Callie shrugged uncomfortably and tried to look anywhere but at Harper. “Oh um…we’re not. Not really. I mean…I’ve known his grandparents for most of my life, but I don’t really know Ford. We ran into each other when he came home Friday night, but other than that it’s just…you know…like a neighbor sort of thing. That’s all. Nothing more. At all.”
Now Harper’s lip began to twitch with amusement. “Uh-huh…”
“And he’s going to be working on the house for a few weeks, so it’s only natural that I be neighborly and help out. Margaret would appreciate it, I’m sure. And considering all she’s done for me, it’s the least I can do to help out her grandson. Ford. So um…yeah. I’m just doing it as a favor to Margaret.”
“You’re rambling an awful lot over being a good neighbor. Are you sure there isn’t more to this story?”
Callie’s eyes went wide as they met Harper’s. “What do you mean? I’m not rambling. I don’t ramble. You can ask anyone in town and they’ll tell you I’m not the kind of person who—”
“Rambles?” Harper finished for her.
Unable to help herself, Callie sighed. “Okay, fine. I’m rambling.”
Reaching out, Harper grabbed one of Callie’s hands and squeezed it. “I know. Now, what’s going on?”
Ugh. Did she really want to get into the whole used-to-have-a-crush-on-Ford story and how they’d ended up in bed together by accident?
Clearly she did, because that’s exactly what she said in hushed tones after pulling Harper and their shopping carts away from prying eyes and ears.
“Oh my gosh! And he was just there in your bed?” Harper asked with quiet excitement. “That is unbelievable!”
“And yet, that’s what happened. He went up and slept in the loft and then left the next morning, but it was still…”
“And now I know why you’re rambling,” Harper said with a little more calmness. “Look, I don’t know much about Ford other than he’s a friend of Zane and Adam’s. In my book, that makes him a good guy.”
“He is,” Callie said wistfully. “He’s just always been someone I’ve crushed on from afar. And now he’s living across the yard from me and…I don’t know…am I being a little crazy and going overboard here? Maybe I should just pick up pizza and stop looking like I’m trying too hard.”
“I don’t think it looks like that at all. If anything, it really is a neighborly thing to do, and I’m sure they’ll all appreciate the fact that you made something for them.”
“Please, they’d also appreciate pizza and beer,” she replied with a hint of disappointment. “Maybe I should just put all this stuff back.”
“Hey, Callie. Hey, Harper.” They both looked over to where Augie Kensington was walking toward them. “How are you ladies doing today?”
This was the kind of guy Callie should be attracted to. Augie was rich and handsome – in a geeky kind of way - and genuinely a nice guy. And yet as she stood there and chatted with him, there wasn’t even a spark of interest. The glasses, the quiet voice…it should all be appealing and yet, it wasn’t.
Harper was telling Augie about the new technology programs at the library and Callie feared her ice cream was starting to melt.
“I need to get going,” she said, interrupting their conversation.
Augie looked at all of the food in her shopping cart. “Is there a party at your house today, Callie?” he teased, and she realized he had a great smile too. Not toe-curl inducing, but great nonetheless.
“Just making some food for friends,” she said, returning his smile.
“Lucky friends,” he said.
“Callie, do you need any help? I mean, Zane’s over there too. I wouldn’t mind giving you a hand if you need it,” Harper offered.
“Thanks, but I think I’m good.” She paused. “I’ll be in the library this week to pick up some books Margaret had on hold. Will that be okay if I get them for her?”
“Absolutely.”
“Great. Thanks.”
And just as she was about to walk away, Harper added, “And Callie?”
“Hmm?”
“Just remember not to ramble.” Then she winked and waved.
Refusing to obsess on whether or not she’d rambled in front of Ford, Callie got in line to check out. Had she? Great, now she was going to have to watch what she said and how she said it when she brought lunch over.
Mentally, she began planning safe topics of conversation when she spotted Hildie Fontana walking in. It wasn’t hard to miss her. The woman wore every color of the rainbow and enough bangles on her wrist that she jingled.
Was everyone in town buying groceries today?
Grabbing a tabloid magazine, Callie did her best to shield her face until she was certain the older woman hadn’t seen her. Peering over the top of the paper, she glanced around and almost sagged to the floor with relief. After running into her at the hospital the day before, Callie had been waiting for the phone to start ringing with calls from friends, co-workers and her mother.
Shockingly, that hadn’t happened yet.
“Callie! I thought that was you!”
Hildie. Dang it!
Placing the magazine back in the rack, Callie turned and put on her best smile. “Hi, Hildie! How are you today?”
Hildie smoothed her hand over her silver hair and smiled. Her current style was a sleek bob and it was very flattering. As much as Callie wanted to find fault with the woman for her eccentric style, she had to admit she looked good for a woman nearing seventy.
“I’m fine, my dear. Just fine.” She sidled in close. “It was so good of you to go and visit with Margaret Garrison yesterday. So sweet.”
Just keep smiling, Callie reminded herself. “I’ve known Margaret almost my whole life. She’s a dear friend.”
“Your mother used to clean for Margaret and Ben, right?”
Her spine stiffened a little. “Yes. That’s right.”
