Ford looked back and their eyes met; hers widened infinitesimally before she snapped back around so she was facing the door. Her face heated, though she had no idea why. She wasn’t embarrassed or anything.
She pushed her weird reaction from her mind as she stepped into the warm house. She needed to check the roast she’d put in the crock pot earlier and get a few other things ready for dinner before the men joined her.
A small thrill went through her at the thought of him staying for dinner. She didn’t pause to dissect it, though she wanted to. She was just going to let herself enjoy having someone that wasn’t family over for a meal and worry about her feelings and the weird fluttering in her belly at a later date.
Seven
Ford
While they waited for the dogs to finish up their food, David walked Ford toward the pasture. When they reached a fence, David leaned on it and Ford mimicked his stance.
“Next week, this pasture will be filled with booths,” David said out of the blue.
They’d been standing there for several minutes without talking, allowing Ford the chance to check out the fields in view and think about what else Kat and her dad might do here.
“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at David.
“Each year, we host a light display and fair for the holiday season. It’s been going on for years.” David jerked his chin toward the pastures farther away from them. “Those fields will be filled with light displays for people to ride through on a trailer pulled by a tractor while this field will have booths filled with stuff from some local vendors and artisans. It’s a little craft fair, really. There’s also a rotation of food booths here that’ll sell hot chocolate and some food.”
Ford’s brows rose. “Really? Seems like a big undertaking.”
David nodded. “It is. But my mom is the one that started it and none of us will let it die. Besides, the town loves it. A lot of businesses chip in so it’s not so much out of pocket for us and Kat has found some innovative ways to keep costs down, mainly by upgrading some of our electricity to solar panels. Means that when the lights are in use, we’re not having to worry about the electricity bill being so high.”
“Wow.”
Ford tried to picture what David was telling him, but it wasn’t easy. “I’ll have to make sure I come out once it starts. When is that?”
“Thanksgiving. The opening night is usually popular. We set up a stage for a local band to play and it turns into one big party.”
Ford laughed. “Okay. I’ll definitely have to plan on being here for that then.”
They stood there for several minutes more before David said, “Come on. They’re probably done. Once we finish that, we can head inside where it’s warm and see if dinner is ready.”
A few minutes later, they were wiping their feet on the rug by the back door and Ford was following David inside the house.
Ford’s stomach growled as he caught a whiff of whatever Kat was making for dinner.
As he toed off his shoes and hung his jacket, Ford wondered what the house would look like. This was Kat’s home and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he liked her. A lot. He barely knew her, but he felt a spark with her he’d never felt with anyone else. There was a part of him that was thrilled to be in the house with her, getting to know her, and seeing where she’d grown up.
But there was also a part of him that didn’t like this. He’d just gotten divorced and wasn’t in the market for another wife or girlfriend. But he couldn’t deny the attraction that he felt with Kat. She was gorgeous, and she was kind. Liking animals was a major plus too.
“Bathroom’s down here,” David said, leading him out of the mudroom and into the kitchen where Kat was. She smiled at them as they passed and David showed him into the half-bath.
Ford took his time washing his hands while he thought over the situation he was in.
He stared at himself in the mirror for a few moments, giving himself a mental pep talk.
He would be friendly with Kat and help out with the training. Maybe he’d be able to go out with her and her dad some on some of their trail rides when they did them.
But he absolutely would not pursue her romantically. She was his partner’s sister, which meant she was off-limits. He just needed to consider her his own sister.
As he stepped out of the half-bath and back into the kitchen where Kat was standing with an older man and David, Ford realized he was most likely fucked. He couldn’t think of Kat like a sister; she was too damn pretty. And he was too damn attracted to her.
“There he is! You want a beer?” David asked, opening the fridge to show a few different beer bottles.
“Sure.” He snagged an IPA off the shelf and popped the top off the bottle.
“Ford, this is my dad, Jimmy. He runs this with Kat.”
“Good to see you again, boy,” Jimmy said with a smile as they shook hands.
“Good to see you again too.”
“You two know each other?” Kat asked.
Ford glanced at her before answering. “Yeah. I ran into him a few times before I took some time off from the circuit.”
“I always wondered what happened to you. Let’s go sit down while you fill me in.”
Jimmy led Ford to a dining room table that was already set and pointed to a chair for Ford to sit in. He sank into it as Jimmy and David both sat as well.
“Gosh, it’s been, how long since I saw you last? Four years?”
Ford nodded. “Thereabouts.”
“I was surprised to hear you’d stopped going,” Jimmy said, sipping a cup of coffee.
“How did you two meet?” David asked before Ford could say anything.
He was thankful for the diversion because he wasn’t too sure he was ready to admit everything that happened between him and his wife.
Jimmy answered, “Yep. I met him when he was just starting out on the circuit. He’s a damn fine judge and a good dog handler when needed. I met you, oh, what, ten years or so ago?”
Ford tilted his head to the side while he considered it. “I think so. I was in my early twenties.”
