Page 31 of Until We Weren't

“You said yourself that it wouldn’t have mattered,” Gretchen said. “You weren’t in a place to believe her.”

“But I didn't even give her a chance,” Faith said quietly.

“Because no one ever gave you a chance, Faith.” Gretchen shook her head. “Unfortunately, that’s what you knew; that’s what had been done to you.”

Faith looked at her hands and could feel the familiar burning in her stomach from being let down once again.

“You have to forgive yourself before you can expect Destiny to forgive you,” Gretchen said.

“I don’t know if I can,” Faith said.

“You have the most wonderful of reasons to find a way.”

“Destiny,” Faith whispered.

“Your Destiny,” Gretchen replied.

Faith leaned back in her chair and could feel the exhaustion wash over her. “You don’t hate me for what I did to your daughter?”

Gretchen scoffed. “You have hurt yourself just as much as you’ve hurt Destiny. But as you said there’s hope. You know the truth now, about what happened and about yourself,” she said. “You are no longer the person waiting to be let down.”

“I’m not,” Faith said with confidence. “I’m the person who’s going to get her love back. Then I’m going to spend my life making her happy.”

Gretchen chuckled. “I have a feeling my daughter isn’t going to know what hit her.”

Faith smiled. “She won’t make it easy and she shouldn’t. I have to earn her trust back. It’s still so amazing to me. Something happened to me in that shack. Destiny fell asleep and I thought about everything we said. It was all so clear to me, but not back then when it happened. I don’t understand, but sometime in the night I became a totally different person. I believe in myself and I believe in Destiny. I know the truth. I could see our future. Now I have to get Destiny there.” Faith looked back at Gretchen and knew she’d been rambling, but something came over her in that building and she was pretty sure it was the love in Destiny’s heart for her.

“I don’t know if I can make Destiny understand, but why would she, after what I did to her?” Faith said.

“You make her understand,” Gretchen said. “Let her see this person who now trusts in herself. Introduce yourself. I have a feeling she’s going to love you even more.”

“I wish I could explain it to you, but I’ve never been so sure of anything before. Destiny and I belong together and we have this amazing life waiting for us.”

“You’ll find a way,” Gretchen said. “How did Destiny get you to trust her?”

Faith smiled. “She showed me. That’s what was so strange about it all. Why couldn’t I believe her then?”

“I think you had help because of the video,” Gretchen said. “It looks like her.”

Faith sighed and nodded. “Forgive myself, huh. Maybe Destiny and I can work on that together.”

Gretchen smiled.

Faith got up and took her coffee mug to the sink. “I’d better get going. I’m meeting my destiny later this afternoon.”

Gretchen chuckled.

“Thanks for listening to me,” Faith said.

Gretchen pulled her into a hug. “Let those scars soften again, Faith. You deserve happiness, too.”

Faith hugged her back. Now all she had to do was convince Destiny.

11

It didn’t take long for Destiny to reach her apartment and just as she hoped, the shower cleaned both her physical and mental grime away. What she really wanted next was a quick nap, but she knew there was no way she’d fall asleep. Instead, she called Monica and gave her instructions for the morning and explained she’d be in later. Then Destiny got back in her truck and sent a text.

Where are you?

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