“How’s it been, working with the contractors?” she asked, desperate to change the subject.
Ford was about to answer when his phone rang. He muttered a curse and excused himself and stepped outside. She hated it for him, since it was still pretty much sleeting out with freezing temperatures. Callie slowly stirred the soup that was left in her bowl to pass the time but stopped when she heard Ford’s voice getting louder, as if he were arguing with someone.
Should she go out there? See if he was okay? Just as she was about to stand up, he walked back in the door and offered an apology—gruffly—as he sat back down.
“Who were you arguing with?” she asked, and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Shaking her head, she said, “Sorry. That’s really none of my business.”
“That was my boss back in Virginia. He knows why I’m here, and he approved my leave of absence, but he’s already getting antsy about how fast I can return.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him it was doubtful I’d get back before the first of the year.” He sat back down and stirred his soup. “I wish it wasn’t going to be that long, but I know even if I get done sooner, then it will be the holidays and I’ll get guilted into staying for them. Either way, I’m screwed.”
Callie’s back stiffened slightly.
Maybe having dinner with Ford—or just getting to know Ford, period—wasn’t a good idea. The more she was learning, the less she was liking him.
All this time, she’d envisioned the Westbrooks and Garrisons as being this big, close-knit family. Everything she knew about Margaret and Ben had seemed that way. But after listening to Ford talk, it was like he couldn’t stand to be here—and not just in Eagle’s Ridge, but with his family in general.
That was really disappointing.
She pushed her food around in her bowl and tried to think of something to say, but nothing was coming to her.
“Anyway,” he went on, “I’m committed to being here and that’s all there is to it.”
“Oh,” she said quietly.
“Are you okay?” he asked, putting his spoon down. “You’ve gotten pretty quiet. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
And as much as she didn’t want to like him right now, she couldn’t help but respond to this considerate side of him.
“I guess I’m just a little confused about you, that’s all,” she admitted.
“Really? Why?”
Callie explained how she’d always perceived his family—and then sat back in mild shock when he laughed. “What’s so funny about that?”
Before he could respond, Ford took a bite of his grilled cheese.
“Okay, here’s the thing—I love my family. They’re all great. But they’re also all very involved in everything that goes on in this town and there’s no way I could live like that.”
“Surrounded by people who love you?” she asked, a little more harshly than she should.
“That’s not it at all. There’s a lot of pressure that goes with it, Callie. I like my freedom. I like to come and go as I please. But more than that, I like to know I can screw up once in a while without it becoming the talk of the town. I like the anonymity of living someplace where no one knows the tale of the Westbrooks and the Turners and how I’m related to it all.” He shrugged. “I like being my own man, and being able to own my successes and my failures without an audience.”
“It can’t possibly be all that bad, Ford. I grew up and went to school around here too, and it’s not like you were that big of news. I believe the good people of Eagle’s Ridge had more to talk about than whether or not you and your cousins were being upstanding citizens.”
That had him laughing. “Okay, maybe not, but that’s what it felt like.” He paused and turned serious. “I don’t know. After I left to join the Navy, I felt like I had finally found myself. I was doing things on my own terms—”
“Not in the military you weren’t,” she corrected.
Ford looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I know I’ve never served in the military, but from everything I’ve ever heard, you do what you’re told to do. It’s not like you set your daily schedule. Uncle Sam does. And you did that for what…ten years?”
He nodded. “I thought I’d stay longer, but I was ready to start doing something on my own. That was always my plan, but the Navy provided me with the education and hands-on training in areas that I might never have learned on my own. My grandfather taught me a lot and started me at an early age, but there was a lot he didn’t know either. Overall, it was a great experience.”
“Did you want to stay?”
“In Virginia? Um…yeah.”
Callie shook her head. “No, I mean in the Navy. Did you want to stay longer?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I was deployed to Afghanistan three times with my battalion. Most of the time, our mission was clear and we were only there for construction purposes. But that didn’t mean we didn’t see a lot of war—or the casualties of it. More times than I care to count, we were active in the fighting and then had to return to business as usual with building. After a while, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’d seen too much death and destruction and it was starting to seriously mess with my head. I knew I needed to get out, and start focusing on life and living and doing something positive.”
“Rebuilding in a war-torn area is positive,” she reasoned.
But Ford shook his head. “So much of what we built will be destroyed again. I needed to come back and remind myself how there can be joy in building something again.”
“Sort of like the ranch,” she said casually, secretly hoping she would be able to give him a positive spin on being back home.
“What do you mean?”
She gave a bit of a careless shrug. “You know, your grandparents built it, and look how long it’s lasted and how much joy it gave them. By you coming here and doing this for Margaret, you’re not only giving her an incredible gift, but your entire family too. You’re preserving an important part of your family history. You’re helping to pass something on to future generations.” She smiled brightly at him. “And not only that, you’re helping to preserve so many memories. I’m telling you, if that’s not joyful, I don’t know what is.”
