And lastly, he didn’t want to go back to Virginia. It was lonely there, and he couldn’t get good cheesy fries with Adam or meet up with Ryder for lunch at No Man’s Land and wonder if Mandy was going to get his order right. There was no chance of running into old Hildie Fontana in her multicolored clothes and find out what was going on in town. His friends weren’t there. His family wasn’t there.
Callie wasn’t there.
And that was the one that did it for him the most.
It had only been a few weeks. It should be too soon but…it wasn’t. She wasn’t alone in how she felt, and he hated that he had walked about before he’d had the courage to tell her how much she meant to him.
Which was…everything.
While his first instinct was to run across the property and talk to her, he knew she would be getting ready to leave for school, and today was the day of the big Christmas pageant. The last thing he wanted to do was make her late or distract her on such an important day. She had been working so hard and he didn’t want to do anything to upset her.
So now what? What was he supposed to do?
One of the things Ford always prided himself on was having a plan—and that’s what he sat down to do. He needed to call Dennis Allen and his father. Then he needed to go and see his grandmother. He looked at his watch and tried to gauge his time and figure out how long everything he needed to do would take, and where that would put him at around one this afternoon.
If he got started right now, he could make everything work out just right.
* * *
It was the day of the Christmas pageant, so the last thing on Callie’s mind was Ford.
Okay, that was a lie, but it was what she told herself in order to keep her focus on her students and getting everything done like she needed to. When she’d left the cottage that morning, she purposely did not look toward the ranch. She knew it was going to be hard for the next two weeks to keep on coming and going and knowing that Ford was so close and yet…
“Ugh, I need to just stop this,” she murmured as she walked back to her classroom. Her kids were all at lunch and in an hour, she would have to line them up for their big entrance into the auditorium. With a little quiet time to herself, she was going to eat her lunch alone in her classroom and just relax. Today was the last day of school until after the new year, and right now, she was more than ready for the break.
Closing the door behind her, Callie nearly screamed when someone said, “Hello, Callie,” from right behind her. Spinning around, she found Ford standing there.
“Ford!” she said breathlessly, her hand over her heart. “You scared the heck out of me! What in the world?”
He smiled and reached out to comb a strand of hair away from her face. “Sorry,” he said softly.
Stepping around him, she walked over to her desk and pulled out her bag with her lunch. “I’m really kind of busy, Ford. This isn’t a good time.”
“You have forty minutes until your students come back,” he reasoned. “The auditorium is all set up and parents will begin arriving in a little less than an hour.” He nodded toward the desk. “So sit and eat and relax.”
Easy for him to say, she thought, but she did manage to sit and start taking out her food. “Ford…”
He walked over and sat on the corner of her desk. “I’m here to see the pageant,” he began. “You’ve been talking about it for weeks, and I want to see how it all came together.”
She gave him a skeptical look.
“And I wanted to see your classroom. It’s very festive in here.”
Well…she had worked hard to make it feel that way, and the kids all seemed to enjoy it. Relaxing a bit, she took a bite of her turkey sandwich.
“I’m not going back to Virginia,” he said lightly—and then had to pat her on the back when she began to choke. He crouched down beside her, rubbing her back until she stopped. “You okay?”
Unable to speak, Callie simply nodded.
Ford stayed where he was. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved last night,” he went on. “For…everything. I guess that’s sort of been my M.O. for so long that I’ve forgotten how to behave like a normal person.”
“Your M.O.?”
He nodded. “I run, I walk away, I…well, you get the idea.” He shifted slightly. “The thing is, I’m done running. I learned a lot in this last month, and what I came to realize is that this is where I want to be.”
Her heart began to beat madly in her chest and she put her sandwich down. There were so many questions rushing around in her head but she was afraid to ask any of them.
“Everything you said last night made sense, Callie—about putting your own spin on things. And I stayed up most of the night thinking about it, and I was being stubborn and refused to believe that it was possible. Then my father came by the house this morning and we talked and… I just know that this is what I want to do and where I want to be.”
She swallowed hard. “But…but you said you hated the small-town life and the gossip and everyone knowing your business and—”
Ford placed a finger over her lips to quiet her. “And there’s no doubt it’s going to continue to make me crazy, but here’s the thing—none of it was done maliciously. Not really. They get the facts wrong most of the time but for the most part, it’s harmless.”
“You say that now,’ she murmured against his finger, and Ford laughed softly.
“I know. And I’m hopeful that you’ll remind me not to lose my patience, or of this conversation, when I complain about it.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “Yes. You,” he said tenderly, slowly dragging his finger along her bottom lip. “Because if I’m going to stay here, Callie James, I want you beside me.”
A small gasp came out before she could stop it and even as she felt the sting of tears, she willed them not to fall. “Ford, I…I meant what I said last night. I didn’t tell you how I felt to force you to stay. I said it because…”
“Because you love me,” he finished for her, and then leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “And that’s a good thing, because I love you too.”
