Ford
He should have said fuck it and kissed her. But the last thing he wanted was for the public to put two and two together and work out that Sie was now a doctor in Burra Creek. She wore the wig for a reason. She didn’t want people to know who she was.
If they were seen kissing and the photos got out, people would start digging into Sie’s past, and he was sure someone would compare pictures of her then and now and reach the conclusion that Sie and Dr Maisie Jones were one and the same.
He caught her up. “Sie.”
She didn’t stop walking.
“Sie. I—”
“Ford!” A drunken man seemed to come out of nowhere and was now blocking his path.
He debated for a moment shoving the man out of his way, but knew that Donnie would be pissed off with him if he started a brawl.
“Hey, mate,” he said affably, falling into his public persona, even as Sie got further away from him.
“Oh wow. It is you! I told Warren,” he lifted up his pint and pointed to a table of equally ruddy-faced men, “that it was you. He told me I was a drunken idiot.”
“What can I say, mate. Not an idiot.” Ford’s gaze darted around, looking for a way to politely extract himself without drawing attention to Sie.
Shit, there were more people now filming him.
Ford closed his eyes in a slow blink, knowing he was going to regret what he was about to say. “Did you want a selfie?”
The drunken man’s face broadened into a grin. “Absolutely. They,” he gestured again to his friends with his drink, sloshing beer on the floor, “said I shouldn’t disturb you. That you were on a date.”
“It’s fine.” Ford smiled tightly.
“That’s what I told them. I told them that you weren’t on a date with a wannabe rock chick who wears bottle-thick glasses.”
Ford’s back stiffened as the man described Sie.
“No. I told them Ford would have a supermodel on his arm. Not a woman who is so short you could put her in your pocket.” He guffawed at his own joke.
“Right,” Ford said neutrally. His fist was clenched at his side. He was so close to punching this stupid bastard in the face.
“You always have a fit woman,” the other man droned.
Ford could see Sie ordering at the bar. His shoulders sagged a little in relief when she was served with two drinks. He’d thought she might not want to have dinner with him now, but she'd bought him a drink.
“How is Abigail? Isn’t she your girlfriend?” The man’s voice was loud, and he saw Sie stiffen when his ex-girlfriend was mentioned.
“We broke up,” Ford answered, his tone flat.
“Ahhhh, shame. I’m guessing she was getting too old. Thirty is pushing it, mate. They start to get wrinkly and needy, wanting to get married. You’re smart to move on to someone younger.” The drunken man was obnoxious and moving very close to a fist in his face.
“Abigail and I mutually decided it wasn’t working. She’s a beautiful woman and a lovely person.” Well… lovely when she wasn’t throwing a vase at his head for telling her that he wasn’t going to marry her, ever.
His eyes drifted to his wife at the bar, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Sie's face as she navigated back to their table with a drink in each hand.
Abigail was one of the most beautiful women in the world, but if he had the choice, he would follow Sie to the ends of the earth.
“Anyway, shall we take that photo?” Ford could see a lot of people in the pub who were poised to leap up and ask for a selfie too.
He'd thought Burra Creek would be quiet for him, as Taylor seemed to get along all right. He’d clearly underestimated people’s desire to meet a homegrown star.
“Yes!” Another big hand gesture and another slosh of beer, this time only just missing Ford’s shoe.
Then a sweaty arm was around his shoulder, and a phone was being held up in front of Ford’s face. Giving his trademark stare into the lens, he waited for the photo to be taken.
Another person hovered in the periphery of his vision, and he went straight from his drunken friend to them.
He smiled, chatted, shook hands and took photos. Bloody Donnie should be grateful he didn’t tell them all to fuck off, so he could go and sit with Sie, who was chatting with Frost and Hel, occasionally glancing at him. Although her eyes would quickly slide away every time they met his.
When Sie stood up, he was instantly aware of her movement and frowned.
Where was she going?
She looped around the pub, careful to avoid him and his crowd of fans. Ford lost sight of her when another person sidled to his side for a photo.
He tried to concentrate, but his eyes kept searching for Sie.
