Chapter 8

Faith wasn't quite sure where or even how to start. She took a breath and just jumped in, "my husband, Billy, was killed on the job. He was a cop, LAPD." She remembered as if it were yesterday. "His partner came to the door to tell me, but I knew before he even opened his mouth. His expression told me everything." She brought her gaze up to meet Richie's. "It was one of the worst days of my life." Richie didn't say anything, he just continued to hold her hand, stroking the back of it lightly. Faith dropped her gaze and went on to tell him the rest. How her sister had come to stay, how Ms. Betty had been and still was there every day for her and Hannah. How she still wasn't sure how she managed to survive it.

Richie sat and listened almost in disbelief. How could one go through so much and yet stay so strong?

Faith stopped talking. She was almost afraid to look at Richie. She dragged her eyes from the table top, glancing at their hands that were still clasped and up to his face. She didn't find pity in his eyes as she had feared. Instead she found sympathy and, of all things, awe.

"Richie?"

"How do you do it?" Faith wasn't sure what he meant. "How do I do what?"

"How do you keep it together and carry on? How do you not break down, totally lose it?" Faith smiled softly at him, no one had every asked her that. "I keep it together for Hannah. She is the center of my world now. Making sure she is happy and safe is more important to me than anything else. She comes first, she has to." Richie nodded his understanding. "What about you Faith, what about your happiness?"

Faith didn't answer him right away. She had focused so much on Hannah in the last two years that she hadn't thought of anything else. Until just a few short days ago. She looked at Richie, "well, until a few days ago, I thought I was doing okay, then this guy spread out his beach blanket next to mine and well, I have been doing some, shall we say, re-evaluating." Richie smiled at her. "And? Have you come to any conclusions?"

Faith squeezed his hand, "I have. You see, he made me feel things I haven't felt in a long time and he made me want to explore those feelings." Richie slid his chair closer to her, happy with her answer. He found her eyes with his, "I like exploring" he told her as he brought his hand up and tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. He lightly stroked her cheek with his fingers and leaned in to kiss her.

"Dad!"

Faith and Richie jumped apart. He turned to his daughter "what?" "We're hungry!" Richie frowned and turned back to Faith "sorry." Faith shook her head and laughed, "it's okay, let's get them fed."