92 Pacific Boulevard - Debbie Macomber [52]
“There’s nothing I can do to stop her.”
“Dad!”
The shock was still fresh and he hadn’t absorbed this new information. So Faith was leaving town. He wanted to protest, demand she reconsider, but he had no right to ask. All he could do was stand back and keep his opinions to himself.
“I’m not seeing Faith anymore,” he reminded Megan.
“But you love her.”
Troy didn’t deny it. He did love Faith. Her plan to leave Cedar Cove cut him to the quick, but he couldn’t think of a single thing he could do to change her mind.
“How do Scott and his family feel about this?” Troy asked. One reason Faith had moved to town was to be closer to her son and grandchildren.
“I asked her that,” Megan told him. “And she pointed out that her daughter, Jay Lynn, lives in north Seattle. Jay Lynn said that after all the problems Faith’s had in Cedar Cove, she should consider leaving.”
He doubted Jay Lynn was referring only to the prowler. He felt she was insinuating that the disappointment he’d brought into Faith’s life was a problem, too—a good reason to leave. Troy couldn’t blame her family. They were concerned about their mother’s physical and emotional welfare.
“Daddy, you have to do something,” Megan said again.
Troy leaned against the kitchen counter. “I’ll do whatever I can.” Although he had no idea what that would be…
“I like Faith so much.”
“I know.” He liked Faith, too—more than liked her—and he wished he could persuade her to stay in Cedar Cove.
“Thank you, Daddy. You’ll find a way. I’m sure you will.”
A couple of minutes later, the conversation ended with Megan inviting him to dinner the following weekend, and Troy replaced the receiver.
The day just seemed to get more complicated. Needing a distraction, he walked into the living room and switched on the evening news, wondering if the Seattle TV stations had gotten wind of the coroner’s report. Thankfully there was nothing.
After half an hour or so, he decided it was time to eat. Searching through the cupboards, he found a can of chili. Opening it, he dumped the contents into a bowl, which he set in the microwave. While his meal warmed, he sorted through the mail, his thoughts still on Faith.
“No!” He said the word aloud. Megan was right; he had to talk to Faith, convince her that leaving Cedar Cove would be wrong. He didn’t know if he’d be able to talk her out of this—or if he even had the right to try. The thing was, he couldn’t idly stand by because Faith meant too much to him. She belonged here.
He reached for the phone just as his chili was done. Ignoring it, he punched out her number. The phone rang four times before the answering machine informed him that no one was home. Rather than leave a message, he hung up.
More depressed than ever, Troy paced the kitchen, gulping down spoonfuls of chili as he considered his options.
Perhaps it was just as well that he hadn’t spoken to Faith, he told himself. If she felt she had to escape Cedar Cove, then maybe he should simply let her go.
That conviction stayed with him for five whole days—until late Wednesday afternoon. On his drive home, Troy saw Faith’s car in the Safeway parking lot. He needed bread, anyway, he reasoned, and pulled into a space as far from hers as he could find. He didn’t want Faith to assume he was seeking her out—although, in truth, he was.
The weather, overcast and gloomy, matched his mood. Ever since Megan’s phone call, his appetite had vanished and he wasn’t sleeping well. Although he longed to talk to Faith, he realized he couldn’t ask her to remain in Cedar Cove, and yet…he had to. If she left, he’d always regret it.
After their last meeting, he’d felt hopeful that at some point they’d be able to put their differences behind them. He didn’t know anymore. Although he’d developed good instincts about people and situations in his years of police work, he couldn’t read Faith or understand her feelings.
Two weeks ago, when she’d called him about the intruder outside her bedroom window, reconciliation had actually seemed possible. He’d been depressed after seeing her with