Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
FORD
By the time I’ve finalized details with Sutton for the open mic night—and ensuring he’ll make his presence seem as organic as possible, Jesse reappears.
“I need to rewrite the bridge, Pops. Dad agrees?—”
“I don’t give a single flying shit what my son says, Jess. It’s a solid debut release, and that’s the key here?—”
“I don’t want solid . I want epic .” His chin is set in that stubborn way that’s entirely reminiscent of Sutton himself, and I stifle a laugh as Jesse arches a dissatisfied brow. “I’m redoing it?—”
“No, you’re not?—”
As the two North men continue to disagree, I grab Emmy’s hand and sneakily make our leave. Sutton and Jesse’s voices elevate at our backs so that by the time we make it back to the truck, Emmy is giggling uncontrollably.
As I help her into the passenger seat, she suddenly sobers, leaning closer to press a fleeting peck to my lips.
I tilt my head to one side in question, my lips lifting in a lopsided grin. “What was that for?”
She watches me for a beat, her blue eyes bright and a half-smile playing at the edges of her mouth. “Seeing you with Sutton just made my heart happy, that’s all.”
I cluck her beneath the chin before closing her door, jogging around the cab, and slipping into the driver’s seat. As I turn on the engine, I glance in her direction. “Family doesn’t always have to be blood. That’s what the Norths taught me in my time with them.”
As my brows pucker in a frown, I can’t help recalling the dark days after my father’s arrest when Sutton North, despite his own trauma at the time, had ensured my family and I were taken care of. He’d made it so I could escape to Manhattan and be with Emmy, no questions asked.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a man with a greater capacity to care for a loved one’s wellbeing, aside from Caden, and he clearly got it from his father.”
There’s silence in the cab for a beat before Emmy places a soft palm on the back of my hand resting on the gear stick. “Just because Caden got his capacity to love from his father, doesn’t mean you got anything from your father aside from his dark hair and broad build.”
I shift my gaze to hers as she watches me with a keen understanding of exactly what makes me tick. Precisely what demons drive me and the inner fears I keep locked away deep down inside me.
“Besides, have you met your mother?”
I can’t help but guffaw, Emmy’s tinkling laugh joining mine as she continues. “You got your heart from her. There’s no question in my mind.”
Before I put the truck in drive, I lift our joined hands to my mouth and press a kiss against the back of hers before murmuring, “It’s a heart that’s so full of love for you, Tink, that sometimes I think it might explode right out of my chest.”
Her broad smile sends a wave of pleasure through me as I drive away from North Star Ranch . The space between us fills with a comfortable silence, and I watch Emmy out of the corner of my eye, waiting for her to notice that I’ve steered us in a different direction.
Soon enough, her forehead twitches with the beginning of a frown, and she twists to face me. “This isn’t the way back to the house.”
I shake my head with a smirk. “Nope.”
Even though my eyes are on the road that’s given way to a dirt track, I can see her quirk an eyebrow in my peripheral vision. “Were you planning on telling me where we’re going?”
A chuckle reverberates through my chest as I repeat myself. “Nope.”
But before she can say another word, the scene I worked so hard on preparing earlier today while Emmy was helping Momma homeschool a reluctant Finley comes into view.
“Oh my God.”
Emmy’s low gasp of delight fills the cab as I bring the vehicle to a slow stop.
“What’s this?”
I shift about on the seat, absorbing her gorgeous face as eyes filled with wonder find mine.
“We’ve missed over five years of date nights, Tink. That’s…” I squint, trying to work out the maths quickly. “One thousand, eight hundred and forty-eight days.”
She gasps, cutting me off as a flush of emotion pinkens her cheeks before I cup them in my hands and lean close enough to brush my lips over hers. “Let’s call this missed date number one and work from there, baby.”
EMERSON
“How did I not know this was here?”
My eyes amble over the secluded water hole before us, complete with a miniature waterfall and rope swing hanging from the enormous oak tree shading the water. Bright wildflowers surround the space, their scent filling the evening as Ford helps me down from the truck before enclosing me in his embrace.
He wraps his arms around my neck, holding me close to press a soft kiss to my forehead, then he pulls back enough to find my gaze. “Whispering Willows didn’t need to be functional when Circle H was in operation. Never bothered to visit this part of the property, and it wasn’t until Momma reminded me of the hot springs here that I had the idea to bring you tonight.”
My eyes widen in delight. “Hot springs?”