He was so close and so warm and so wonderful, and Callie was tired of sitting here and not touching him.
Longest three minutes of her life.
Reaching up, she cupped his strong jaw and met those dark eyes that she’d started crushing on so many years ago. “I really wanted you to stay,” she said softly. “But I understood why you thought you needed to go. And I would have missed you so much.”
“Now you don’t have to,” he said, mimicking her pose and caressing her cheek. “Except for the week it should take me to go back and pack up my stuff.”
“A whole week?” she asked incredulously, even as she started to laugh.
“We’ll figure it out, Callie,” he said, leaning in again. “Later.” And then he kissed her, and oh, how she needed that. It was less that forty-eight hours since he’d held her and kissed her and yet it felt like years.
His strong arms went around her and she immediately melted against him. She was near frantic with need for him, kissing him with all that she had. When they broke apart, she was breathless. “I was looking forward to this pageant and now I can’t wait for it to be over.”
Ford’s soft laugh warmed her. “I promise it will all be worth it when we get home later.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
He seemed just as reluctant to move away from her as she was to let him go, but he did stand and move to sit on the corner of her desk again. “Eat your lunch. You’ve got a big afternoon coming up, and I have a feeling you’re going to need all your energy.”
“Five-year-olds can be exhausting,” she said as she reached for her sandwich.
“So can thirty-year-olds,” he corrected with a wink.
While she finished eating, they talked about the pageant.
“You’re going to do great,” he whispered as her students ran back into the classroom. “I
love you.” And with a chaste kiss on her cheek, he was gone.
It was a bit chaotic after that.
Between bathroom requests, tying shoes and overall squirminess, her class was finally ready to go. As she walked with them into the auditorium, she spotted Ford with his phone up and filming and he gave her a thumbs-up. The kids waved to their parents and Callie had never been more thankful for her assistant, because it took every ounce of patience and energy between them to get everyone on the risers and in position.
Their contributions to the pageant were very energetic versions of “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Jingle Bells”. When they were done, they all took their bows and she began to guide them down off of the risers. As she walked across the stage, she found Ford waiting for her, holding a bouquet of roses.
“Great job, Miss James,” he said as he pulled her in close and kissed her.
There were dozens of people walking around backstage and most stopped to stare at them. Callie elbowed him playfully. “If you’re trying to avoid the gossip mill, then you probably shouldn’t do something quite so public.”
He kissed her soundly once again before he pulled back and said, “It was worth it.”
* * *
He was nervous.
And Ford never did nervous.
But now, as he stood at Callie’s front door, he was. It was below freezing outside and his hands were sweating. How was that even possible?
She opened the door and smiled at him and his heart simply kicked hard in his chest. “Hey,” she said a little breathlessly and motioned for him to come inside.
With his hands behind his back, he walked in and kissed her on the cheek. It was warm and cozy and festive in the small space, and he immediately walked over to the Christmas tree and put down the gift he was carrying. When he turned, Callie was looking at him oddly.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“That,” he said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, “is an early Christmas gift for you.”
She peered over his shoulder toward the tree, and he knew the curiosity was killing her. He couldn’t blame her—not really. It wasn’t wrapped too elegantly and it was a bit odd-shaped for a typical gift.
“Is it a poster?”
Rather than answer right away, he kissed her thoroughly. When he lifted his head, he asked, “Would you like to open it and find out?”
By the way she was nibbling on her bottom lip, Ford knew she was considering it, but he decided to make the decision for her. Taking her by the hand, he led her over to the couch and gently pushed her down and then reached for the gift.
“I know this isn’t particularly pretty to look at—wrapping gifts was never my thing—but it’s what’s inside that’s important,” he said as he slowly handed it to her.
Then he sat down on the sofa beside her and watched as she tore through the paper, opened the tube, and pulled out what was inside.
And stared at it blankly.
After a minute, Callie looked at him. “I…I don’t understand. Are these blueprints for something?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “They are.”
Glancing at them again, Callie turned the page to the left and then to the right and then looked at him again. “Um…Ford?”
“Hmm?”
“What am I looking at?”
Taking pity on her, Ford wrapped an arm around her and with his free hand, he began to point to things on the page.
“You see this right here?” he said softly in her ear. “That is going to be our master bedroom.”
Beside him, Callie gasped.
“And this over here is going to be a sitting area with a big picture window.” He glanced at the plans he had drawn up earlier. “This opening over here will lead to a small hallway, where we’ll have a massive walk-in closet, and then just beyond that will be the master bathroom. We’ll have a shower with multiple jets and sprays and then a separate soaking tub—big enough for two—and dual vanities will go along this wall and—”
“Wait, wait, wait,” she said excitedly, twisting to face him. “Are you saying that you’re building a house?”
