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“I guess I walked right into that one.”

“You sure did. But I’m serious. Knox was onto something when he decided this place would be a great venture for all of us. We need this. And this place needs us.”

Amber’s eyes flickered to the side and Jolie thought she saw fear before her sister relaxed again. “You okay?”

Amber nodded. “Yes. Something startled me, that’s all. I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

“Duty calls. I get it. Have a good day and I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Have fun with your ducks. And with Ford. I want to know more about why your face lights up whenever you mention him.”

Jolie started to respond, but Amber was gone. She pocketed her phone, wishing her sister would open up. Something was definitely up, but Amber kept her worries to herself. Once she was here, they’d figure it out.

And she would tell her more about why her face lit up at the mention of Ford.

As if she’d conjured him, the man himself approached through the orchard, whistling as he walked. “Good morning. I’m sorry I wasn’t here early enough to help you open up the coop.”

She grinned. “I had Amber on the phone, so it wasn’t as scary. I didn’t want to wake you up so early and I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“You can wake me anytime.” His eyes warmed as he neared, and then he leaned down to kiss her. The bill of his ball cap didn’t stop all the rain, but that didn’t matter. The kiss did.

When he straightened, he used his thumb to wipe the raindrops from her face. “You still okay with this?”

She knew he meant the kisses and the way they’d stepped forward in their relationship. “I am. Very okay. As long as you are.”

His grin was mischievous. “IthinkI’m good, although I maybe need another kiss to convince me.”

Laughing, she rose on her toes and let herself slip into another amazing kiss.

When they pulled apart, Ford wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the wet jackets they both wore. “How were the quackers this morning?”

She grinned. “Great. One stepped out as soon as I opened the door and the rest followed her. They’ve been wandering and pecking at the ground.”

“Do we need to buy any food to supplement what they find themselves?”

“Kimi gave me the information for a company that delivers locally. It’s the same one Brandon recommended. I put in an order last night just to make sure we can keep them healthy. She said to have some on hand in case we need to supplement their diet, but they should be good with their foraging in the summer. Especially once we set them loose on the snails. ”

He shuddered, making her grin. “Are we going to wait on that, or do you want to try it tonight?”

She turned and studied the ducks as they wandered. “I think I’d like to wait a few days. I’m nervous enough about getting them back into the Quack Mobile tonight. If they get too excited about the snails, it might be impossible to bring them back here.”

Ford nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. And we’ll add some paint to brighten up the Quack Mobile if this rain ever stops again.”

She grinned and held out her bright pink rubber boots that sported zebras and umbrellas. “Maybe to match these.”

Ford laughed. “Maybe. But I do have a thing for the yellow duckies on your blue pair.”

He had a favorite pair out of all her rubber boots. Yep, falling for sure.

Chapter11

Pick Your Friends

Ford split his time between his own tasks and Jolie’s. And sneaking kisses whenever he had a chance.

They hadn’t been openly demonstrative in front of her brother, and that nagged at Ford. He respected the hell out of Knox. Hiding his feelings for the man’s sister felt wrong.

But it also felt wrong to make a declaration about things before he discussed it with Jolie. They hadn’t taken things any further than kisses, but things were building in a more intimate direction.