Tempting Faith (Indigo Love Spectrum) by Crystal Hubbard Page A

so little distance to travel.
    As dusk fell, heavy rain clouds moved in to darken the purple-pink sky, giving it an ethereal beauty made more extreme by the rustic location she’d chosen to make her wish. With the wind picking up, the orange flame of her tiny pink candle had struggled to live long enough for Faith to accomplish her task. With her one desire filling her heart and a long draw of air expanding her lungs, she pursed her lips and blew, trading the life of the flame for that of her wish.
    The wisp of smoke vanished into the wind, and Faith drew her knees to her chest, hugging them tight. Pinpoints of starlight tried to break through the cloud cover, and Faith thought the hectic sky her loveliest birthday gift. The wind picked up as though determined to drown out the music of the crickets and owls serenading her as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, musing on her wish.
    “Hey.”
    That single syllable startled and exhilarated her as she whirled around.
    Alex had come up on her like a creature born to the mountain woods, magnificent in his faded blue jeans and threadbare T-shirt.
    “It came true,” she said breathily.
    “What?” he asked.
    “Hi.”
    “Hey,” he repeated. “What are you doing up here?”
    “Just watching the sunset. The sky is so pretty tonight. I’ve never seen it like this. All troubled and restless.”
    He sat close to her, lacing his fingers together with his elbows braced on his knees. “I never get tired of the view from up here,” he said. “It’s like a scene from a movie.”
    “Today’s my birthday,” she blurted, suddenly nervous.
    He turned toward her, his eyes violet in the twilight. “Well, happy birthday, Faith.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Eighteen,” he murmured. “Bet your folks gave you something real nice.”
    “Yeah, they did.” Not particularly anxious to discuss her gift, she cleared her throat. “It’s a combination birthday and graduation gift.”
    “The Camry is a good, solid car,” he said, keeping his eyes on the tumultuous sky.
    “How did you know they got me a Camry?”
    He shrugged. “Everybody knows everybody’s business in Booger Hollow. Of course, some things can be kept secret, if you’re careful.”
    “I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep our thing a secret,” she sighed. “Darlene Cross keeps asking me where I’ve been ‘disappearing’ to after school lately.”
    “What did you tell her?”
    “That if she didn’t stay out of my business, I’d tell her boyfriend that she’s got your old yearbook photo taped up in her gym locker and that she kisses it every day.”
    Alex chuckled dryly. “Cool.”
    Faith gave him a poke with her elbow.
    “Would you really rat her out like that?”
    “Only if she forces me to,” Faith said. “I can keep a secret, but not at the expense of having my own leaked. How did you know I was up here?”
    He picked up a cluster of fragrant white pine needles and passed their length between his thumb and forefinger. “I followed you.”
    Her parents and those of her friends always talked about Alex as though he were the boogeyman. But painting him as an ill-bred, uncouth vagabond who roamed the nights peeking into their daughters’ bedrooms had the opposite effect of what they had intended. Rather than scaring the girls away from him, the warnings had fed their fascination with him, and Faith’s fascination had led to friendship.
    “I saw Jefferson Winslow pestering you after your dance class today,” Alex said. “Thought I would have to sock him in the jaw if he didn’t leave you alone.”
    “I can handle Jeffy Winslow,” she responded, referring to him by the name she’d used since their first day in kindergarten. “Our folks married us off in the crib. Trouble is, I’d rather throw myself off this mountain than spend the rest of my life in Raleigh County married to a bratty Winslow.”
    “Me, too,” Alex replied wistfully.
    “You mean you don’t want to