He shook his head. “I’m saying that I’m doing some more work on the ranch to make it ours.” Turning so he was facing her too, Ford moved the plans to the coffee table and took Callie’s hands in his. “I remembered everything you told Grams that day in the hospital, about what you’d do with the ranch, and I want to do them all. I want us to pick out colors and appliances and…and…whatever else we need to. This is going to be our dream house, Callie. Mine and yours.”
Her blue eyes went wide. “Ours? Really?”
Nodding, Ford cupped her cheek. “I want the ranch to be the home you always wanted. And I think it’s going to be the perfect place for us because it’s someplace we’ve both always felt connected to.” He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “It was a great home to my grandparents, and I know it will be for us too.”
When he went to kiss her, she pulled back and nibbled on that bottom lip again. “Can I ask a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Can we spend the night there tonight? At the ranch?”
“It’s not really ready for us,” he explained. “I mean…there’s hardly any furniture, and I haven’t started on the renovations for the upstairs yet and—”
She placed a finger over his lips to silence him. “I don’t care if all the walls are knocked down and there’s no heat. All I need is you, Ford. As long as you’re there with me, I don’t care if we have to camp out on the living room floor. I just…I thought it would be nice if we could do that tonight.”
Right now, he would give her anything she wanted, and if what she wanted was to sleep over at the ranch, then he’d do it. Standing, he held out a hand to her and gently pulled her to her feet. “I still have a bed there. It’s only a full-size, but maybe we can bring it out to the living room and sleep in front of the fireplace. How does that sound?”
And when she smiled at him, Ford knew that he’d made the right decision. All the right decisions. He was home—and there was no place in the world he’d rather be.
Except maybe a mattress on the floor in front of a fire making love to Callie.
* * *
“No peeking.”
“Ford…”
“I’m serious. Just one more minute.”
“This is ridiculous. Why can’t I open my eyes? And why are you covering them too?”
“Because I don’t trust you not to peek,” he said with amusement.
It was Christmas morning, and he was leading her from the living room—which was still serving as a makeshift bedroom—to the front room, where they’d finally set up a Christmas tree two days ago.
She cried out when she stubbed her toe on one of the chairs they’d taken out of storage and placed in the front room to make it look a little more like…a room. “C’mon, Ford! I know that was the wingback chair, so we’re near the tree!”
He laughed softly behind her and guided her to a stop. “Okay, okay. You’re right. Are you ready?”
“I was ready five minutes ago,” she grumbled. “That walk should have taken ten seconds.”
“You know you’re only prolonging how long I make you wait, right?”
She sighed loudly. “Fine.” And just when she thought he was going to make her wait a little longer, he slowly pulled his hands from her eyes.
“Okay. Open them.”
Callie did, and there was a mountain of presents around the tree that weren’t there last night— and her dollhouse.
Looking over her shoulder at him, she frowned. “I don’t understand. What’s my dollhouse doing here? I thought it was in storage in my mom’s garage.” She was surprised when he took her by the hand and led her to sit on the floor next to the tree.
“From the time I was three years old, I would work out in the workshop with my grandfather whenever
I came to visit. It was our thing. As I got older, our projects got a little more complex, and there came a time when he completely trusted me to do some things on my own with little more than some dimensions written on a piece of paper.” Then he motioned to the dollhouse. “This was the first project I did on my own.”
It took her a minute to comprehend what he was saying, and when she did, she gasped. “So…so you’re saying that you built this? The dollhouse I’ve loved for…”
“Fifteen years,” he supplied.
Nodding, she continued, “Fifteen years…and you made that for me?”
“I know Gramps took the credit for it, but…well, he designed it and planned it out, but I did all of the cutting and sanding and assembly. So maybe it was a group effort…” He paused. “I saw it in your mom’s garage the day we went over to get her decorations down, and I had completely forgotten about it until that moment.”
“You have no idea how much I’ve loved this,” she explained. “I had always wanted one but they were expensive, and our house was small, and Mom always felt bad about not being able to get me one. When Ben gave this to me, I was so excited because it was so much better than any dollhouse any of my friends had ever had. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.”
He smiled at her words.
“But I don’t understand why it’s here. I mean, I love that you shared with me how you built it, but…”
“Remember when we were talking about what to do with the rooms down here? Like which ones to make guest rooms and which one to make an office?”
She nodded.
“Well, I know it’s maybe a little too soon to be thinking like this but…I just thought we should bring this out of storage and place it in the room we maybe plan to make a nursery. You know, someday.”
Her heart filled to overflowing.
This wasn’t a dream. This was her reality—and it was the greatest reality she could have ever imagined.
Launching herself into his lap and into his arms, Callie wrapped herself around him and kissed him—hard—until they fell back onto the floor. When she finally lifted her head, she smiled down at him. “Ford Garrison, I am ready to start planning that nursery right now if you are.”
Ford: 7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Page 17
