Serendipity (The Serendipity Series Book 1)

Ethan did not want to have this conversation. In fact, he’d give up everything he owned to make the subject disappear. Instead, he faced the woman he loved and prepared to hurt her even more.

He pulled out the chair and pulled it closer to Faith’s.

“Tess had a great day. She toured the school and saw the amazing art supplies she’d be using. I already know what I’m going to get her for Christmas,” he said, laughing.

Avoiding.

Faith smiled. “You know, I think that Kelly’s dropping Tess on your doorstep was the best thing that ever happened to either one of you?”

He reached out and stroked her soft cheek. “No, I think that would be you.”

She shook her head, but her feelings were evident in her eyes, all the love he felt for her reciprocated, and his heart swelled with hope.

“While Tess took her tour, I met with the head of the school,” he continued.

Though he was painfully aware of this morning’s open-ended “I love you” conversation, he couldn’t bring himself to hear her say it back and then break her heart. And he had no doubt she loved him too.

“Will Birchwood take her?” Faith asked.

He nodded. “As long as I write a big fat check and agree to sit on their board, she’s in. Of course, the dean mentioned that the school is a little conservative and Tess could help herself fit in better by changing her hair, to start. I haven’t broken the news to her yet.”

Faith laughed. “Something tells me she’s ready for that. She must be over the moon!” Faith’s smile lit her face, those expressive eyes filled with joy. “Where is she?”

“In her room. After she called her sister, Kelly, she headed upstairs. She’s been blasting her music in celebration ever since.” He couldn’t help but grin.

“That’s great! But you on the board of directors? Is that something you want to do?” Faith asked, all too perceptive when it came to him.

He shook his head. “Not really. But for Tess, I’ll chew nails once a month or for however long those meetings take.” He grasped her hand in his and began rubbing lazy circles over the sensitive pulse in her wrist.

She shivered and he appreciated how sensitive she was to his touch.

“What do they want from you?” she asked.

“According to Adam Spellman? My cash and my business expertise.” He shrugged. “Personally, I also think he wants to know he has easy access to me and my funds should the need arise.”

Faith glanced at him, questions in her eyes. “More than the money you’re already giving?”

“Maybe. The school’s been hit hard financially. They’ve had to cut teachers’ jobs as well as extracurricular activities. Some of the kids who attended the school last year can’t afford to come back.”

Faith winced. “That’s awful. I’m glad Tess can benefit, but I really feel for the school and the kids.”

“Me too.”

She glanced down at their still intertwined hands. “How’d they get into so much trouble?” she asked.

He met her gaze and held on to her hand. “Well, they’ve made some very damaging financial decisions,” he said deliberately slow and pointed. He squeezed her hand tighter, pausing to let the truth come to her in her own time.

“Oh. Oh. No.” Faith shook her head in denial. “My father?” she asked, her voice cracking.

He nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you but I couldn’t not be honest either.”

“God, will it never end?” Faith pulled her hand from his and buried her head in her hands.

“Faith?”

She raised her head, meeting his gaze with dead eyes.

“Your father’s actions have nothing to do with us. Not if we don’t let them,” he said, wanting to believe his own words.

Ethan prayed she wouldn’t come to the conclusions he’d already drawn today, about kids ostracizing Tess once they realized her connection to Faith, the woman whose father had caused the kids to lose teachers, classmates, and programs. And that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, he thought, disgusted with Martin Harrington.

“You’re too smart to believe that.” Faith yanked her hand from his and rose from her seat. “You love me. You said so yourself,” she said, straightening her shoulders.

He stood up to face her, look into those beautiful eyes. “Damn straight I do.”

“Well, I love you too.” She blinked, and a tear dripped onto her cheek. She angrily wiped it with the back of her hand before turning away from him.

It wasn’t the way he’d wanted to hear the declaration, but knowing it still filled the empty, lonely spaces inside him. Now he had to convince her not to run, and he braced himself, already preparing counterarguments in his head.

