Page 5 of Serenity

ChapterTwo

Dillon

Ispentthe next week doing everything I could think of to make Faith feel comfortable enough to share with me whatever it was that was bothering her. I brought her all of her favorite things—food, flowers, wine. Opened up to her more about Declan. About the gambling. But it didn’t seem to matter what I did, she was still keeping the problem toherself.

All day long, I’d been reminding myself that I needed to give her as much time as she needed. But it didn’t help. I was officially at the end of my rope. I was all out of patience and wasn’t sure if I could last long enough for her to open up on her own without mepushing.

“You look like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.” I looked up and found my dad standing in the doorway of the office he’d given me. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest and a worried look on his face. “I didn’t throw too much at you too fast,didI?”

I shook my head. “It’snotthat.”

He moved forward, shut the door behind him, and crossed the floor to drop down onto one of the chairs in front of my desk. “You sure? Because I can adjust your workload if you’re having a problemkeepingup.”

I pulled three reports up on my computer and swiveled the monitor so he could see them. “These aren’t due until tomorrow, and they’re already done except for triple-checking my numbers to make sure I didn’t make anymistakes.”

He scanned the reports, running his finger down the last column on each of them before nodding his head. “Don’t waste your time checking these again. Everything looks good. You can go ahead and send them to me now, and I’ll make sure you get some new assignments to work on in themorning.”

I opened my email and wrote a quick note, attaching the files before I hitsend. “Sent.”

“Great.” He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “If it’s not a work problem, then it must be personal. Is it gambling orFaith?”

“I haven’t been to a casino inmonths,Dad.”

His dark brows rose. “How manymonths?”

I did a quick calculation in my head. “Almostseven.”

“Before you met Faith? Or sometimeafter?”

I looked down at my desk as I answered, “The last time was when I got the black eye. I haven’t been backagain.”

“That would be before, then.” He flashed me a big grin. “Which means your mom was right to get the two of youtogether.”

“Like she isn’t alwaysright?”

“You make an excellent point,” he chuckled. “But you not gambling in that long is more than even she could havehopedfor.”

I leaned back in my chair and shook my head. “I’m not sure about that. Mom isn’t afraid todreambig.”

“That she isn’t.” He shook his head and chuckled again. “It’s one of the first things that made me fall in love with her, how much hope she has in her heart. And I quickly learned to work hard to make sure all those dreamscometrue.”

I’d been a witness to the lengths to which my dad was willing to go for my mom my whole life, but it didn’t help me much when it came to my woman problems. “Faith’s the opposite. She doesn’t dream much and is happy with what she’salreadygot.”

“But?”

“Butwhat?”

“Dillon,” he sighed, shaking his head. “We both know there has to be a but in theresomewhere.”

Of course there was, but that didn’t mean I was going to admit to it soeasily. “Why?”

“Because you looked worried about something when I walked in here, and we already ruled out that it’s not work or gambling related. That leavesFaith.”

Talking to my dad about my relationship felt a little weird, but I’d already admitted to myself that I was at my wit’s end. It wasn’t like I had a lot to lose, and maybe he’d even have some good advice. He and my mom had certainly made their relationship work better than most other couples did. “She’s been a little distant over the past week, ever since she and Mom had theirshoppingday.”

“Your mom said they had a blast. She had a little too much to drink with lunch, and Faith droveherhome.”

I thought back to that day and nodded. “Yeah, I remember. You guys stopped by before dinner to pick up the car. I’d only been home for a little bit, and she seemed okay. I didn’t notice anything off with her until after you guys left. She was tense. Moody. But she didn’t want to talk about what was bothering her. Said shewasfine.”

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