispel the vision of Annie and Bitsy performing cannonballs off the dock, Faith called home several times throughout the morning to check on them. Each time, Annie answered promptly, assuring her that she and Bitsy were in their fort playing games. Faith had finally convinced herself that she’d been overreacting, until she got home and discovered her bedroom door ajar. She and Bitsy had just returned from dropping Annie off at the market for her afternoon shift.
“Bitsy, I thought I told you not to go in my room.”
Her daughter looked up at her with fear in her hazel eyes. “We didn’t, Mama, I promise. You can call Annie and ask her.”
“Bitsy,” Faith said, a warning tone in her voice. “Don’t lie to me.”
The little girl burst into tears. “You told us not to go in your room and we didn’t. We played in our fort the whole time. Come see.” Taking her mother by the hand, Bitsy led her down the hall to the dining room. She peeled back one of the blankets to reveal a cozy den illuminated by the dim light from Mike’s battery-operated lanterns. A mountain of pillows was piled in the center, surrounded by stacks of books and games. “We even ate our lunch in here.”
Guilt from being so hard on the girls bore down on Faith. “This is a seriously cool clubhouse. May I go in?”
Nodding, Bitsy stepped out of the way so her mom could crawl in. Faith leaned back on the pile of pillows and patted the empty space beside her. “Come here, you.”
Bitsy crawled in and curled up next to her, resting her head on Faith’s chest.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” she said, kissing her hair.
“I can hear your heart beating—thump, thump, pitter, pitter, patter.” Bitsy fingered her mother’s collarbone. “Where’s your necklace?”
Faith’s hand flew to her neck. “I don’t know, honey. I guess I forgot to put it on.” Retracing her steps from that morning, she couldn’t remember one way or another whether she’d put on her necklace when she was getting dressed.
Bitsy rubbed her eyes. “I’m tired, Mama.”
Faith was beyond tired. She was exhausted from the morning spent worrying about her daughter and the babysitter. Maybe it made more sense for Bitsy to come to work with her after all.
“You know what?” Faith said. “I’m tired too. How about let’s you and I take a little nap?”
After getting Bitsy settled in her room, with Dolly tucked beneath the covers beside her, Faith made herself a pimento cheese sandwich and took it back to her room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the imprint of an adult-size body in the duvet cover on Mike’s side of the bed. Further inspection of the room revealed her favorite framed photograph of Bitsy and Mike face down on the dresser beside the empty pottery dish where she kept her jewelry.
Annie.
Faith’s appetite vanished. She returned to the kitchen and stuffed her sandwich down the disposal. She poured a glass of iced tea and took it outside to the porch to debate her dilemma. If she knew how to work their fancy security system, she could pull the surveillance tapes from earlier. But did she really need the video as proof? Annie and Bitsy had been the only two people in the house while she was gone. Annie’s behavior didn’t surprise her as much as Bitsy’s. It was a teenager’s job to disobey and lie about it. But her own sweet seven-year-old child? She knew she should confide in Mike, but she hated to burden him after everything he’d already done for them.
She picked up her cell phone and called Jackie. Her sister answered on the second ring. “When are you coming home from Charleston?” Faith asked.
“I’m on my way now. I should be there in half an hour. Is something wrong?”
Faith sighed. “Maybe. But I’m not sure. Do you mind stopping by my house on your way into town?”
A short time later, Faith went outside to head her sister off in the driveway, so as not to wake Bitsy from her nap.
Jackie drove up and rolled down her window. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you about Annie, and I don’t want Bitsy to hear. Can I get in?”
“Sure.” Jackie unlocked the doors and Faith climbed into the air-conditioned car.
She explained to her sister about the dress-up incident and the makeup and the missing necklace. “I don’t know what to make of it. I want to believe Annie is innocent, but her behavior suggests otherwise. Truth is, we know very little about this kid whom I’ve entrusted with my daughter’s care.”
“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation about the missing necklace,” Jackie said. “Maybe you snagged it on something this morning at work.”
“That occurred to me too, and I hope you’re right. I’ll retrace my steps to see if I can find it.”
“I’m disappointed in Annie for going against your wishes,” Jackie said. “But I’m not surprised. She’s a teenager. Her prefrontal cortex is far from being fully developed. And, in Annie’s case, I get the impression she wasn’t brought up with our kind of values. She probably doesn’t know any better. But if it’ll give you peace of mind, why don’t you call Eli and get him to run a background check on her?”
“Good idea. We should have done that in the beginning. A background check would at least tell us if she has a police record.”
Fourteen
Jackie
On the way out to the farm, Jackie convinced herself that Faith was blowing this business with Annie out of proportion, but when she arrived home to find the twins fighting in the backyard, she suspected that the honey-haired waif currently occupying her guest house had something to do with it. Cooper and Sean weren’t engaged in their usual rolling around on the ground, trying out their wrestling moves in various contorted positions. They were swinging fists and throwing punches. She left her SUV running and raced across the yard to them as fast as her three-inch spiked heels would allow.
“What is wrong with the two of you?” she hollered. She grabbed one of them by the arm, but couldn’t tell which one with blood covering their faces and their red hair standing straight. The twin turned on her, his fist poised to strike.
“That’s Mom, you idiot,” the other twin screamed, tackling his brother full on. The boys tumbled to the ground, their gangly limbs thrashing about as one struggled to gain control of the other.
Jackie clapped her hands loudly. “Stop it this instant!” When they ignored her, she placed her thumb and index fingers between her lips and let out an ear-shattering whistle the way she’d learned from her father. Cooper and Sean immediately stopped fighting and scrambled to
their feet.
“Get inside.” Jackie pointed at the house. She didn’t want the neighbors or boaters on the creek to hear her giving the boys a piece of her mind.
As Jackie was turning off her car engine, she caught a glimpse of Annie watching her from the window of the guest cottage. She couldn’t see the girl’s face to gauge her reaction to the fight, but the idea of Annie spying on them from behind the curtain made her skin break out in goose bumps.
She found the boys upstairs in the kitchen tending to their wounds. Cooper held an ice pack to his swollen left eye while Sean pressed a towel to the bloody gash on his upper lip. Both of them had fingernail scratches on their arms and necks.
Jackie placed her hands on her hips. “I’m disappointed in the two of you. Come in here and sit down.” She led them to the sofa in the adjoining family room and waited for them to get situated. “I have never known the two of you to fight. Not even when you were little boys. Tell me what this is all about.”
Their eyes bounced around the room, landing everywhere but on her or each other.
“Fine, since you won’t tell me, I will assume your fight,”—she waved her hand in the air as she searched for a word she could stomach—“let’s call it a disagreement, has something to do with Annie.” The boys remained silent. “I hate to tell you, but that girl is more interested in your cousin Bitsy than she is in either of you.”
Lowering their heads, they remained silent. Cooper repositioned the ice pack on his eye, while Sean fingered a scratch on his knee.
“I’ll admit she’s an interesting girl, and fun to have around. But if this behavior continues, I’ll have no choice but to ask her to leave. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they mumbled in unison.
“Good. Now… I could use some help unloading the car. I bought some things for Annie while I was in Charleston.”
Lowcountry Stranger Page 8
