by Soraya Lane
“Are you new to Fairview, Faith?”
She swallowed and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. She’d been dreading this question, but she guessed it was obvious she was new, given the fact she’d had no one else to turn to.
“I actually grew up here.”
She watched as his eyebrows pulled together, confusion crossing his face for a heartbeat. He was trying to place her, figure out who she was.
“Have we met before?”
Faith pushed her shoulders up into a shrug. It was more than likely he’d heard about her than actually ever met her. “Maybe. I left when I was sixteen and I haven’t been back since.”
Jake took his eyes off the road and glanced at her again.
“You have family here still?”
She sighed. Faith hated talking about family, with the exception of her son. “My mom died when I was a kid, and my father passed away a few months back. He was Jimmy Walker.”
She could tell he was thinking as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell. But then I don’t exactly spend much time in town these days, and I’m terrible with names.”
Faith looked out the window as the truck slowed, pleased that Jake had no connection to her father. She couldn’t see much, but the driveway appeared to be long, and there were post and rail fences directly outside her window.
She might have grown up in Texas, but she’d hardly spent any time in the country. Hardly ever set foot on a real ranch.
“So this is your place, huh?”
Jake slowed as they approached the house. “Legacy Hills Ranch. Home to me my whole life.”
She envied that. From the way his face lit up as he talked about his home, it was so clear he knew where he belonged.
The house was big – two-story and impressive. It was built from timber, weatherboards painted and well-maintained. There were two windows upstairs, bedrooms she guessed, and a wide porch that wrapped around at least one length of the house.
It was beautiful. And most definitely not the home of a bachelor.
Faith swallowed away a tickle in her throat. It shouldn’t bother her that he might not be single, so why did it feel like a cloud had settled over her for just thinking about him as a taken man? She should be happy that he might have a nice wife, a family here, but instead she was disappointed.
She watched his hand as he turned the wheel before coming to a stop. There was no wedding band on his finger, but then he’d probably left the house in a hurry to attend the fire. Her heart slowed as she noticed there was also no white mark where one might have been – just golden brown skin.
There weren’t any lights on in the house, and no movement to signal someone had witnessed them arriving. If her husband had been called out to a fire in the middle of the night, she’d have been up waiting for him to return safely.
Not that she knew what it was like to have a husband, but still.
Jake put the vehicle in park and turned off the engine. Faith looked up when she sensed eyes on her.
“You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, fine.”
He gave her a tight smile before opening the door. Faith followed his lead, stepping out of the truck, bare feet landing on gravel. She brushed her hands over her pants, then looked down.
Hmmm. All that staring at the man beside her in the car and she’d forgotten she was still wearing her pajamas.
Jake appeared beside her, his silhouette tall and strong against the cab of the truck.
“Want me to carry him?”
She peered in at her son, exhausted and still sound asleep.
“If you don’t mind. Otherwise I’ll wake him.”
Jake shook his head, but she noticed him take a deep breath, his broad shoulders stooping slightly before he opened the back door and bent in to scoop up her son.
“Will he be all right here?” Jake kept his voice low, not wanting to disturb the boy.
He watched as Faith pulled back the comforter and gave the pillow a plump. She smiled up at him.
“It’s perfect, thanks,” she whispered.
Jake placed her son gently down onto the bed, turning his body to make him more comfortable and tucking the covers up under his chin. Warm and safe, just like every child should be.
Just like his son should have been, in the nursery upstairs.
He turned to find Faith on her knees, arms wrapped around his dog. Jake made a hand signal and received a sad look in response, but his four-legged friend obeyed and padded out of the room. Faith stood up, too, and he gestured for her to follow, closing the door behind them.
Jake hesitated, his hand still on the knob. “Completely shut or half open?”
“Half-open, thanks.”
Faith looked so fragile, staring into the dark room they’d put her son to sleep in. It didn’t matter how many times he told himself that she wasn’t his concern, either. He’d invited her into his home, so if she wasn’t his concern, then who’s was she?
“Would you like something to drink?” he asked, not sure what else he could offer her.
She shivered. “Yeah, something hot would be great.”
Jake looked at her bare feet, then made his way back up to her face. “You’re freezing, aren’t you?”
Her too-pale cheeks gave her away. Damn it, she must be ice cold! How could he not have noticed that she was in lightweight pajamas with no shoes on? “Give me a second. Kitchen’s straight down the hall.”
He marched up to his bedroom and pulled a pair of warm socks from his dresser drawer and grabbed the blanket folded at the foot of his bed. Jake stopped, stared at the closet he’d never managed to empty, and decided not to go there. Not yet. If she needed clothes in the morning then he’d let her take her pick, but the last thing he needed right now was to see her wearing his ex-fiancée’s things.
Jake shook his head, as if doing so would take the thoughts away that he was trying so hard to repress, and walked back in the direction he’d just come from.
He had a woman in his kitchen in need of warmth, shelter and comfort, and right now that was all he needed to think about.
Oh.
“I hope you don’t mind but I found some hot chocolate and thought you might like the same?”
