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“What? Do you think he was cheating on me?” she asked.
They all gave her sympathetic looks.
“Boy’s an idiot, that’s clear,” Grandpa Jake said. “Other than your penchant for trying to please everyone and your fear of thunderstorms, you’re a damn good catch.”
“Uh, thanks, Grandpa.”
“Of course, can’t blame you for getting scared of storms when you got stuck outside in one that time at my place. Couldn’t hear me calling over the noise. Found you when it had passed, you’d hidden under a tree. Not your smartest idea.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Dad!” her mom snapped. “You never told me that!”
Her grandpa scratched at his chin. “Didn’t I? Well, I probably had my reasons.”
Her mom looked like she was about to explode. Even though Faith wished her grandfather had said something earlier, at least she knew why she was scared now.
Seemed like everything was coming out now.
“I’ve been looking into Matt,” Reuben said, shocking her.
“You have?”
“Hmm. And I’ve had someone check into his finances.”
“You can do that?” her dad asked.
“Well, not me.” Reuben grinned. “And for a man without a job, Matt has a lot of money.”
“I was sending him some,” she said.
Her family all glared at her, but she kept her gaze on Reuben.
“He’s got more than what you sent him, baby. He just bought a brand-new Jeep. And went on a trip to Vegas.”
“I’m going to be sick. I trusted him, and he swindled me.”
Reuben crouched in front of her and took her hands in his. “Look at me. This is not your fault.”
“I lost everyone’s money!”
“Money we freely gave, Faith,” her father said. “We’re not upset with you.”
“But I overheard you talking about how tight things were. And putting off retirement.”
“Oh honey,” her mom said, eyes filling with tears. “You heard that? We never expected you to pay that money back. It was an investment in your future. We’ve just had a bad couple of years is all.”
“But none of that is on you, Faith.”
“We’ve never been upset with you, Faith,” Rod told her.
“We love you, Squirt,” Lance added.
“I just feel so ashamed.”
Reuben reached up and wiped her tears away. “I know you do, but you’ve nothing to feel ashamed about.”
“You really think Matt took that money? That the business was doing all right?”
