Forever With His Boss

by Rheland Richmond

  Ford nodded. “We’re sorry you have to deal with this. We appreciate you handling it so efficiently.”

  Drake lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “No biggie. The rest of the men are in the south wing. It looks the same over there, though not quite as flooded.

  Ford frowned, “Is there a problem?”

  “Nothing to worry about at the moment,” Drake said, “but I’ll double check.”

  Ford looked over at Owen who'd gone back to work, continuing to load up the barrel. “Owen, I really appreciate your help. I know you have another job and this is probably last on your list of things to be doing.”

  “It’s what friends do.” Owen stood up straight and stretched. “Don’t even worry about it. Dean would have come, too, but he’s on duty.”

  Well, that’s a good thing,” Sawyer piped in. “Drake, can you do me a favor and call the police and file an incident report? I want this on record in case more things happen here and since you were the first one here, it would be best coming from you.”

  Drake nodded and gave a quick “Sure” as he passed by with another bucket. When he came back in, he stopped next to them.

  “Can I show you something I found this morning?”

  Sawyer nodded, and they followed behind Drake over to where two of the pipes that had ruptured were laid out. Drake knelt down and picked up one of them and held it up. “See how clean the break is and then how the pipe has buckled here?” Drake pointed to where there was a bend along the broken edge of the piping, and Sawyer leaned closer to look at the spot. “In my opinion, that could only happen if someone used a pipe cutter and then another tool to force it apart. Honestly, this confirms to me it was done intentionally.” Drake put the pipe in his hand down and straightened. “But that’s really not the most damning evidence.”

  “What do you mean?” Sawyer asked.

  “Over here.” He walked over to the edge of the construction site, and they followed. “Right here.” Drake knelt down and pointed to where he was referring to.

  “Red spray paint.” Ford knelt beside Drake to get a closer look.

  Drake nodded. “Yeah, that makes me think it was done by the same person who spray painted your trailer and the sign.”

  Ford looked up at Sawyer, and while it wasn’t exactly evidence obtained by the police, Drake had confirmed what the two of them believed. It had to be Larry.

  After seeing this new evidence of tampering, they made their way back to the main building where Owen was still working.

  “I at least owe you brunch.” Ford smiled as he patted his friend’s shoulder.

  “I’ll hold you to it.” Owen winked at him.

  “Did someone call for help?” Ford turned around. His jaw dropped as he saw several men heading towards them, his dad at the front of the line. “Dad?” Ford couldn’t believe his eyes “What are you doing here?”

  “We heard that you needed help.” His dad smiled. “So, put us to work.”

  Ford pointed to Drake. “He’s in charge.”

  Drake got to work telling each man where to go. At least twenty men had shown up, and Ford didn’t know all of them—well, not more than seeing them around town anyway. Ford turned back to Owen. “Did you do this? Call in the reinforcements?”

  Owen snickered. “Might have had something to do with it.” His friend shrugged, “They want to help, though. We all know what good things the resort will bring to town.”

  Sawyer squeezed Ford’s hand when he looked up at him. His boyfriend had a stunned look on his face that slowly morphed into a grin.

  Ford looked over at the guys who had gotten to work, even his dad, and he smiled. The community had come together to help them, to make sure the resort succeeded, and Ford was going to make sure they didn’t let them down. From the look of awe on Sawyer’s face, he knew he would agree.

  Sawyer was working at his computer when Ford walked into the office, leaning against the door jamb and just watching.

  “I can feel you staring at me.” Sawyer looked up, brow arched, a small smile on his face. “You need some 007 lessons if you want to surprise me.” Sawyer winked at him, and Ford chuckled.

  “Apparently I do,” Ford teased, moving into the office. “Whatcha working on?”

  “Just doing some research,” Sawyer said.

  “On?” Ford asked.

  Sawyer leaned back in his chair. “Got some information back on our friend Larry. Looks like he’s done some other construction jobs, at which there’s been some questionable behavior.”

  “Recently?” Ford asked. “I thought there was a background check done before he was hired.”

