Chapter 11
Ford
“If you keep glancing at your neighbor’s house every two seconds, you’re gonna burn down your own pretty fucking fast.”
Nash is leaning against the porch, beer in hand and a shit-eating grin on his face. Just like I’ve done close to a million times before, I ignore him.
“Anything you’d like to share with the class?
” the annoying fuck I call my younger brother asks, adjusting his signature backward hat over his head.
His hair is at a weird length—not short like mine, but it doesn’t reach his shoulders either—that I’m sure Mom would disapprove of if she saw him.
She’s been trying to get him to get a buzz cut for ages.
I keep my focus on the tomatoes I’m grilling. If some of them are getting more burnt than they should, that’s too bad.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I give in and ask.
Something about Nash is he’s not one to beat around the bush. “What’s up with the neighbor?”
“The neighbor?”
I put the tomatoes on a plate before they burn to a crisp.
“You won’t stop looking at their house, and it almost got those tomatoes carbonized. Some firefighter you are.”
“I’m just tired from work,” I tell him, which isn’t entirely a lie.
We were called at two in the morning today to rescue a couple with a toddler from an elevator. Everyone was okay, but the kid was sick, and the couple was on their way to the hospital when they got stuck. It’s never easy when children are involved.
Right on cue, my niece shrieks, “You won’t catch me!”
I smirk as Rhys chases her around while she pretends to be a robber. Since it sank in what her dad does for a living, she’s been obsessed with playing the bad guy to his sheriff.
“Sure, but there’s more.” Nash narrows his eyes at me. “I’d buy it if you weren’t constantly looking at their house. That has nothing to do with your job, so let’s try this again. Round two. Find a better excuse, and—go.”
“We should have left you in the dumpster where Mom and Dad found you.”
He takes a sip of his beer, smirking. “What that tells me is that I’m onto something and you don’t like it.”
“What are you talking about?” our oldest brother pipes in, climbing the steps to the back porch where the grill is.
Lexi is still running around in the backyard, having ditched her dad for the Hula-Hoop.
“Ford’s being cryptic about his neighbor.”
“Which house?”
Nash points to the one behind him.
Before they get any ideas, I jump in. “Rhys, you know the kid who mows your lawn? Joe. He does mine too.”
“It’d be weird if I didn’t,” he deadpans, being his usual ray-of-sunshine self.
“He lives there with his sister,” I explain. “In that house.”
“Sister, you say? This is getting interesting.”
“He’s a polite kid,” Rhys comments, ignoring Nash. “What about him? He got into trouble or something?”
“Relax. Nothing happened to him,” I say.
“So what are you talking about?”
“Ford almost burned our dinner because he won’t stop looking at their house,” Nash says.
“The tomatoes aren’t even burnt,” I argue.
“But they were well on their way.”
“Is there something wrong or not?” Rhys asks impatiently, the deputy sheriff in him never taking a day off.
I’ve barely uttered the word “No” when a familiar feminine voice says, “Hi!”
The three of us turn at the same time, and I ignore Nash’s “Ah, I see now.”
Ivy’s bright smile doesn’t falter at our attention as she gets closer. “I brought some brownies for dessert. They have nuts, though, so I can take them back if anyone’s allergic. They’re store-bought because I can’t bake to save my life, so you won’t hurt my feelings.”
“Wait. Ivy? Is that you?”
I swivel my head in Nash’s direction. And when Ivy freezes on the spot, my confusion only grows.
“Oh. Hi,” she says shyly.
They know each other? And why is it making me feel—
I’m not jealous. That’s fucking dumb.
Luckily for my sanity, Nash is quick to clarify, “She just started working at The Harmony Grove recently.”
I thought she worked at Sunny Stitches? I definitely saw her behind the counter just days ago.
“I didn’t know you would be here,” Ivy says, her gaze pinballing between Nash and me.
He tips his head in my direction, as unfazed as always. “He’s my brother. They both are.”
“Oh. I had no idea. Obviously.” She chuckles nervously and turns to Rhys. “Hi, I’m Ivy. You must be Lexi’s dad?”
He nods once. “Rhys. Nice to meet you. She’s in the yard if you want to say hi.”
“I’d love to,” she says, some of the tension visibly leaving her shoulders. “Does she eat brownies?”
“Until her stomach hurts, usually.”
She smirks. “You can have these, then. I’ll just go say hi to Lexi and get out of your hair.”
“You’re not staying?” I ask her.
From the corner of my eye, Nash’s smirk is making me want to punch him.
Ivy’s attention also shifts to Nash, but for an entirely different reason that I understand right away. And so does he.