His shoulders sagged in relief when she came back carrying a tray with two burgers on it.
Stopping at the table her friends sat at, Sie was about to put the tray down, when Hel gestured to a door, where a staff member was standing. Sie nodded and headed for the door.
Hel picked up the drinks and followed Sie. Frost, however, made his way through the crowd of people to Ford’s side.
“How are you going, man?” Frost enquired.
“I’m hungry.” Ford grinned ruefully, shrugging apologetically to the crowd of people surrounding him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you’ll need to excuse us for a while so Ford can eat.” Frost put his arm around Ford’s shoulders and began to move him through the fans.
A couple of the people looked like they wanted to object, but a glare from Frost, who was built like a tank, stopped them, and Ford was pulled out of the crowd unscathed.
“He’ll play some songs once he’s eaten,” Frost said over his shoulder.
“I will?” Ford questioned.
“Yup. That’s how Hel persuaded them to let you eat in their breakroom.
It’s the only way you can eat your meal undisturbed.
” Frost shoved him gently through the door labelled STAFF ONLY, then turned the lock on the door so no one could follow them through it.
“You might need to borrow a beard off Taylor if you’re going to start coming to the pub regularly. ”
“I won’t need to. I won’t be in Burra Creek much longer.” As the words left his mouth, he made eye contact with Sie and saw a shock of hurt spread over her face before she hid it.
Shit.
“I ordered you a burger.” Sie didn’t look up as she shoved his plate towards him.
“Sie, I—”
Sie cut him off. “Eat it before it gets cold.”
“Sie—”
“Ford. I knew you were leaving,” Sie said quietly.
“I—” He glanced at Hel and Frost, who were trying to pretend that they weren’t witnessing the conversation.
“Eat.” Sie gestured again at the burger and chips.
“Sie—”
“Eat,” she told him again, and he finally took the hint that she didn’t want to discuss it and sat down.
“Thanks.” He picked up his burger, trying not to feel annoyed that Sie shuffled her seat away from him.
Sitting in silence, he chewed methodically on his food and attempted not to stare at Sie.
“Well, this is awkward,” Hel eventually said.
“Hel,” Frost hissed.
“Well, it is,” she muttered back.
Ford glanced across at Sie and noticed a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She was obviously entertained by her friend’s blunt assessment.
Hel made eye contact with Ford and lifted an eyebrow. “Does that happen to you often?”
Ford put his burger down and sighed. “Yeah. I don’t really go anywhere anymore that isn’t a VIP area with bodyguards.”
“I know that feeling,” Frost agreed. “It could get hectic while I played in the NHL. I can’t imagine how bad it must be for you.”
“I kinda assumed, as Taylor wanders around here, that I’d be alright and that no one would care.” Ford took another bite of his burger, which he had to admit was a good burger, better than he expected.
“He usually wears the face ferret, and also, people are used to him now. You’re new and exciting,” Hel said.
“Midnight Thunder coming to town is the biggest thing that has happened to Burra Creek for years,” Sie murmured.
“I’m working that out.” Ford laughed. “But I’m glad we decided to come here.” He gazed at Sie, who was carefully studying her burger and not looking at him.
The four of them sat in silence until Hel broke it again, “I missed your concert to propose.” She held her hand up to show off a ruby ring with a halo of diamonds.
“Oh yeah, Clara told me. Congratulations.” Ford nodded. It had slipped out of his mind after finding Sie.
“Yeah. I was meant to be the doctor, and I asked Mai to cover so I could go to Frost’s last ice hockey game of the season and propose.”
Ford’s gaze swung to Sie. He had been so close to not finding her again; if the pair in front of him weren’t together, he would never have known that he had only been kilometres from his wife.
He would have continued with his life, wondering where she was. Hoping that every woman with long black hair was her.
Sie sighed, put her burger down and said quietly, “I’m glad you did.”
This time, her eyes met Ford’s and held.
Hel completely missed the point, in that self-centred, in love way, and she gazed at Frost. “Me too!”
