Having Faith (6 page)

It was ridiculous, of course, but she seemed like the type of woman who would care about that kind of thing.  Besides being beautiful, she was also a proud woman.  Her initial reluctance to accept help demonstrated that clearly enough.  And she obviously cared a great deal for her son.  Kieran had caught her worried looks and frequent peeks all morning.  Of course, that may have been because he was watching her so closely, too.

The woman had an unexpected way of commanding his attention; there was no doubt about that.  He’d had to put an extra effort into focusing on what he was doing lest he lose a finger or some other important body part while operating various power tools.  Even now, he couldn’t help himself from listening to what was going on in the other room.  He could hear Faith’s soft voice, along with two deeper, obviously male ones.

He honed in on the exchange, his protective instincts surging as he moved closer to the archway separating the kitchen from the living area.  As far as he could tell, the delivery men had made only two trips from their truck to the house.  Two mattresses and two box springs sat propped up by the door.  Surely that wasn’t all?

“If you’ll sign here, Mrs. ....”

“Miss,” Faith automatically corrected as she signed the papers.  The delivery man’s grin grew.  He was the younger of the two; Kieran put his age somewhere around twenty-five or so.  The guy was decent looking enough, he supposed.  Brown hair, brown eyes.  Well-toned. 

Kieran’s eyes narrowed.  The guy – the name stitched on his shirt said
David
- was looking at Faith with far too much non-professional interest.  Faith must have noticed, too, because she shifted uncomfortably.  After handing the clipboard to him, she took a deliberate step backward.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to put those bed frames together for you?” the other guy asked.  He lifted his cap and smoothed back his hair as he nodded toward the tangle of thin black steel rods now leaning against the wall.  He was older, with clearly defined lines around his eyes and a fair smattering of gray around his close-cropped hair.  His gaze toward Faith was decidedly more fatherly than
David
’s.  Kieran didn’t have the sudden, irrational urge to kill
him
.

“I’m sure, thank you,” Faith said politely.

“It’s much easier with an extra set of hands,” the younger guy pushed, coming dangerously close to invading Faith’s personal space.  Kieran only just managed to silence the low warning growl rumbling around in the back of his throat.  Faith had already said no.  Why was this guy still here?

Dropping all pretense of not listening, Kieran placed himself in the archway.  Faith didn’t respond to the man’s latest offer.  Judging by the way her pretty eyes were flashing with irritation, it was not the first time he’d asked.  She stood patiently by the door to see them out.  Unfortunately, they didn’t seem all that anxious to leave.   

Faith took another step back when
David
got a little closer than was socially acceptable.  He was not a large man, not by Callaghan standards, but he was a good deal bigger than Faith.  Faith’s shoulders stiffened.  With a slightly defiant tilt to her chin, she held her ground.  For his part, Kieran did not like the way the guy was openly appreciating her assets.

“You know, tomorrow’s my day off,” the little rat bastard was saying.  “I’d be glad to stop by and give you a hand.  Looks like you could definitely use some help.”  His attempted sexy grin only managed to look smarmy.  Faith opened her mouth, presumably to decline his offer, but before she could say a word, Kieran spoke up.

“That won’t be necessary.”  Kieran crossed his massive arms over his equally massive chest, allowing his form to fill the archway, his deep voice booming throughout the small space as he set his laser-like stare upon the would-be do-gooder. 

Matt, who had also been following the exchange, squeezed thru and stood beside him with a smirk.  “Yeah, we got it covered, man.”

David
looked like he was about to say something else, but upon seeing Kieran, changed his mind.  Apparently the guy had some brains after all.  “Maybe another time,” the delivery guy muttered before the two of them glanced once again at Kieran and made their exit.  Faith’s expression was a little harder to read.  She looked relieved, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Thanks,” she said somewhat shyly.

Without another word, Kieran nodded, then turned on his heel and stalked back outside, fighting his own powerful urge to get close up in Faith’s personal space.  Matt followed closely behind.

“That happen a lot?” Kieran asked, once he was sure they were out of earshot.

“Yeah,” Matt frowned.  “Guys are hitting on my mom all the time.  Most of them are pretty cool when she shuts them down, but some get kind of pushy.”

