by Beth Rinyu
“Faith, I didn’t mean to upset you,” my mother started.
“It’s fine. I’m just PMSing and everything makes me cry.”
She placed her hand on my shoulder and her tone was much softer. “Honey, regardless of what you say, I know this guy means a lot to you, and that’s okay, you deserve to be happy. But...” Of course there had to be a “but.” “You two have a lot working against you. He’s your boss, and…well, you know.”
“No. I don’t know. What, Mom?”
“He’s Jewish.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re Catholic, Faith! Or maybe you’ve forgotten. When was the last time you were even at church? I’m always making excuses for you to Monsignor.”
“Mom, you don’t need to make excuses for me to anyone! I’m a big girl, and if I don’t want to go to church, I don’t have to go to church.”
“That’s not how you were raised!”
“Mom, just stop, okay! I’m not going to get into the being the perfect Catholic argument with you. We both know that ship sailed the day I got pregnant with Joey. I don’t need to go to church to be a good person. I don’t need to follow a set of rules laid out by people who are no different or no better than you or me.”
She placed her hand on her cheek in disbelief over what I was saying. “Faith Marie, bite your tongue,” she exclaimed, making the sign of the cross.
“Let’s just stop. Okay? I don’t want to fight with you anymore.”
She let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine, but I’m not happy over your church stance.” She had to get in the last word, and I’d let her. “So, anyway, your father and I are taking a ride down to Virginia to see your sister Carla in two weeks for a long weekend, and we wanted to take Joey with us. Carla is dying to see her, and it would give you a little break.”
“Is Dad driving?” I asked.
“Yeah, and why are you asking that? Are you saying I don’t know how to drive?”
I nodded, and she playfully smacked me on the arm, letting out a laugh.
“I finally found Harriet, Mommy! She was buried at the bottom of my closet.” Joey came back into the kitchen.
I held out my hand and allowed her stuffed bear to examine it.
“You need some aloe on that.” Joey disguised her voice to become Harriet.
“Okay, thanks, Harriett.” I played along.
“You’re welcome. You can check out at the front desk. I’m off to see my next patient.” Joey ran out of the kitchen and back to her bedroom.
“So, what do you say? Can Joey come?” My mother picked up right where she had left off.
“Yeah, if she wants to.”
“Okay, good. She may have to miss a few days of school if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“I have to run. I was headed to the bakery to get fresh rolls for your dad’s lunch.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” I followed her to the front door.
She stopped in the doorway and turned around. “I want you to be happy, Faith, and if this guy’s the one, then your father and I would really like to meet him.”
“Well, he’s not, so you don’t have to worry about that.” It pained me just to say it, but as much as I wanted him to be the one, I knew he would never fit the bill. He was my boss. He didn’t want children, much less someone else’s child, and he didn’t do relationships. How I wished I could be the one to change all that, but for right now I’d take what I could get.
She looked at me sympathetically. “Whatever you do, don’t go getting yourself pregnant with this one. Then you’ll be having an uphill battle on what religion to raise the kid.”
One time. One damn time the condom broke, and I was going to be paying for it with her cynicism for the rest of my life. But it turned out that said broken condom was the best thing that had ever happened to me. “Oh, Mom, you don’t have to worry about that. We’re much more into oral sex.”
Tears of laughter reached my eyes in a matter of seconds as all the color drained from her face. “Ah, mamma mia!” she shouted, looking up at the sky and making the sign of the cross once again.
“Have a good day, Mother! Love you!” I managed to get out through my mirth.
***
I was happy Gabe didn’t have any plans for the afternoon, allowing Joey to follow through with her birthday surprise. Which consisted of lunch in the park and a picnic basket full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a variety of juice boxes, and cupcakes for dessert. It was a beautiful day and Joey was burning off her energy running around with some of the other kids who were taking advantage of the gorgeous weather.
“She was so excited to surprise you with this.” I laughed as we sat on the blanket and I kept a close eye on Joey.
“This was really great.”
“If you don’t have any plans for later, I’ll cook you some real food. But I totally understand if you do…have plans. I mean, you probably want to celebrate your birthday with your family and friends. I’m sorry for being so presumptuous and just assuming—”
He held out his hand to stop me. “Faith. Take a breath.”
I felt my face begin to redden.
“I don’t have any plans for tonight, and I would love to have you cook me dinner.”
“Really?” I couldn’t contain my smile.
“Really.”
“Okay. Awesome.”
He lifted my hand and examined it closely. “What happened?”
“Oh, I had a little mishap taking the cupcakes from the oven.” My stomach danced when he moved my hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the burn.
He pulled out his ringing phone, and I glanced at the caller ID to see it was Chad. “One second. I have to answer this.”
I nodded and focused my attention on Joey.
“What’s up?” he answered. “Thanks, man.” He was wishing him a happy birthday, no doubt. “Tonight? Oh no, I can’t. I already made plans with my dad.”