Ford studied her hard for a long moment. “I guess I didn’t think of it like that.”
They ate in companionable silence, and rather than being offended that Ford wasn’t speaking, Callie hoped he was simply thinking about everything she’d said about working on the house. Not that she thought it was going to change anything—or that it would lead to something miraculous, like him deciding he’d been wrong about wanting to go back to Virginia and was suddenly happy to move back to Eagle’s Ridge.
And maybe to be with her.
Okay, time to get out of La-La Land and back to reality, she mentally chided herself.
Together they worked to clean up, and Ford asked about her crafting and what she was going to be working on. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed—after all, she found a lot of joy in her hobby—but considering how he had just shared about rebuilding war-torn regions of the world, it seemed silly to be talking about making snowmen out of craft sticks.
“I appreciate dinner, Callie,” he said. She could hear the ice hitting the windows, and while she wiped down the table, Ford walked over to the front window and began feeling his way around the trim. “There’s hardly any cool air coming through now.”
“Like I said, I didn’t think I used that kit the right way. I’m glad you were able to seal things up better.”
He inspected all of the other windows again and then went up to check the patch on the loft ceiling. When it looked like he was satisfied with the work he’d done, Ford joined her back in the kitchen. “Everything seems to be sealed up pretty good. I think it will hold you over for a while, but I’d still like to send some guys over and see about doing the repairs formally.”
Callie wiped her h
ands on a dishtowel and nodded. It would be pointless to argue with him. This was his family’s property and he was looking after it. How could she fault him for that?
“Thanks. That’s very considerate of you.” They stood facing each other in silence until Callie started to feel awkward. “So…um…thank you for the help.”
He smiled. “Thanks for dinner.”
More silence.
Not sure of what else to do, Callie went to give him a hug to thank him. It just seemed like the thing to do. But then something unexpected happened.
Ford leaned in to hug her too.
Only…it was far more intimate than friendly, and as his strong arms wrapped around her, she felt like she was on sensory overload. He was so warm and he smelled so good and…every inch of him was hard and muscled and felt amazing.
Really good.
Slowly her gaze drifted up to his…and what she saw there wasn’t casual and it wasn’t friendly.
It was hot.
And sexy as hell.
Gently, she licked her lips and she heard Ford’s soft intake of breath.
Maybe he moved closer, but Callie had a feeling she did. His arms slowly tightened around her and soon they were pressed together almost from head to toe. She wanted to say something—anything—but was afraid to break the spell. They stayed like that, almost as if time had stopped, and her heart was racing with the thought of Ford kissing her. She wanted him to kiss her. Needed him to kiss her.
Unable to stop herself, she whispered his name, and that seemed to do the trick. Ford closed the distance between them and slowly fitted his lips to hers.
Yes! she thought. Finally!
She pressed closer as the kiss went from chaste to curious to deep and wet. Callie clutched at his flannel shirt and wanted nothing more than to wrap herself completely around him, and from the way his hands were starting to wander, Ford seemed on board with that.
A moment later, Ford lifted his head and looked down at her. If anything, his gaze was even hotter than it had been before the kiss.
“Wow,” she said breathlessly, and he grinned.
“Yeah,” he said, his own voice deep and a little rough. “Wow.”
Swallowing hard, Callie had no idea what she was supposed to do or say. She certainly didn’t want to spook him in any way, but…who knew if she’d ever have a chance like this again?
So she did the only thing she could.
She wrapped her hand around his nape and pulled him down for another kiss.
* * *
There were many things Ford thought he’d be doing tonight.
Kissing Callie wasn’t one of them.
Not that he was complaining. Truth was, he couldn’t have stopped himself from kissing her even if he’d wanted to. For the last week, she’d consumed his thoughts, and with so many other things needing his attention, it was almost a relief to finally have her in his arms. Maybe he’d simply been overthinking things. Or maybe it was just some sort of weird proximity thing.
But as Callie’s sweet little tongue touched his and she pressed impossibly closer to him, he knew he was fooling himself.
This wasn’t about proximity and he certainly wasn’t overthinking anything. The woman in his arms was beautiful and sexy and he was drawn to her for a dozen different reasons. There were just as many reasons to stay away from her, but he couldn’t. It was impossible. As it was, he knew he was courting trouble just by indulging in tasting her like this. So before he completely lost his head, he broke the kiss.
They both stood breathless for several minutes, and Ford was the one to move away first.
He wasn’t going to apologize for kissing her, but he also wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say, so he took the safe way out.
“I should go. The ground is probably crazy-slick by now and…I um…I really need to check and make sure the tarps on the roof are keeping the rain and sleet out.”
She nodded. “Hopefully they are.”
He swallowed and looked for where he had put his coat earlier. Walking over to the sofa, he grabbed it and pulled it on before picking up the toolbox he’d left by the door. “It feels warmer in here already. I’m sure you’ll notice a difference.”
She nodded again. “I really appreciate all that you did here tonight, Ford.”
