Faith steadied herself. It was time for her to start the morning routine. But something held her there in the kitchen.
She had to know.
She cleared her throat. “So, did you get up to anything while the twins were away?”
“What do you mean?” Eve asked.
“You know, did you do anything? Go anywhere?”
“I didn’t do anything unusual.” Eve narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“No reason,” Faith said quickly. “I’m just curious. I don’t know much about you. Like, what you do in your spare time. For fun.”
“I work full time, and until now I’ve been raising two kids by myself. It doesn’t leave me with a lot of time for fun.”
“Right.” This was silly. Faith picked up her mug and headed out of the kitchen.
“What about you?”
“Huh?” Faith turned in the doorway to see Eve looking at her, her plate in one hand and coffee in another. Her eyes were dark behind her glasses .
“Did you do anything fun during your time off?”
“I… Yes.” There was something suggestive in Eve’s voice. Or was Faith imagining it?
Eve took a few steps toward her, cornering her by the doorway. Faith could feel the heat of her body. “And what did you get up to?”
Faith hesitated. “I went to a club. With a friend. On Tuesday.” She didn’t dare be any more specific. The way Eve was looking at her made Faith feel exposed.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” Eve asked.
Faith’s voice caught in her throat. “Yes. I did.”
Eve stepped closer. Faith froze. Her heart was beating so hard, she was sure Eve could hear it. Was Faith right after all? Had Eve been at Lilith’s Den that night, dressed in a corset?
Did Eve know all about the sinful thoughts going through Faith’s mind?
“Good,” Eve said. “With me working you so hard, you should be making the most of your days off.” She slipped past Faith, through the doorway and out into the hall. “I’ll be in the dining room if you need me.”
Faith let out a breath. As she watched Eve walk away, hips swaying in her fitted skirt, she couldn’t help but notice h
ow much Eve’s figure was like that of the woman in the corset.
Faith looked at her watch. It was time to pick up the twins from school. She grabbed her things and left her apartment. After finishing with the chores and errands Eve had given her in the morning, she’d gone home to have a lunch break. It was with Eve’s permission, of course. She didn’t do anything without Eve’s permission.
She’d never had a job where she’d had to deal with this level of supervision, but she was getting used to it. The fact that she was being paid double her usual rate certainly helped. Plus, the twins were easy kids. As far as jobs went, this was a good one.
All Faith had to do was quash the inexplicable attraction she felt toward Eve, along with her obsession with Eve being the woman in the corset from Lilith’s Den.
Faith headed down to her car. As she passed the mailboxes for the apartment, she noticed a letter sticking out of hers. Her heart leaped. Only one person ever wrote to Faith—her sister, Abigail. She and Faith had an arrangement. Abigail would write to her one month, and Faith would send her a letter in reply the next month. They’d been doing so for years, every month like clockwork. It was the only way they could communicate without the rest of their family catching on. But it had been more than two months since Faith had last heard from Abigail. She’d been waiting for a letter for weeks now.
She rushed over to her mailbox and yanked the letter out.
Her heart sank. It was a phone bill.
Faith stuffed the letter back into her mailbox, pushing her disappointment aside. She had to go pick up the twins. But as she sat in the car and drove to the twins’ school, her mind wandered back to her sister. Why hadn’t she written? There were so many possibilities, all of them awful. Was she sick? Injured? Did something terrible happen to her? Or worse—had someone else from her family found out that Abigail had been writing to Faith in secret? That would be bad news for her sister.
There was no point in speculating. Abigail was probably just busy. After all, she was married with a family of her own now, despite being even younger than Faith. That was perfectly normal in the community her family lived in.