Faith

My phone rings while I'm wrist-deep into the dough for my tea cakes. "Can you grab that while I wash my hands?" I ask Benson,

"Sure." Benson picks up my phone and looks at the screen. "Babe, it's Thomas."

"I guess we're doing this now," I say as I dry my hands.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" My sweet man, always thinking of me.

"No, I'm good. Can you just put it on speaker?" I ask, and he nods as he clicks the talk button.

"Hello, Thomas." I don't even attempt to hide my displeasure.

He starts right away with excuses, "Faith, please don't be pissed that I didn't tell you and Grace about Henson. I was keeping my promise to Dad."

I take a deep breath to try to remain calm. "Thomas, I get that you were keeping your promise to Dad, but damn, he's been gone for five years. If you had told Grace and me about our half-brother earlier, Grace wouldn't be missing!"

As much as I tried to keep from raising my voice at my brother, I couldn't help letting some of my anger show.

"I know that now, but honestly, I forgot about him. When Mom and Dad passed, I had to take the role of running this hotel overnight. The thought of Henson didn't even cross my mind till I got the call from the detective. You had told me that your intern was a primary suspect, but I didn't know that your intern was Henson. You have to believe me, Faith. I didn't keep it from you on purpose after Dad died; I legit forgot," he confesses.

I am appalled, "How can you forget that you have a fucking brother, Thomas! A BROTHER!"

I hear him sigh. "Henson was such a sore subject with Mom and Dad. The only time they argued it was about Henson. It may not sound good, but for all those years, I wished that he never existed. I was bitter that he had that effect on our parents' marriage. I'm sorry, Faith. If you think for one minute that I'm not kicking my ass around for this, you're wrong."

I feel Benson's hand squeeze mine. He gives me a look, and all of my anger dissipates. "I get it, Thomas. That must've been tough on you as a kid. Dad never had a right to ask you to keep that secret from us. I know he thought he was protecting us, and now, after you told me about your anguish over the whole Henson situation, he was probably correct, but Grace and I had a right to know regardless."

He apologizes, "You are completely right, and I'm so very sorry Sis; please forgive me?"

I smile. "Of course, I forgive you."

I can hear the stress leave his voice. "Is there anything new on the case?"

We discussed everything that Detective Kidwell told us both. I fill him in on what I saw on the video and tell him what Cindy discovered. He was shocked when I told him that it was a woman who abducted Grace.

He told me Detective Kidwell had asked him to come to the station to watch a video. We both think that it is the same video that I had seen. The detective is probably hoping that Thomas recognizes the woman. I told him I was hiring a private detective to follow Henson around in the hopes that he would lead us to the woman who took Grace. He insisted on paying half of the private detective's fee. We promise to stay in touch as Grace's case progresses. We hung up, and I feel much better after speaking with Thomas.

Benson kisses my forehead. "Are you good, Baby?"

"I am, thank you. Now get back to work so that I can finish cooking." I gently kiss his lips.

He growls before pulling away. "If I did not have a pile of work waiting for me..."

I laugh. "Yeah, yeah, now shoo!"

He gives me a lingering kiss before pulling away and returning to his office.

I return to my baking, looking forward to seeing Liza in a couple of hours.

***

Benson had returned from his office about ten minutes ago. We were expecting Liza any second. I was finishing my eggplant Parmesan when we received a message that Liza had arrived. I head to Cindy's reception area to meet Liza while Benson sets the table.

The elevator doors open, and we run to each other and embrace.

"I know we just saw each other a few days ago, but I kind of miss seeing your face daily," I say sincerely.

"Yeah, I miss seeing your face every day, too!"

We pull away. "You can count yourself lucky; you'll be one of the few women who have crossed this threshold."

She smiles. "Wow, I feel privileged."

We walk into the apartment arm in arm, and Liza turns to me. "Please tell me that's your amazing eggplant Parmesan I smell."

I grin. "It is!"

We all sit down to dinner and keep the conversation light. The wine is flowing. Our dinner conversation is primarily work-related. Dinner is just what I needed. I'm incredibly relaxed. Thank you, Merlot! When we finish, Benson stands up.

"I'm going to clean up here and do the dishes; why don't you two go into the sitting room and enjoy your girl time." He kisses my head and begins clearing the table.

"Thanks, Babe." I grab my glass and the bottle of Merlot, and Liza brings her glass. We walk over and sit on the couch, looking at each other. "Can I top you off?"

Liza smirks. "Like you had to ask!"

I top off her glass, then mine. "God, Liza, I don't know where to start."

She places her hand on my leg. "How about where you left off with the last update on Grace's case."

She sits back and sips her wine as I fill her in on the details of Grace's case. She sits and listens as I spill out my heart to her. I hardly noticed when Benson returned and replaced our empty wine bottle with a full one and put a plate of tea cakes beside it. He quietly goes out to his office.

"Damn, no wonder you're so overwhelmed," she takes another sip of wine and reaches for a tea cake.

"I'm struggling with the concept that Travis Johns is Henson Walker, your half-brother. How the hell are you keeping your shit together?"

"I couldn't have done this without Benson; he's been my rock." I smile broadly.

"Holy shit! You're in love!" Liza practically shouts.

She lowers her voice, "Does he know how you feel?"

I nod. "Yes, and he professed his love for me too!"

Liza leans back against the couch's armrest. "Faith Anne Henson has caught herself the elusive, self-proclaimed bachelor for life. Congratulations!" She raises her glass. "Cheers to that, my friend."

We both take a sip of wine, and I notice what looks like a scowl quickly come across Liza's face. Just as quickly, it disappeared.

We spent the evening polishing off the second bottle of wine and tea cakes. I'm so happy I could have this time with Liza to help me process the last twenty-four hours.

Little did I know then that Grace's case would drag on over several months with no leads, leaving me to believe she was never coming home.

*****