Jimmy nodded. “Sounds about right. It was one of his first trials that he was judging. He looked wet behind the ears and the men could smell it.”
Ford laughed as he remembered what Jimmy was talking about. “I didn’t let them bully me, though.”
Jimmy snorted out a laugh. “No, you didn’t.”
“What happened?” David asked, sipping his beer and looking between Ford and Jimmy.
“Some men didn’t like that they had asked Ford to judge and tried to pull a few fast ones on him. Mainly, doing things they shouldn’t and trying to distract him. But Ford here wouldn’t let them. They tried to bully him on his scoring too. But the cards showed the truth.”
“What do you mean?”
Ford cleared his throat. “Some of the men tried to say that I’d cheated and purposefully marked certain dogs low, mainly their dogs. But when the cards were compared, my scores were in line with the other judges who all had a lot more experience with judging than me. So they couldn’t accuse me of anything and it was obvious what they were trying to do.”
“You handled yourself well then. I’m not the only one that thinks so. That’s probably why you were asked to do so many things.”
Ford smiled. “Probably.”
“So why’d you stop going?” Jimmy asked.
Ford dropped his gaze to his beer bottle and turned it around on the table a few times as he considered his words.
“I…” He paused and sighed. “I got married and there were some things happening at home that I needed to devote my time to.”
Jimmy’s brows rose. “You got married? Why didn’t we hear about it?”
Ford shifted in his seat and flicked his gaze to David and then just past him to where Kat was standing, leaning against the counter and drinking a glass of wine.
“Uh…I’d rather not get into it right now. But I’ll just say that s
he wasn’t a huge fan of my hobby.”
He looked back at Jimmy and saw that his eyebrows had risen till they were close to his hairline. “Is that so?”
Ford didn’t think Jimmy expected an answer, so he remained silent.
“I’m assuming you’re not still married.”
“You assume correctly,” he said, taking a big gulp of beer.
Thinking of his marriage was enough to send Ford on a drinking bender, but he wasn’t going to succumb to that. He wasn’t married to her anymore, and he didn’t have to worry about what she thought anymore either.
“Dinner’s ready. Can I get some help getting it to the table?”
Ford immediately stood to help, grateful for the distraction.
By the time he sat back down at the table, David and his dad were deep in discussion about the horses and the spotlight was off Ford.
“This smells really good. Thank you having me,” he said to Kat.
She smiled at him. “It’s not a problem. You’re welcome anytime.”
Kat’s cheeks heated at her words and she looked at her plate. Ford was curious about that reaction. “I appreciate that.”
“Shall we say Grace?” Jimmy said.
Everyone bowed their heads as Jimmy blessed the food before he nodded to Kat. “Since you cooked, you start us off.”
Kat smiled and served herself a little of everything on the table before passing things his way.
Ford’s stomach was growling loudly and he couldn’t wait to dig into the food in front of him. If it tasted half as good as it smelled, he would be in heaven.
As soon as he took his first bite, he was a goner. “This is delicious, Kat,” he said as he stuffed another bite in his mouth.
“Thanks.” Her cheeks were pink again, and she was staring at her plate.
“Yeah, sis. This is great. Thanks for cooking.”
They lapsed into silence and Ford wondered what it would be like to have this every night. To come home to this every night and see Kat’s smiling face.
It would be nice. But that wasn’t a fantasy he was going to allow himself to have, so he slammed the door on that thought quick.
Eight
Ford
Ford was surprised by how easily he settled into his new life in Haven Falls. He thought there would be more of an adjustment period for him to get used to the town, but there wasn’t.
The people were friendly and welcoming, it took almost no time to get anywhere, and he found that he really liked the slower pace of life. It was a welcome change from the constant movement he dealt with in Raleigh.
What he was struggling to adjust to, though, was the attention. Everywhere he went, people stopped him to press him for information about himself. He couldn’t even go to the grocery store without getting stopped.
If Haven Falls had offered a delivery service for groceries, he would have used it to try to save himself from the constant stops he had to endure while shopping.
He was in Wal-Mart, smiling as an older woman talked to him about her dog and her daughter while he tried to figure out how to get away. He wasn’t sure what the woman was after—a trip to see him with her dog or pawning her daughter off on him. Either way, he wanted out.
“Ethel, is that you?” a female voice said from behind him.
He glanced over his shoulder and sagged in relief. It was Kat. Maybe she could help him.
“Kat, look at you! I haven’t seen you in ages. Come, give me a hug!”
Kat hugged Ethel and winked at Ford before pulling back. As Kat talked to the woman, Ford used the opportunity to rake his gaze over Kat’s body. He hadn’t realized it initially, but Kat and David were twins. Once he was told, he could see the family resemblance there. They both had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes with similar face shapes, but that was where the similarities ended.
He wasn’t attracted to David—thankfully, as that would make working with him awkward—but he was to Kat.