The smile that greeted him when he walked into his kitchen threatened to send him running in the opposite direction. “Ah, no. That’s fine. Good choice.”
“I didn’t think coffee would be the best option, given that we’re both running on little more than adrenaline right now.”
The look he gave her must have made her think otherwise.
“Or at least I am. Sorry. I shouldn’t have made assumptions.”
She was talking quickly, nervously. The woman he’d met earlier had been as quiet as could be and this woman? She was babbling like her life depended on filling the silence.
“Are you okay?” he asked, moving around to stand beside her, not sure what to do. Did he touch her or leave her be? Sling his arm around her shoulders to give her comfort or back the hell away to give her space?
Faith bit down hard on her bottom lip, nodding her head almost too vigorously. She gripped onto the side of the kitchen counter, her knuckles bright white as she held on too hard.
Shit. “Come here.” Jake held his arms out, touched her gently to draw her in, pulled her carefully against his chest. He held on tight, holding her as her shoulders fell, as her fingers unclenched and sought out the fabric of his shirt instead. “Shhh, you’re going to be fine. You’re safe here, but right now you’re in shock.”
He felt her grip him tighter in response, but she didn’t say anything. Jake didn’t mind, he wasn’t great with words, hadn’t been in a long while, and he was already way out of his depths just comforting her like this. After so many years living alone, of dealing with animals more than people, he was in way over his head just inviting her back here.
Jake resisted the temptation of dropping his chin to the top of her head, f
eeling what he was sure would be silky, soft hair against his skin, inhaling the aroma of … smoke. What she needed was a shower, to get rid of the stench of smoke that clung to her hair and her skin. He was pretty sure she’d like to erase all traces of what had happened.
“How about that hot chocolate?” he asked, extracting himself and rubbing her arms as he stepped back.
Faith nodded, slowly this time. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
She shuffled to the table and sat down, and Jake forced himself to stop staring at her and fill her mug with something hot to comfort her. “Those socks there are for you, and so’s the blanket.”
Faith gave him a weak smile and took the socks straight away.
“And this is for you, too.” He placed the steaming hot drink in front of her as she wrapped the blanket around herself.
“Sorry about before,” she said, head down as she cupped her hands around the mug and blew on the liquid. “I thought I was holding it together but it all just hit me, I guess.”
Jake leaned back in his chair, eyes never leaving her face. Even scared and apologetic, there was a strength within her that he couldn’t ignore. Something there that told him she was a fighter, that she was genuinely surprised by the fact that she’d let her guard down.
“Do you have any idea who would do something like that to you?” He had to ask. Thinking that she could have been killed, along with her son, made his stomach twist and his blood run at a dangerously high temperature.
“No,” she said, her gaze steady as she answered. “If I knew that anyone here was capable of an attack like this, I would never have brought my son back.”
Jake didn’t want to push her so far, not when she was fragile and clearly in need of rest.
“Is there anything else I can do for you? Anything you need?”
Faith shook her head, taking a sip of her chocolate. He could see as she lowered the mug that her hands were shaking. “You’ve already done so much. Thanks, Jake. For everything.”
Now it was his turn to feel uncomfortable. “It’s nothing, really. This house is too big for me anyway, so it’s not like I don’t have the space for guests.”
“Just you and your dog, huh?” she asked, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile that made him give her one straight back.
“Yeah, just me and Sam.” He looked around, realizing his dog wasn’t curled up at his feet like he usually was. “That’s weird.”
Faith’s head tilted slightly. “What is?”
“Nothing, just my dog. He doesn’t usually leave my side, but I haven’t seen him since I told him to leave the bedroom before.”
Jake rose to look for him and he heard Faith behind him, shuffling along with the blanket still around her.
“Sam?” He called out softly, not wanting to wake the boy. “Sammy?”
Jake walked silently down the hall, stopping outside the spare bedroom door and nudging it open. Light from the hallway filtered in, casting a light over the bed. And illuminating the large black Labrador lying beside the boy, tucked tight up against his body.
“Now isn’t that’s gorgeous?” Faith was standing beside him in the doorway, eyes trained on the bed. “Like he knew there was someone in here who needed comforting.”
Her son had his arm slung around the dog in his sleep.
“You don’t mind?” Jake asked, embarrassed that his usually well-trained canine was flaunting the rules so badly.
“Not at all,” she said, looking up at him. Their eyes met and Jake struggled to look away. He could see nothing in her gaze besides kindness, still couldn’t imagine how someone could have wanted to hurt her so bad. “Sometimes the best thing in the world is comfort from an animal, don’t you think?”
Jake nodded. When he’d lost Rachel, the only thing that had gotten him through had been Sam. Barely more than a puppy, he’d snuggled him whenever he needed it, which was almost every moment of the day. He’d sat with him when he’d stood in the nursery, painted and ready for their baby, wanting nothing more than to trash it so he’d never have to see it again. And he’d given him a reason to get up when all he’d wanted to do was stay curled into a ball in bed and never leave.
“He won’t be scared when he wakes up, with a dog on the bed?” Jake glared at his pet but received only a contented look followed by shut eyes in return.
