Losing Faith (Surfers Way)
Page 28
“Yes.”
“And you think this is an area of concern for me, huh?”
“Yeeessss,” I whine.
“Well you sound like the perfect housemate.”
“But what if you get sick of me?” It sounds so stupid leaving my mouth.
He rolls his eyes. “Sick of you strutting around naked and cooking pizza? Yeah, I’ll get sick of that real quick. Not.”
I swat him on his shoulder. “Just let me be serious for a minute.”
“Okay, go.”
“I get the worst PMS ever, and for two days a month I can’t even be classed as a sub-human. For forty-eight hours I whinge, I cry, and the only things that help me feel marginally better are Nurofen and a crap-tonne of chocolate.” I finally voice my worst fear. I don’t want to come down from this lovesick high as a result of me turning into a hormonal freak once a month.
He lets out a loud breath.
“What?” I bark.
He chews on the inside of his cheek.
I knew it. He’s gonna take it back. He’s changing his mind.
“Lace, I tell you what, I—”
“It’s okay to change your mind,” I blurt out.
“Lemme finish. I tell you what I’ll do. For those two days in the month, I’ll make sure there’s a mammoth supply of drugs and chocolate in the house. I’ll make myself scarce if that’s what you need.”
Could he be any more perfect?
“And sometimes I have nightmares … not often but when I do, they’re full-on ones.” I haven’t told a single soul that until now.
“So what. I do too sometimes.” He does? “Sometimes, I have sexy dreams about you.” Quade wrestles me to his chest.
I kiss him until I run out of breath. This is love. Accepting someone for all their weaknesses and their innermost fears.
Quade jabs me in the sides. I laugh until I can barely catch my breath.
“Move in with me,” he says. “There’s nothing I want more.”
In the wise words of a certain hunky man I love to pieces, “every day is a gift”. I have no more arguments left. He’s got me. Forever.
“Yes,” I say on an exhale. “I’ll move in.”
Lips meet mine in a loud smack. “It’s a new year and a new us, Lace. We’re gonna win at life.”
“Yeah. We totally are.”
“Don’t stress about today, either. Just be yourself.” Of course when he says “don’t stress” it’s exactly what I do.
“Shit,” I say, and rip the sheets off me. “What’s the time?”
“You have plenty, Lace. Go shower and get yourself all suited up and I’ll cook up some eggs.”
---
I grab the newspaper from the front lawn and flip over the pages of the Sydney Morning Herald as I eat my way through the man-sized serve of scrambled eggs on the plate in front of me. Seriously, how much does he think I eat?
I’ve been scouring the paper religiously for weeks. My sources told me that the jury was going to deliver its verdict last Friday in the Crown v Whittaker case. I flip the page. Air whooshes from my lungs as the headline screams out at me.
RUNAWAY HIT-AND-RUN CASE FINDS LOCAL MAN GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER
He’s guilty. Sentencing in the coming weeks. It’s over.
We discovered the truth, Faith.
“Quade,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. A tear threatens to spill from my eye, but I won’t let it. The truth has been uncovered. Today is a day I’ve waited for for so long. This whole town has.
“Babe? What is it?” he says, reaching across the dining table and covering my hand with his own.
I swallow down hard and swing the paper so he can see it. His eyes widen. I’m wrapped up in my boyfriend’s arms before I can blink.
“Come ’ere,” he croons in my ear. His lips press hard against my temple. His shoulders jerk.
“I don’t wanna cry,” I say through my tears. Dammit, I’ll need to do my makeup again.
Quade leans back and places his hands on my shoulders. “You’re allowed to cry, Lace. We’re all allowed to take this in. It’s a big deal.”
I try to blink away the vision of the frail man I’d bumped into at the cemetery. The man who left the rose on her grave. He must’ve thought about her a lot.
“He’s an old man. He doesn’t belong in jail. I know it’s justice, but is it strange that I feel a little bit bad for him?” Please don’t hate me for saying that.
“You have a big heart, babe. I love you for it, but at the end of it all he took a young life. He failed to come forward.”
“You’re right. I know.”
“Things might’ve been different if he took responsibility, but he didn’t. He tortured us instead by withholding the truth. I’m sorry if that sounds cold.”
He’s right. We’ve all been tortured by the what-ifs. Now we can all finally move on.
---
Dressed, fed, and composed after hugging it out, Quade and I walk out towards our cars. We promised each other that we would take today for what it is. A new start. A new life together.
I smooth my hand down my black pencil skirt and do up the button on my matching cropped jacket. I’m adulting today. My first day on the job, working in the registry at the Newcastle courthouse. I’m excited and nervous. I may just throw up the sensational scrambled eggs I had for breakfast.
Quade holds my face in his hands and kisses me softly on the lips. “You’ve got this, Lace. Just remember one thing, please?”
“What’s that?” I ask, eager for any wise words of advice.
He drops his hands and swats my bum. “Slow down in the speed demon, huh?”
I shake my head and laugh. Ever since I got my licence a few weeks ago, it’s a running joke.