Wow. That stung a little. I should really quit the eavesdropping and then I won’t get my feelings hurt. I knew better than anyone that we had to keep this under wraps especially where Chad was concerned. He didn’t exactly know how to keep a secret. I should just be thankful Gabe was actually blowing off his friends to be with me on his birthday instead of getting offended by his excuse. I concentrated on Joey, who worked her way into a soccer game with a few other kids. The smile hadn’t left her face since we had gotten to the park. I only hoped I wasn’t setting her up for more heartache.
“Yeah, I can do that. When is it?”
My ears drifted to Gabe’s conversation once again.
“Cool. I’ll book my flight sometime this weekend.”
“Where ya going?” I blurted out as he hung up the phone. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! It’s none of your business! Sometimes you really need to learn to shut it!
“Oh, to a conference down in Miami, then I’m gonna take a few days after and head down to Marathon for some fishing.”
“Marathon?”
“Yeah, it’s in the Florida Keys.”
“Oh.” I nodded. A traveler I was not.
“Mommy, did you see me kick the ball in the net?” Joey ran over, trying to catch her breath.
“Yes. So awesome!” I replied.
She took a seat and downed a juice box. “Are you having a very happy birthday, Mr. Gabe?” She turned in his direction and pushed away the strand of hair sticking to her sweaty face.
“I am.” He smiled.
“For my birthday I’m gonna have a prince and a princess on my cake. Mommy, you can be the beautiful princess and Mr. Gabe can be your prince. Okay?” She took each of our hands in hers and placed them on top of each other’s. “The prince and the princess have to hold hands.” She giggled. “Do you care if I bring a cupcake to my new friend over there? She’s really hungry.”
“Go ahead.” I shook my head and laughed.
“Did you lik
e the cupcakes we made for you, Mr. Gabe?” Joey asked as she stood up, getting ready to take off once again.
“Yeah, they were great.”
A proud smiled etched on her face. “Mommy, can we make some of these again so I can bring them with me when I visit Aunt Carla?”
“Sure.”
“Cool! I’ll be back!” She ran off to her new friend with a cupcake in hand.
“I think my parents are going to have to drive two separate cars just to fit all of the things Joey wants to bring.” I shook my head and laughed.
“Where’s she going?” Gabe asked.
“Oh, with my parents to visit my sister for a long weekend.”
He was silent for a moment. “When is that?”
“In two weeks.”
“Do you want to come to Florida with me?”
My stomach dropped. Did I just hear him correctly? He’d just invited me to go away with him. Me? “Well…umm, when is that?”
“That same weekend.”
I chewed on my bottom lip as my inner turmoil churned like an angry sea.
“I have to be in Miami the Wednesday before, but if you just want to fly down on Friday, I can meet you at the airport and we can drive down to the keys.”
This wasn’t real life. This was some type of fairy tale where the handsome prince whisks the haggard princess away to some beautiful tropical paradise. How could I possibly say no? Joey would be with my parents and my sister. She would be fine. This was a chance for me to get away for a few days and enjoy myself.
I cleared my throat and pushed my hair behind my ear. “That sounds perfect,” I uttered before my inner self talked me out of it. The genuine smile that fell upon his face gave me even more confidence in my decision.
“Just put the ticket on the same credit card you’ve booked my travels on in the past.”
“Oh…umm, I can totally pay for myself.”
“Faith.” He raised his eyebrow at me. “Just do it.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “So…umm...” I didn’t want to ask the next question, but I knew it had to be addressed. “Don’t you think this is going to seem a little obvious to everyone at work?”
“What? I’m going to Miami for a conference and you’re going to visit your sister. What’s so obvious about that?” He was very matter-of-fact.
“Oh yeah. That sounds good.” I forced a smile, wishing I could be honest with other people about this thing Gabe and I had going on—whatever it was. But most of all, I wished I could be honest with Gabe about my feelings toward him.
Chapter 31
Faith
My three-day jaunt to Florida was finally here. My excitement knew no bounds, acting as if it were a three-week excursion to Tahiti. I didn’t travel often—actually hardly ever. I had never left the East Coast, and the last time I’d been on a plane was when I was eight years old and went to Disney World, so this was huge to me. I was having a hard time keeping my lies straight, and I hated it. My mother believed I was in Florida on business, and Natalia thought I was going to visit my sister. Sylvia was the only person I could revel in my excitement with. I called her as soon as I stepped off the plane to let her know I arrived safely.
“So, did you buy a sexy bikini to wear?” she asked as I made my way down to the baggage claim area to meet Gabe.
“I just brought the one I have.”
“Is it a mom bathing suit?” Sarcasm oozed from her voice.
“What the heck is that?” I asked.
“You know, the kind that covers every inch of your body.”
“It’s a bikini. A modest bikini.”
“Honey, you don’t need modest with a figure like yours. Go for something that has him salivating when he sees you in it. Make him want to rip that suit right off you and make love to you in the waves like in From Here to Eternity. Don’t be afraid to get a little sand in your butt crack.”
