“It only took you three weeks?” Martine responded in disbelief.
“Actually, it was two and a half, but we weren’t under the kind of pressure you kids are. We had more time to get to know one another without a curse hindering us. But I knew what fate had chosen for me was right.”
Ah. Derrick’s father, Brock. She’d heard just a small bit about his disappearance from Nat, but it rather strengthened her belief that nothing lasted forever. Yet, to look at Faith when she mentioned him, you’d think he walked on water.
But he didn’t. He’d walked out. He’d been gone a long time, too. To love someone like that when he’d left them was, in Martine’s opinion, foolish and ridiculously hopeful.
She decided again to be as honest as she could with Faith without revealing too much about her agreement with Derrick.
She didn’t want to hurt these people, but she also didn’t want them to build something in their heads that just wasn’t going to be. “I like Derrick a lot. He’s been very kind. He’s a great cook. I like talking to him, but no. I’m not madly in love.”
Faith began to speak, but Martine cut her off.
“That’s not to say I won’t be…sometime in the future. I mean, who knows, right? But for now, we’re just getting to know each other. I hope you understand.” She reached a hand out, placing it on Faith’s arm. Okay, so it was a little lie, but if it made Faith more comfortable, she wanted to at least give her that.
Faith nodded her head with a quick bob. “I understand completely. But give it time, won’t you? At least stay until the full moon? I wouldn’t be his mother if I didn’t ask.”
“Because his life’s at stake.”
“Ye-yes,” she said, her voice hitching, but she didn’t look away. Instead, she looked directly at Martine. “That I even have to say that enrages me, but yes. Derrick’s life is at stake, and you’re the answer. No pressure there, huh?”
Martine looked her directly in the eye. “Then I promise you I won’t go anywhere until at least the full moon.”
Faith took a deep breath and grinned, her eyes tilting up at the corners. “Phew. Now that I’ve made a plea for my son’s life, I think I can sleep again.”
Martine laughed and let Faith squeeze her hand one more time before she began helping her gather firewood.
As they giggled and chatted about nothing, it dawned on her that she’d laughed more in just the last two days than she had in a long time.
Despite the fact that she really had nothing to laugh about.
Chapter Ten
As they strolled back to Derrick’s, he put his hand under her arm, guiding her over the strewn tree trunks and rocks. “Did my mother give you the talk?”
Instead of pulling away, she leaned into him, liking the fact that he was near. He made her feel protected, cared for, maybe even a little less alone.
She laughed at his question. “Well, not the talk, but she made her wishes clear. And fear not, Farm Boy. I didn’t give up our porn-ish arrangement.”
“Phew. Because that would have been a conversation, huh?”
“Um, yeah. Actually, I really like your mom. She’s very nice, and I’m guessing your cooking skills come from her?”
He chuckled, a warm, rich sound that made her chest tingle and her knees melty. “She said that because of the curse and the dying bit, she was going to help us appear as attractive a catch as she could just in case.”
Martine laughed again, shivering in the cold, clear night. “She’s a smart woman, your mother.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she is.”
The admiration in his voice made her smile. “She’s nuts about your dad.”
Derrick stiffened, letting his hand drop from her waist. “Unfortunately.”
Shit. Obviously a sore subject. Martine stopped in her tracks, kicking some freshly fallen snow with her loaner boots. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me.”
Derrick ran a hand over his hard jaw. “It’s fine. You were bound to find out eventually, the way my sisters all talk as if he’s still here. But my father isn’t here, and he hasn’t been in five years.”
The sting of his words made her wince. Grabbing his hand, Martine held it tight, liking the way he curved his fingers around hers. “I’m sorry.” In this moment, she wanted to tell him she knew what disappointment with your father was like, but her tongue wouldn’t let her. The less he knew about her other than Escobar, the better.
“Don’t be. It’s just a fact. That my mother still pines for him instead of moving on is just one of the many reasons I’m not a fan of this forever everyone’s so stuck on.”