Page 36 of The Formation of Us

Iris shrugged. “Life is intimate even when you don’t want it to be. Sometimes you enjoy that. Sometimes you simply bear it. Either way you’ve got to live each day the best you can.”

“Your life hasn’t been much easier,” Aster added.

Faith nodded because it was true, and because she was too choked up to speak. Her aunts hadn’t just lost their homes, they’d lost their names and the very cores of who they were.

“Don’t fret over this,” Iris said. “When I found your mother’s house and met Aster and Tansy and Dahlia, I gladly became Iris—a beautiful flower that grows in the wild.”

Faith blinked the moisture from her eyes. “All this time I thought you’d chosen it from the Iliad. Iris, the goddess of the rainbow.”

Iris hooted in amusement. “I like that.” She cocked her chin and feigned a thoughtful pose. “Goddess of the rainbow. Yes, that’s lovely. Tonight I’ll be a sultry hue of violet. Tomorrow I’ll be—”

“A wilted flower just like the rest of us,” Aster said in her too-frank manner.

“You’re not wilted flowers,” Faith insisted. “You can take back your real names and start over here.”

Aster shook her head. “I’ve been Aster for so long I couldn’t answer to anything else.”

“Same for me,” Iris said. “Besides, I think I enjoy being a rainbow goddess.”

Despite their sad stories, Faith smiled. “You’re still so young, Aunt Iris, does it bother you that you never married?”

“I’m too fond of men to ever settle for just one.”

A tad of panic shot through Faith. “But you will now. Right?” Iris’s silence increased Faith’s heartbeat. “You all agreed to look for a husband here.”

“And we’ll look as promised,” Aster said.

“That doesn’t mean we’ll find a man willing to marry us,” Iris added.

“You can’t pin your hopes on me.”

“We have to, Faith. You know that,” Aster said. “What man is going to want to marry an ex-prostitute?”

“Or a woman who looks Japanese?”

“You’re kind, beautiful women, and you deserve love.”

“So do you, dear. Much more than us. You’re young, and have everything to look forward to.”

“With that handsome sheriff,” Iris said with a wink.

“You should have never told him I was looking for a husband. Now he wants to court me.”

“He does?” Aster asked, incredulous.

“Wonderful!” Iris clapped her hands. “Say yes.”

“I can’t say yes.”

“Of course you can. You must!” Aster said. “The man just sent us a meal fit for a king.”

Faith tugged her apron ties loose. “What if he learns the truth about us? What then?”

“All the more reason to marry him quickly, so it’s too late for him to change his mind.”

But it wouldn’t be too late for him to hate her, and that’s what she couldn’t bear. Sheriff Grayson was the kind of man she could fall in love with. To gain his affection and possibly his love, only to lose it when he learned the truth, would be devastating. “I can’t do it. It’s underhanded and . . . the sheriff is too respectable for me.”

“No one is perfect, Faith, not even the sheriff.” Iris sighed dramatically. “But he sure looks perfect, and just think of the benefits of having that dream man in your bed, kissing in the dark, feeling those strong arms—”