And he had to wonder if that included kissing her.
He really wasn’t looking for her appreciation, he’d much prefer her—
Stop! He quickly admonished himself. Stop thinking of all of that and get out! Get home! Before you do something crazy and take her to bed.
Now there’s a thought…
“Be careful walking home,” Callie said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Thanks.” And just as he was about to take a step toward her, Ford forced himself to move away and walk out the door.
The icy wind was a welcome relief for his overheated body, and as he made his way across the property toward the ranch, he questioned his own sanity.
He’d walked away—reluctantly—from a beautiful woman and a warm house, for what?
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” he murmured, ducking his head low against the wind. That’s what he kept telling himself with every step he took, and it was a relief to finally walk through the back door and into the house.
It took a full minute for him to realize that the right thing to do wasn’t always the comfortable thing to do.
There was a time when something like this would have felt like an adventure. Ford thought back to when he was a kid and they’d had a bad storm and no power, and he’d helped his grandfather section off a room or two in the house to preserve the heat. Those skills were coming in handy right now.
He stepped inside and noticed how cold it felt. The plastic he’d put up around the stairwell hadn’t done as much as he’d hoped it would, so now he was taking it a step further and hanging the heavy-duty plastic to section off the kitchen, den and bathroom. He lit a fire in the massive fireplace and moved some blankets and pillows out of his room so he could sleep on the couch tonight.
By the time he was done, he was beat. It had been a long day and he just wanted to relax. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
Unfortunately, relaxing didn’t seem to come easily, and as he made himself comfortable on the couch after changing into sweatpants and a t-shirt, it seemed like there was an entire slideshow of his childhood playing in his head.
Roasting marshmallows in the fireplace.
Listening to his grandparents tell stories about how they’d met and built this house together when they were young, and how proud they were to have so many personal touches in it that no one else would ever have in their homes. They would laugh, and it was obvious even to a young boy that his grandparents had a great love for one another.
It was something he’d never witnessed with his own parents, so seeing the dynamics of his elders had been a bit of a fascination for him. For years, he kept thinking that maybe his parents just weren’t affectionate in front of him, but that wasn’t the case at all. They weren’t affectionate with him either. Their lives were all about business and their careers, and Ford had known from an early age how they’d expected him to follow in their footsteps.
That hadn’t happened.
Not even a little bit.
Although, he had hoped to make the Navy a career at the cost of any kind of personal life, but…that hadn’t exactly happened either. Call him crazy, but someday he hoped to find something like his grandparents had with each other.
He just couldn’t seem to work up the enthusiasm to put into searching for a woman he could have that kind of life with.
Callie.
Letting out a slow breath, he didn’t question why her name was the first—and only—one to come to mind. They’d spent a lot of time together tonight, and after their heated kisses, was it any wonder she was on his mind?
Callie James was definitely the kind of woman someone would want forever with. If forever included Ea
gle’s Ridge. She was firmly rooted to this place, and that was not in Ford’s future.
Although…he pictured them working side-by-side earlier, and how they’d put a meal together and then sitting and enjoying it while talking and laughing. It had been a long time since he had just sat and enjoyed a woman’s company without it leading to a night tangled up in bed and going their separate ways in the morning.
Callie was definitely not that kind of woman.
And if history had taught him anything, it was that you couldn’t get away with doing something like that in a small town without everyone knowing about it. He didn’t think Callie would want that kind of attention, and he knew he sure as hell didn’t.
So from this point on, he needed to keep his distance from her.
Whether he wanted to or not.
Which he didn’t.
But if he was going to survive these next few weeks without any added tension in the form of the local gossips, it was the only logical solution.
Dammit.
Six
Keeping his distance lasted less than twenty-four hours.
Now, a week later, Ford realized that he’d done very little to even try to stay away, and every time he’d been near her, he’d kissed her.
And he’d been near her a lot.
There had been some very hot-and-heavy kissing in the workshop, and then even more when he’d used the flimsy excuse of checking on the leak in the loft and found himself staying for dinner one night. But it wasn’t all one-sided. He kind of had a feeling Callie was looking for excuses to seek him out too. She’d shown up with one of her DIY wreaths to hang on the front door when she saw the front of the house was completed.
It was only right that he thank her, wasn’t it?
And if that thank you happened to include a kiss that had him forgetting his own name, then what was he to do?
As he pulled into his parents’ driveway, he kind of wished he was back in the workshop or the loft or his grandmother’s front porch—anywhere but here. He’d put off having dinner with his folks as long as he could, and now…well…now he had to. Hopefully it would be the same old, same old—he’d tell his mother she looked lovely, she’d tell him he needs a shave. He’d ask his father how business was and then be bored to tears hearing about the current trends in the real estate market. They’d ask him if he was done living on the other side of the country and ready to take over Garrison Construction, and he’d start thinking of someone he could quietly text to help get him out of here.
Ford: 7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Page 8
