Making the Grade (14 page)

“Because Brian can buy and sell me without blinking an eye.” She didn’t know for certain what he made, but if teasing him about his millions had made an impact, she knew for certain he pulled in at least seven figures a year.
Way
more than she’d ever take in.

Though she’d been doing her best to focus on just them and not the material things surrounding them, she couldn’t ignore his car, his house or his rich friends.

Speaking of friends, she still wondered if what she’d suspected were true. Had Rex been the man watching them in the club?

“Faith?”

She dragged her gaze from her clenched hands back to Dylan. Sitting across from him in his home office, she should have felt more at ease. But tonight, her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Love, lust, confusion, embarrassment, worthlessness…

“Yeah?” she said.

“How does Brian make you feel? Without his money, what is he to you?”

She blew out a breath. “I wish I knew.”

“Think about it.”

She did, and her eyes filled without warning. “Shit. I knew this would happen.”

Dylan held out a box of tissues.

She took one and wiped her eyes before blowing her nose. “You swear you won’t tell Freddy or Harper this?”

“Faith,” Dylan chided. “I’ve never shared anything my patients have said. To anyone.”

“I know. It’s just, saying it out loud makes it real.”

“Saying what?” he prodded.

“I think I love him.”

“Is that so bad?” Dylan asked with a smile. “Love is unselfish, giving, true. A positive emotion. If you’re feeling it, you believe you deserve to be loved.”

“Do I? I’m still Alice Sumner’s daughter. The child of the town whore.”

“Faith…”

“Well, she is. She’s fucking proud of it.” The crux of her problems with her mother. Alice didn’t mind not having any money, because she’d sleep her way to a new stereo or new brakes for her car. The hell of it was, her seductions worked. She had a pretty face and toned body. The curse of the Sumner line, apparently.

“I hate that she has no self-respect.”

Dylan nodded.

“I mean, I dumped Jeremy. He was such a dick.” She smiled in thought. “I think Brian broke his nose.”

“Oh?”

She recounted what had happened, and Dylan snorted with laughter. “I wish I could have seen that.”

“It was awesome.” Her eyes watered again. “Damn. I just… I still wonder if I’m worth the effort. Shouldn’t I be over that? Shouldn’t I know he did the right thing for a strong, resourceful woman? Why am I still wondering if maybe Darcy was right? That I’m just trashy and trying to grab on to a man I can’t have?”

“Why can’t you have him? Because Brian has money? Does that really make him better than you?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” She wiped her nose. “I feel like I’m regressing. I was so strong before. I hated men, and I knew I was awesome. Now I’m in love and feeling like shit.”

“Love does that. Insecurity, vulnerability, risk. By opening yourself up, you’re allowing yourself to possibly get hurt. But you’re living, Faith. You’re feeling again. I see such a strong woman when I look at you. One who won’t tolerate being used again. Didn’t you tell Brian to kiss off when he tried to apologize by buying you gifts?”

“Yeah.”

“And didn’t you force him to be honest with you?”

“Pretty much.”

“Did any part of you want to get back with Jeremy or use Brian for his wealth?”

“No.” She glared at Dylan. “Of course not.”

“And why is that?”

“I’m not some loser skank out to snag a man for his money.”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly.” She heard herself say it and started to believe it again.

“Faith, when’s the last time you saw your mother?”

She squirmed on the couch. “I don’t know.”

“Eight months. Isn’t that right?”

“Um, yeah.”

“I think you should see her.” He paused. “You should take Brian with you.”

“Are you
crazy
?” She could just imagine her mother trying to cozy Brian out of fifty bucks. Or worse, offering to
earn
the money.

“Faith, you say you love Brian. Do you think he loves you back?”

“I, well, I think so.” He’d swept her off her feet after the fund-raiser. And he’d told her he’d never been more proud to be seen with a woman in his life. The words still resonated because he’d been so sincere, and so loving afterward. “I know he feels something for me.”

“Take him to meet your mother. If he’s the man you think he is, he won’t be put off by poor finances or nutty relatives. After all, he trusted you not to drop him after meeting his father.”

“You think?”

“Faith, I’ve met the man. Judge Goode is not a pleasant person, on a good day.” He shook his head. “That has nothing to do with being a therapist and everything to do with loathing my soon-to-be father-in-law.”

“You’re getting
married
?”

“Someday. Well, Harper will or I will. I’m not sure how we’ll work it, but the point is, everyone has a crazy in-law. Hell, my poor partners have to deal with me having an annoying twin.”

She grinned with him.

“Love is about accepting as much as emoting. We all have flaws. When you love someone, you see past the bad to the good. And you accept the bad
with
the good.”

“You do mean good as in G-O-O-D, right?”

“God forbid I make a bad pun. Freddy and Harper are horrible about it. I feel for Brian on the nights he visits.”

She chuckled. “You make me feel better, Dylan.”

“That’s part of my job. But the more important part is making you own up to your choices and your feelings. You’re only inadequate if you feel inadequate. Don’t judge someone because of what they drive or how much they make. Don’t prejudice yourself against Brian because he’s a hard worker and earns a tidy sum. Like him for who he is. Love yourself for who you are, not what you earn.”

She sighed. “Yes, Doctor.”

“I’m serious, Faith. Go see your mother.”

“I’ll think about it.”

And she had. It just so happened her mother had a birthday on Saturday. Faith had shored up her courage and asked Brian to come with her to visit Alice. And damn it all, he’d agreed.

