Acts of Faith (Cost of Repairs) by Arthur A.M

Author:Arthur, A.M. [Arthur, A.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2013-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Faith seemed better equipped to handle high occupancy social situations than Samuel. As a police officer, he could maintain crowd control or hold a police barricade without breaking a sweat. He was fine when it came to public speaking, as long as he had a prepared speech. He was not, however, a social butterfly, and engaging at parties generally made him feel like a stumbling fool. He’d earned a reputation as a big, aloof, stand-offish guy with a penchant for not blinking during conversations.

The blinking thing he hadn’t known until Keith pointed it out once during a barbecue at the Ramsey house. Apparently it scared strangers.

So Samuel tried to blink frequently and interject himself in various conversations during the Christmas party. Having Rey by his side always made small talk easier, because Rey could chat about anything with anyone. But Rey was busy playing co-host and feeding people, and Samuel was alone. Not totally alone though, because Faith was plastered up against his leg, fingers curled in his belt like she expected him to disappear from sight if she let go.

Introducing her around had been easy at first. Their good friends had shown up early—Barrett and Schuyler, Jennie and Laura Walsh, some of the other officers at work—and fussed over Faith, congratulated Rey and made jokes to Samuel about the “new woman in Rey’s life”. Funny at first, the jokes were slowly creeping under Samuel’s skin, irritating him like a sliver of glass he couldn’t dig out. Irritating him because the jokes were amazingly true. Rey had a new business partner and a daughter to take up so much of his time—time Samuel would miss.

Samuel had allowed himself one of Keith’s microbrew beers when he first arrived to try and stave off a headache that had been teasing him since after lunch. He wouldn’t have minded a few more, but he had to drive Faith home in a few hours. After he made quick work of the single beer, he stuck to Coke for the rest of the evening. Faith sipped a cup of juice and nibbled at the variety of food spread out on the dining room table that was constantly being fussed over and refreshed by Rey and David. Samuel had chosen a spot in the den that gave him a view of the dining room—if he couldn’t interact with his partner, he could at least see him once in a while. Jazzy Christmas music played over the sound system, and ropes of pine garland were hung over every available surface.

“I can’t get over how much she looks like Rey,” Schuyler said after swallowing a mouthful of crab dip. He’d been going on about an art show in Harrisburg that he and Barrett had both been invited to submit pieces to, and since art was not a conversation to which Samuel could easily contribute, he’d only been half-listening.

“Yes, she does,” Samuel said. The resemblance was impossible to deny, especially with the short haircut.

“And she’s even got your blue eyes.

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