Chapter 11
Faith remained still as Naomi worked on her makeup, “I still say this is completely unnecessary.”
“Oh, hush.” Her friend scolded her, “Landon is going to drop dead when he sees you.”
When she saw Faith’s wary expression, Naomi corrected, “In a good way.”
“How does one drop dead in a good way?” Came Jack’s voice from the doorway. Both women turned around to glare at his intrusion.
When Naomi noted the way he was gaping at her in her emerald dress, she gave a satisfied smile, “That is how a man drops dead in a good way.” She dismissed Jack who was tuxedo clad without a second thought, “Of course, Jack just looks like a pervert, but who’s judging.”
“What are you doing here, Jack?” Faith asked. “Shouldn’t you be leaving for the Gala?”
Jack’s lips curved, “I thought I’d escort you lovely ladies myself there.”
“His date ditched him,” Naomi informed her, as she applied blush to Faith’s cheeks. “She claims she has a case of the flu, but,” she shrugged, giving Jack a cheerful smile, “Who knows, maybe your witty personality gave her the flu?”
“Ha ha.” Jack said, dourly, leaning against the door jamb.
“Don’t worry, darling.” Naomi’s lips parted as she completed Faith’s look. As soon as she was done, she took a careful look at the work of art, and then turned towards Jack, grinning, “I’ll be your date.”
“Why? Where’d your date go, Red?” Jack asked, suspicious.
“Says he slipped and broke his wrist.”
Jack snorted and Naomi stared him into silence, “At least my date has a valid excuse. Who misses a Gala because of a flu?”
Faith watched the interaction, highly entertained, when her phone beeped.
“Guys, Landon says that I should wait for him here. You guys go ahead.”
“We’ll wait with you.” Jack told her, not wanting to leave her alone.
“Oh come on,” Faith smiled. “Everyone may have gone, but the security team is still outside. I’m perfectly safe here.” She glanced at her watch, and frowned, “We’re the main team. We can’t be late. Go.”
Unwilling, but understanding her point, Jack and Naomi left.
“Was it just me, or was Faith rubbing her stomach a lot?” Jack asked her, as they arrived at the Gala twenty minutes later.
Naomi started and then stared at him. Then, when she smiled, he frowned, “What?”
“Nothing.” She told him and then continued in a singsong voice. “I know something you don’t.”
“What?”
But he never got the answer to that, because Landon’s voice hailed them at the entrance of the hall, “Guys! Where’s Faith? Isn’t she with you?”
Naomi stared at him, and said slowly, “She’s waiting for you at the house. You told her to.”
Landon scowled, “I told her to come with you here. I never-“
“She got a text from you man,” Jack interjected, starting to look uneasy. “We were about to leave and she said you texted her to wait for you.”
Landon’s blood ran cold, “I lost my phone a few hours ago.”
He started running towards where
Jack’s car stood, the valet about to sit in.
“Tell Roger,” he shouted over his shoulder as he grabbed the valet by his shirt and bodily tossed him out of the car. Landon cursed under his breath as he raced towards where Faith was.
***
Faith scowled.
She had tried calling Landon but he wasn’t picking up. How could he be so irresponsible?
She moved into the living room, impatient, when she thought she saw a flicker out in the garden outside.
She blinked.
Must have been a guard.
She sat down, but she felt uncomfortable, uneasy.
So, she called Landon again.
The ringtone sounded behind her and she rolled her eyes, “It’s about time, Landon. I was just about-“
As she turned around, the rest of the words got stuck in her throat.
It wasn’t Landon who stood in front of her, but Noah.
A bedraggled looking, Noah, with deep circles under his eyes, unshaven. His hair was scraggly, unkempt.
He didn’t look anything like the man she remembered.
“Hello, Faith.”
Faith just stood there, frozen.
“You didn’t reply to my emails.”
“Noah.”
He smiled at her and she trembled.
It was the same cruel smile that he had worn on his lips the night he had tried to rape her.
However, Faith mustered up her courage, “Why do you have Landon’s phone?”
The smile vanished, only to be replaced by a cold look, “You slept with him. You bitch. After everything I did for you, you left me behind and shacked up with some rich guy.”
“We broke up, Noah!”
“But you still loved me! I know you did! It’s all that bastard’s fault!”
Faith swallowed, looking around for anything that might function as a potential weapon. Her Taser was upstairs, along with her pepper spray.
“What do you want, Noah?”
He reached behind him and took out a gun, gesturing towards her, “I’m offering you a chance to redeem yourself and come back to me. Of course,” he commented, casually, “I’ll have to kill your lover.”
“You leave Landon alone. Why are you even doing this? I didn’t press charges even after what you did. I tried to let you rebuild your life.”
“YOU LEFT ME!” He roared at her, his spit flying out, and she saw the madness that lay beneath those green eyes. A terrible madness that made her fear for her and her unborn child’s safety.
She saw a shadow behind Noah, moving outside and she held her breath, trying to distract him, “I left you because it wasn’t working out. You –“
However, Noah was no longer listening to her, his attention towards the clicking of the lock.
Hearing the front door open, Faith saw the familiar shape enter, and saw Noah raise his gun. “NO!”
She jumped towards Noah, angry, desperate to protect Landon and he pushed her away before tossing her like a rag doll into the glass coffee table, causing it to shatter under her.
Limp, Faith struggled to maintain consciousness as she heard Landon’s enraged roar. The struggle that ensued was fast. She couldn’t follow it.
But the moment where Noah raised his gun towards Landon, that moment was imprinted on her mind. Her lips parted to warn him, something, but only blood bubbled out.
As she saw Landon fall and begged him to live for her and their baby, she realized she might just have lost the both of them.
The rest of it was a blur.
Soft hands, angry voices, people shouting.
“Mom.” She heard herself crying for the first time, understanding that she might just have lost something incredible and wanting the warmth and comfort her own mother represented. “I want my Mom.”
Because she had heard the grief stricken scream of a woman and she knew she had just lost Landon.
***
Her eyes opened to white.
Everything was white.
Was she dead?
No. Her vision cleared and she saw that she was in a hospital room.
It took her a few seconds to understand what had happened and grief overtook her as she started crying. The machine hooked up to her started beeping and a nurse rushed in moments later.
She seemed relieved to see her awake, “How are you feeling, Miss Williams?”
Faith opened her mouth but only tears came.
Looking a little startled, the young nurse left the room and ushered in a familiar woman.
“Mom!” Faith cried, hoarsely.
Her mother’s eyes filled and she kissed Faith’s bandaged hand, and then her forehead, “My poor baby. How are you feeling?”
“Mom, my baby-“
“Your baby is fine, Faith.” Her mother wiped away her tears, gently. “Your young man called me as soon as he was out of surgery. If he hadn’t-“
“Landon’s okay?” Faith’s heart trembled at the news.
“Baby, you’ve been out for two weeks. You broke your leg and hurt yourself pretty badly. Landon was rushed into surgery, immediately. The bullet missed his heart. He’s going to be fine.”
Just then a large commotion outside had her looking up and chuckling, “And I guess he’s back. I’m going to give you two some privacy.”
She slipped out and a frantic Landon burst in.
Seeing her awake, he walked over to her and then kissed her long and hard, stealing all her oxygen, “I love you, Faith.”
Faith blinked and then when she spoke, her voice was broken, “I thought I had lost you both.”
Her unbandaged hand settled on her stomach, “And I realized I really wanted you both.” Tears fell down the sides of her face, as she whispered, “I love you, Landon.”
As Landon covered her hand with his, he leaned his forehead against hers, “Please marry me, Faith.”
She just laughed, a soft sound filled with hope.