A Splash of Hope Read Online Free PDF Page B

uncharitable with her thoughts. Since she was about to get dumped, she felt she was allowed a bit of unfairness. Settling down on the couch, she tried not to fidget as he paced the floor. At his continued silence, she found herself twisting her fingers hoping against hope she wouldn’t cry. God, let her hang onto some pride.
    “You shouldn’t feel guilty,” she burst out, unable to stay silent a moment longer. He froze. A startled look passed over his features.
    “What?”
    “For breaking it off,” she clarified. “I will not cry or fall into a fit of hysterics. Maybe. I hope.”
    “What?” he repeated.
    Serenity felt the first tear trickle down her cheek. “Okay, so I lied. I’m going to cry.”
    In one quick motion, Carter was across the room, gathering her into his arms. With her face pressing against his chest, his hands ran through her hair and over her back. She knew she was ruining his expensive shirt, but she didn’t care. “I don’t want you to hold me,” she lied childishly as she clutched him tighter.
    He chuckled into her hair. The sound vibrated against her cheek. She wanted to hang onto the memory of how it felt. “God, I love you, Serenity.”
    “If you love me so much, why are you dumping me?”
    “What?” He practically screeched the question, leaving her confused That is, until he left her speechless instead. “I’m not dumping you, Serenity. I’m asking you to marry me.”
    Well, wasn’t that how every girl imagined her first marriage proposal?
    *
    “What?”
    Carter looked down at Serenity’s tear-streaked face. He bit back a laugh at her stunned expression. He would have let it loose if he weren’t so fucking furious she would think he was capable of breaking things off with her. “I came here to ask you to marry me. Why would you think I was dumping you?”
    Serenity sniffled. “Because you don’t need me.”
    “Don’t need you?” He repeated the words slowly, wondering if maybe she was insane. “I don’t need a two hundred thousand dollar car. I don’t have any special requirement for or attachment to half the shit I own, but I absolutely do need you. I spend every waking moment I’m not with you, plotting how I’m going to see you again. There is this constant fear living inside me that one day you’re going to wake up and realize I’m too old for you or not exciting enough. Then what will I do?”
    Serenity burst into action, knocking him backward before straddling his hips. She kissed him, nipping at his lips when he didn’t act quickly enough in his surprise. Ripping his jacket open, she growled in frustration when it tangled around his arms as she tried tugging it off. His arms were too busy being wrapped around her to allow it.
    “Why do you always wear so many goddamn clothes?”
    He did chuckle then. With his head thrown back, he laughed harder than he had in his life. He‘d never felt more triumphant than he did in that moment.
    Serenity dropped her forehead to his chest. “I love you, Carter,” she said quietly, but he heard the words as clearly as if she’d yelled them in his ear.
    He tilted his head to one side bringing her eyes into his line of sight. “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
    “Oh, yes, Carter. You aren’t getting away from me.”

Chapter Nine
    Faith: Present Day
    It took longer than expected for Faith to answer the door. Her car was sitting in the driveway. Adam knew she was at home. When the wooden slab standing between them finally swung open, he took one look at her swollen eyes and baggy pajama pants, and said the first thing that came to mind, proving he was still an idiot.
    “Are you sick?”
    She waved away his concerns. “You woke me up.”
    He could only stare at her in disbelief for a moment, before—yet another—stupid comment popped from his mouth. “But it’s one o’clock in the afternoon.”
    Her mouth quirked up in one corner sardonically. “Some of us have to work for a living.”
    “But it’s