Frost seemed to have more awareness than his fiancée, and he reached over and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go and buy some more drinks.”
Hel opened her mouth to protest, and closed it again when Frost raised his eyebrows.
“Same again, guys?” Frost asked.
“Yes, please,” Sie answered for both of them, but her eyes didn’t leave Ford’s.
When they were alone, Ford decided it was time to lay his cards on the table. “I never got over you leaving.”
Tears welled in Sie's eyes, and one trickled down her cheek. He reached over and wiped the tear away, then dropped his hand to his lap.
“Me either,” Sie whispered.
“Can we—” The door banged open, interrupting Ford.
“Mateeeeeee,” a drunken voice slurred. “Why are you hiding? I heard you were a good bloke, and you’re hiding away like a posh arsehole.”
Ford’s fists balled, and he began to stand. It was the idiot from earlier. He just wanted to talk to Sie, and this dickhead was making it impossible.
Sie’s hand touched his arm, and she shook her head in warning.
Taking a deep breath, then another, he finally nodded and relaxed back into his seat.
Putting on an unaffected swagger, he shrugged. “Just eating in peace, mate.”
Glad he'd heeded Sie’s silent warning when he noticed the mobile phone in the man’s hand, filming Ford for a reaction.
“Yeah. Well, you look like an arsehole when you hide like you’re better than everyone.” He swayed on his feet, but his camera was steady.
“Sorry if that’s your perception, mate. I’m just catching up with some friends and wanted to eat in peace.” Ford realised Sie still had her hand on his arm, and despite the antagonism in front of him, her touch made him feel calmer than he had in a long time.
“Excuse me,” Frost’s voice broke in from behind.
“What do you want, arsehole?” The drunk man said, then spun around, and his gaze went up, and up and up, and he audibly gulped when he realised that Frost, at six foot three, was looking down at him quizzically.
“Hmmm. Sounds like there is only one arsehole in this room, and that’s you. Maybe it’s time for you to head home,” Frost told him.
“Nah, mate. Don’t be a dick.” The drunk man wasn’t just drunk; he must be paralytic to have recovered so fast from his initial fear of the giant standing in front of him.
“There’s only one person being a dick here, and that’s you. Come on, we’re calling you a cab to take you home,” Frost said reasonably.
“Fuck off, mate. I’m not catching a cab.”
“Is that you, Wayne?” Hel’s voice cut in as she manoeuvred around Frost.
“Oh, hi Ethel.” He grinned nastily at her.
Hel smiled sweetly back. “I hear Emma came to her senses and dumped you.”
Wayne snarled, “Bitch.”
That was all it took for Frost to act. He said one word, “Nope.” Then picked up the smaller man by the belt on his shorts and bodily carried him away.
Ford couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him at the look of shock on Wayne's face.
“He’s my old housemate’s ex-boyfriend. He managed to burn our house down with a cigarette. And it turns out he’s a drug dealer, so she dumped him,” Hel explained.
“He is a delight.” Sie watched wide-eyed as a grown man was carried with minimal effort by Frost out of the pub.
“He’s a shithead. Sorry, I didn’t realise earlier that it was him who was bothering you. I would have asked the landlord to kick him out,” Hel apologised.
“It’s all good,” Ford reassured her. “Frost seems to have had fun.” He gestured to the Canadian, who was walking back toward them with a broad grin on his face.
Hel stepped in front of him, putting her hand on his chest. “You enjoyed that a bit too much, big guy.”
“I did,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not saying I enjoyed fights on the ice, but it’s occasionally fun to put a shithead in their place.”
“I think we should skip the quiz. Let’s eat and get out of here,” Sie commented. “You’re more popular in this town than Taylor!”
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Ford agreed. “Although someone seems to have volunteered me to sing!” He threw a mock glare at Hel, who shrugged and chuckled.
“Yeah. Basically, I missed your concert because I was lumbering myself with this guy.” Hel gestured to Frost. “So I figured it was a great way to hear you sing.”
As Ford laughed, he glanced at Sie, who had a hand over her mouth to disguise her obvious mirth at her friend’s antics.