“And now you’re living in the guesthouse and looking after Ford,” Hildie said with a sassy grin. “That last one isn’t a hardship, I’m sure.”
“I’m not looking after Ford,” Callie quickly corrected. “He just got into town and he’s working on Margaret’s house.”
“But he spent the night with you on Friday,” Hildie reminded her.
Fighting the urge to scream with frustration, her smile slipped a little. Clearing her throat daintily, she explained, “Like I said yesterday, I did not spend the night with Ford. He got home late and didn’t know anyone was renting the guest cottage. Margaret’s home hadn’t been inspected yet, so he slept in the guest loft.”
Hildie waved her off. “Technicalities. I’ll admit Ford has grown into one fine-looking man. As a matter of fact, Ford and all those soldier friends of his all grew up to be very fine-looking men.”
Off in the distance, someone called out to Hildie, and Callie wanted to reply with a very loud and appreciative word of thanks.
With little more than a wave to Callie, the older woman was off and heading toward the produce department—and probably already plotting what kind of gossip she was going to stir up next.
Never had paying for groceries felt so good.
A quick dash across the parking lot to her car and Callie’s mind was on making lunch for the guys. Sure, getting a couple of pizza would be easy, but she felt like they’d all appreciate something with a little more substance while they worked. On top of that, she knew Bailey was a fantastic cook and Whitney was a gourmet baker, so no doubt Ryder and Jack were probably used to eating real food rather than fast food.
Not that she was looking to go home and whip up a culinary feast and bake a soufflé, but she could make some amazing sandwiches, and she had all of the ingredients to put together a ton of them for Ford and his friends. Add to that, she had grabbed some potato salad from the deli counter and a tray of brownies from the bakery department.
All thoughts of local gossip were pushed aside as she mentally prepped the meal and thought about her lesson plans she
needed to get done for the coming week. There were some art projects she wanted to prepare, which meant pulling out all of her craft bins to get it all together. And that meant her tiny cottage walls were going to close in on her for a little while. Not that she minded; if she weren't a kindergarten teacher, she’d most likely be teaching art classes. That was a passion for her—painting, drawing and DIY projects were things Callie had always love to do, and it was so rewarding to be able to put that passion to use in her job.
By the time she arrived back at the cottage, she was deep in thought about the crafts she was going to work on – including Christmas gifts for her friends and co-workers, and holiday projects for her students.
It didn’t take long for Callie to start putting the sandwiches together and she was pretty excited to be able to help out in some small way.
Just being neighborly, of course.
It had nothing to do with wanting to impress Ford or just to be around him.
Nope. Nuh-uh. No way.
With all of the rolls sliced open, she began to pile slices of Swiss cheese on some and American on others. Then she added roast beef, ham and turkey, alternating so there would be different varieties for the guys to choose from. After she had gone through all of the meats and cheeses she’d purchased, she topped some with lettuce and tomatoes while others she left plain. Next, she assembled them on a platter and covered it with foil. The final thing to do was load up the condiments, salad, dessert and more drinks, and put it all in her car for easier transport.
If the cottage was bigger, she’d just call out for them all to come over here and eat. But considering how tight it had felt in here yesterday with just her and Ford, she knew that wasn’t going to be an option.
It took several trips to her car, but eventually Callie was ready. From where she stood, it looked like the guys were hard at work, and would probably appreciate a break and a chance to come in out of the cold. That’s why she decided to take the food to the back of Margaret’s house and set up in the kitchen. It looked like they were primarily working on the front of the house, so she figured it would be a safe way to go.
Soon enough, the food was set up in the ranch’s kitchen, and Callie walked around to the front of the house—where she turned the corner and ran directly into Ford.
Strong hands gripped her shoulders even as she was apologizing for not paying attention to where she was going.
“You okay?” Ford asked, his dark eyes scanning her face.
It may have been forty degrees outside, but Callie was suddenly very warm. “Yes. Sorry,” she said with a smile. “I was just coming to let you know there’s food and drinks in the kitchen. I should have asked if you were ready first, but I thought there’s never really a bad time to take a break from the cold and to go inside to get warm.” He still hadn’t taken his hands from her shoulders, and she had to fight the urge to move a little bit closer.
“Are you going to join us?” he asked, and maybe it was just Callie’s imagination —or wishful thinking —but his hands gently squeezed her shoulders as he asked. Maybe he was being sincere and not simply making the offer just to be nice.
“Hey, Callie,” Wyatt said as he walked by. “Is lunch here? Do you need a hand with anything?”
Forcing her gaze away from Ford’s, she nodded. “Actually, I drove it all over and it’s set up and waiting in the kitchen for you. Well, for all of you. Go in and get warmed up for a little while.”
Wyatt grinned. “Awesome. Thanks. We were all just saying how we’re ready for a break. This guy here’s working us like dogs.” And with a wink, he turned and walked away to tell the rest of the guys that lunch had arrived.
And still Ford didn’t release her.
One by one, the guys filed past them.
“Hey, Callie,” Ryder said pleasantly, saluting her with a bottle of water.
“Good to see you, Callie.” Noah waved on his way by.
