“I cannot believe you made signs and pom-poms.”
“It’s called support,” Lucy said from the front seat.
Three days after the incident with Blair in The Howler, they were on their way to the baseball final. Faith sat behind her, and Noah drove. Beside her was Buddy, who looked about as impressed as she was with the blue-and-white pom-poms beside him.
“It’s okay, boy. At least she doesn’t have you dressed up and looking unmanly.” Faith placed a kiss on his head. He leaned into her.
“I have his outfit ready for when we get there,” Lucy said from the front seat.
“Just bite her and make a run for it,” Faith whispered into the dog’s ear.
The entire town of Howling would turn out, and many would bus over from Brook. When you counted tourists and the fact the book club had turned it into a carnival, it promised to be a big day for Lake Howling.
Faith played third base, and Noah was catcher. They’d been part of this team for years, and Faith loved it. Today she was both excited and nervous. Ryan would be there, and she’d thought of little else but that kiss.
It had been mind-blowing. She’d had plenty of kisses in her life, but that one had rocked her world. It was just a kiss, she’d told herself, yet those lips had taken her places and left her aching for more. She didn’t want that. Didn’t want Ryan lingering inside her head after he’d gone. She’d been down that road, and it had taken her too long to recover.
“So, that Blair guy has left town,” Noah said, catching her eyes in the mirror. “Want to tell me what the deal was there now he’s gone?”
“How do you know he’s left town?”
“I just do.” Noah’s eyes returned to the road.
“Please tell me you didn’t pay him a visit, Noah. Seriously. I can handle myself now.”
“Now? So he did do something to you?”
“Drop it, okay? It’s done.”
“It’s not done, and you’re telling me what you haven’t sometime soon.”
“No, I’m not,” she snapped back. “It’s in the past.”And I was an idiot. “This conversation is over.”
“At least Ryan punched him.”
“What?”
“He punched him. Dropped him too. Buster said he looked pretty mean doing it.”
Why had no one told her this?
“No one needed to punch anyone,” Faith said. “I took care of it.”
“He stood in for me as a friend should, and I’m grateful for it,” Noah said.
“You sound like a mob boss, for pity’s sake. No one needed to stand in for anyone, and I don’t need protection. I can handle myself,” Faith gritted out.
“Noah,” Lucy began and put her hand on his arm as he started to speak, “you need to respect what Faith is saying. She dealt with whatever had happened and feels better for it.”
“I do,” Faith added.
“I still want to know,” Noah muttered.
“Boys and your fighting,” Lucy added, tsking. “It’s nothing to be proud of, you know.”
“Faith hit him before Ryan did,” Noah said, sounding about ten.
“So, Newman told me Ryan had it out with his mom at The Howler the other night too. Apparently, he came out in support of the new facility,” Lucy said, changing the subject. She did that a lot when Noah and Faith got into it.