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before taking the dish from the oven. “Besides, I had
to cook something for Tom.”
    “He seems like a good kid.”
    “He is.”
    They went back to being silent for a while, the only sound the television blaring in the
adjoining room.
    “This is hard for you, isn’t it,” Faith asked,
watching him as he watched her son. The way his eyes were focused on him, the
way he stayed dead still when he looked at Tom, it told her that there was
something about her child that was pushing his buttons.
    When he turned to look at her, she could see
the sadness in his gaze.
    “Another story for another day,” he said,
giving her a wink.
    Faith nodded. He hadn’t pushed her, which meant
she’d give him the same respect.
    “Is dinner ready?” Tom called out and ran into
the kitchen.
    “Almost. Go wash your hands and come sit at the table.”
    Jake rose at the same time as Tom sprinted into
the room.
    “Anything I can do to help?” Jake asked.
    She shook her head. “Just relax. I’ll set the
table and we’ll be ready. Where do you keep the placemats?”
    Jake walked to the other side of the kitchen
and opened a drawer. “They could be a bit dusty. I haven’t sat at the table for
dinner in, well, a long while.”
    She
wished she knew what was going on, what was causing him the kind of pain she
could see in his face.
    “The good thing about dust is that it washes
off.” Faith crossed the room and went to take them from him, reaching out at
the same time as he passed them.
    Their fingers collided, brushed, but when she
looked up to smile he took a step back. Like the last thing on earth he wanted
was to connect with her in any way.
    “Mom?”
    She spun around to find Tom standing behind
them. “Take these to the table, sweetheart.”
    He did as he was told, and she decided not to
look back at Jake. Because then she’d
just feel guilty all over again for staying in his home, when he so clearly
didn’t feel comfortable with them in his life, even temporarily.
    Jake needed to snap out of it. So what if he had a mom and her son staying? It was time he buried the past and got on with his life, but there was
something about Faith that was twisting him all up in knots.
    They’d eaten dinner, made small talk, and now
it was time to clean up, do the dishes. Normal stuff that for some reason was
requiring him to make way more effort than it should have.
    “Can I see your horses in the morning?”
    The question was innocent enough, but Tom took
him by surprise.
    “Yeah,” he forced himself to say. “Sure you
can.”
    “Tom, we don’t need to bother Jake, he’s
probably busy tomorrow.”
    He appreciated the concern, but he needed to
step out of his comfort zone. “ It’s fine,” he said,
pleased to see the boy smile again.
    “Can I ride one?”
    The look on the kid’s face told him he needed
to man up and make an effort – he would have been exactly the same as a boy,
desperate to do anything that would give him a chance to be around horses.
    “You know what?”
    Tom’s eyes lit up, wide as saucers.
    “How about you head out with me first thing,
help me put their feed out and muck out the stalls, then you can have a ride on
my old pony. Sound good?”
    Tom’s face broke out into a wide smile. “Yeah,
that sounds awesome. Can I, Mom?”
    Jake turned to watch her, this young mom who’d
managed to get him all twisted in knots just being in his house. He could tell
she was hesitant, but she looked like she’d find it hard to say no to her son.
    “Will you promise to go to bed now if I say
yes?”
    Tom grinned at his mom, like he’d just brokered
the best deal of his life.
    “Well, okay then, I guess ,”
said Jake.
    He smiled as he watched Faith point to the door
and follow Tom. Having them here wasn’t
easy, but it wasn’t half bad either.
    Faith found Jake sitting on the sofa with his
feet up, staring at the television like he wasn’t even remotely interested in
whatever it was he was watching. She flicked