It didn’t take any time at all to hammer out a contract, and just as Vivian was leaving the office, Abby showed up with two steaming mocha lattes from Incantation Café.
“Here,” Abby said, handing her the cup. “Drink this first. It will help.”
“Abby, I don’t think caffeine is going to help calm me down,” Faith said, waving goodbye to Vivian as she took off down the street.
“No, but the brandy will.” Abby winked and nodded toward Vivian. “Did she treat herself to a massage?”
Faith shook her head. “Nope. She’s going to be a sales rep for us and find us clients while she’s out hawking your wares.”
“Really? That’s fantastic.” Abby’s eyes lit up. “She already landed me an impressive account. I think you’re really going to like her.”
Faith already did. She appreciated Vivian’s drive for building her sales business and loved that she was outgoing, a trait Faith felt she herself lacked. The only thing that made her slightly uncomfortable was the way Vivian talked about Hunter. There was admiration and wistfulness in her tone that made Faith sure Vivian had feelings for him. It could be really awkward to date Hunter and work with the woman who might be in love with him.
“Yeah, she seems great,” Faith said and took a long swig of the spiked mocha. The liquid warmed her all the way to her toes. She held up the cup in a mock salute. “This was inspired.”
“You’re welcome,” Abby said, taking a seat in front of the desk. “Okay. Do it. Just rip the Band Aid off. Call her and see what she wants.”
Faith groaned, wishing she’d just tossed the letter without telling anyone. Then she wouldn’t have to deal with this. But she knew deep down she would’ve regretted that decision. She took another sip of her mocha and tapped in her mother’s number. She’d spent so much time staring at the letter she’d memorized it.
The phone started to ring, and panic welled up in Faith’s chest. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, and if Abby hadn’t been there squeezing her hand, she was sure she’d have thrown the phone across the room. Why was she doing this again?
“Hello?” The voice on the other end of the connection was both familiar and foreign. It had been so long since Faith had heard her soft, tinkling voice she was almost sure she’d imagined it. “Hello?” she said again, this time with a faint rasp.
“Mom?” Faith squeaked out. “Is that you?”
Silence.
Faith stared at Abby, barely able to breathe. Maybe her mother had changed her mind and didn’t want to hear from her. Had she sent the letter in a moment of weakness? Did she want—
“Faith?” Gabrielle asked in the faintest whisper. “Faith, baby, is that really you?”
“Yes, Mom. It’s me. I got your letter.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“Oh, goddess.” There were tears in Gabby’s voice, followed by a tiny sob. “You called. I can’t believe you called. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome?” she said, making the words sound more like a question.
Her mother continued to sob quietly while Faith pointed at the phone and mouthed to Abby, She’s crying.
“Good. She should be,” Abby said with more venom than Faith knew she was capable of.
“Is someone there with you, sweetheart?” Gabrielle asked.
“Yes. Abby is here.” She didn’t explain why. As far as she was concerned, their mother didn’t deserve an explanation.
“Oh. I see.” The tears in her voice were gone, but Faith heard her suck in a fortifying breath. “Do Yvette and Noel know I wrote you, too?”
“Yes.”
More silence.
All of Faith’s nervousness fled as anger took over. She clutched the phone so tight she was surprised she didn’t crack the case. Then she blurted, “What do you want from me? Why did you write to me now and not to my sisters?”
“Nothing… I—”
“You must want something. Otherwise you would've just stayed away.” Faith pushed off the desk and started pacing her office. “It’s been over twenty years. What is it? Do you need money? Did you just wake up from a coma? Are you sick?”
Cancer. The word flashed in Faith’s mind, and she clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to know the answer. They already had one parent battling the terrible disease.
“No, no. Nothing like that. I just… I want to see you,” she said, her voice fading out as if the wind were carrying the sound away.
“Why?” It was an honest question. Faith had no idea what she could want now after all these years.
“Because I miss my girls,” she said, the tears thick in her voice again. “I messed up, Faith. I messed up everything. I just want to see you… to see if there is any way you and your sisters can forgive me.”