  “Mmm, but it was more on his jobs, and those seem to have gone well the past seven years. But I requested that they look a little further back. Came back that he has had a couple of DUIs and some prior court-ordered anger management,” Sawyer said.

  “How was that missed?” He stood by Sawyer’s chair looking at the computer screen.

  “It was under a different last name. He must have changed it.” Sawyer grabbed Ford around the waist and pulled him so he was sitting on his lap. Sawyer’s arms wound around Ford’s waist tightened. “I’m sorry that our lives seem to be one problem after the other. Even our plans for the day away were ruined.”

  Ford leaned back so he could look Sawyer in the eye. “It’s not your fault. Besides, we have the rest of our lives to do weekends away, and everything in between.”

  “Well, I can still take my man out for dinner.” Sawyer’s eyes danced. “How about it? Want to go on a date with me?”

  “Always.” Ford turned his head so their lips met.

  “Barb has Callum for the day, and we can have Savie and Gavin go there after school, so how about we drive up to Vail,” Sawyer started.

  Ford kissed him to stop him, then pulled back, “How about we go to the diner and grab a burger, fries, and a milkshake instead.”

  Sawyer grinned. “Sounds perfect to me, love.” Sawyer kissed him again. “It’s a date.”

  Ford was about to stand again, but Sawyer pulled him down. “How about we take a moment.” Sawyer’s hand slipped into his pants. “Dinner isn’t for a few hours yet.” Ford’s hips jerked when Sawyer teased the tip of his cock.

  Yeah, dinner could definitely wait if necessary.

  It was almost an hour and a half and a shower later before they got out of the house.

  “Wow!” Ford’s eyes widened. He was the first one to approach Sawyer’s vehicle while Sawyer locked up and set the alarm. All the side windows were smashed in. Plus, the windshield had a huge crack that spiderwebbed from the middle out to the edges. Ford turned to Sawyer, his arms wrapped around his waist. “Larry did this.”

  Sawyer nodded. “More than likely.” He reached into his pocket and got his phone out.

  “What are you doing? Who are you going to call?”

  “Well, I guess the police are going to hear from me today after all. We’re talking about the possibility that he could endanger you or the children. I can’t stand back and allow that to happen,” he said. “Larry Banks needs to know that he’s crossed a line, and we’re not going to mess around.”

  Ford turned back to the vehicle. He was relieved the cops were going to be involved in this incident, too, and Larry would be the cop’s problem. The last thing Ford needed was another reason to lose sleep.

  20

  Sawyer

  “Where are we going?” Gavin sounded mildly interested, which Sawyer was thankful for since the kid wasn’t his biggest fan at the moment.

  Sawyer grinned. “I believe I already said I wasn’t telling you. It’s a surprise.” He clapped, getting Gavin’s attention focused back on him. “Go get washed up. We’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes.”

  Gavin groaned and looked between him and Ford. Ford made the sign for sealed lips, and the boy shook his head and rolled his eyes, all the while smiling before rushing out of the kitchen.

  Sawyer let out a breath he hadn’t even known
he was holding. He’d been on a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ basis with Gavin since Cynthia had been arrested, so this was progress.

  A smile danced on Ford’s lips as he watched Gavin race out of the room. With just the two of them left in the kitchen, Ford said, “This is what we need. A night out with the kids where they can be kids, and most importantly, no drama.”

  “I know that’s right.” Sawyer’s shoulders dropped as he exhaled. Ford walked up to him, and Sawyer welcomed him into his arms, brushing their lips together in a slow, languid kiss. Ever since the incident with Cynthia, it’d taken a few days for things to return to something resembling normal, mainly with Gavin who seemed to be the most affected.

  Going to Up in The Air Adventures was something they hoped would make a fun family night out.

  “Ahem!”

  They parted from the kiss slowly and turned to find Savanna standing in the doorway, smiling.

  Savie had Callum in her arms, and he looked adorable in his puffy coat. Sawyer thought Savie did as well, since she was dressed in almost the same outfit, but he knew better than to voice that out loud.

