Chapter 31
QUINN
I didn’t know how long I stood there, frozen to my spot around the corner from the check-in counter.
It’d taken me longer than it should have to realize what was happening, but my dad’s voice had stopped me dead in my tracks, that all too familiar pit opening up in my stomach, my nerves in overdrive at just the thought of having to interact with him.
But then Ford had stood up to him. For me. And not just that, but he’d parked himself in front of me like a ten-foot brick wall, refusing to let anything harmful come my way, including my father. Especially my father.
Ford hadn’t waffled for even a second. Not when my dad had pulled out his usual tricks, all his old standbys. Not when he’d spewed lies and overexaggerations about me. Ford hadn’t believed a word of it. Without wavering, he’d trusted me…believed me.
Protected me.
He’d done what no one in my life ever had. And the fact that he’d done so after everything I’d said to him yesterday morning? That he’d done it thinking we were done? That I was through with him?
I swallowed repeatedly, trying to shove down my emotions.
Park them in the neat little box I’d created for them so I could keep a lid on it.
So I could be the strong one, too tough to be torn down.
Never letting people see my soft underbelly.
But it was no use. My eyes burned, my nose stung, and my throat tightened as the tears came unbidden.
I cried—truly cried, not just a tear or two, but a deluge of them—for the first time in a long time because I stood there, rooted in place, as I finally realized what I’d thrown away. What my insecurities had made me toss aside.
Ford’s love.
I wasn’t sure how I’d never seen it… How I hadn’t realized it was there.
Not when he’d shown me all along. He was unwavering in his focus on me, in his support of me, in his care for me.
He was the only person I’d ever been able to count on.
The only one I trusted enough to share the deepest, darkest parts of myself with.
My rival at one time, and now my best friend.
And I’d walked away from him because I was scared.
Because I believed the old voices in my head—the voices my parents had cultivated in me—instead of his.
I’d thought the worst of him solely because of my insecurities.
I’d slotted him into the safe space outside of my heart so I wouldn’t get hurt, and instead, I’d hurt him.
Swiping at my tears, I forced myself to move, making my way into the inn and listening for any signs of movement. I’d only been inside this part of the resort a couple times, so I wasn’t overly familiar with it, but I rushed room to room, hoping I’d find Ford in each one.
But room after room was empty until I’d searched them all. He was nowhere to be found. At some point in my searching, he must’ve gone outside and I’d missed him, like sand slipping through my fingers.
Knowing he had to be close and needing to find him, I pushed through the front door, nearly colliding with Addison in my haste to leave.
“Whoa, what’s the rush?” she asked. “Late for a date?”
“Um…kind of. Did you happen to see Ford out here?”
“No…” she said, drawing out the word. “But Ford was looking for you earlier. Did you guys lose each other today, or what?”
“Kind of.” Lost our way, definitely.
She narrowed her gaze on me. “Why are your eyes all red? Are you two fighting?”
“I just…really need to find him,” I said, praying a new wave of tears wouldn’t choose now to rush forward. “Do you have any idea where he might be?”
She studied me for several long moments, her lips pursed as if she wasn’t sure if she wanted to push me on the subject or not. Eventually, she said, “He was here picking up a package that was supposed to be delivered to your cottage. He’s probably headed there—”
“Thank you!” I said without waiting for her to finish the sentence.
I’d walked over here because I wanted the fresh air, but now I was wishing I had my car because it’d get me to Ford a hell of a lot faster.
By the time I made it to the cottage, I was really regretting my stance to only run if a murderer was chasing me because I was out of breath and a little sweaty, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to reunite with my husband this way.
But as I tore through our front door, my gaze scanning the inside of the cottage, I realized it didn’t matter.
Because Ford wasn’t here.
* * *
Ford
With my thoughts a jumbled mess, I walked straight from the main inn to the diner. I strode inside—glad to see it was empty save for my twin and Everly—and jerked my chin at them both.
“Hey,” Everly said, her eyes warm and concerned. Beck had clearly filled her in on what was happening—how much, I wasn’t sure. But I could use a female perspective, so I was glad she was here.
“I see you’re back in the land of the living,” Beck said, setting a giant strawberry spinach salad in front of Everly. “Does that mean you pulled your head out of your ass?”