Tears sprang to Faith’s eyes, not because her heart ached for the mother who’d abandoned them, but because it didn’t. The sound of her tears wasn’t moving at all. They didn’t touch her heart. All she felt was numb.
“Let me talk to her,” Abby said.
Faith nodded and told her mother, “I’m putting Abby on the phone.”
“Abby,” their mother said, the wistfulness unmistakable.
Faith scoffed and thrust the phone into Abby’s hand. She needed air, needed to breathe. The office was too stifling. She had to get out of there.
“Mom?” she heard Abby say.
It was too much. If she didn’t get out of there, she was going to lose it. Without saying a word, Faith tore from the room, slamming the door behind her. She headed outside, needing the cold air to keep her head from exploding.
The minute she burst from the door, the scream came ripping from her lungs, a scream she hadn’t known she’d been holding in. The sound was gut-wrenching, even to her own ears. She bent over and let out twenty years of pain, heartbreak, and confusion.
When the scream finally faded away, she fell to her knees and sobbed.
“Faith?” The low, soothing male voice registered in her consciousness, but she was too far gone to acknowledge him.
She knew Hunter was behind her, one hand on her back, the other gently holding her hand.
“It’s all right, Faith,” he soothed. “Let it out.”
The tears came fast and hard and her body was racked by sobs. “She… left us.”
“Who left you?” He brushed her hair over her shoulder, his movements deliberate and careful.
“Our… mom. She left and… never came back.” She turned and looked at him, her heart raw with pain and pure emotion. “She. Left. Us. Now…” Shaking her head, she squeezed her eyes shut and wanted to scream again. But she knew the only way she’d get through this was to say the words. Say them out loud. Let them go. “She didn’t love us enough to stay. Now she wants to be forgiven, and I—I can’t. I don’t know how.”
His eyes widened. “You heard from your mother?”
She nodded and leaned into him, needing to feel something other than pain.
Hunter’s arms came around her, and he pulled her into his lap. Pressing a rough palm to her cheek, he stared her in the eyes and said, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You know that, right?”
“Yes. Intellectually, I know that. But in here,” she pointed to her chest, “my broken-hearted little girl wants her mother.”
With his arms still wrapped tightly around her, he slowly rocked her back and forth as the tears streamed silently down her face. “Want to talk about what happened?”
“When?” She let out a sad bark of laughter. “Then or now?”
“Either. Neither. Whatever you want.” He pressed his lips to her head and gave her a soft kiss.
His tenderness, the way he was making her feel loved and safe, calmed her, and the tears stopped. The contrast of his heat to the chill in the air suddenly made her feel alive and hyperaware of him and the fact she wanted him to touch her everywhere.
Faith cleared her throat, gently pushed away from him, and got to her feet. Her face started to heat with embarrassment, and she stared past him as she said, “I’m sorry, Hunter. I shouldn’t have screamed like that.” She let out a nervous laugh. “It’s a good thing we didn’t have any clients, right?”
He stood, too, and studied her with a strange look on his face. “Faith, what happened?”
She sighed, resigned to the fact that he needed some sort of explanation. He wouldn’t just let her stroll back into the spa as if nothing had happened. She wouldn’t if she’d witnessed him having a break down. “My mom, whom I haven’t seen or heard from in twenty years or so, sent me a letter and wanted me to contact her. After talking to my dad and my sisters, I decided to call her today. And when she said all she wanted was forgiveness, I couldn’t take it. I basically lost it. Major meltdown.”
“That’s a lot to deal with, your mother disappearing at such a young age,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What did you say?”
“Nothing. I handed the phone to Abby and came out here to… I don’t know, purge, I guess.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” he said. When she didn’t respond, he added, “It’s not the same, but I lost my mom, too. I was eight.”
“She left?” Faith asked, relieved to be talking about someone else’s experience. She didn’t know how to process her feelings about her mom; she just knew there had been a storm brewing inside of her, and she had to get it out.
“She died… along with my dad. There was snowstorm and a big rig.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, meaning it. “That must’ve been devastating.” While her mother had just disappeared on them, they’d at least had their dad, who they all swore was the best dad who ever lived. Without him, it was hard to imagine where they’d be now.
