“You really did get a lot done. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. There’s still a lot more to do.”
“So it’s safe to go inside?”
Callie looked at him and then back at the house, and he could tell she had something on her mind. “Sure. How come?”
“I went and visited Margaret today, and I told her I’d get some of her things for her—some clean pajamas, her slippers, her crocheting basket…” She stopped and reached into her purse. “She gave me a list.”
Ford laughed softly. “Sounds like she was feeling okay then when you saw her.”
“When I got to the hospital, she was arguing with your uncle John about recovering at home.”
“Oh no.”
“Don’t worry, I think he convinced her that it wasn’t a good idea.”
“But…” For some reason, he could just tell there was going to be a but.
“But…” she said with a laugh. “She’s worried about you, and she’s worried about the house, and you should probably go see her and tell her all that’s going on. If you want, I can help you get her things together and you can bring it all to her. I know she’s anxious to see you.”
He smiled. “Thanks. I would appreciate the help. I was just planning on getting cleaned up and heading over to the hospital to hopefully share some dinner with her.”
The smile Callie gave him showed how much she loved his response, and Ford almost felt himself begin to blush. He cleared his throat and motioned to the path leading around the side of the house. “Obviously, we can’t go in the front door, so why don’t you come inside and see how much of Grams’ stuff you can find.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said as she fell in step beside him.
Ford was lost in his own thoughts about going to see his grandmother, and he was thankful Callie wasn’t the kind of person who felt the need to talk incessantly. Actually, all day he’d been surrounded by people he had to talk to, and it was kind of nice to just have a few minutes of quiet.
Once they were in the house, he directed her to his grandmother’s room and then excused himself to go get changed. Ideally, he would have loved to take a shower, but he’d do it later. Looking at the clock, he knew he’d only have time to wash up and change clothes if he was going to head into town and spend any time at all with his grandmother. If everything went as planned, he’d swing by No Man’s Land and pick up a couple of the daily specials and bring them to the hospital.
When he stepped out into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, he found Callie washing dishes.
“What are you doing?”
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “These were going to start to stink. They were from Margaret’s breakfast yesterday. I figured you wouldn’t mind having one less thing to do.”
“Thanks,” he said, and walked over to the kitchen table and looked at the small overnight bag sitting on top of it. “Is this everything?”
Turning off the water, Callie faced him. “I think so. I was able to get her crocheting bag in there as well, so it’s less for you to carry. She’ll probably need more stuff in a day or two, but I’ll check in with her and make sure she has what she needs.”
“I don’t mind doing that,” he countered.
But she simply shrugged. “You’re going to have your hands full with the work here, and I really don’t mind helping out.”
It would be foolish to argue with her because he had no idea what his schedule was going to be like, and he had a feeling getting pajamas to Grams wasn’t going to be on the top of his list. “Thanks,” he said again, and then started to chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, smiling with him.
“I just realized I’ve been saying that to you a lot in the last twenty-four hours. You keep coming to the rescue, and as much as I appreciate it, I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record.”
It was Callie’s turn to laugh. “Don’t be silly. I’m just glad I can help.” She looked around the kitchen and then back at him. “Anyway, everything she needs is in this bag and if I missed anything, just let me know later on and I’ll get it to her tomorrow.”
“I will. And…” He stopped and shook his head. “I’m not going to say it again.”
“It’s okay. I know what you were going to say and it really isn’t a big deal.” She began to walk toward the door. “Enjoy your dinner, and I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Have a good night, Callie.”
And when she was gone, all Ford let the enormity of it all begin to really settle in. He was here, he had a lot to do, and he had a feeling if he didn’t watch himself, Callie James was going to prove to be a big distraction.
Three
Sunday afternoon, Ford stood outside and stared in a bit of disbelief. Pulling up in the driveway was a caravan of sorts, and it didn’t take long for him to realize it was his friends coming to help him out—Noah, Wyatt, Zane, Jack, Adam…and leading the way was his cousin Ryder.
It wasn’t like he should be surprised; these guys always had his back, and it was the same for him. This was just the first time in what seemed like forever that he was the one in need. He had been completely prepared to come outside and start working on his own. It was going to be slow-moving and back-breaking at times, but he’d never shied away from a hard day’s work.
Thankfully, today he wasn’t going to have to do it alone.
Everyone parked and climbed out of their cars and began walking toward him even as Ford made his way to them. He shook hands with them all as they exchanged greetings and then he wasn’t sure what to say, because he was more than a little touched by this show of support.
“It looks like you’ve gotten a lot done already,” Ryder said, clasping a hand on Ford’s shoulder. “We weren’t sure if you would have a crew here today or not, but figured you could always use a few extra hands.”
“And with it being so damn cold out, we knew the sooner you got the walls back up and the roof repaired, the better,” Noah added.
Ford looked at his friends, who were all nodding in agreement.
