Free Faithful to a Fault by K. J. Reed

name.”
    He’d been looking for her. All this time she thought he’d left and never looked back. Abandoned her to an emotionally abusive father and took off for greener pastures. Her father’s words, sneering that her big brother was done protecting her, sick of sticking up for her, echoed in her mind until she’d given up waiting for his return.
    “When I talked to Trav the other day, he mentioned offhand his sister’s new name was Cassidy.”
    “The phone call. When you called me and asked me my maiden name.”
    “Yeah.”
    “So you knew when you came to my apartment last night?”
    “Yeah.”
    Pieces of an ugly puzzle started to click into place. “You knew. And you didn’t say anything.”
    “Sarah, I was still processing.” He reached for her hand but she jerked away. More softly, he repeated, “I was still processing. And as much as it makes me sound weak, I didn’t want to give up a night with you.”
    “Because I’m such a prize.” She bit the words off. Fuck the unaffected lover. “And then you ran to tattle on me to my brother. Without seeing how I felt. Without knowing what I wanted.” Without trusting her with the information.
    “Trav is my best friend.” His eyes were tired now. Like he was sick of fighting the world. “He’s been looking for you. If I didn’t tell him…”
    “Out.” If he stayed any longer she wouldn’t hold back the tears. “Just go.”
    “Sarah, please, can we just—”
    “No. We can’t. Get out. Don’t come back.”
    He opened his mouth then shut it again. Without a word, Pete left the restaurant.
    Sarah walked back to an empty server station, away from view of the front of the house. Then, because nobody would see, she let her knees buckle and squatted down, letting the wall support her.
    He would come for her. She knew that much. If Pete was telling the truth and Trav was looking, he’d come for her. But did she want that? Was she okay with him searching her out? Admitting her failure of a marriage, her stubbornness in not contacting him.
    She had time. She could leave if she wanted.
    No, Sarah thought. She really couldn’t. Not this time. If Trav had something to say, then he could say it. A decade had passed. She could handle seeing him.
    Sarah would hold. Hold her ground and when—not if—Trav came for her, she’d meet him head-on and they’d work things out.

Chapter Seven
     
    The airport was overrun with people hustling, loved ones shouting to each other, babies crying, luggage rattling.
    Pete heard none of it. His mind was elsewhere. Back in the restaurant where Sarah worked. Where Trav would be confronting her today. Meeting up, seeing if their relationship could be repaired.
    Back with Sarah. Where he wanted to be. Not that she would welcome his presence. Not now, anyway.
    “Seriously, why do they make these things and ask you to use them and then have it so they never work?” Pete groused at the automatic ticket counter. What the hell was wrong with customer service? This took twice as long, it only worked a quarter of the time the way it was supposed to, and an attendant still had to verify his ID matched his ticket anyway.
    “Someone’s in a pissy mood,” Tony observed.
    “Yeah, well, you managed to have a human being check you in and print your ticket. We could have been in the security line twenty minutes ago if this thing didn’t suck.” He punched another button too hard and watched as his information drained from the screen. The beginning screensaver asked him to please begin the checkout process.
    “Son of a humping bulldog.”
    “You could have stayed another day,” Tony pointed out. “Tried to see how the meeting with Trav went.”
    Carefully, Pete punched in his flight number for the fourth time before answering. “I can’t. It won’t change anything. And it would only prolong the inevitable.”
    “You know, it wouldn’t be so bad if—”
    Pete held up a hand to cut his friend off. “If I don’t get my ticket