The Best Man (Blue Heron #1)(87)

“Sweetie, we live in the same house,” he said. “We can talk later. Sit down. Don’t be rude.”

“Very nice to meet you, Honor.” Maxine beamed. Nice smile. Faith sighed. “You know, John, I think it’s lovely that your daughters are so involved in helping you find someone,” she said. “Really, girls. Your concern is so touching.”

“Yeah,” Honor said. “I... Thank you.”

“My son is here, too, somewhere,” Dad said. “Oh, there he is, at the bar. The big good-looking one.”

“Takes after his father,” Maxine said.

“Jack! Come over here,” Dad called. “Maxine, I hope you don’t mind. It’s a small town, and O’Rourke’s is our little hangout.”

“I love Manningsport,” Maxine said. “I’ve been here before, actually. Prettiest town in New York, I think.”

“It is, it is,” Dad said, nodding approvingly. He looked at Faith and gave her a little wink, as clueless as she’d been.

Jack approached. “Hey, Dad,” he said. “Hi, I’m the son.” He stuck out his hand to Maxine, who shook it. Jack’s eyes widened. “That’s some grip,” he said, glancing in horror at Faith.

“I have one more daughter who’s not here,” Dad said, beaming. “But you’ve met seventy-five percent of my offspring. And since they’re the most important things in my life, I guess it’s good to get that covered.”

“A beautiful family,” Maxine said. “But I’m afraid I have to go. Too bad I didn’t know you’d be popping in, John! I have a dinner date with the lovely old gentleman who lives next door to me, and he barely gets out, so I’d feel terrible if I was late. But I hope we can see each other again!”

“I think that would be great,” Dad said.

“Yeah, no, that’s...that’s great,” Faith said. “Um, it was so nice to meet you.”

Jack and Honor murmured in agreement, their faces a bit pained.

Maxine got out of the booth and grabbed Faith’s hands. “Thank you, sweetheart,” and, yeah, husky wasn’t quite the right word to describe that voice.

“Take care,” Faith said. She kissed Maxine’s cheek, getting a bit of stubble.

“John, wonderful meeting you. Have a lovely weekend.” She tilted her head and waved, then off she went. Faith sat back down.

“I really liked her,” Dad said. “Good job, Faithie. She’s lovely.”

“Dad,” Faith said. “I, uh...Maxine is not going to be your girlfriend.”

He paused. “Why?”

Honor shook her head and sighed.

“Well,” Faith began, hoping to break this gently. “Did you notice anything about Maxine? Anything at all?”

Her father frowned. “She’s tall.”

“That’s it, Dad. Run with it,” Jack said, taking a long pull of his beer.

“Um...very warm and well spoken. Pretty.”

“Pretty is not really the word here,” Jack said. “Wouldn’t handsome do better?”

“Sure. I guess so,” Dad said.

Honor sighed, and turned to look at their father. “Dad, Maxine is a man.”

Dad blinked. “What?”

“She’s a man, Dad.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Oh, but she is,” Honor said, taking a nacho covered in cheese.

“But she—”

“No, Honor’s right,” Jack said. “It’s a boy.” His shoulders started shaking in a silent laugh.

“Oh,” Dad said. “Uh...oh. I see.” Then he bit his lip and started laughing, too.

Honor rolled her eyes. “Colleen, can I get a very strong martini?” she called. “Bone dry, three olives.” She looked at Faith. “I’ll give you this, Faith. She was better than Lorena.”

“So you kids don’t want a stepfather, is that correct?” Dad said, wiping his eyes with a cocktail napkin, and though Faith laughed along with them, that familiar feeling of guilt twisted in her stomach.

She still hadn’t made things right.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“I THINK IT’S FANTASTIC that you guys are together. Really. You’re perfect for each other.” Jeremy beamed at them like a proud parent.

Faith made a noncommittal noise, looked in her wine and tried not to cringe. Levi, she imagined, was doing something similar, though of course he was too stoic and manly to cringe, but inside, he’d be cringing, too.

They were at Jeremy’s for dinner—a celebratory dinner, he’d said, because the two people he loved best in the world were shtupping each other. He seemed to be the only one celebrating, however, and it was quite possible he was a little too happy, which was rather grating.

Jeremy had figured it out during what had become their weekly lunch at Hugo’s. Levi had come in for something or another, wearing a gun and looking incredibly smokin’ alpha protector, and she’d fought the urge to wrap herself around him like a python. “Gotta go,” he’d said, and Faith had muttered goodbye, and the second Levi was out of earshot, Jeremy’s eyes had widened. “You two are doing it, aren’t you?” he’d whispered gleefully.