Free Cain's Salvation (Passion in Paradise - The Men of the McKinnon Sisters) by Sarah O'Rourke

sister.”
    “I won’t,” Cain replied
hoarsely, staring down at the box in his hand blindly. 
    Nodding, Honor rose
from the swing and straightened her skirt.  “Alright.  Be at the bar
by seven.  I’ll take care of telling Faith and the rest of the girls about
your resurrection this afternoon.”
    “She works tonight?” he
asked nervously, gripping the velvet box in one hand.
    “She starts her shift
tonight at eight.  Usually it’s five, but I left a note this morning
telling her that she needed some extra rest.  Patience will be there when
you begin your shift.  I don’t permit drinking on the job, and I require
you to be sober when you arrive and when you leave.  Other than that, feel
free to eat and drink as much as you like.  I know you don’t need the
money, but I’ll add you to payroll all the same.  Patience will give you
the paperwork.”  Watching him nod jerkily, Honor’s gaze remained steady on
his face.  “This is your game to win or lose, Cain.  I know my sister
still loves you, but she won’t trust you again easily.”
    “I realize that.”
    “Good.  One more
thing, Cain.  While I pray that you and Faith find your way back to each
other, just know that if you hurt her again, I’ll singlehandedly make your
worst day in Afghanistan look like a day at Disneyland,” she threatened
ominously.
    Chilled by the look in
her eyes, Cain could only nod.  “I don’t know what will happen between
your sister and me, Honor, but I swear, hurting her any more that I have is the
last thing that I want.”
    “Then we understand
each other.”  Honor smiled and pulled her purse over her arm.  “I
know you have your doubts about this, but I wouldn’t have offered you the job
if I didn’t believe it was the right thing to do.  You need to join the
rest of the world again, and you also need to fix things with Faith.  It’s
a small town.  The longer these wounds fester, the worse it will be to
cure the infection.”
    “I know you’re
right.  I just hope you know what you’re doing here, Honor,” Cain returned
uncertainly, his thoughts jumbled in his already cloudy mind.  “I don’t
want to be the source of trouble between you and your sister.”
    “Oh, Faith’s going to
be spitting, clawing mad.  I am suffering no delusions about that. 
I’m hoping that she’ll also realize that I’d never do anything to deliberately
hurt her.  Like you, she’ll need time.  I can live with it.  God
knows, I’ve lived with far worse.” 
    The sadness in her tone
when she spoke that last part had Cain reaching for her hand.  “Thank you,
Honor.  Most people in your position wouldn’t spit on me if I was on fire
at their feet.”
    “Cain, make no mistake,
I’ll light you on fire myself if you screw up this chance to make things
right.”  Bending, she brushed a chaste kiss against his marred jaw. 
“Tell your daddy I said hello.  I have to go face my own sheet of music
now.”
    Watching as the young
woman made her way back to her car, Cain sighed.  Breathing in the crisp
cool air deeply, he silently assessed the way he was feeling.  A little
lighter…a little freer…almost like there might be hope for him again. 
Maybe he could actually pick up the threads of his life again.  It
wouldn’t be the same for him.  It couldn’t be.
    But maybe he could find
his way to a new normal.
    He just hoped he could
do it with Faith at his side.

Chapter Eight
    “Tell me that I heard
you wrong!” Faith shrieked as she stared across the antique kitchen table
inside the McKinnon house.  Looking from Honor to her other stunned
sisters, she asked, “Did y’all just hear the same thing I did?”
    Both Patience and
Harmony fidgeted uncomfortably, not quite meeting Faith’s eyes as Honor sat
motionless at the head of the table. 
    “Will somebody please
say something?” she yelled, shoving her long blonde hair over her
shoulder.  Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to wrap her