“Turns down a lot, does she?” he asked casually.

“No,” Matt said with a grin.  “She turns down them
all
,” he clarified. 

Kieran’s dark mood took a definite upswing.

* * *

“I
think we’re in the way,” Lacie observed as Shane, Kieran, and Matt progressed through the house, patching and fixing as they went.  She pulled off her cleaning gloves.  “I’m ready for a break anyway.  How about we head into town for a bit?  You said you needed some supplies, right?”

Faith pulled off her gloves, too, and wiped the back of her hand over her sweaty forehead.  Everything about her felt grimy.  “I do, but I can’t go looking like this.”

Lacie regarded her.  “This is Pine Ridge, not Paris,” she chuckled.  “Although I think I could make good use of a wet washcloth and a hairbrush.”

With some gentle prodding, Lacie persuaded Faith to accompany her into town, if for no other reason than to have something to offer her hard-working guests.  She was from the South, after all, and Southern hospitality was more than just a catch-phrase; it was a part of her heritage. 

“What about Matt?  Maybe he should come too.”

Lacie looked doubtfully over to where the three men were working.  “Guys, Faith and I are going to head into town for supplies.”  She received a few grunts in return and laughed.

“Matt, you want to come with?” Faith called out.

Matt shot her a suitably horrified glance.  Kieran paused what he was doing long enough to turn around.  “Matt’s a great help here if you can spare him.” 

Faith was pretty sure Kieran Callaghan officially became her son’s hero in that moment.  While he dutifully helped her when necessary, one of Matt’s least favorite things to do was shopping.  So much so, in fact, that she occasionally threatened it as a punishment when he was being particularly surly.  The only thing that was more effective was taking his phone away for a few days, but she hated doing that in case he needed to get in touch with her.

“They’ll be fine,” Lacie assured her as they made their way out to the car.  “Matt couldn’t be safer with those two.”

For whatever reason, Faith believed her.  She liked Lacie, a lot.  And every instinct she had said the brothers were good, decent men.  She took a deep breath to settle her maternal nerves and changed the subject.  “So you and Shane are engaged?”

“Yeah,” Lacie said, positively glowing with happiness.  “We’re getting married in August.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.  I can’t wait!”  Lacie got a particularly bright look on her face.  “Hey!  You could come!  I’ll send an invitation to you and Matt.” 

Inwardly, Faith grimaced.  She liked Lacie.  The two had hit it off immediately, and that was something very rare; Faith didn’t usually feel as naturally drawn to someone as she was to Lacie.  In some ways, she felt a kindred spirit in the mild-mannered Kindergarten teacher.  But weddings meant dressing up and buying gifts, and she couldn’t afford either of those things right now.  She mentally searched her limited wardrobe in vain for something even remotely suitable to wear and came up empty.

“It’s going to be very small and informal,” Lacie went on, then caught herself and laughed.  “Though I guess when the Callaghans are involved, nothing can ever truly be considered
small
.” 

Faith had to grin at that.  They did seem to have a huge presence that extended beyond their large physiques.  It brought to Faith’s mind the irrational thought that the wedding would be another excuse to see Kieran again, but she pushed that thought away as quickly as it came.  She had no business thinking anything of the kind.

Lacie rummaged around in her purse for a bit, extracted a small notepad, removed the attached pen, and jotted something down.  “I tend to be a bit disorganized, sometimes,” she explained apologetically.  “I find that if I don’t write it down, I sometimes don’t remember until it’s too late.” 

That was something with which Faith could empathize.  She had a similar notebook in her bag, though hers was filled with as many sketches as it was enumerated lists and notes.  Sometimes an idea struck at the oddest times and if she didn’t capture the gist while it was fresh in her mind, it was harder to reproduce later on.

“Shane is so organized, poor guy.  My disjointed brain drives him crazy sometimes.” 

Faith chuckled at that.  Shane did seem to be the type to be exceptionally well-prepared for any situation, but in a competent, good way.  She hadn’t detected any of the less desirable anal retentiveness so many control freaks had. 

Faith didn’t realize she’d voiced her inner thoughts out loud until Lacie bellowed a laugh.  She felt the heat rushing into her cheeks when the men’s heads snapped up suspiciously with the instinctive knowledge that such a full-hearted sound could only come at their expense.

