Chapter 20
Ford
I fucked up. Big-time.
After what happened with my ex-wife, I consciously gave up on love. The pain that comes with it isn’t worth my time, I decided—not when I already have a job that gives me a purpose and a family that loves me unconditionally. What else did I need?
I had a plan. Firefighting until retirement, then spending all my hard-earned savings on Nash’s future kids and Lexi because that’s what money is for—to give back to the ones you love.
I was planning to sell this house, get myself a cabin by the lake, and join a fishing club.
Read the books I don’t have time for these days.
It was all carefully laid out, how the rest of my life was supposed to go.
But goddamn it, she happened.
Ivy Farnsworth, with those gemstone eyes that speak when her words don’t. With those lips I’ve fantasized about kissing so many times, I can’t even fucking count them. With that laugh I want to hear every day for the rest of my goddamn existence.
The way she bites the inside of her cheek when she thinks about something or struggles to get the words out. How she never leaves a room without telling her brother that she loves him. How she stays so optimistic even when life keeps throwing obstacles her way.
I admitted my white knight tendencies to her. What I didn’t say was that, when it comes to her, the feeling is vastly different from every other instinct.
I ache to be there for her in ways that I shouldn’t. I want to know about her day, listen to her every complaint, celebrate her every win. Protect her from the bad and make her see that she deserves all the good.
I’m falling for her, and it’s the last thing I need right now.
And what did I do, instead of shoving these feelings down like I should have from the start? I acted like a moron when Ian asked her out, then tried to fix it by encouraging her to go with him when seeing her with someone else is the last thing I want.
I’m a selfish bastard, but what else am I supposed to do besides live with it? She deserves better than a damaged, divorced guy who thinks it’s easier to give up on love than to take a leap of faith and try again.
My pity party is interrupted by loud knocking on my door.
What is also interrupted is my glancing at the time every five minutes. She’s been on that damn date with Ian for nearly half an hour, and although I like him well enough, today I want to kick his ass simply for existing.
The knocking intensifies, and I frown on my way to the door. What if it’s her? What if something happened? I trust Ian, but if he’s said something to upset her, I swear—
When I yank the door open, I find the youngest Farnsworth with his fist in the air, ready to knock again.
“Joe?”
“Why is Ivy on a date?”
His anger isn’t lost on me.
“She didn’t tell you?” I’m confused. Ivy tells him everything.
“She texted me while I was at school. Do you know who he is? Do you know his name?”
“Ian. He works with me,” I tell him, carefully watching the confusion and the anger shift in his young face. “He asked her out for coffee. They’re at Jill’s.”
“I know where they are.” I’m taken aback by the way he’s glaring at me. “But why?”
“I’m not following, buddy.”
“Why is my sister on a date with someone who isn’t you?”
When I say nothing because I don’t think I’m physically capable of uttering a single word, Joe huffs. “I’m not blind.”
I swallow past the dryness in my throat. “What are you talking about?”
“I like you, Ford, and I don’t want to kick your ass. But I will if you don’t tell me why my sister is on a date with some random guy if you like her. And I mean like her.”
Am I about to have this conversation with Ivy’s sixteen-year-old brother when I’ve barely accepted my own feelings myself? Apparently.
“Joe.” His name falls from my lips with a sigh. “It’s more complicated than that. Your sister—”
“My sister is an idiot. You’re both idiots.”
And with that, he turns around and starts climbing down my porch steps.
“Where are you going?” I call out.
He glances at me over his shoulder, his pissed-off frown going nowhere. “My sister isn’t going on a date with some guy she barely knows just because you’re both idiots. I don’t want her getting hurt; she’s been through enough.”
A mix between pride and worry swirls inside me. “It’s good that you’re looking out for her, but you can’t crash her date, Joe. She’s an adult.”
He ignores me. “Are you coming or not?”
I cross my arms in front of my chest. “I’m not crashing Ivy’s date.”
Ten minutes later, I’m trailing behind him toward Jill’s Café to crash Ivy’s date because I’ve officially lost it.