“Thanks for lunch, Callie,” Wyatt commented again on his way around the house.
“Hey, Callie,” Zane said, smiling. “We appreciate you taking care of us today.”
She felt herself blushing as each of them walked by.
Jack strolled by them and nodded at Callie. “Perfect timing, Callie. Thanks.”
Adam was the last to walk over, and he met Ford’s gaze and seemed to be grinning a little more than the rest of them. “Good to see you, Miss James,” he said with a slight bow. “Don’t let Ford be tardy for lunch.”
“Jerk,” Ford mumbled under his breath.
“What was that about?” she asked curiously.
He finally released her and took a step back. “It was nothing. Just Adam thinking he’s funny.”
That explained…nothing. “Oh.”
“Yeah, well…like I said, he was making a joke at my expense. It was nothing against you.”
All that statement did was confuse her more. Opting to not think about it and risk rambling, she simply smiled at Ford and said, “Shall we?”
He looked more than a little relieved, and they walked in companionable silence around the back of the house. Callie hadn’t planned on eating with them, but how often did a girl get to share a meal with seven of the most handsome men in town?
Unable to help herself, her smile grew at her sudden good fortune.
Four
A week later and Ford was ready to throw in the towel and head back to Virginia.
Work was progressing on the ranch. The wraparound porch had been rebuilt and he’d constructed the new front steps to be wider to help his grandmother. Dennis Allen had managed to send a handful of workers to help, but had avoided any face-to-face time with Ford since their lone meeting last week, and that was starting to wear thin. Ford talked to him on a daily basis, but every time he mentioned getting together for a meeting, the guy had a hundred reasons why he wasn’t available.
And that seemed to be his M.O. From everyone Ford had talked to this week, it was a common theme—Dennis not being available when he was needed. It had bothered him enough that he’d called Wyatt to see if he’d noticed this pattern during his short stint with Garrison’s, and he said he had. That’s when Ford started casually asking some of the local tradesmen who he came in contact with this week, and the response had been a resounding “yes,” followed by all the reasons why Ford should move back to Eagle’s Ridge and take over the business.
He should have seen that one coming.
But that wasn’t all…
Part of getting this job done quickly meant he was doing the bulk of the work himself and working long hours. That meant going into town and getting supplies and talking to different subcontractors about having them come out to the ranch for estimates and setting up work.
If there had been a way to disguise himself, it would have been easier.
There were no quick stops—everything took time because someone always wanted to talk to him. Not that it was all bad. Some of the people he ran into were old friends, and it was nice to talk and catch up, but the majority were friends of his parents or aunts and uncles who all wanted to talk about his wild days.
Every conversation ended with him having a raging headache and fighting the urge to book the next flight to Virginia.
But that still wasn’t all…
The roofers were currently on the job and had ripped off all of the old shingles and found multiple sheets of rotting wood underneath, and spots where leaks had weakened the rafters, so rather than just having to re-shingle the roof, it looked like it was a good call to go this route. And while he didn’t have a problem with that, per se, it was going to make living in the house a little bit uncomfortable. He could have handled it for a day.
But his luck wasn’t that good. A surprise storm was heading their way, and there wasn’t going to be enough time to get everything done and sealed up before it hit. So as of now, he had half the roof covered in plywood and the other half wide open, and the whole thing was currently being secured with a tarp. It would kee
p out the elements —hopefully—but it meant it was going to be miserable in the house tonight. And possibly tomorrow.
Maybe even a third day.
The house was a story and a half, and the upstairs was mainly a bonus room and a spare bedroom and bathroom. It was hardly ever used, but there wasn’t a door to close it off, and Ford was just trying to figure out the best way to make sure the interior of the house didn’t sustain any damage from the weather that would add to his ever-growing list of work.
And that still wasn’t all…
Off in the distance, he heard a horn beep and looked over to see Callie pulling into her driveway.
That was his biggest problem.
After having lunch together last Sunday, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking of her. She’d put together an amazing meal for him and his friends, and she’d laughed and shared stories with them about life in town that had left him feeling a little like the odd man out.
Not that it bothered him. After all, he was the odd man out. He was the only one not living in Eagle’s Ridge anymore, and he was okay with it.
Or at least he thought he was okay with it.
Most of the time, Ford had no doubt that he’d made the right decision to move away from his hometown. He had a good job that would hopefully be waiting for him when he returned after the first of the year, and he had friends back in Virginia that he enjoyed hanging out with.
Okay, so maybe enjoyed wasn’t the right word, but they were all good guys. Not like his friends here though. Ryder, Wyatt, Jack, Zane, Adam and Noah were the best kind of guys. And even if it had taken a couple of weeks of detention to bond with them, it was still worth it because they’d formed an amazing friendship over that time that had lasted all these years. When he was back east, he missed them—something that had become more and more apparent over the last year with his frequent trips home.
And, more currently, while he was here. Not a day had gone by when he hadn’t talked to at least one of them about how work was progressing on the ranch, and Wyatt and Noah had each stopped by separately to lend him a hand for a couple of hours. They didn’t ask for anything in return and they weren’t there because he’d put out a call for help. They were simply there because…they were his friends.
Ford: 7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Page 5