“Don’t worry about me,” he’s quick to reassure her.
“I’ve attended employees’ weddings, baby showers, birthday parties…
. Don’t leave on my account. Really. You can stay if you want to.
We’ve barely had any time to talk at The Harmony Grove.
How are you liking it? Anything I can do to improve things for you? ”
As much as I would like to smack him in the back of the head some days, I have to give it to him—Nash is one hell of a good boss.
It’s true that he gets along with his employees to the point where he’s been invited to family functions several times, and his presence is never awkward. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Ivy glances between all of us. “Well, I… I’d love to stay if it’s okay with you. Those burgers smell insane.”
I give her a gentle smile. “Stay.”
She smiles at me for a beat longer than usual before turning to Nash. “I’m loving the job. Truly. It’s relaxing. I like being on my own while I clean.”
“Glad to hear it, Ivy. But if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”
She nods once. “Thank you, but it’s been great so far.”
“Hi!”
Lexi’s little voice reaches us before she does. One of her pigtails is undone, her forehead is covered in sweat, and her smile is as blinding as always. She’s tightly gripping her Hula-Hoop in one of her dirty hands.
“Hey, Lexi.” Ivy crouches down to her eye level and shows her the tray of brownies. “I got some brownies for you guys. Do you like them?”
The five-year-old wastes no time nodding rapidly. “I love brownies because I love chocolate. Daddy, can I have one?”
“After you eat your burger, bug,” Rhys tells her in that gentle voice he only uses with his daughter.
“Okay,” Lexi agrees easily. She passes her Hula-Hoop above her head and tells Ivy, “Watch this.”
For the next several minutes, I keep stealing glances at Ivy as Lexi teaches her how to use the Hula-Hoop, promptly ignoring Nash’s comments about how he’ll take over the grill because my head is somewhere else.
So what if Ivy’s laughter is contagious? And what if a weird kind of pressure that feels a lot like misplaced jealousy settles in the pit of my stomach when she starts playing soccer with Rhys and Lexi? None of that means I can’t multitask.
Joe joins me at the grill a while later, after I’ve kicked Nash inside to make the salad.
“You post videos online?” I ask him after he tells me about his plane-spotting day out with Ivy.
Soda in hand, he helps me with the buns. “Yeah, but for fun. I don’t get paid or anything.”
“Doing things just because you enjoy them sounds pretty valid to me.”
“I guess, yeah. I really like editing the videos and reading the comments.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
He’s putting the cheese slices over the burgers—extra for both of us—when he asks, “Do you know if any of the guys at the fire station need some lawn mowing?”
There’s a hint of desperation in his voice when he says it. It reminds me of when Nash was younger and asked our parents to go to the next town over with his friends, knowing he wasn’t old enough yet.
“I’m not sure.” I eye him carefully, remembering what Ivy told me about being worried he’d get distracted with a job.
“It’s okay. I was just curious.”
I hesitate. Whatever’s going on in their lives is none of my business, but at the same time, I like Ivy and Joe. Maybe it’s the firefighter instinct in me, the visceral need to protect and save anyone who’s in trouble, that drives my next words.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him in a low voice despite everyone else not being close enough to hear us. “If something’s going on, you can tell me.”
Joe bites the inside of his cheek. He doesn’t owe me an explanation, and it’s fine if he doesn’t want my help. I don’t want to be overbearing, but I also need him to know that I’m here. That aside from his sister, there’s another adult who cares.
Our conversation is cut short by Nash shouting, “You two! Is dinner ready yet? We’re starving over here.”
Lexi backs him up with an “Uncle Ford, I’m hungry!”
I clap Joe on the shoulder, dropping the subject for now. “Come on, buddy. Help me get these to the table before they start considering cannibalism.”
Rhys is the first to leave a couple of hours later, a sleeping Lexi in his arms. Nonstop playing in the backyard, paired with a full stomach, is the perfect recipe for my niece’s early bedtime.
Nash stays a little longer, chatting with Joe about airplanes. One of Nash’s employees flies a Cessna 172, and Joe wanted to know all about it. When he left to finish editing his video, he did it with a promise from Nash that he’d introduce the two so they can geek out about aviation together.
Nash takes off shortly after that. As I clean up the kitchen, I hear him say from the deck, “You’re happy at The Harmony Grove, then? Promise?”
Ivy chuckles, sending a thrill of awareness down my spine. “I promise. It was nice getting to know you a little more. And thank you for offering to introduce your friend to Joe. He’s never met a real-life pilot before.”
“He’s a good kid. If he ever needs a summer job, come talk to me.”