  “I think we’re ready,” Savie said.

  That was one good thing that had come out of Cynthia’s visit—Savanna’s walls had come down. Sawyer figured knowing they wanted her did a lot to help her feel secure, but both he and Ford weren’t sure it was worth Savie knowing her mother was willing to walk away from them for a price.

  “Great!” Sawyer said, walking over to her and taking Callum. “Why don’t you check on Gavin so we can get out of here.”

  Savie nodded and hurried off. Sawyer turned to Ford and held his hand out, and Ford walked over and took it without hesitation. As he pulled Ford into him, Cal immediately stretched his chubby arms out and went for Ford’s face with both hands.

  “He loves me. He really does.” Ford’s voice was teasing, even as he leaned forward and kissed Callum.

  “Should I be jealous?” Sawyer gasped. “But I don’t know who I need to be jealous of. I love you”—Sawyer turned to Ford—“and I love you.” Sawyer leaned down and placed a kiss on Cal’s nose, and the little guy giggled. Sawyer then looked between Ford and his youngest brother, both wearing matching smiles, before placing a kiss on Ford’s upturned lips.

  Sawyer’s phone started ringing, and he groaned, handing Cal over to Ford before grabbing it from his pocket. Who was calling? The last thing Sawyer wanted was anything to delay their family outing. He didn’t recognize the number on the phone and considered letting it go to voicemail, but then figured he should answer in case it had to do with the construction site and car. “Hello?”

  “Hello, this is Officer Rick Palmer.”

  Sawyer shot a look at Ford, but didn’t cut into the officer talking.

  “I’m calling to inform you that after a search warrant was issued for Larry Banks’ home, we confiscated several cans of spray paint along with some other supplies that we believe may have been involved in the vandalism of your property. Unfortunately, there was no clothing that matched what the hooded figure was wearing in the video.”

  Since they had security cameras installed along with the alarm, they were able to give the saved footage to the police, which should have been helpful because there had been no other proof it was Larry who had been at the job site.

  “Does that mean he’s in custody?” Sawyer asked.

  The officer cleared his throat. “We couldn’t actually hold him at the jail. He was brought in for questioning, but the evidence is circumstantial at best. However, he has been told not to leave Amber Falls while the investigation is being completed.”

  Sawyer frowned. He didn’t like the fact that Larry wasn’t in jail, especially when the police had caught him with supplies that were highly incriminating, but he understood the reasoning. Now, however, he had more reasons to be concerned about the safety of his family and vowed to be more vigilant.

  “Okay. Thank you for letting me know, Officer Palmer.” Sawyer knew losing it over the phone wouldn’t do him any good, and the officer was just following the law. “Goodbye.”

  Sawyer wished he had a landline so he could bang it a couple of times in frustration.

  “They got Larry I’m assuming?” Ford asked.

  Sawyer met his gaze and nodded. “Well, they found spray paint and other tools…” Sawyer clenched his fist in frustration. “But he’s not going to be held in jail.”

  “What? No jail time? Why not? How?”

  Sawyer didn’t want to worry Ford or ruin their plans, but he would check up on things tomorrow. “There wasn’t enough evidence that it was, in fact, him, but we can’t worry about that. He is still considered a suspect, so that’s at least something.” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or Ford.

  “Something…” Ford shook his head. “He should have been thrown in jail. He came to our home where our kids are, not to mention the hate-crime part. Add to that the fact he could have cost us a ton of money at the resort that could have ruined us.”

  “We’re not really sure that he’s behind the recent mess at the site.” The words sounded bitter in his mouth, but the officer hadn’t been wrong. They had assumed it was him, but they had no real proof.

  Ford eyes widened. “Are they serious?” Callum jumped in Ford’s arms at his tone, so Ford began walking and jiggling Cal as he spoke. “Come on… he must have been.”

  “I know it seems more likely than not since this has all started after he was fired, but the police need conclusive proof.” Sawyer let out a tired sigh. “But we’re fine. The resort is on track, and he didn’t ruin us.” Sawyer walked over to Ford and Callum and pulled them into his arms. “We’re not going to let any of this get us down. We promised we’d keep living our lives, getting back in the swing of things.” Sawyer leaned back so he could see Ford. “Right?”

