Chapter 18

Richie reached over and laid his hand over Faith's. "We need to talk about us Faith." She looked up at him, "us? Is there an 'us'?" Richie squeezed her hand, "I would like there to be, but it occurs to me that we have done things a bit backward." Faith breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I have to agree. We hardly know anything about each other." Richie smiled at her, "well, I think you may have a distinct advantage there. I can only guess at what you know about me." Faith laughed, "actually I probably know more about Jon than you. Information about you is not quite as plentiful." Richie couldn't disagree, "you got me there darlin'. The ladies certainly do seem to like him best." Faith caught his gaze, her eyes full of admiration for him. "Not this lady." He brought her hand to his lips, "thank God for that."

Her eyes never left his face. "So, what do you want to know?" Richie smiled at her, "everything." "That's a tall order" Faith answered with a smile. "Well," he hesitated for a minute, "maybe you should tell me what you know and we could go from there." "Okay" Faith agreed, just let me go in and check on Hannah. I don't like to leave her alone in the house for too long." Richie watched as she went into the house, thanking God for the warm weather and admiring Faith's fine backside and long bare legs in her shorts.

"Hannah!" Faith called out as she walked into the house. "Yeah mom?" Faith stopped in the laundry room and tossed her panties into the pile of dirty clothes. She proceeded into the kitchen to find Hannah at the table drawing and coloring. "You doing all right in her all by yourself?" Hannah looked up from her drawing, "I'm fine." "Okay. I am going to be out back talking with Richie." "Okay mom." Faith poured two glasses of lemonade and went back outside.

"I hope you like lemonade" Faith said as she set the glass down in front of Richie. He jumped when she said his name. He had been so lost in thought he hadn't heard her come back. Faith laughed, "sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He looked at her, eyes smiling, "I wasn't sleeping and yes, I like lemonade. Thank you very much."

They sat and talked, and Richie learned a whole new respect for this amazing woman he had met just a few short days before. He learned that Faith's birthday was just a week after his and that she would be 40. He learned that her favorite flowers are lilacs, that her favorite color is red and that she cried at kleenex commercials and that she liked not only chick flicks, but action films as well. He also learned that like him, she had lost not just one parent, but both and at an early age. She had a sister that lived on the other side of the country and they saw each other once a year if they were lucky. He also learned that she had had trouble conceiving Hannah and that is why there weren't any others after her. Richie wanted to know more about that. "So are more children totally out of the question?" Faith hesitated before she answered, "it would take some doing I am sure, but the doctors never totally ruled it out. You want more kids don't you?" Faith watched him, she could read it in his eyes, "yeah, I would like at least one more. Not that Ava isn't enough, but, just between you and me, I kinda envy Jon the four he has. I always wanted a son." Faith saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. "It bothered you a lot that you and Heather never tried for more didn't it?" Richie looked at her, she was very perceptive. "It did and, truth be told, it is part of the reason we aren't together anymore." Faith nodded her head in understanding.

Richie studied his empty glass before asking his next question. "How much do you know about my divorce?" Faith finished her lemonade before answering. "Only what I read in the papers." "Don't believe everything you read" he told her. Faith looked at him, "I usually don't. Whatever happened between you and Heather, it is nobody's business but your own. I can't imagine going through something like that and having it smeared all over every rag and paper in town. Private matters should be kept private." He liked her attitude. "I agree, but being a celebrity means giving up your privacy, to a certain extent." Faith shook her head, "that must suck." Richie nodded and went on, "I was lucky for a long time. The paparazzi pretty much left us alone unless we were at some sort of event or other. Then when we split it just got out of control. It has quieted down some but I still try to be careful." Faith had a thought, "when they find out you are dating someone new, what will happen?"

Richie considered his words carefully, he didn't want to scare her away. "They will probably try to find out whatever dirt they can about you." Faith was afraid of that. She knew she could handle herself but she worried about Hannah. Richie was watching her, her expression grew serious. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours? "Nothing." "Don't tell me nothing, I can practically see the wheels turning." Faith shrugged her shoulders, "I just need to sort this out." She looked around her yard, the afternoon had waned and it was nearing dinnertime. "Can you stay for dinner?" Richie sighed, "we need to finish talking about this?" She nodded, I know. "Let's go inside." She got up, pushed the mower into the garage and shut the door. She turned to find Richie standing by the door talking to Hannah through the screen, holding their empty glasses.

After dinner of BLT's and macaroni salad and a few rounds of UNO, Faith hustled Hannah off to bed and she and Richie sat in the living room, him on the couch and her in the adjacent chair. "Richie" he looked over at Faith, "I want to be with you, but I am worried about what going to happen when the paparazzi finds out. I can handle myself but what do I have to do to protect Hannah? She doesn't even really know who you are." Richie raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean?" "I mean she knows you just as Richie, Ava's dad. Not as Richie Sambora, guitarist for Bon Jovi. She hasn't put the two together yet." "Well, let's just leave it as Ava's dad for now."

Richie reached over and took Faith' s hand, tugging her out of the chair and over onto his lap. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and looked at him. "This is all new territory for me Richie and honestly, it scares me a little." He rubbed her arm and kissed her forehead. "You got nothing to be scared of. As a matter of fact, I have an idea." Faith looked up at him, "what's that?" "I have a charity dinner Saturday night, why don't you come with me and we can see how it goes?" Faith considered the invitation, "I guess we have to start somewhere, right? So, yes, I would love to go with you." "Good, now can we stop talking and neck a little on the couch before I leave?"