Ford’s whole face lights up as he nods before loosening his hold to loop his hand through mine and lead me closer. He looks entirely too pleased as he arches a dark brow.
“There’s more.”
More?
We step around the giant oak tree overlooking the springs, and my jaw unhinges when I discover a cream linen-covered table with delicate chianti chairs on either side. An unlit tall candle is in the center, surrounded by coral peony petals, and a bottle of red wine and two glasses are standing alongside it.
“There’s a picnic basket with all your favorites—meaning cheese, cheese, and more cheese—in the truck bed.” He bumps his shoulder against mine, and I look up to find a self-satisfied grin plastered across his face. “And check this out.”
He tugs his cell from his pocket, presses a button, and one by one, lights begin to pepper the late evening sky. As I twist about, I squint my eyes, looking closely enough to notice mason jars hanging from the thick branches of the oak tree above us. The light within them illuminates the space, and my breath catches in my throat when an instrumental version of “Iris” softly sounds from God knows where.
“It’s a speaker in the boughs.” Ford tips his head upward, and when I follow his direction, I can just about make out a mini soundbar, clearly connected to his cell via Bluetooth.
And even as my chest swells with love, my heart stutters at the memories this song contains. The good. And the bad.
“A-after you left…” Ford’s eyes shoot to mine, concern marring his handsome face. “In the days before the audition…I locked myself in my room and played this song on repeat.”
His breathing accelerates before he holds me more firmly against him, lending me his strength as I continue. “So in the five years since, I’ve been unable to listen to it without remembering all I’d lost. All that had been torn from me…”
As I trail off, Ford reaches for his cell, clearly about to silence the rasping tones of John Rzeznik, and I immediately place my hand over his, shaking my head.
“But in the time since you’ve been back in my life, all I’ve recalled is the love we shared. The child resulting from that, and the idea that maybe…someday?—”
My voice falters, breaking on that last word, but Ford cups my cheeks, his eyes boring into mine with an intensity I can feel in my soul.
“This is our time, Tink.” I gasp a breath inwards, filling my lungs with not only oxygen but the fearful hope that he’s right. “Since I left, there’s never been a time when my heart hasn’t ached for yours. What I said at dinner last night is true. I haven’t felt like I belong anywhere in our years apart because the only place I truly belong is by your side. The universe can’t be so cruel as to tear us apart twice. And there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll have the life…”
He trails off, his blue gaze deepening to black as he wills me to feel the conviction of his words.
“We’ll have the family we were always meant to share.”
Leaning forward on my tiptoes, I press my mouth to his, hesitantly at first, but when he brushes his tongue across the seam of my lips, I open to him and thrust my tongue forward to meet his with a groan of deep longing.
His hands slide into my hair, holding me against him, and I wind mine around his waist as I press my chest to his. The whole world fades into the distance, and it’s just the two of us in existence, the only beings on earth, shrouded in a cocoon of our own making.
Ford breaks the kiss, finding my eyes with his stormy ones that see all the way down to my soul as he palms my cheeks. “I truly believe I was placed in this universe to do one thing, and that’s to love you . With every beat of my heart. Every atom of my being.”
He brushes the pads of his thumbs lightly over my cheekbones as his eyes hold me in their thrall. His voice drops to the barest whisper as his words fill my heart.
“Until the oceans rise and the stars fall and the world around us fades into the obscurity of time. I will love you beyond all of that, because loving you is my purpose.”
I breathe in his declaration before tears rise and crest my lashes, streaking down my face. His raw emotion makes my heart clench as his eyes hold mine.
And as “Iris” fills my ears, not another word passes between us for long minutes. The simple act of just being in one another’s presence, a pleasure denied to us these past five years, is more than enough.
It is everything.
My entire body absorbs the boundless love that flows between us before Ford tips his nose against mine, and a smile lifts my lips as he reaches for my hand, leading me to the table by the oak tree.
Once he’s assured himself that I’m settled, he presses a kiss atop my head, murmuring, “Now, pour us some wine while I grab that picnic basket of cheese, baby. You’ll need your strength.”
He rises as I giggle, lifting my gaze to his. “If this date night is a ploy to get into my panties, I can safely say you’re onto a winner, Cowboy.”
His deep chuckle resonates through his broad chest before he throws me a wink, moving off in the direction of the truck as he calls over his shoulder, “There’s a mattress in the flatbed of the truck, Tink, but let’s just say, I don’t plan on using it for sleep tonight.”