“Kind of. I mean, mostly. I was all set to figure that shit out, but then I got a text from Addison and had to swing by the inn before she castrated me. And then I ran into Quinn’s absolute shithead of a father—I told him to never come back, by the way, so if you see him around, call Brady.
Or me, because I wouldn’t mind landing him on his ass.
After that, I picked up the package Addison wasn’t going to deliver because she’s not my fucking courier—her words, not mine—and I found this. ”
I slammed the box down on the counter and raised my brows at him.
Beck looked at it, then at me, then at it again, before shifting his gaze to Everly and then back to me. “I want to ask about the whole dad thing, but I feel like you’re really pushing this box on me. Did you buy me something?”
“No.” I took off the lid, pulled out the black metal ring that was nestled inside, and held it up for him and Everly to see. “It’s for me. I think. Probably. Well, I’m pretty sure. Okay, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure…”
Everly laughed as Beck said, “Awfully certain of yourself…”
“My deduction skills say I’m right.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, first, it was addressed to our cottage. Second, it’s basically a replica of this one.” I held up my hand where I wore the black silicone ring Quinn had put on my finger the day we’d gotten married. “Except it’s metal. And third, it’s engraved with this…”
Beck and Everly both leaned forward as I held out the ring to them.
“ No take backs …” he murmured before glancing at Everly, then me, brows up. “Are we supposed to know what that means?”
“No, but I do. It’s… It’s like mine and Quinn’s thing. I said it right before we got married… Had it engraved on the inside of hers.”
“ Aww .” Everly leaned on her elbow, sliding closer to me, and I swore her eyes actually turned into hearts. “That doesn’t sound like something a fake husband would do. In fact, that’s book-boyfriend material right there. Did she love it?”
“Um…” I scratched my temple, thinking back to when I’d given it to her. Maybe doing so after slipping a vibrator inside her pussy with the intent of making her come in public had been the wrong move. “I don’t really know. She didn’t say too much when I gave it to her.”
“She does seem like the strong, silent type,” Everly said with a nod. “But I bet she was squealing like a schoolgirl on the inside.”
“So she got this for you, huh?” Beck said, arms crossed over his chest. He looked like his typical grumpy ass, but there was also relief in his posture. Like her doing this had settled something inside him. I wish he’d share with the class, because I had no clue.
“Well, what does it mean?” I asked.
“What do you mean, what does it mean ?” Beck stared at me with a furrowed brow, and I was pretty sure he’d have smacked me upside the head if I were within reach. “It means you’re a dumbass for leaving, and you’re a dumbass now because you’re in here talking to us instead of hunting for your wife.”
“I think I’m done with you calling me a dumbass today.”
“You don’t want me to call you a dumbass? Stop acting like one, dumbass.”
Everly reached out, placing a hand over Beck’s, and said, “I think what your brother means to say is that this shows she is clearly as into this as you are. And that you should probably find her and talk out your issues.”
Beck pointed a finger at Everly and nodded. “I mean, if you need to be coddled, then yeah, what she said.”
I blew out a deep sigh, scrubbing a hand on my face. “Okay… But what do I say ?”
“When you see her, you’ll know what the right thing to say is,” she said.
“And what if I don’t? What if it doesn’t magically come to me?”
Everly shrugged, shooting me a smile. “Then you tell her you love her. That you never want to live without her. And then you actually talk about the issues that pushed you apart in the first place, so this doesn’t happen again. Because I kind of love the idea of having her as a sister-in-law.”
I shot my gaze between the two of them, then down to Everly’s bare left hand, before settling on my brother’s shocked face.
Everly rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. Is that not where this is going?”
Beck cleared his throat. “No, it is. I just figured it would be more of a surprise than you casually dropping it like it’s no big deal.”
“Well, you’ve basically peed a circle around me every day for the past two years, and we’re building a house together on your family’s land. I don’t think marriage is going to be a surprise to anyone, sweetie.”
“I mean, she’s right,” I said. “You have been super obsessed with her that whole time. Like, disconcertingly so.”
Beck shot me a glare. “Why are you still here?”
That was a great question. I snatched the box off the counter and placed the ring back inside before offering them a two-finger wave. Then I hustled out of the diner, ready to find my wife, that beautiful little liar, and put to rest any uncertainty she had over exactly how I felt about her.