Page 9 of Finding A Wife for My Husband

“Doyou ever wonder how different things would be if you would have gotten with Sincere instead of Pierre?” Faith asked Keisha.

It may have seemed like it was out of the blue, but it had been on Faith’s mind heavily. Three months into chemo, she got the news she was dreading yet prepared for—the cancer had spread, and she was now in stage three. With no intention of receiving more treatments or having another surgery, she decided to allow fate to take its course. A large part of that meant not only preparing for death but making sure her husband would be okay in life.

“No.” Keisha chuckled as she grabbed a piece of sushi with her chopsticks.

“Never?”

Keisha’s face twisted as she shook her head again. “No, not since you all reconnected. In college, I would compare the two and wonder if I’d made the right choice.”

“Do you think you did?”

Keisha’s expression softened. “Absolutely.” She smiled. “Even though things didn’t work out between Pierre and I romantically, there’s no doubt about it that Sincere was the one for you.”

Faith’s shoulders caved as she twisted her mouth to the side. “So… if something were to happen to me and the both of you were single… would you consider dating him?”

Keisha’s eyes widened before she scoffed and shook her head adamantly. Pulling Faith’s Shirley Temple in her direction, she declared, “They had to have spiked your drink for you to be talking so damn silly.”

Faith laughed as Keisha sniffed her drink.

“Don’t be breathing all over my drink! Hand it here!”

“What the hell is going on with you, Faith? You know I would never date Sincere. Ever.”

Her smile fell when she confessed, “I just want to make sure he’s going to be loved and cared for properly. What better woman to do that for him than my best friend?”

Keisha sighed. “Did you get some bad news at the clinic today?” Faith nodded. “You want to talk about it?” She shook her head. “Is it cause for my concern?” Faith’s head shook again, but she avoided Keisha’s eyes. “Okay. Well, I won’t try to force you to tell me, however, I also will not entertain such a silly conversation. Nothing is going to happen to you anytime soon. And even if it did, I would die before I laid down with your husband.”

“But I want to make sure…”

“If you want to make sure Sincere is loved and cared for, then you need to fight like hell to stay alive.” With a huff, Keisha set her purse on top of the table and pulled her wallet out. “I’m done with this conversation. I can’t believe you would even insinuate that I wouldconsiderdoing some shit like that.”

“But what if I asked you to? Clearly, I wouldn’t feel some type of way about it.” Faith covered Keisha’s hand with hers, pausing her movements. “What if I asked you to take my place when I died? Would you consider it then?”

This time, Keisha didn’t respond right away. “If it would put you at peace, yes, I would consider it.” She smiled. “For a hot second before immediately telling your ass no!” They both chuckled as she slipped her hand from underneath Faith’s. “There’s no way I would ever take it there with Sin. Would I remain his best friend and sister? Absolutely. Would I even move in with him and make sure he didn’t kill himself during his grief? Without a fucking doubt. Would I search the earth looking for a woman that could be half the wife you are? In a heartbeat. But would I try tobeher?” Her head shook. “Not in this lifetime or the next.”

“Fine,” Faith grumbled with a pout, searching for her wallet to pay for her lunch.

“I can’t believe you’re sitting over there with an attitude because your best friend won’t agree to sleeping with your husband.”

“If you were my best friend, you would.”

Keisha chuckled. “I’m convinced your ass is drunk or high off something.”

Faith shrugged with a soft smile. Maybe shewashigh off something. High off the responsibility of finding a new wife for her husband…

8

Sincere

Sincere didn’t wantto question why his wife was in such a happy mood, but he couldn’t resist. This was the first time in a really long time that Faith was in a good mood. She wasn’t complaining about the pain or the process and she’d taken the time to fix him a homecooked meal. She’d also cleaned the house, even though he hired a housekeeper when she first agreed to start chemo.

The entire time they ate dinner, he bit his tongue. He didn’t want it to seem as if she’d been acting crazy lately, which could happen if he mentioned her good mood. Still, it was eating him up inside and he had to know…

“Why are you in such a good mood?” he blurted finally, making her smile as she took a small sip of her water.

“Does there have to be a reason?”

“Lately, yeah.”

---