  He completely understood Ford’s frustration, but there truly was nothing they could do. “Maybe the fact that he is a suspect will stop him from doing anything else if he is responsible.” Sawyer wasn’t even sure he believed what he was saying. What really would stop someone who was angry and bent on revenge?

  Ford stepped back and his brow went up. Sawyer knew his boyfriend could read him and was calling bullshit.

  “Let’s hope so.” Ford didn’t sound all that convinced, though.

  Sawyer refused to let this consume him. Besides, the kids were excited, and he wasn’t going to let them down. “Let’s go get the kids. We’re going to have a fun time out, and all of this can be put behind us. Let’s hope the attention from the police keeps him away.”

  Ford smiled, but his excitement had dimmed. “Right.” Sawyer heard the uncertainty in his voice.

  “Up in The Air Adventures is going to cheer you up,” Sawyer added. “And the kids are also going to love it. Let’s go have some fun as a family.”

  “I trust you,” Ford sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time, and Sawyer hated how worried he still looked. “It’s Larry I don’t,” he added.

  Sawyer nodded. “I know, but today is family time. We can decide what to do later.”

  “You’re right.” Ford blew out a breath. “We can deal with this later after we’ve had some time to settle down.”

  They left the kitchen when they heard Gavin and Savanna coming down the stairs, meeting them in the foyer. Ford handed Callum over to Savie and walked over to the closet grabbing his coat.

  “Ready?” Sawyer asked.

  Everyone nodded, and they all turned to leave the house.

  “Wait, who has Callum’s bag?” Ford asked.

  “Damn,” Savie cursed, and Sawyer’s eyes darted over to her, brow raised. “I mean crap?”

  Both he and Ford laughed. “Better.”

  “I left it packed in his room,” Savanna groaned. “I’ll go get it.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll grab it. I want to change into more comfortable shoes anyway, so it’s not a big deal.”

  “Okay, meet you outside,” Sawye
r said and led the kids out.

  Sawyer had just finished getting everyone into Ford’s car when he heard a noise behind him. When he looked up, it was to see Ford bounding down the front steps, jogging over to the passenger side, and then getting in.

  “Everyone all set?” Sawyer asked, closing his door and starting the car.

  There was a resounding chorus of “Yes,” and they were ready to go.

  Having a family day had turned out to be an excellent plan. As Sawyer drove home, he heard Gavin talking nonstop to his sister about the zip-lining and rock wall at Up In The Air. Sawyer shared a smile with Ford as he turned into their driveway and stopped the car close to the stairs.

  As soon as Sawyer put the vehicle in park, Ford opened the door and got out. From that moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion as someone jumped on Ford from behind after leaping from the bushes and wrestled him to the ground.

  Sawyer jumped out from the driver’s side and shut the door, closing Gavin in after slamming his door too. “Savanna, close that door now,” Sawyer called out as he ran around to Ford’s side. “Lock the car and call the police.”

  Savie seemed frozen, so he yelled, “Now, Savanna.”

  Sawyer was at Ford’s side trying to pull the man off. Even though he gave an elbow to the gut, that didn’t stop the assailant.

  “Get off of him!” Sawyer yelled as he grabbed at the coat of the man, which caused the hood to fall from the attacker’s head and reveal that it was, indeed, Larry. But Larry was a hefty man with a linebacker’s build, and Sawyer wasn’t able to lift him from Ford.

  Larry screamed, “You embarrassed me in front of the whole town, brought police to my door, and had me hauled down to the station as a suspect. You’re not going to get away with this.”

  “You were made a suspect when you decided to come to our home.” Ford’s breathing was labored.

  Sawyer pulled Larry off Ford using all the strength he could muster, but the man kept kicking, and one must have connected because Ford yelled out in pain. Sawyer grabbed his arm harder, twisting, and Larry cried out.