"Wow," she says, "fancy. You know, I usually just drink my coffee black."
"I know, but it's a holiday weekend, figured you could enjoy the treat."
Faith thanks me as I hand her a drink. "I wasn't sure what you liked. I figured you can't go wrong with a vanilla latte."
"It's perfect," she says. "Thank you."
Her eyes linger on mine a beat too long, and then I clear my throat, looking over at my mom who's staring at us both.
Damn, she knows something's up. But honestly, is there? We never so much as shared a kiss last night, though we were about to.
Last night, my mom came back, made sure Faith had a dose of medicine, which I guess I should have been better about. Then the three of us sat out on the front porch watching the fireworks. I'd be lying if I said it wasn’t special. But what I really wanted to do was lace my fingers with Faith's, and wrap my arms around her. Fuck. Have her rest her head against my shoulder. It didn't happen because Mom was a cock block. I know she wasn't trying to get in our way, how was she supposed to know I'd fallen for a girl I'd just met?
I pull out the pastries. “Again,” I say, "I wasn't sure what you liked. I got cinnamon rolls, scones, a few muffins."
"You must be hungry," Mom says, reaching for a blueberry scone. "But this looks delicious. Thank you for going out."
"Sure thing," I say. "You guys sleep okay? I know there were fireworks going off for hours."
I don't think I've slept so good in ages," Faith says dreamily. "Honestly, that mattress was incredible, or maybe it was the pillows, the blankets. I don't know. But thank you so much, Greta."
"Honestly, it's no problem. I was thinking if you want to stay longer, you know, until you get settled, I'm not sure where you're planning on going and maybe that's too many questions right away, but it's all right with me."
Faith says, "I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. I know the social worker said she'd help me get a job. I'm not sure I'm staying put in Home though. I don't know much about this place. I've only walked from urgent care to your home so I haven't even seen much of it."
"Well, you two should go out today and look around town. Jake hasn't been around since he got back either,” Mom says.
"Well, if neither of you are having this cinnamon roll, I'm going for it," I say reaching for the giant pastry. I lick the cream cheese frosting from my thumb. "Damn, this is delicious."
"They don't serve you such good food at the mess hall?" Mom asks.
"No. I'm jealous of the guys who are married, have their own housing and kitchens. It's a whole different world."
Faith laughs, "Oh poor Jake. Having to rough it with a cafeteria where they're serving you three meals a day."
I chuckle, "Okay. Fair point. I am well fed, that's for sure. But I don't know. Maybe wherever I get sent next will have bigger housing. Something gives me a chance to spread out, test some cooking."
"Cooking," Mom laughs. "Jake, I don't think I've ever seen you cook."
"I made burgers last night," I say, laughing. "Damn, you two are eating me alive here in the kitchen.” I put my cinnamon roll on a plate and grab my coffee, headed out to the porch. A few minutes later, both Faith and my mom join me outside on the back deck where we ate last night.
"So what are your plans today, Mom?" I ask her.
"Well, I'm going over to Lucinda's. She needs help planning out her son's wedding and I promised I'd do the flowers. We've had this planned for ages, but if you want me to stay, I can change my plans around. I was just going to meet with them and go over the colors and..."
I cut her off. "Mom, that sounds great. I don't really need the details of Lucinda's son's wedding."
Mom frowns. "Well, it's sweet that her son is getting married." She looks at me pointedly.
I chuckle. "Okay, Mom, I get it. You're looking to marry me off."
Mom smiles. "You hear the Rough kids are getting wed left and right?"
"Yeah,” I say. “I heard about that. I saw Bartlett. We grabbed beers the night I came in. Remember? Bartlett and Abby seem happy."
"They sure do. Annie Rough," Mom looks over at Faith, "she's the matriarch of that family. She has seven kids and they all live around the mountains. They're amazing."
"Oh," Faith says, "I think I met one of their sons. Graham. Is he a police officer?"
Mom nods. "That's right. Is he the one you talked to at the hospital yesterday?"
Faith nods, "Yes. And he was very kind. So he recently got married?"