When Faith faced him again, her face was pale, her jaw taut. “This morning, before my mother called, I’d convinced myself we could give this thing between us a shot. Because you’re everything I always wanted.”

Her sweet smile would have brought him to his knees, if he hadn’t heard the but in her tone.

She gripped the chair with her hands until her knuckles turned white, her pain obviously as great as his.

“If it was just us, then yes, we could handle it together. But there’s no way Tess deserves to be hurt because of your association with me.”

Nausea filled him, followed by frustration. “What we share is not just some association,” he said, hurt she’d use such a cold, generic word to describe what they shared.

“No, it’s not,” she agreed softly, tempering his anger. “But neither is what you share with Tess, and she’s just getting comfortable with you. She’s come out of her shell because she trusts you. And I won’t be the person that shatters that trust or hurts her.”

“Faith—”

She stepped out of reach. “You can’t deny that Tess will suffer when people at that school find out about us.”

He replied with silence. Of course he couldn’t deny it. “But if we’re a tight unit, if we back her up, she’ll know she’s loved, that she can trust us.”

“Or maybe she’ll blame you for sticking her in that school and that situation. Or she’ll come to hate me for being the reason the kids exclude her, or you for bringing me into her life.”

“That kid adores you,” he argued back.

“And the feeling is mutual.” Faith couldn’t contain a smile. “But you do realize that if Tess becomes that emo-punk kid again, Birchwood will never accept her, no matter how much money you throw at them. And there’s no way I’ll selfishly sit by and let her revert back to that angry kid. Not when I see how amazing she really is.”

Faith was equally amazing, and Ethan loved her that much more for putting Tess’s needs before her own. But he refused to let her go that easily.

“This isn’t over. We aren’t over.”

She sighed and leaned against the counter, obviously exhausted and devastated, but the conviction in her eyes told him she wouldn’t back down.

Good thing he was equally stubborn. “We will figure this out.”

“I just did. Tess deserves to be in that school, to learn from that art teacher. She deserves to be happy.”

“So do we.” He grasped her shoulders but stopped short of shaking her in order to get her to see reason.

“Don’t.” Decision obviously made, she stepped back and straightened her shoulders. “You’ll see I’m right. This is for the best.” Faith pivoted and headed for the archway leading to the front of the house.

“The hell it is.”

“Tess!” Faith said, obviously coming upon his sister as she left.

Son of a bitch, Ethan thought, rubbing his hands over his face.

Whether Tess had been deliberately eavesdropping or had stumbled upon the end of the discussion, there was nothing good about what she’d overheard.

Ethan walked out, planning to talk to Tess or stop Faith, but when he reached the hall outside of the kitchen, Tess was gone. A few seconds later, Tess’s bedroom door slammed loudly and the front door beeped, signaling Faith had left.

“Damn it!” He stopped short of hitting his hand into the wall, knowing it wouldn’t solve anything. “Could this day get any worse?”

He decided to let Faith leave and give her time alone to think. After all, she’d had one hit after another today and would have to process everything that happened, including acknowledging that they were in love.

And they were.

But she needed time to accept everything and come to the conclusion she couldn’t live without him either. So for now he had to focus on Tess.

He ran up the stairs and paused outside her closed door. Loud music pounded from beneath the door, that hard rock music she used to tune him out.

He knocked on her door.

No answer.

So he banged louder.

“Go away!”

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Fine,” he muttered, though she couldn’t hear.

With both Tess and Faith shutting him out, Ethan felt more alone than when he’d left home at eighteen. For the first time in his life, he knew what love felt like and he sure as hell didn’t plan on letting Faith leave him any more than he’d let Tess withdraw back into that damn protective shell. Those two meant everything to him.

He knew now he’d probably been in love with Faith since she was sixteen and he’d idolized both Faith Harrington and that house on the hill. Except now he knew the woman was more substantial than some empty mansion, and this house would never be a home unless Faith moved in with him and Tess.