My laughter burst forth, causing the woman walking next to me to look in my direction. “Well, if I do recall, Deborah Kerr’s bathing suit in From Here to Eternity was quite modest.”
“Hello? That was 1953. That was risqué back then. She’s lucky she didn’t have a chaperone on the beach with her.” She rumbled with laughter.
My eyes met Gabe’s in the distance. How did he always manage to have the same stomach dropping effect on me? “Listen, Sylvia, I have to go. Just remember to only use the nine-one-one chain in the event of an emergency.” Since Sylvia was the only person who knew where I really was, I had left her my mother’s number just in case of emergency.
I threw my phone in my purse and meandered through the crowd, finally reaching Gabe. “Hey.” I couldn’t hold back my super-sized smile at the sight of him dressed casually in khaki shorts and a white button-up linen shirt, proving he didn’t need a fancy suit to look absolutely gorgeous.
He took my overnight bag from me and flung it over his shoulder, grabbing my other hand as we worked our way to the exit. The humid air hit me in the face as soon as we stepped outside. It was a welcoming change from the recent unseasonably cool dreary damp days back home.
“God, this sunshine feels good!” I squinted up at the sky.
“Is it still raining back home?” he asked as we walked through the massive parking lot, finally stopping at what I was assuming was his rental car.
“Yes. It feels more like January than May! So, how far is this place?” I asked once we got in the car and I seat belted myself in.
“Well, once we get out of the airport traffic, it’s about two hours. Getting out the traffic can take longer than that.” He laughed.
I was so much like Joey. I hated long car rides in anticipation of going somewhere, but as long as I had that handsome face to stare at during the drive, I’d manage.
***
Gabe’s calculations were a little off. After hitting major construction delays just outside the airport and being stuck on the one-lane highway that seemed to go on for eternity, we had finally arrived two hours and forty-five minutes later. The house was absolutely breathtaking, with a view of the tranquil bluish green ocean that was so different than the roaring waves at home.
The beach area consisted of tiny rocks instead of the soft white sand I was used to, but the palm trees swaying overhead made up for the lack of softness underfoot. The house itself had to be worth a couple million dollars. It was gorgeous in every sense of the word with wraparound verandas on all three levels and a built-in swimming pool. I would be perfectly content with never leaving this place the entire time we were here.
“Okay, let me get this straight. This house is also your grandparents’?”
He nodded.
“The same grandparents who own the house down the shore?”
He nodded again, this time with a smile.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what the hell did they do for a living?”
He chuckled, exposing his beautiful dimples. “My grandfather was an attorney for a really big law firm in Philadelphia. He worked on some pretty well-known trials. My grandmother…” He paused for a brief second. “She was a therapist.”
“Damn…I knew I should have finished college,” I joked.
“Actually the shore house was my grandmother’s before they got married. It was in her family for generations. They bought this house together. My grandfather loved fishing. I would spend a good part of my summers here with him when I was growing up. Then after he died, and as I got older, I would come down by myself and just fish all day, like I would when he was here. My grandmother’s second husband tried his hardest to get her to sell the place, but luckily my dad and I talked her out of it.”
“It’s beautiful. Thank you for inviting me.”
“You’re welcome.”
I stared at him a little longer than usual, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Are you up for snorkeling tomorrow?”
“I’ve never been, but…yeah, sure, it sounds fun.” Actually, I was scared to death to swim around in the middle
of the ocean with hundreds of fish swimming around me, but the more I was around Gabe the more I found I was expanding my horizons and doing things I never thought possible. Like buying a house and possibly being shark bait, but something about him made me step out of my comfort zone and in a weird way instilled a surge of confidence inside of me that I’d been lacking my whole life. It was all so surreal to me that someone like him would be interested in someone like me. Yet, here I was with this beautiful man in this beautiful home. I believed in fairy tales a little more with each passing day since Gabe had come into my life.
***
Even after a long hot shower, my skin felt tight and gritty from the salt water and sun that had drenched it all day long. We had spent most of the day snorkeling, and I loved it. Me. The girl who only went into the ocean up to her knees back at home for fear of getting eaten by a shark. Gabe laughed when I told him it felt like an adrenaline rush to me, but it truly was one of the most courageous things I’d ever done. I was feeling even happier after talking to Joey on the drive back to the house. Just hearing her voice put my mind at ease. I missed her so much, but I was so happy to hear she was having a great time at my sister’s.
We had just returned from dinner, and I could feel the second glass of wine I’d had going to my head. “So, did you want to go swimming?” I suggested as we walked past the pool.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” he replied.
I inched closer, looping my arms around his neck. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?” He pulled me into him and stared down at me, his chameleon hazel eyes sporting a shade of green.
“No bathing suits allowed.” I bit my lip and held back a smile.
“That sounds even better.” He smirked.
Without any hesitation, the new courageous Faith lifted her dress over her head and removed her bra and panties before diving into the pool. There wasn’t any rolling around in the sand or roaring waves washing upon us as we made love. It was just me and him naked in the swimming pool and to me that was as romantic as it gets…and best of all no sandy butts.