“Very funny, Mr Kelly,” I tease, and poke my tongue out. He grabs my hand and we walk together to the driveway. Our driveway, I guess.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Quade says, opening the door to his truck. “Your dad rang me while you were in the shower.”
“Yeah? What’d he say?” I ask, playing dumb.
A beautiful smile curls at his lips. “It appears that he’s done some serious fundraising for the school.”
“He did? Wow,” I say in a high-pitched voice.
He shakes his head and snorts. “I fucking love you and your family, Lace.”
“We love you too.” I stand on my tippy-toes and kiss him on the lips. “Just think of all the bats and balls we can buy,” I whisper against his mouth.
Hands move to my hips, pulling me against him. “Don’t get me started talking about bats and balls, Lace. You know how that conversation is likely to end.”
Liked Losing Faith?
Want to know what other secrets Runaway Beach has been hiding? Read Mack’s side of the story in Lauren K. McKellar’s fabulous novel, Seeking Faith, on sale now.
The inseparable are well and truly split.
Mack, Faith and Lacey, joined at the hip since they were kids, are about to graduate high school. You might think this sounds like a book about coming-of-age and taking that leap into adulthood.
It is—except one of them doesn’t make it …
Mackenzie Carter has one solid thing on the agenda for her future—get out of town and focus on her post-school studies. After all, she’s wanted to be a vet since she was a little girl, and nothing, not the thought of being apart from her two best mates or the idea that maybe she’s got more-than-friendly feelings for a sexy local surfer can alter that … can it?
Graduation changes everything.
Almost three years later, and Mack’s high school dreams are just that—figments of her imagination, thanks to the guilt that haunts her on a daily basis. Will a faux relationship with Byron Leckie be the thing she needs to get her life back on track? Or will it make everything worse?
One thing is for certain. When these two collide, the damage will be fierce. After all, graduation was never meant to end like this.
Keep your
eye out for Lily’s story in the sequel to Losing Faith. Stay abreast of the latest information regarding that one by subscribing at www.jenniferryder.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements never get any easier to write, no matter how many books I publish.
As always, a big thank you to my darling husband and kids for supporting me and for giving me the time to pour my heart and soul into my words. Losing Faith has a strong message, which is very dear to my heart: every day is a gift. I have been blessed with a beautiful family and friends, and every single day I am thankful for that.
Lauren McKellar. You are one extraordinary lady and a treasured friend. Not only have you been behind me since publishing Spark, more than two years ago, you have been incredible to work with on the Surfers Way Series. I can’t imagine doing something like this with anyone else. I have such love for our little Runaway family and the world we have created for them. We have created something unique and beautiful for our readers. I’m so proud to see our #McRyderProject come to fruition. Thank you #McStellar.
If you haven’t read anything by Lauren McKellar, then I urge you to start reading Seeking Faith this instant! You’ve already had a tease of Byron and Mack in this book, and believe me, you need to read their story.
Thank you to the wonderful beta readers who helped shape Losing Faith – Carrie Seguin Champion and Andrea Robinson from Hot Tree Publishing and Kristy Davidson from My Person’s Books. Thank you for taking the time to beta read Losing Faith and for answering the many questions I had. Your feedback was instrumental in shaping this story. Thank you also to David Gobbitt and Kayla Kennedy for your keen eye in proofreading in the final stages.
Thank you to the members of Ryder’s Spark Support Crew. Your support and encouragement is incredible. Love you guys! Every like, share and comment means the world to me. Thank you for helping me share my work.
As always, SydVegas is my light that keeps me pushing on, working harder. Kristine, Lauren, Simone and Carmen, you all play such an important part in my writing journey, and you all keep me sane. I’d also like to give a shout out to ‘A is for f’cking Awesome’ for your support. You ladies rock!
Thanks to Louisa Maggio from Love N Books for the beautiful covers you created for Losing Faith and Seeking Faith. You brought our vision to life perfectly.
Thank you to my family and friends, bloggers, fellow authors and dedicated fans who have supported me along the way. Kristine from Glass Paper Ink Bookblog, Angela from Books and Friendz, Becky from Bex ‘n’ Books and Tash from Book Lit Love. Thanks to the wonderful peeps at Give Me Books who have been an amazing support in pimping the Surfers Way Series cover and release. Your work is exceptional, and you are always a pleasure to deal with.
Lastly, to you, the reader: I am deeply honoured that you chose my story to read. I hope that if you enjoyed it, you’ll tell a friend and you’ll pick up Seeking Faith if you haven’t already. If you’d be kind enough to post a review, I’d be forever grateful.
Jennifer x
BOOKS BY JENNIFER RYDER
Spark Series
Spark
Spike
Strike
Sting
Switch
Check them out at
www.jenniferryder.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Ryder is a bestselling author of the Spark Series and Surfers Way Series. She loves to write about boys on dirt bikes, detectives and strong females who aren’t afraid to fight for what they want.
Living on a rural property in New South Wales, Australia, she enjoys the best of city and country. Her loving husband is ever willing to provide inspiration, and her two young cherubs, and sheep that don’t see fences as barriers, keep life more than interesting.
For news on my future releases, you can contact me in the following ways. I’d love to hear from you!
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Email: jenniferryder01@gmail.com