Page 25 of A Tempting Seduction (Protectors of Jasper Creek #5)

Chapter Fourteen

I wasn't surprised to see Dad waiting on the front porch when we pulled into the driveway.

His silhouette was outlined against the warm glow from the living room windows, and I could see the steam rising from a coffee mug in his hands.

After thirty-four years of being his son, I knew Dale Larson's protective instincts well enough to predict them.

He came out to greet us. I carried JR up the front steps, Fiona carrying little Suzy.

As soon as we made up the stairs, Dad took Suzy from my sister’s arms. Both kids were dead to the world after their adventures at Ruby’s place.

The evening had been perfect, better than I'd imagined when I'd volunteered to help with babysitting.

Watching Ruby with the kids, seeing how naturally she'd fit into our chaotic family dynamic, had done something to my chest that I wasn't ready to examine too closely.

“Get them tucked in and I'll meet you on the porch,” Dad said quietly, his voice carrying that tone that meant we were going to have a conversation whether I wanted one or not.

Twenty minutes later, after JR and Suzy were tucked into their beds and Fiona had kissed them goodnight before disappearing into her own room, I found myself back on the front porch with my father.

The late summer evening was warm and humid, typical for Tennessee in August, and I rolled up my sleeves as I settled into the wicker chair beside his.

“Good night?” Dad asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

“Yeah, it was.” I accepted the coffee he handed me, the mug still warm in my hands. “Ruby's great with the kids. JR. she and I built a fort out of couch cushions, blankets and every pillow she had in the house. Suzy learned how to say the word princess.”

“My granddaughter is smart.”

I grinned.

Dad nodded, taking a slow sip of his coffee. We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, listening to the sounds of Jasper Creek settling into evening. Mrs. Henderson's porch light flickered on across the street, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

“It's good to see Fiona doing so well,” Dad said eventually.

“She looked happy tonight. Really happy.” I thought about the way my sister had practically glowed when she'd left for her girls' night, how excited she'd been about something as simple as dinner and drinks with friends. “Maybe it's a good thing that asshole isn't paying any support.”

“Ford Larson. Language.”

I shook my head and laughed. Dad swore worse than I did. “What? It's true.” I took a sip of coffee. “At least this way he isn't contaminating the kids with his special brand of fucking slime. JR and Suzy are better off without him.”

“Language.”

I snorted. “Dad, I'm thirty-one years old. I think I'm allowed to call my sister's ex-husband names.”

“Not in front of the house where your nephew and niece might hear you.” But Dad's mouth twitched with what might have been approval. We both knew what he thought of Fiona's ex-husband, even if he was too much of a gentleman to say it out loud.

We lapsed into silence again, and I found myself thinking about Ruby. The way she'd looked tonight in that soft sweater, how her green eyes had lit up when JR had wanted the tomatoes he’d picked on the pizza. The way she'd fit so perfectly against me when we'd kissed on her couch.

“So,” Dad said, and I could hear the carefully casual tone that meant he was going to fish for information. “Ruby seems nice.”

“She is.”

“Pretty girl.”

“Very.”

Dad waited, but I didn't elaborate. After a moment, he tried a different approach.

“I hear Carrie’s kids really like her, I’m assuming Fiona’s do, too?”

“They love her.”

“Fiona mentioned she's the one who's been making those fancy coffee drinks you've been raving about.”

I shot him a look. “What's your point, Dad?”

“No point. Just making conversation with my son.” Dad's expression was perfectly innocent, which immediately made me suspicious. “Though I have to say, you seem more relaxed lately. Happier. Despite the hiccups at work.”

“Yeah, well…” I let my words trail off. Until he asked a direct question, I was going to let him stew.

“Your mother likes her.”

That got my attention. “Mom's met Ruby?”

“Briefly. Last week at the grocery store. Roger introduced them.” Dad's eyes crinkled at the corners. “Your mother said she had lovely manners and seemed very genuine. Also said she was exactly your type.”

I nearly choked on my coffee. “My type?”

“Pretty, looks like she has a good heart, seems like she could use someone to take care of her.” Dad's grin was pure mischief. “Your mother's words, not mine.”

“Jesus Christ, Dad.”

“Ford,” he warned again.

“Sorry.” I shook my head. “So is mom already planning our wedding?”