Thankfully, they hadn’t heard exactly what she’d said and Lacie didn’t seem at all offended.

“Thanks.  Shane is... well, let’s just say he’s everything I could have hoped for and then some.”

Faith smiled, feeling genuinely happy for her.  She couldn’t find it in herself to begrudge the other woman a happy ending, not when they were so obviously in love. 

“Kieran’s a good guy, too,” Lacie pointed out. 

“They both seem very nice,” Faith said carefully.  As much as she liked Lacie, she didn’t know her well enough to sense if there was any hidden meaning in that last statement.  She’d been on the fix-up list so many times she’d become a bit paranoid.  People generally meant well, but once they found out she was young and single they felt obligated to “help”.  Sometimes she felt like she had a bulls-eye tattooed on her forehead.  So far Lacie had not shown any signs of gossipy nosiness, just natural curiosity.  And she had been nothing but kind and helpful, so Faith decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and take the statement at face value.

“I still can’t believe how much you’re doing for us.  With your help, we’ve already accomplished more in one morning than Matt and I could have in a whole week.” 

More like several
, Faith added silently, given how long it would have taken to be able to afford all those supplies.  The shingles and lumber alone would have put her back several hundred dollars, not to mention all the nails and screws and tools they would have had to buy or borrow to get the job done.  She had her trusty collection of secondhand tools that she’d managed to collect over the years out of necessity, but it sure as heck didn’t contain portable laser miter saws.

“I’m glad you’re letting us help,” Lacie countered.  “Most people wouldn’t appreciate us barging in and taking over like that.  You must think we’re terribly pushy.”

“Not at all,” Faith was quick to reply, but an inner part of her squirmed.  If it had been anyone besides Lacie, Shane, and Kieran, she probably would have been a bit more bothered than she was.  She was normally a very private person, and did not accept help easily.  It was nearly impossible not to like Lacie, however.  And the appearance of the two men who seemed to know what they were doing was just too good to pass up. 

“And we
do
appreciate it,” Faith said sincerely.  “Matt’s been in seventh heaven all day.”

Faith had given Lacie the perfect opportunity to ask about Matt’s father, but she didn’t.  That raised her yet another notch in Faith’s opinion.

“I think the guys are enjoying it, too.  They can’t wait till their nieces and nephews get a little older.”

“Big family?”  Faith guessed as Lacie directed her toward the town proper.

“You could say that.  There are seven Callaghan brothers.  Five of them are married with kids, but the oldest isn’t close to being ready to use a power saw just yet.”

Faith performed a few mental gymnastics.  Seven brothers, five married, and one engaged.  Lacie spared her the embarrassment of asking.  “Kieran’s the only remaining eligible bachelor.”

Faith hated the little flutter she felt beneath her ribcage at that disclosure.  She was
not
interested.  And she was glad she wasn’t interested, because she knew she had the equivalent of a snowball’s chance in hell of catching the eye of someone like Kieran.  Even her uninterested, don’t-need-a-man self couldn’t help but admit the man was a walking, talking fantasy.  Gorgeous, strong, kind, good with kids ...

Giving herself a mental shake, Faith forced herself away from those thoughts.  She couldn’t afford to think things like that just because a man was nice to her.  Yet she still found herself asking, “And how’s that going for him?”

Lacie laughed.  “Honestly?  I think he’s seriously considering joining the priesthood.”  Faith looked over at her and caught her twinkling eyes.  “Not really,” Lacie admitted, “but I wouldn’t blame him.  He’s got women throwing themselves at him all the time.”

“And he doesn’t like that?”  Faith gave her a sideways glance.  That didn’t sound like any man she had ever known.

Lacie thought a few moments before answering.  “No,” she said finally.  “I don’t think he does.  Callaghan men aren’t like other men,” she added carefully. 

“How so?”

Lacie gave her a devilish grin.  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Faith wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, so she remained silent.

With Lacie’s help, Faith managed to procure nearly everything on her “first-run” list, as she called it.  Food, paper products, additional cleaning supplies.  Faith carefully considered each purchase before it went into her cart.  She had to count every penny.