“All right.”
Faith blinked. Just like that, her mother had got her own way. Faith added the meat to her pan and it hissed, sending up a delightful aroma of spices.
“Faith, you’ll have a day to yourself on Sunday,” her mother continued. “Maybe you can take your horse for a long ride.”
“We haven’t agreed you’re coming on the boat,” Rob protested.
“Oh, but of course we did,” Milly said. “Our Faith deserves a day off, don’t you think?”
“So do I,” her father grumbled, as he brushed a kiss on her cheek and then set out bowls for the stir-fry.
“Yes, but you chose to be a tourist boat operator, dear. They don’t get days off during the season.”
Faith added the vegetables, smiling to herself. She was surprised her father had stuck it out as long as he had on the tour boat. They’d been in Retribution Bay for almost three years. Perhaps her mother’s condition had delayed the decision.
“You’ll have fun together,” Faith said as she switched off the stove and dished up the stir-fry. The excitement she hadn’t allowed herself to feel bubbled up.
Already she could hear the pounding of hooves against the sand, and feel the salt air on her skin. Maybe she could even take Spirit for a swim.
She couldn’t wait.
Chapter 2
“One more sleep,” Lara declared at the dinner table on Saturday night. Darcy’s gut clenched. Lara hadn’t stopped talking about Faith coming out all week, and over the four days, he’d obsessed about his decision to invite her. He couldn’t afford to take half a day away from the station. He didn’t deserve it.
But Lara did. And her excitement soothed some of his guilt. “Amy, do you want to come?” he asked his soon to be sister-in-law.
“No, I’ll slow you all down,” she said.
“Scared of being alone with the sexy instructor?” Matt asked, his voice too low for Lara to hear.
Darcy elbowed his best friend and didn’t bother responding. But damned if that wasn’t another part of his anxiety. Faith was sexy and single, and it had been close to six months since he’d last been in town for a night out. And his pick-up skills had been pretty rusty.
Not that he expected Faith to be interested in him. Most of the women he dated weren’t interested in a man with a ten-year-old daughter. OK, so dated was pushing it. Most women his age in town were married or tourists only interested in hooking up while in town. The full Retribution Bay experience.
Darcy had long ago given up on the idea of remarrying. No one wanted to be trapped at the Ridge. Sofia had told him that in no uncertain terms when she’d left. But he acknowledged his jealousy that Brandon had found a woman who loved the Ridge as much as he did. He’d probably found the only one around.
Darcy blew out a breath. Stupid to get so worked up about it. All he was doing was making his girl happy. He could spend the day being friendly and ignoring the way Faith’s jodhpurs clung to her curves, and forget how she had comforted Lara when he’d been late.
Since then, he’d set an alarm on his watch to make sure he was back at the farmhouse not long after she got home from school every day. Amy would be there, but he wanted to be as well, especially so close to his parents’ deaths. Both Matt and Brandon understood his need and picked up his slack. And if Brandon got the early release from the army he’d requested, things would only get easier.
“Do you want me to pack a picnic for tomorrow?” Amy asked.
“No. Faith is bringing it,” Darcy said. She’d insisted when she’d called him back to accept his offer. And she’d earned extra points by asking if Lara was allergic to anything.
“We should make a cake for her,” Lara declared.
“A cake won’t travel well in the backpack,” Darcy said.
“Then we’ll make biscuits.”
They might have time after dinner. “Have we got the ingredients for choc chip biscuits?” he asked Amy.
She grinned. “We do.”
Lara cheered, and the sound filled him with joy. “All right, pumpkin. We’ll make biscuits and then it’s straight in bed with you. We’re getting up early tomorrow.”
“OK.”
