Chapter 19
Natasha
I left Ford's house early on Monday morning, needing to get home, showered, and dressed for work. It was weird not staying overnight at the inn but kind of nice to get a break from everything.
Ford's crew was working hard on the bathrooms, and our reservations had picked up leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. People were in town to visit family or friends and wanted a place to stay with a Christmas theme.
I wished we had more rooms to rent, but the renovations had to be done. I spent the day fielding calls for reservations and guiding guests to various experiences.
I answered questions about where to shop and eat, things to do in the area. We had a book with information in every room, but some people preferred to talk to a person, and I wanted to give them that one-on-one service.
In between reservations and requests, I worked on the logistics for the parade.
I was sorting through various replies from high-school marching bands, scout groups, and dance troops who wanted to participate.
I needed to get a timeline and an order for the parade, so that I could send information out to the participants.
Eve came over around lunch, and I ordered food from the kitchen so we could go over the details.
We sat in the guest chairs in my office with my laptop on the edge of the desk. Eve had her tablet on her lap, and I was eating a burger.
She read through the list of participants on my computer. "This is a lot. More than I expected."
"I was shocked too," I said, a little overwhelmed by the scope of the project.
Eve's face smoothed out. "We'll figure it out. I researched organizing parades and the order of groups to get an idea of how we should handle everything.”
I raised a brow. "I didn't even know that was a thing you could research."
"You can find anything online." Eve's brow furrowed as she continued scanning the list.
A knock sounded on the door.
"Come in," I said absentmindedly, thinking it was a server from the restaurant with an issue. When I looked in the direction of the door, Ford popped his head in, his eyes widening when he saw my sister. "I wanted to see if you wanted to grab lunch—"
When Eve looked from me to him, he continued, "To go over our progress. But I see you already have company."
"We can schedule something for later in the week." Or tonight in my room. But I didn't want to talk tile or fixtures. Maybe that was why he'd wanted to meet for lunch. It was less likely we'd end up on the desk, tearing each other's clothes off. But now that I thought of it, it wasn't a bad idea.
I was trying to sound professional, but my face was hot, and I hoped Eve wasn't picking up on it.
He inclined his head toward me. "I'll text you."
I smiled, trying to look cool and professional. "Sounds good. Thanks for stopping by."
The door closed with a soft snick, and Eve snapped her head around to me. "Did I just interrupt a quickie?"
My face flamed hotter because that's exactly what I was thinking. "What? No."
She set her tablet on the desk, which was a bad sign. She was almost never not holding onto it. "Is there something going on between you and Ford?"
I shrugged, attempting to look unconcerned when my stomach was churning. "We work together. We have to meet to talk about the progress, order fixtures. You know how it is."
Her eyes narrowed on me. "Why is your face turning red?"
"It's hot in here." But it wasn't.
The wind was gusting and snow was falling outside the window.
"Oh, my god. You're hooking up with Ford." She gazed down at her lap. "Your high school sweetheart, very much ex-boyfriend, Ford Sterling."
I winced. "Why does he need such a long introduction?"
"Because you were a mess when you broke up. You didn't date for forever, and I'm not sure you've had a serious boyfriend since."
I blew out a breath. "And being with him would be—bad?"
"How could it not be? You said he distanced himself when he enlisted, and when you suggested that you should break up, he was relieved. You said it was like he was grateful you cut the cord between you two. You were crushed."
I chewed my lip. "He apologized for that. Admitted that he didn't handle things maturely back then."
She tipped her head to the side. “You trust that he won't walk away again?"
I pursed my lips. "I don't trust him. And we're not exactly together."
She scoffed. "This should be interesting. What do you mean by that?"
"He asked if I'd be his plus-one at holiday events. We went to a holiday movie in town and got our trees."
Her forehead creased. "So you're supposed to be his date to certain events, but you're not dating?"
"Yes," I said, relieved that she understood.
She huffed out a laugh. "You know that sounds ridiculous, don't you?"
"He said he came home to be close to his family, and he missed out on so many holiday events over the years, but he doesn't have anyone to go with. Since we already know each other, there won't be any expectations. He could relax and have fun."