She was dressed for work and he found it incredibly sexy. He shifted his weight to try to adjust himself discreetly when he realized he was sporting a semi while standing in the grocery store. He was glad for his jeans that would help to hide his growing problem. He didn’t want to offend the Southern mamas he’d find the in grocery store.
“It was nice meetin’ you, Ford,” Ethel said before pushing her cart away and leaving Ford with Kat.
Once Ethel had turned out of the aisle, he sighed in relief and looked at Kat. “Thank you.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome. You need to get better at fending the people off.”
Ford snorted and started pushing his cart, Kat falling into step beside him. “You’re telling me. I hate getting stopped like that, but I don’t want to be rude.”
Kat nodded. “It is a delicate balance you have to maintain. If you’re rude, you’ll be talked about for ages and people will ignore you. You don’t want to be snubbed.”
“No, don’t want that.” There was only a little sarcasm in his voice.
Truth be told, he wouldn’t mind being snubbed most days. The only concern he had was that it would hurt their clinic. While they were the only one in the local community, there were a few others in the larger cities surrounding Haven Falls and he wouldn’t put it past some people to take their business elsewhere.
“I take it you’re grocery shopping,” Kat said, pulling Ford from his thoughts.
He glanced at his cart and grimaced. “Yeah, if you could call it that.”
He saw Kat look at his cart and her lips twitched. His cart was filled with a variety of prepackaged food items.
“I don’t think I see a single vegetable here.”
He chuckled. “You’d be right. I can barely cook, so I get things that require little preparation.”
Kat shook her head. “There is no way you’re going to survive on that.”
He shrugged. “I have before and I can again.”
Kat sighed. “Let’s go put some of this back.”
She grabbed the front of his cart and tried to guide him down an aisle so he could put his things back on the shelf, but he refused to budge, making her stop and look at him.
“There’s no need. I don’t have the time to cook a lot and this stuff is fine.”
“It’s fine?” she asked, arching a brow.
“Yep. It’s fine.”
She pursed her lips as she cocked a hip out to the side. He had a feeling she was about to deliver some kind of wisdom or tongue-lashing and he wasn’t wrong. But he also found her sexy right then. If they weren’t in the middle of a store, he might be tempted to tug her to him and seal his lips over hers.
“It’s not just ‘fine’ as you say. You need to be eating some real food. We’re going to put this back and then you can tell me some of your favorite dishes. I’ll get the ingredients. You’ll come to the house once a week for dinner and I’ll give you the leftovers plus some other food to get you through the week.”
Ford stared at her, trying to calm his body down as he considered her words. “You’re going to cook for me?”
She nodded. “I am. You’re not going to eat this shit when I’m perfectly capable of preparing some stuff for you.”
They stared at each other while Ford considered what she was saying.
He didn’t enjoy the prepackaged meals he ate. What person would? But they were easy, and it was hard for him to fuck them up. He just had to pop them in the microwave or oven and he was set.
But what Kat was offering sounded so much better. The memory of the roast he’d eaten at her house the previous week still haunted his dreams and he would love to have more.
There was also a part of him that liked the thought of her cooking for him. It meant he’d get to see her more, and he’d have the perfect excuse to talk to her.
“If you do this, I’m not letting you buy shit. I’ll buy it and I’ll pay you a little extra for the cooking.”
“Nope. I’ll let you buy, but you won’t pay me for doin’ somethin
g nice.”
Their gazes clashed again and Ford felt a battle of wills happening between them. He worked his jaw, not thrilled with the idea of her cooking for him for free, but he’d figure out a way to make it up to her at some other point.
“Okay, deal.”
She nodded. “Good. Let’s put this shit back and you can tell me what you like to eat.”
As they put the food back on the shelves, he told her some of his favorite meals and she made some notes on her phone. She picked up the ingredients for another roast, which had his mouth watering already, plus some other meals.
“I’m going to do some food prep and help you get some freezer meals ready,” she said as she led him away from the food and toward the small appliances. He had no idea why they walked that way, but he’d follow her just about anywhere at this point.
“Freezer meals?” he asked as they turned down another aisle.
“Yep. Freezer meals.”
She stopped in front of the crock pots and looked at the ones on the shelf before selecting one.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“You,” she said as she put it in the cart. “I’m buying that for you to use for your freezer meals. All they are is food that’s prepped. I’ll write whatever it is on the outside plus instructions on how to make it. All you have to do is dump and go. Occasionally you’ll have to add something else, but I’ll try to avoid the ones that require too much extra.”
He just blinked at her. “You really don’t have to go through this much effort.”
“I know I don’t, but I want to.”
He met her gaze and saw how earnest she was. Though he didn’t feel comfortable with it, he relented. “Okay. Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Kat smiled. “Don’t thank me yet. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be cooking on your own.”
He smirked at her. “We’ll see about that.”
If he had anything to say about it, they’d soon be cooking together, and doing so much more together too.
Hometown Christmas Page 4