Faith walked into Cuppa Café, praying like hell Lissa had the day off. The last thing she needed after a sleepless night was Lissa’s sarcasm and gloating over Faith’s father’s interview. Faith glanced behind the counter. So far so good. She ordered her favorite latte from the boy behind the counter, who thankfully had no idea who she was, and settled into the back table to wait for Kate.

A few minutes later, Kate strode in and walked straight back to Faith, not stopping to make small talk with anyone, for which Faith was grateful.

“You look like hell,” Kate said as she slid into the seat beside Faith, only five minutes late.

“How can you see behind the sunglasses?” Faith asked.

“I said it because of the sunglasses. Now take ’em off and show me.”

Faith frowned and slid the plastic frames off her face.

Kate let out a slow whistle. “Worse than I thought.”

Faith had poured her heart out on the phone last night, telling Kate everything that had happened, including falling in love with Ethan, telling him so, and walking away from him all in one day.

Kate dragged her seat closer and pulled Faith into a hug. “You want to know the joke? Up until yesterday, I actually thought I’d suffered thanks to my father. Now I can really look at all those people he hurt and see how good I’ve had it. Lissa was right. Yes, I got divorced, but I managed a decent settlement. I opened a business. No wonder people believe I think I’m above it all.” Her head pounded hard and she massaged her temples. “Now I’m suffering, but maybe I deserve it.”

She’d spent the night alternating between anger and frustration, hurt and guilt, all different emotions she could barely separate or understand.

“Hey. You do not deserve to suffer. You just need to distinguish yourself from your father in the eyes of the good people of Serendipity.”

“And how do you suggest I do that?” Faith asked.

“Beats me.” Kate picked up her coffee cup. “Want another?”

“No. I want a new life,” she muttered.

“Are you telling me you are going to let your old man ruin your future?”

“Do I have a choice?” Faith raised her hands and held them palms up, like scales. “Let’s see, my happiness on the left and Tess’s happiness on the right.” She weighed the choices and let her left hand sink to the table. “No contest.”

Kate shook her head. “I applaud you putting the kid’s needs before your own, but did it ever dawn on you that you make them happy?”

She glanced up. “They make me happy too.”

Kate gave her such a knowing look, Faith figured she ought to know what her friend was thinking. But she waited for Kate’s answer anyway.

“Then do something about it!” Kate’s tone matched the fire in her eyes.

“Such as?” Because if there were something Faith thought would fix this, she would have come up with it sometime between 3:00 and 5:00 A.M.

Kate rolled her eyes. “Whoever said you were the smarter of the two of us?”

“Nobody as I recall.” Faith grinned. “Come on. What are you thinking?”

“Same thing I thought the first day we met here when you’d just come back to town. If people knew the real you, none of this would be an issue.” Kate rose to her feet. “I hate to leave you alone, but I have to get to the youth center.”

Faith nodded. “I’m fine. Go. I’ll figure out the answer to your riddle sooner or later.” She waved as Kate turned and headed out the door.

“Let people know the real me,” Faith mused out loud.

“Why would you want to do that?” Lissa asked, as she walked out of the employee entrance in the back.

Faith shook her head. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”

Lissa frowned. “You saw me coming.”

“Yeah, I did,” Faith conceded. She just wanted to take a shot before Lissa fired first.

The darked-haired woman paused by Faith’s table. “So. I heard your life now sucks as much as mine.”

Faith raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you read the News Journal,” she said in mock horror.

To her credit and Faith’s surprise, Lissa laughed. “Actually, I do. At the rate I’m going, it’s the closest I’ll get to real news reporting.”

“Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?” Faith asked warily.

Lissa shoved her hands into the front of her apron pocket and shrugged. “Maybe because I think you’re getting a raw deal and I know what that’s like. Shitty thing for your father to drag you down in the mud along with him.”

Not trusting her nemesis’s sudden one eighty, Faith remained wary.

“My shift doesn’t start for another ten minutes. Mind if I join you?” Without waiting for permission, Lissa slid into Kate’s old seat.