She drove them in her car with the windows down, the weather a surprisingly warm sixty degrees. Faith swallowed a curse. She knew what her mother would think upon seeing Brian. “Now remember. She’s probably going to come on to you, so don’t be surprised if she does. She likes men, and you’re too good-looking by far.”

“Thanks, sugar.”

“Quit with the Southern charm,” she warned. “Act ugly.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Brian saluted her.

“Smartass.”

He laughed. “Faith, relax. You didn’t kick me to the curb after dealing with hangin’ Judge Goode and Darcy the Emaciated.”

“Nice one.”

“Thanks, but Rex gets credit for that one.”

She turned her attention back to the road, frowning. “Speaking of Rex. Was he the one…?”

“What one?”

“You know. The one in our room in the club?”

“Does it matter?”

“Hell yeah. I can’t sit in a meeting with him, knowing he beat off while you fucked me.”

“God, woman. Stop talking like that. You don’t want me meeting your mother with a woody, do you?”

She groaned.

“I never said it was Rex. I’d just as soon you thought of our voyeur as a faceless person. Unless you have a thing for Rex?”

“Don’t be silly. You know I only look at you.”

He settled into the seat and put his hands behind his head. “Good.”

“Don’t get cocky.”

“Tell you what. If I charm your mother and don’t freak out about anything, will you move in with me?”

She swerved to miss a turtle in the road.

Brian swore, “Hell. A simple no will do.”

“Sorry. Turtle.”

“Uh-huh.”

Her heart raced. “Brian, moving in together… It’s a big step.” Despite what she’d told Dylan, she had odd moments when she wondered if she’d be enough for Brian. Because unless she won the lottery, she doubted she’d ever come close to his wealth.

“It is. A step I want to take with you. Faith, I—”

She jerked the car again, not ready to hear him.

He glared at her.

“Turtle,” she croaked, then cleared her throat. “How about some music?”

He sighed. “Fine. But you owe me some dirty talk and a massage later.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“For meeting your mother and all.”

“You didn’t have to come.”

The music filled the sudden silence between them.

“Yes, I did,” he said sometime later.

But by then she’d lost the thread of the conversation. She’d turned down the dirt road to her mother’s trailer. They’d arrived.

Brian burned with curiosity to meet the woman Faith wanted to keep a deep, dark secret. Though she’d asked him to come, he felt as if he stood on the edge of a precipice. Waiting to take a test. One wrong move and he’d topple into a life without her.

He’d wanted to tell her how he felt so many times before. But the timing had never been right. And it sure the hell wasn’t right now.

They pulled up in front of a ragged mobile home amid a plethora of bushes and what appeared to be a flower garden. This early in the spring, not much had bloomed, though a pot of pansies cheerfully welcomed them.

Faith parked the car and they got out. “Remember. Don’t mention your company or your money.” She hadn’t allowed him to drive either, not wanting to alert her mother to the scent of wealth.

Brian thought her ridiculous. How bad could her mother be?

Except as they drew closer, he saw the trailer shifting.

Faith rubbed her temples. “Oh no.”

A hoarse shout, followed by a woman’s passionate moans, met them both.

“Is she…?”

“Yes.” Faith looked miserable.

Brian could only stare, openmouthed, at the rocking trailer. “So we should not be a-knockin’.”

She blinked at him with wide eyes before laughing hysterically. “Oh God.”

“That’s what she said.”

She laughed harder, and he hoped she’d calmed down some. Her poor face had turned bright red.

The trailer door opened, and an older man left, tucking his shirt into his trousers.

“Come again, Ralph,” came a voice from inside the trailer. Alice appeared moments later, just as Ralph took off in his SUV. She looked like an older version of Faith. Beautiful but worn, and with a body that didn’t quit in a silky robe that reached her mid-thigh and barely covered her breasts.

Alice saw Faith and her face lit up. “Hey, Faithie.” She left the trailer to greet her daughter.

Faith cringed and forced a smile as she accepted her mother’s hug.

Alice pulled back and pinched Faith’s cheek. “Still not a cuddly kid, are ya?” She turned her attention to Brian and arched a brow. “Well, hel-lo. What did you bring me?”

“My boyfriend, Brian,” Faith said flatly. “I called yesterday. We’re here to celebrate your birthday, remember?”

Alice chuckled, and her husky laugh sounded just like Faith’s.

“Whoops. I forgot. I have a standing appointment with Ralph. My bad.”

Brian watched them with fascination. Alice didn’t seem embarrassed in the slightest to be half-naked and caught sexing it up with the now-absent Ralph.

“Brian, huh?” She ambled closer, then gave him a once-over that made him uncomfortable. “You’re cute.”

“Thanks.”
I think.

“Be right back. You can come on in or sit out here.”

Faith dragged Brian with her to one of the two ratty lawn chairs by a table outside the trailer.

“So,” he said after Alice had disappeared back inside. “That’s your mom.”

Faith dropped her forehead to the table and groaned.

Brian couldn’t help himself and started chuckling. Soon he was laughing so hard he cried.
 

“It’s not funny,” Faith hissed.

“It so is. We should introduce her to my father.” Brian kept laughing until he felt light-headed.

“Oh God. What a nightmare that would be.” She laughed with him, and the sight of her green eyes melting, her full lips curling with mirth, broke him.

He had to say it. “Faith, I love you.”

She sputtered. “
What
?”

Her mother stepped outside, now dressed in jeans and a tight sweater. “So where to for dinner?”

The moment broken, Brian took them out to Alice’s favorite restaurant in Appling. They ate at a small diner with to-die-for strawberry rhubarb pie.