“It was.” He gently tugged her across the patio and pulled her down to sit on a bench—a bench that hadn’t been there before.
She glanced around, finally taking in her surroundings. The patio had been laid with large, warm beige tiles, while the fire pit had been constructed of red and orange tiles. He’d also installed a matching curved bench off to the left from where they were now. The design was stunning. The colors fit in perfectly with the redwoods lining the property and were eye-catching all on their own. “Hunter,” she said in a hushed tone. “This is gorgeous. I can’t believe you got this much done already.”
His eyes glinted in the late afternoon light as he gave her a pleased smile. “You like it then?”
She got to her feet and inspected the area. Behind them, he’d started a rock wall that would likely be filled in with native plants as well as a waterfall off to one side. “I love this. It’s so much more than I was expecting.”
He joined her, taking one of her hands. “I was also going to install post lighting around the perimeter, as well as ground lights around the steps over there. I figured it should be just as tranquil in the evening as it is during the day.”
A thread of peace wound its way through her as she took in her surroundings, seeing the completed picture in her mind. Her eyes misted, but this time from pure appreciation and gratitude instead of sadness. He was turning her space into the vision she’d spoken about months ago before he left for Las Vegas. “It’s going to be so lovely. We’ll be able to rent it out for events. Parties, weddings, anniversaries.”
“As long as it isn’t freezing out,” he said and glanced up at the darkening sky.
“Is the fire witch cold?” she teased as she slipped into his arms, hugging him.
He chuckled. “Not when you’re in my arms.”
Warmth spread through her, and she lifted up onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his. “Thank you.”
“For what?” He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, gazing at her as if he never wanted to take his eyes off her.
“For being here with me. I don’t know what it is, but your presence just settles me.”
“You know what, Faith?” he said, his voice a little gruff.
“What?”
“You do the same for me.” He dipped his head and kissed her, sending tingles all the way to her toes. When they finally parted, they were both smiling like teenagers as Hunter walked her back to her office.
When they got to her door, she paused, not sure if she was ready for what was waiting for her inside.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked.
“I honestly don’t know.” She turned to him. “Can you believe that at five years old, I was the only one who didn’t cry when we realized that my mother left?”
He raised both eyebrows. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “I did earlier that day when I felt as if something was wrong, but then I had some sort of premonition that she wasn’t coming back. And I don’t know, maybe I couldn’t deal with the trauma, so I just didn’t think about her. It’s like I just cut her out of my life and my memory. She left, and I pretended she didn’t exist.”
“Until now,” he said.
“Until now. I had no idea just how angry I was. And to be honest, now I wish I hadn’t called. I don’t think I want to see her.” She stared down at her feet, ashamed of herself. This was her mother she was talking about, and no matter what she’d done, didn’t she deserve at least one chance to explain? Faith wasn’t so sure.
“Faith, listen,” Hunter said, pressing both hands to her cheeks as he stared at her intently. “I know it’s not anywhere near the same since my mother left involuntarily, but I can tell you that I’d do just about anything to see and talk to her once more.”
“You’re right. It’s not the same,” Faith said, her tone matter-of-fact. “And I don’t feel that way. Not today anyway.”
“I understand,” he said, nodding. “And I get it. Trust me, I get it. There are people in my life… well, let’s just say I have relatives who have let me down, too, and talking to them isn’t on my priority list. But let me just ask you this one thing… if this was your last chance to talk to her, would you take it, or would you be content with your decision?”
“Do you mean if she ghosted again, would it bother me?” She really didn’t think so.
“Yes… and no. Just ask yourself, if something happened to her and you could never speak with her again, never get answers, never let her try to make amends, what would that feel like?”
She leaned against her door and crossed her arms over her chest. “You think I should meet her.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line and shrugged one shoulder noncommittally. “I don’t know if you should or not.” He pulled her in close and pressed his hand over her heart. “I think you should try to do whatever it is that’s going to keep your heart whole.”
“Dammit,” she whispered, blinking back tears. “How am I supposed to know what that is?”
He kissed her temple and said, “Just listen. You’ll know.”
Faith hugged him tightly and whispered, “Thanks.”