“Make yourself at home.”

Lissa smiled. “Okay, here’s the thing. I only hated you when your life was perfect. Now that it’s not . . . I feel bad I was such a bitch.”

“Great,” Faith muttered. “Pity friendship.”

“Beats me being a—”

“Bitch, I know.” Faith laughed. “Still writing obits?” she asked Lissa, as an idea dawned in her mind. One that might accomplish Kate’s goal of letting the world get to know her and rehabilitate her image at the same time.

With a dramatic sigh, Lissa leaned one elbow on the table. “Unfortunately, yes. ‘She Writes about Dead People.’ That’s my byline.”

Faith couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Want to write my life story instead?”

Lissa cocked an eyebrow. “Think it will win me a Pulitzer?”

Apparently the woman was more perceptive than Faith had given her credit for. Just the right person for the job Faith had in mind.

She crooked a finger and Lissa pulled her chair over so they could whisper. “The idea came to me when you were suddenly nice to me. You see, I thought if I took the high road and never gave an interview, never discussed my childhood or my father, it would give me distance. People wouldn’t look at me and automatically assume I’m just like him.”

“Didn’t work, huh?”

Faith shook her head at the rhetorical question.

“Because you grew up in that mansion, and even on your worst day you look like a million bucks,” Lissa said, with less venom than ever before.

“Thank you. I think. My father’s article linked my ex-husband to him, and by association, my reputation is now worse than it was before. Except, apparently, to you.” Faith shook her head and laughed.

“What can I say? I’m unique. But go on. I’m listening.” Lissa glanced at her watch. “Talk fast. My shift starts soon.”

“The entire free world wants my story. They want to hear about Martin Harrington and his family, the early years through the present. What did we know, when did we know it, what was it like growing up the daughter of the biggest con artist of this century. It’s a scoop the right reporter can parlay from barista and obit writer into a career.”

Lissa’s green eyes opened wide. “You’d give me your story?” Excitement tinged her voice. The woman knew a scoop when she heard one.

Faith shrugged. “Kate likes you, so I’m willing to give you a shot. All I ask is that you tell the unvarnished truth about me. No personal bias. If you do that, I’m hoping the rest of the world will finally separate me from my father.”

Which would allow her to give a relationship with Ethan a fair chance.

With the two women in his life refusing to have anything to do with him, Ethan buried himself in work. His assistant, Amelia, was working overtime to make up for letting Dale seduce information out of her. Ethan’s attorneys had already filed the lawsuit against his ex-partner, and Ethan’s bid had been accepted by the government.

Back to business as usual.

Except that Ethan couldn’t focus on work. Not when Faith wasn’t returning his calls and Tess wouldn’t come out of her room. By 10:00 A.M. Ethan was frustrated and convinced he’d have to tackle his problems with force.

“Tess!” he shouted up the stairs.

To his surprise, he heard her bedroom door open right away.

“Come on down. I want to go into town,” he called to her.

“I’m coming!” She bounded down the stairs, her boots thudding hard with each step.

At the sound, Ethan turned and stared at her in shock. “What the hell are you wearing?” he asked, his stomach in knots at the familiar sight.

“What’s it look like?” She pulled the army jacket tighter around her.

“I should have burned that thing when I had the chance.” Ethan shook his head in disbelief.

Tess glared at him. “Don’t fucking touch my things.”

The black makeup was back, along with the foul attitude and bad language.

He leaned against the banister, eyeing her warily. He knew exactly what had caused the reversion. “You overheard the argument with Faith and you’re mad at me for letting her go? News flash! I didn’t want her to leave either.”

Silence flooded the room, forcing him to wonder if he’d misjudged what had upset her. “Are you mad we never made it to the beach?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes, along with shooting him that you’re an idiot look.

“What?” he yelled at her in frustration.

But Tess remained silent. Well, at least she had a therapy appointment this afternoon. Maybe the good doctor could get through to her since she’d decided to block Ethan out again.