“No, she learned her lesson after Lydia.” Dad's expression turned more serious. “How does Ruby compare?”

I gave some serious thought to my dad’s question.

Lydia Brennan, my ex-girlfriend who'd been focused on her career, her friends and me, I admitted to myself that I was also a priority. We’d dated for two years, and I’d almost convinced myself that we could make a life together.

She’d lived in Knoxville, but she’d even felt that was too small town for her.

She always wanted to work in a marketing firm in Nashville, whereas I wanted to make a life in Jasper Creek.

Then there was the way she never seemed to warm up to Carrie’s kids.

In the end, we just weren’t a good fit, despite the fact she was a lovely woman with a good heart.

“Ruby seems really content living here in Jasper Creek and she’s sincerely enjoys spending time with JR and Suzy. Carrie says she’s great with her brood, too.”

“But she just works at a coffee shop. Doesn’t seem to have much ambition.”

“She’s the manager,” I defended. Then I gave my dad the side-eye. My old man was just yanking my chain. Trying to see how deeply invested I was into Ruby. “I see your game, old man.”

Dad chuckled. “So, tell me about her. Tell me the things that matter.”

“Ruby makes me feel like I've been holding my breath my entire life and I'm finally getting oxygen.” The words came out rougher than I'd intended.

“When I look at her, I don't see the next logical step in my life plan. I see the person I want to build a life with, in whatever crazy way it turns out. I know I’m going to enjoy the ride.”

Dad nodded slowly. “That's a hell of a difference.”

“I think about her when I wake up in the morning. I think about her when I'm at work. I think about her when I'm trying to fall asleep at night.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I've never felt like this about anyone before.”

“Like what?”

“Like I'd rearrange my entire world if she asked me to. Like I'd fight anyone who tried to hurt her. Like I want to know every single thing about her, even the stuff that scares her.” I laughed, but it came out shaky. “Hell, especially the stuff that scares her.”

Dad was quiet for a long moment, studying my face in the dim porch light.

“Your mother felt the same way about me,” he said finally. “Said I made her feel like everything before me was just practice for the real thing.”

“How did you know Mom was the one?”

“Because when I thought about my future, she was in every single picture.” Dad's voice carried the weight of forty-five years of marriage. “Because I'd rather fight with her than be happy with anyone else. Because she made me want to be the man she saw when she looked at me.”

I felt something settle in my chest, a certainty that had been building for weeks finally crystallizing into something solid.

“Ruby’s it for me.”

“I can see that.” Dad's smile was warm and approving. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

“I have no idea.” I laughed, but it was more honest than frustrated. “She's got secrets, Dad. Things she's not telling me. I can see it in her eyes sometimes, this distance that comes over her like she's remembering something she'd rather forget.”

“Most people have secrets, son. Some are darker than others.”

“How do you get someone to trust you with the hard stuff?”

Dad was quiet for a moment, considering his words.

“You show them that you're safe,” he said eventually. “You prove that you'll stick around when things get difficult. You make it clear that there's nothing they could tell you that would change how you feel about them.”

“And if the secrets are really bad?”

“Then you deal with them together.” Dad met my eyes. “That's what love is, Ford. It's not finding someone perfect. It's finding someone whose imperfections you can live with, whose broken pieces fit with yours.”

I thought about Ruby's skittishness when I'd asked about her past, the way she sometimes got this haunted look when she thought no one was watching. Whatever she was hiding, it was big enough to make her run all the way to Jasper Creek.

“I should get going,” I said, standing up and draining the last of my coffee. “Ruby's expecting me back.”

Dad's eyebrows shot up. “Is she now?” He grinned as one eyebrow shot up.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, old man.”

“My mind is exactly where it should be. Go on. Don't keep the girl waiting.”

I was halfway to my truck when Dad called out again.

“Ford.”

I turned back.

“Trust your gut. It's served you well so far.”

The drive to Ruby's duplex took less than twenty-five minutes, but it felt like two hours. My hands were steady on the steering wheel, but my heart was doing something irregular in my chest. Tonight felt different. Important. Like we were about to cross a line we couldn't uncross.

Ruby's neighborhood was quiet, most of the houses dark except for porch lights and the occasional flicker of a television through curtains. Her duplex sat at the end of a tree-lined street, and I could see warm light glowing through her living room windows.