She looked up at his dark face, and she knew she loved him. Suddenly and completely, she was in love.
Love hurt. Love was just a step away from agony. Love was losing control. Love was frightening. But love was what she felt for him. It was too late to pretend any differ ent.
Another crash came from the living room, and then voices. Breathing hard, Ross pulled Charity against him and held her still and close. "What the hell is going on out there?" he whispered.
Charity gasped, feeling like a drowning swimmer com ing up for air. The room was still spinning. She took a deep breath. "I don't know," she whispered. "It's probably just W.A."
Suddenly the door to their room burst open without so much as a knock. Charity pulled the bedspread up against her chest and glared at her sister, who stood, hair stream ing, backlit in the doorway.
"Faith!" she cried.
"I'm sorry, Charity," Faith wailed, "but we have to sleep in here with you." Mandi was right behind her, and they were both carrying their bedding.
"What?" They both said it, Charity in anguish, Ross in anger.
Faith let the bedding drop to the middle of the bed room floor. "Mason is here. He said guilt overcame him and he had to rush back to help you out with Aunt Doris, but I'll bet he just ran out of money."
She began to spread her blanket on the floor. "You should have seen the looks he was giving Mandi. I couldn't leave her out there with him. You know what he's like."
"Faith." Ross's voice was rough as sandpaper. "Did it ever occur to you that you might be interrupting?"
Faith glanced up at the two of them on the bed. She looked unsettled for microseconds, as though that hadn't entered her mind until that very moment. Then she lifted her chin and came toward them resolutely.
"And a good thing, too," she said firmly. "Have I ever given you my lecture on the importance of chastity in an intemperate world?"
"I've heard it many times," Charity said hastily. She sighed with exasperation, shaking her head. What was the use? They were obviously saddled with roommates for the night, and that was probably for the best. She glanced warningly at Ross.
"I promise to give Ross a blow-by-blow account of all your theories on marriage and man-woman relationships if you promise to get down into your bed ding and go to sleep. Okay?"
Faith hesitated. "My theories are more persuasive when I give them myself," she reminded them.
"Exactly." Charity hid a smile. "Go to bed, Faith. We'll talk in the morning."