He drove into town, Tess tense and clearly pissed off beside him. He planned to head directly to Faith’s and see if the other female in his life could be reasoned with.

But as they drove past the main string of shops, Tess had other ideas. “Stop the car!”

He narrowed his gaze and slowed down, easing into an open spot. “What’s wrong?”

“Let me out. I need something from the pharmacy.”

“What?”

“None of your business.” She folded her arms across her chest and turned to face the window.

He debated with himself. Turn her loose on Serendipity or take her with him to see if he could change Faith’s mind about walking away from them.

“Be careful. If you finish first, you can walk around the corner and meet me at Faith’s. If not, I’ll come back for you here.”

Without a word, Tess opened the door, climbed out of the car, and slammed it harder than necessary.

Letting her go had been a no-brainer. Tess was perfectly safe in town. Whether the town was safe from Tess was another story.

Faith walked through the pharmacy, picking up the items she needed on her list. She lingered in the aisles, in no rush to get to work. The phones had been silent since her father’s magazine interview, but if someone were to call, her mother was now there to take a message. Lanie had shown up at the shop at 9:00 A.M., ready to work. Faith’s heart squeezed tight, both proud and humbled by her mother’s actions. She knew how much of an effort it had been for Lanie to work in her daughter’s place of business, let alone show her face in town.

The coming days wouldn’t be easy. Faith had already heard the whispers at the coffee shop and had seen people point at her, but she refused to hide. Serendipity was her home.

She headed down the aisle, only to find herself looking at the magazines, staring at the man who’d ripped her life apart once more. This time, Faith hoped to fight fire with fire. Lissa had come over last evening. She’d interviewed Faith and they’d talked late into the night.

If her interview did its job, at least people would understand who Faith Harrington really was. She didn’t know how others would respond, whether it would change their opinions, but at least she’d taken back control of her life. Sort of. If she had her way, she’d be with Ethan and Tess right now, but it was too soon. First her story had to be told. Lissa was already busy writing it and would decide where to pitch it for the most impact.

For Faith, the interview had been cathartic. She’d revealed what it was like to grow up in the house on the hill, with the man responsible for the largest Ponzi scheme in history. She admitted how it had felt to discover the father she’d idolized was really a man with no soul, who’d used her as a pawn. How her ex-husband had done the same. And how her own choices had brought her back to the town she’d left behind.

Lissa had been ruthless in her questions, and Faith had answered every one. No, she hadn’t known about her father’s scam. She’d found out when he was arrested, along with the rest of the world. No, to the best of her knowledge, her mother hadn’t known either. Yes, she was very sorry that so many people had trusted her father and lost their life savings, and of course she was embarrassed to be related to a man who could do such immoral things.

Did she understand why the hardworking people in town resented her? A lump rose in her throat again now, just thinking about how painful that question had been. But yes, she understood that the average person thought Faith Harrington had had it easy. And in comparison to those her father had hurt, she had. Maybe she hadn’t realized it before, but she did now. Now she was one of those hardworking people, struggling to start over, to earn a living, to make friends and find a life.

If she could change the past she would, but all she could do was live by different rules and be proud of her own actions.

She wasn’t part of her father’s scheme and she shouldn’t have to ask for absolution, but as his daughter, she understood she owed people an explanation and an apology. She offered both willingly. Serendipity was her home too and she hoped to one day be accepted.

Looking at her father’s face on the magazine cover, Faith wondered if that day would ever come.

She turned away from the offending photo and immediately saw Tess at the end of the aisle. She couldn’t mistake the army jacket, the boots, or the hair. But why? Why would Tess be dressed like that again when she’d come so far and had been so happy?

Before Faith could call her name and find out, she saw Tess pick up a small box, stuff it inside her jacket pocket, and turn to head not for the register but straight for the door.

Tess? Shoplifting?

Faith’s heart lurched at the sight. She dropped her basket of items and bolted after the teen.