Jill sends him a look from behind the counter as he storms inside without ordering anything and sits three tables down from Ivy and Ian, but she decides to ignore him.
Seeing Ivy there, listening to another man with a smile on her face and a hand cupped around a steaming mug, feels like a punch in the gut.
It gets worse when her gaze shifts, finding mine across the café. A second later, her eyes land on Joe.
If I thought this was a ridiculous idea ten minutes ago, I can now confirm it’s one of the worst ones I’ve ever had.
I’m a thirty-five-year-old man. Why the fuck am I trying to sabotage someone’s date? Joe acting on his overprotective brotherly instincts is one thing, but what excuse do I have?
I walk up to Joe’s table with a deep sensation of regret roiling in my stomach. “I think we should go, buddy.”
He isn’t looking at me. “I’m fine right here.”
Before I can tell him that this isn’t a good idea, that his sister deserves some privacy and we are being extremely immature about this, she calls out, “Hey, guys.”
She’s smiling, but her eyes aren’t. Her voice sounds tight, too, as she adds, “What a coincidence.”
We are so busted.
Ian sends me an amused look, oblivious to the way Joe’s eyes are narrowed at him as if he’s two seconds away from ripping his head off.
“Well, it was nice seeing you, Ivy,” he says, ignoring the two pairs of eyes monitoring his every move, both of us listening in on his every word. “See you at trivia night some other time?”
“I’m sure we will,” she says, sounding like she means it.
He nods once and, without giving her a hug or a kiss or anything else that would get him killed, walks away. Not before winking at me as he passes me, whatever the fuck that means.
Not that it matters when Ivy turns her full attention on us.
The easy smile she was wearing with Ian drops in record time. Despite being in a crowded café, it only takes that one change of expression to make me feel like it’s just us three in the entirety of Harmony Hills, and not in a good way.
The temperature seems to drop when Ivy takes a deep breath through her nose, shutting her eyes as if calming herself down. Joe and I might be taller and more intimidating looking than she is with that angel face, but in this moment, none of that matters.
We’re in deep shit.
“I’m going home,” she says, then turns to Joe. “You and I will have a conversation later.”
He nods, his throat bobbing with a heavy swallow.
I expect her to say something to me. Anything to let me know how disappointed she is. Instead, she holds my gaze for a small eternity and, without saying a word, brushes past me and leaves the café.
Joe winces as the bell chimes after his sister. “You were right.”
“No shit, buddy.” I brush a hand across my face. I’m too old and tired for this. “Give her some space. Let’s not make it worse.”
“I just….” He hesitates. Shakes his head. “This was stupid. I should’ve listened to you.”
“It wasn’t our best move, but she’ll forgive you.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” he says as if he couldn’t hear me. “It’s just that, when she told me about this date, I had no idea who this guy was. What if he was a serial killer? What if he did something to her?”
“Watching out for your sister is an honorable thing,” I tell him, not wanting him to think otherwise.
I can’t imagine how my brothers and I would act if we had a sister and she went on a date with some dude.
“And I’m sure she’ll understand when you explain it to her.
But we didn’t respect her privacy. We barged in like brainless cavemen, and that was wrong. ”
What I’m not so sure about is that she’ll understand what I was doing here today. Joe’s a teenager, and teenagers don’t make the best decisions sometimes, but adults like me are supposed to have it together.
“She’s mad at you too,” he says, disappointment glinting in his eyes.
“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry about it.”
“What if I messed it up? She likes you, too, you know. She’s never said anything, but it’s kinda obvious.”
“Joe….”
He shakes his head. “Whatever. You two figure it out. I should stay out of everyone’s business. Let’s just go home.”
I get him a sprinkled donut before we leave to cheer him up, although I don’t think it works. We’re mostly silent on our way home, and when we say goodbye, he tells me he’s going to do his homework so Ivy doesn’t get even more mad.
As for me, I can’t shake off his words for the rest of the day.
Why is my sister on a date with someone who isn’t you?
I don’t know. I don’t fucking know, and maybe it’s time to do something about it.