Page 96 of Pity Parade

“They’re boys?” Heath asks. The look on his face encompasses many emotions. Happiness, sadness, anxiety—it’s all there.

Faith pats her stomach. “One of each.”

“Our girl was hiding our boy,” Teddy says, “So I’m placing bets that she’s going to be a troublemaker”—he nudges Faith—“just like her mother.”

“Haha,” she says. “I’m guessing our son will be a ham just like his father.” Their banter is sweet and full of love.

“Congratulations,” I tell them both. “You’re going to be the cutest family alive.”

Heath clears his throat. “Yes, congratulations. I’m very happy for you both.” I know he means it, but I also know this is bringing up feelings in him. Feelings I’m sure will always be there.

Faith points between us before telling me, “It looks like you’re going to give Heath a second chance.”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she says. I have a feeling Faith and Paige have been discussing me and Heath at length. “As trite as it sounds,” Faith adds, “there’s something to be said for that saying, ‘It’s always darkest before the dawn.’”

Nodding my head, I tell her, “You would know.”

Faith looks at Heath and explains, “My boyfriend broke up with me a few weeks before we were going to stand up for Anna and Chris at their wedding.”

Heath cringes. “That’s clearly the dark part. Where did the dawn come in?”

Faith smiles up at Teddy. “While I was busy being devastated, this guy walked into my bakery and offered to be my date to the wedding.” She turns to Heath and adds, “It started out as a pity date, but things progressed quickly from there.”

“That’s a pretty crazy story,” Heath says. “It sounds like destiny though, especially as Teddy was your first kiss.”

“Kind of like the two of you meeting up again in Elk Lake,” Faith says with a wink.

“It felt like serendipity to me,” Heath tells her. Then he nudges me, “How about you?”

“Honestly,” I say, “It felt like a cruel joke.” I’m only partially kidding.

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely.

“I know you are. The good news is I’m going to let you make it up to me.”

“That’s the first item on my new and improved agenda,” he tells me. “I promise.”

I believe Heath means what he says. But at the same time, I can’t help but worry. As hard as things have been to get to this point, somehow it still seems a little too easy.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

HEATH

The Fourth of July mixer was a huge success. Trina told me six couples met that night and have already gone out on their first date. I’m happy for her because I know how much it means for her to help people find love.

Trina and I have spent the last week blissfully getting to know each other better. In addition to sharing long walks on the beach and eating more ice cream than I can remember consuming in such a short time, we’ve spent hours at our building site, dreaming about our future project.

We’re currently sitting on the same log I sat on when I decided to buy this property. “I think we should start out small. Not only to test the need for such a place, but to build excitement. Then when people are hooked, we can add more buildings. What do you think?”

“How small is small?” Trina wants to know.

“One hundred bedrooms and suites,” I suggest. “We’ll have both indoor and outdoor pools as well as zip-lining, archery, skiing, sledding, and horse-drawn carriage rides.”

“There’s that creek that runs through the east side of the property, too,” she says. “Maybe we can do something with that.”

“Missy said something about ice fishing. We can check into that.”

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