"It had to be you—" She broke off, her tone bitter.
"We were friends once. And like I said, we talked about everything. There's no hard feelings."
"What about the fact that you haven't trusted men since you two broke up? You think they're going to leave you, so you never take a chance on anyone. And here comes Ford, asking you to pretend to be his girl. It's unbelievable."
"I'm just going with him so he has someone to be with." That sounded awful, even to my ears.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "So you're not sleeping with him? I was wrong about the sexual tension in the room." When I didn't respond, she rolled her eyes. "So you're, what, friends with benefits?"
I bit my lip. "I think so."
"You don't know?"
"He called it an arrangement." I wasn't sure I liked that characterization, but what else would we call it?
She let out a frustrated sigh. "You think you can get involved with the ex you were in love with, and probably still are, and not have any feelings?"
I couldn't admit that because it wasn't true. "That's the problem."
She shook her head. "I can't believe you didn't see this coming."
I shrugged. "Well, I kind of did, but I took the risk anyway."
She raised a brow. "Because he's so irresistible?"
"Yeah, something like that," I mumbled.
She sighed heavily. "You're going to get hurt."
I couldn't even argue with her, because she was right. I was feeling more for him than I should. And I had no idea where his head was.
"He's probably able to compartmentalize this whole thing: work, ex, and everything else. He's already made it clear that you're not a part of his life and never will be."
I winced. "That's harsh."
"Well, didn't he?" Her voice rose.
"I didn't realize you hated him so much." I didn’t like that she was so against this.
"I hated how he made you feel, like you'd never be able to keep a man."
My shoulders slumped. "I've never said that."
She gave me a sympathetic look. "You didn't have to."
My sister knew me better than anyone. "I don't know what to do."
"What do you want to do?" she asked gently.
"I like spending time with him. When we're together, it's intense, different from when we were younger. It's almost as if we weren't capable of that depth of feeling back then. It had been new, and we were young. But now, there are no constraints."
"Maybe there should be," she muttered, looking at the snow that was still falling.
"I think it's too late. I'm already in too deep, and I don't think I could end things again." I didn't want to.
She picked up her tablet. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
I didn't expect her to support me, but her words were the reality I needed to hear. "I'll be careful."
But she didn't respond, just got right back into our plans for the parade. I was able to refocus on work and push Ford out of my head. He took up a lot of my time and focus, but I wouldn't let what was going on with us interfere with work.
We got an outline of the parade order down on paper and a timeline of the day. Enough that I would be able to send information to the participants.
Eve sat back in her chair. "You know what would be even better?"
"What?" I asked, standing up to stretch my back.
"If we could get a Santa to ride on top of a fire truck, throwing out those mini candy canes."
I remembered that from when I was a kid, sitting on a curb in Telluride while the red-and-white candies skidded across the asphalt, and kids swarmed them like ants on a crumb. "Who would be Santa?"
"I think the department has someone who does it because they go through the neighborhoods a week or so before Christmas with their sirens, waving at the kids on the sidewalk."
We hadn't lived in a neighborhood, so we'd never experienced that as kids. "You think they'd do that for us? Don't they usually only do that for neighborhoods that are near Telluride? I would assume they're busy with calls and, you know, saving people's lives."
Eve drew her lower lip through her teeth. "It's worth a shot."
I raised a brow. "Are you going to contact them?"
A slow smile spread over her face as an idea formed. "I'm going to show up in a dress with baked goods."
"You can't be serious?" Although I shouldn't be surprised. She always came up with crazy ideas that she executed with perfection, getting exactly what she wanted.
She nodded. "I think it will get their attention."
I shook my head. "Are you baking them sweets?"
"I'll probably pick something up from Sweet Dreams. I want them to say yes, not get sick."
I laughed. "You're not that bad of a baker."
She just gave me a look. "I always forget the sugar or something important."
I stifled a laugh because she was right about that.
"Unless you want to go to the fire house," she said as she gathered her things.
I shook my head. "Absolutely not. Besides, your single, and I'm—"
She closed her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. "In a friends-with-benefits situation? Got it."
"Good luck at the firehouse," I called as she walked out.