Free Taking Faith by Shelby Fallon

beautiful man nonetheless. She turned her face away.
    "Did I hear a giggle from this room?" he asked and she turned to look at him, but he was looking around the room by then. "Did you…clean?"
    "Yes. And lunch is almost ready," she spouted all business like and went back into the kitchen. She was stirring the rice and determining it was sticky enough to be done when he came in. He was staring at her with a questioning look. "What?" she barked.
    "Nothing," he said defense and raised his hands. He backed out of the room that way.
    She took two bowls into the dining room to find him already sitting there. She went back and got them two sodas. "I was going to make some tea, but you don't have any."
    "I don't like tea. Well, I do, but I don't keep it in the house. That was all my father ever drank and all I was ever allowed to drink growing up." He held up his can and smiled at her. "This is my silent rebellion."
    She nodded. "Ok. No tea."
    "Water is fine for meals though," he continued. "It's what I usually drink, but then again I was eating frozen dinners and sandwiches every day, so. This looks really good."
    "I thought you said no sandwiches in this house," she asked in a small voice.
    "I said you weren't to make any," he corrected. She didn’t look up, just looked down into her plate. He sighed and went on. "Sandwiches are man's food. It's what he eats when he doesn't have a woman to cook for him. That's what this community thinks and if my father ever came over and we were eating sandwiches, it wouldn't be pretty."
    She nodded and took a bite. It was good. Too bad she didn't feel like enjoying it.
    "Look," he said slowly and took a big bite, chewing slowly, "I'm sorry. I'm a grump when I wake up. And I've never had to explain my behavior or reasoning to anyone so… I'm sorry if I seem agitated." He cleared his throat when she stayed silent. "Thanks for lunch."
    She nodded again and knew it was going to take some getting used to on both of their sides. She needed to just steel herself and keep her plan forefront on her mind. She finished her lunch and then cleared the dishes. She could feel his eyes on her, but she kept working. When everything was clean, she came out to find him watching TV. He was watching the same show she had turned it to.
    "I'm going to go and take a shower, all right?" she said softly.
    "Of course. Go ahead," he said and smiled a half smile. He seemed to be puzzled by her, but she kept her resolve. After the shower and a fresh set of clothes, she returned to find him in the same spot. She sat cautiously on the high back chair, pulling legs under her. Her eyes were on the TV, his eyes were on her. She tried not to squirm, but it was pretty hard when she could practically feel the questions burning inside him. She held in her smile and felt pretty smug for putting him so off kilter.
    "What's that smile for?" he asked quietly.
    Dang, she didn't do a very good job apparently. "Nothing."
    "Are you…trying to pull something, Amy?" he asked so low, she barely heard him.
    She swung around to look at him. "What? No. What do you mean?"
    "What's with the nice guy routine?"
    She felt her eyes bulge. She had said that exact thing about him. She pressed her lips in a hard line. "I can be nice for no reason at all. I can choose how to react and respond to things. That's the beauty of free will." She stood, angered. "That's something, no matter what you do to me, you can never take away. I'll always be me inside."
    She walked away and went into the bathroom. She shut the door so quietly, though she wanted to slam it. She slid down it and cried. She knew this was going to be hard. She took a deep breath. That man out there had never had anyone be nice or kind or gentle to him for any reason, of course he'd be suspicious. She needed to pull it together and keep the plan together.
    She wiped her eyes with some tissue paper and smoothed her hair back. She opened the door and he was there, his hand lifted as if to