“I’d say he’ll be over the moon,” Faith said, smiling as she watched them. “So long as I can fit in there too, we’ll be fine.”
Jake nodded. “Bathroom’s the second door on the right down there,” he pointed, “and help yourself to towels and whatever you need. Same with the kitchen, just make yourself at home if you need anything.”
He touched his palm to Faith’s back before walking away and heading for his room, ready to hit the pillow for at least a couple of hours.
Jake just had no idea how it was he was going to bed alone, and his dog had managed to wind up snuggled between two warm bodies for the rest of the night…
CHAPTER THREE
FAITH stood in the kitchen doorway for a moment, watching the man who’d come to her rescue. He was bent over his breakfast, head down, with a paper opened out on the table in front of him.
She was a mess. She’d showered, borrowed a brush she’d found to try to do something with her hair, but she had nothing of her own. Not her handbag, not her make-up – nothing. Add to that the fact she was cold, and it wasn’t the best start she’d had to a day.
“Morning,” she said, walking in.
Jake looked up. His smile was genuine but she could tell from the flicker of his eyes from her pajamas and back to his bowl again that he was about as comfortable as she was. Her drawstring pants weren’t so bad, but in broad daylight her skimpy tank did little to conceal her body.
“Did you, ah, sleep okay?” he asked.
Faith ignored the heat in her cheeks. She was lucky to be alive. There was no point stressing over anything else, except for the fact that whoever had lit the fire could have killed her son. And her.
“I thought I would have lain awake for hours, but I slept like a baby.”
He smiled, collecting his bowl and walking it to the sink.
“Well, actually not like a baby. I’ve never understood that saying, given that most babies keep their parents up half the night.”
Faith followed him a few steps, her stomach growling. When he turned, there was a sadness in his gaze that hadn’t been there before, his smile erased.
“I know I said it last night already, but thank you for taking us in. It means a lot to me,” she paused. “The last few years have been kind of tough, and I thought that coming here would change that. Clearly I was wrong.”
Jake rinsed his dishes and turned around again, hands on the counter behind him as he leaned back. He was quieter this morning than he’d been last night, more reserved, and she wasn’t sure if she was the reason or if it was something else.
“Do you want me to take you anywhere today? Buy any supplies, that kind of thing?”
His question was innocent, but it made Faith’s cheeks burn again. The cold wasn’t doing her any favors, and if she knew men, then the poor guy was probably having a hard time ignoring the hard nipples pointing in his direction through her cotton top.
“My car is back at the house – it was parked on the street, thankfully.” Faith sighed. “But of course the keys were inside, so it’s not exactly any good to me.” She wouldn’t cry, refused to spill any tears, because she was stronger than that. Being kicked out of her home by her dad at sixteen had more than cured her of spontaneous emotions, and she wasn’t going to let some lowlife arsonist tear down the life she’d fought to build.
“I’ll sort it out for you,” Jake said, not moving as he stood watching her. “Anything you want, just let me know. We can head into town today and I’ll buy whatever you need to tide you over.”
Faith shook her head, just the barest movement from side to side. “You don’t need to do anything for me, Jake.�
�� It wasn’t that she was ungrateful but … “I can’t accept any handouts, it’s just not who I am.”
He shrugged and moved past her to open what she could see was the pantry. “Breakfast stuff is in here, there’s milk in the fridge, and help yourself to whatever else you need.”
A noise alerted her to the fact her son was awake, and she quickly crossed the room. “Thank you,” she said again, hoping he did know how much she appreciated what he’d done for her.
“Hey, Faith?” he asked.
She paused and turned.
“I don’t believe in handouts, either. But you know what?” He moved closer to her, standing less than a yard away. He towered over her, looking down straight into her eyes. “Some asshole tried to burn you alive in your house last night, and as far as I can tell, you’re a great mom. So when I tell you I’ll get you anything you need, I mean it.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking like he didn’t know quite what to do or where to look. “You can keep a tally and pay me back if that’s what you need to do. Either way, I just want to help, so don’t be so proud that you can’t accept it.”
Faith heard her son again, but she took the time to reach out to Jake. Something was wrong, something within him was conflicted, she could tell from the little lines around his eyes that creased with worry when he looked at her, from the quiet strength that radiated from him.
“You’re a kind man, Jake.” She touched him, curled her fingers around his left forearm as it hung loose at his side. “I’ll never forget what you’ve done for us.”
He made a gruff kind of grunt and looked away, but she didn’t release her hold until he made eye contact with her again.
“Tom’s awake,” she said, taking a step backward, and then another. “I’ll just go get him sorted, in case he’s confused about waking up here.”
She could feel Jake’s eyes on her back as she headed for the bedroom, but she didn’t turn around. The last thing she needed was to be attracted to the man who’d rescued them, or try to dig deeper and see what made him so serious and sad. She needed to do what she was here for – finalize her father’s estate, deal with the insurance and look at putting the land on the market. Then she could figure out what the hell she was going to do since her plan of moving back here and putting down roots had so obviously soured. Maybe she’d have to take the money and run.