“You have no idea,” he began, his voice a little gruff. “Garrison’s can’t spare me any guys until later on in the week and I don’t want to wait that long to get started.”
“So what can we do to help?” Wyatt asked. “It looks like other than the tree being gone, you’ve got some temporary supports in place.”
Nodding, he explained the current situation. “I had engineers out here yesterday to inspect everything and the foundation is in good shape. The front porch and the roof both need to be replaced.”
“You can’t patch it?” Adam asked. “It looks like the front corner took the brunt of the damage.”
“Normally I’d go with just repairing the damage, but the roof isn’t in great shape to begin with, so I think it just makes sense to replace the whole thing while I’m here.”
“That’s going to add a lot of time and effort to the job though,” Zane commented. “I mean, we all figured you were going to pull one of your ninja visits and get in and out as soon as possible.”
Ford didn’t take any offense to the comment. “If this were just about anything else, I would. But this house…and Grams…and…”
Ryder’s hand on his shoulder tightened briefly. “We get it. And that’s why we’re here to help. We may not know as much as you about construction…”
“Speak for yourself,” Wyatt said with a grin. “I think I did a great job during my temporary stint with Garrison’s.”
Ford rolled his eyes.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Adam stated firmly as he stepped forward. “I think you’re forgetting all of the renovations I did on the boathouse.”
“The renovations you did?” Wyatt asked on laugh. “Seem to recall that was a group effort all the way to the end.”
“It was,” Adam admitted with a sly grin. “Proof that none of us have to go it alone.”
“Especially if you’re taking bets against me,” Zane adde
d. “I even helped myself lose, if I recall correctly.”
“We all helped you lose,” Ford said. “I flew in from Virginia to help you lose that one.”
After that, it kind of became a competition of who was going to be the greatest asset to the project behind Ford. Rather than add his two cents, he gladly let them argue it out amongst themselves. He took a step back and wasn’t surprised when Ryder did as well.
“You doing okay?” Ryder asked.
With a shrug, he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m fine. There’s a lot more work here to do than I was prepared for.”
“The roof is pretty important—”
Ford held up a hand to stop him. “It’s not just the roof,” he said. “The whole house is in rough shape. The last couple of times I’ve been home, I didn’t come out here. I saw Grams at my parents’ place. Seeing the house in the light of day was kind of a shock.”
“What all do you have to do?”
“The whole front porch has to be replaced along with the front wall from the door over. Then there’s the roof. And inside the house?” Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “It’s like stepping into a time capsule. Everything’s exactly the way it looked when I left for the service, and that was almost a dozen years ago! How is it possible they hadn’t updated anything in all that time?”
“Ford,” Ryder began, “to be fair, I don’t think the place has been in bad shape all that time. Your grandfather’s been gone for five years. I don’t think Aunt Margaret wanted to change anything after he passed. I’m sure she took comfort in having everything be the same as it was when he was alive.”
“That’s pretty much what she told me last night,” he said wearily.
“You went to the hospital?”
He nodded. “I brought dinner to her, and we sat and visited for a couple of hours.” He paused and shook his head. “She’s as feisty as ever, and when I brought up the possibility of doing some renovations on the interior that don’t have anything to do with the damage from the tree, she got upset.”
“You probably shouldn’t upset her right now,” Ryder commented.
“There’s never going to be a good time to bring it up,” he reasoned. “When I had the inspectors here yesterday, they found some electrical issues and some plumbing stuff that needs to be updated. If I’m going to have to tear things up to fix them, shouldn’t she agree to letting me upgrade everything?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“What are you looking to do? And have you thought about how much it’s going to add to your timeline? I know you’re already antsy about being here for an extended period of time, so the more you look to add to the job, the longer that time is going to extend.”
“Yeah, I know,” he murmured, and then cursed under his breath. “I just wanted to do a good thing for her, that’s all.”
“And you are, but you need to realize you don’t have to fix everything.”
And while Ford knew his cousin was right, he still couldn’t help but feel like he needed to turn this house back into the kind of place his grandfather would be proud of. Which is what he said to Ryder.
“I get it. I do. And I think it’s great you feel that way, but…I’m also thinking about you, and how miserable you’re going to be if you’re stuck here longer than planned.”
Just then, Adam leaned over. “Dude, you were watching the clock after being here for only forty-eight hours when you helped with the boathouse.”
“I had to get back to Virginia and to my job,” Ford countered.
The look Adam gave him showed he wasn’t buying it. “I agree with Ryder. I think what you’re doing here is great, but don’t overdo it or you’re going to regret coming, and that will upset Margaret more than she needs to be.”
Dammit, Adam was right too.
Rather than prolong the discussion, he opted to get them all into work mode and start delegating projects.
“Okay, we need to pull down the drywall in the front room and take out the window. I’m expecting a new one later this week, so we’re going to use a sheet of plywood to cover the opening in the meantime. The boards for the porch all need to be removed and the posts and all the wood can go into the dumpster Garrison’s delivered here yesterday. After we get all of the demolition done, we’ll see where we stand on time and if any of you need to leave, that will be fine too. I’m just real appreciative you were all willing to give me a day and lend a hand.”
Within minutes, they were all spread out and pulling on work gloves and safety goggles and tearing wood away from the structure. Ford made his way to the opposite end of the house from the tree damage and was getting ready to start cutting through what was left of the porch structure when he saw Callie from the corner of his eye. She was walking toward him with her usual smile and he couldn’t help but smile back. He also noticed she was carrying a large cooler.
“Hey,” she said as she approached. “Looks like you’re going to tear the place down.”
He knew she was teasing, but he took a moment to explain what they were doing. “What’s in the cooler?”
“Oh, I saw all of you out here, and I was getting ready to head into town but I thought you might like some drinks.”
“We just got started and—”
“And have you taken the time to go grocery shopping?” she asked sweetly.
“Um…no.”
“Did any of the guys bring drinks with them?”
Ford looked over his shoulder and saw six pairs of eyes watching them curiously. “Um…”
“Dude, I thought you were providing food and beverages in exchange for the labor,” Wyatt called out.
Damn. He hadn’t thought of that.
“Yeah, well…I didn’t even know anyone was coming,” Ford called back.
“Tell you what,” Callie said, leaning in conspiratorially. “You guys do what you’re doing and I’ll go pick up lunch for everyone. What do you say?”
Ford pulled back and looked at her like she was crazy.
Or a godsend.
He couldn’t be sure.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” he said quietly.
“I could,” Jack said as he walked by carrying an armload of lumber.
Callie laughed softly, and Ford felt it like a caress. He needed to stop focusing on Callie and caressing and all that implied, and put all of his energy into fixing his grandmother’s house. That’s what he was here for.
“Really, Callie, I appreciate the offer, but—”
Just then, Ryder walked over. “Hey, Callie.”
“Hey, Ryder,” she said shyly. “How are you? How’s Bailey?”
“We’re both good. Thanks,” he said easily. “Listen, I couldn’t help but overhear your offer to pick up lunch for us, and let me say that we would all appreciate it.”
And then he walked away.
Ford glared after him for a moment before returning his attention to Callie. “So, um…I guess we accept your offer.”
“Great! Do you have any preferences or do you trust me?”
Trust her? This was just lunch they were talking about, right? “I’m sure whatever you pick up will be fine.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet and tried to give her money, but she declined.
“You can pay me back later,” she said, smiling. Then she called out her goodbyes before giving Ford a small wave. “I’ll be back in about two hours. Will that work?”
He nodded and when she turned and walked away, he watched her go.
“You certainly have a type,” Adam said as he walked by with a pile of discarded drywall.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ford snapped.
“That was Callie James, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. And?”
“She’s a teacher now, isn’t she?” Adam asked as he tossed the debris into the dumpster.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Noah strolled b
y with his own load of broken porch planks. “Just that you have a thing for teachers.”
Was he in some sort of parallel universe, because none of this was making sense.
“Remember Miss Woody?” Adam asked with a teasing grin. “You had it bad for her.”
Ford cursed and turned to start pulling boards from the porch. “We all had it bad for her. She was hot. Like crazy hot. You can’t tell me you didn’t lust after her too.”
“Sure I did, but then I moved on. Clearly the teacher thing does it for you,” Adam said as he walked away whistling.
When Ford looked around, he saw all the guys were looking at him and fighting their own grins.
“Let’s get to work!” he yelled.
* * *
Looking over her grocery list, Callie crossed off the last item—ice cream.
Chocolate ice cream.
A girl needed to have some premium dessert items on hand when she was spending all of her nights alone.
An image of Ford in her room Friday night came to mind, and she wanted to fan herself. Sadly, that was the most action her bedroom had seen in a while.
A long while.
A really, really long while.
She was coming out of the frozen food aisle when she almost collided with Harper Grace. They both gasped and then started to laugh. “Hey, Harper,” Callie said easily. “How are you?”
“Doing fine, thanks. How about you?” Harper looked at all the food in Callie’s shopping card and then looked up at her curiously.
“I’m making lunch for the guys today,” she explained. “I was leaving when I saw them all pull up to help Ford, and I thought it was the least I could do to help.”
Harper smiled. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. When Zane mentioned that he and the guys were heading over to help Ford out, I offered to send food with him.” She shook her head. “He was certain Ford had it covered.”
“I’m sure he would have come up with something, but there’s so much work to be done that I hated to see him add one more thing to his plate.”
Harper studied her curiously for a moment. “I didn’t realize you and Ford were friends.”
Ford: 7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Page 4