Page 13 of Fern’s Date with Destiny (Heart Falls Vignette and Novella Collection #4)

I t wasn’t about keeping them a secret anymore.

Hell, if she’d thought it would help, she would have climbed onto the roof of Buns and Roses and screamed the truth to the whole town.

But Cody needed something different right now. Something quieter. Something gentler. Loving someone meant meeting them where they were, not where you wished they’d be. So she gave him time.

Time, but not space. Absolutely no more of that bullshit.

Thursday after work, she drove out of town to Red Boot ranch.

The sun had already slipped behind the ridge of the Rocky Mountains, leaving the sky dusky purple as she parked by Cody’s small cabin.

He’d left the porch light on the way he did now when he knew she was coming, and that tiny act of anticipation made something squeeze warm and certain in her chest.

He met her at the door, one hand braced on the frame, eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Hey yourself, cowboy.”

An edge of uncertainty lingered in the way he stepped back to let her in, but it was his right to worry, even though he was trying to move past it.

So she ignored it and refused to treat him as if he might shatter. Instead, she brushed past him and unbuttoned her coat, her fingers brushing his chest in deliberate passing.

They made supper together nearly every other night these days. Simple things, grounding things. Buttered pasta, salad with too much feta because Cody liked it, bread from the bakery she grabbed on her lunch break.

They ate at the small kitchen table, knees bumping under the wood. No music, no background noise. Just the clink of silverware and the quiet rhythm they’d started to build.

Afterward, she curled into him on the couch, one of his thick wool blankets over their legs. Cody’s arm slid around her shoulders automatically, tugging her in until her cheek rested against the soft worn fabric of his shirt.

For a while, they just sat.

No words. No demands.

Finally, his thumb traced a slow line over her upper arm, and he cleared his throat.

“Chance and Rose invited us over for dinner tomorrow night.”

She smiled faintly. “Rose texted me, too. I’m okay with it, but it’s your call.”

“I like doing things with them.” Cody’s voice stayed even, but his hand stilled. “Just not sure if it’s going to be weird since Chance knows about this.” He gestured vaguely between them. “Have you picked up any clues from Rose? Is she still in the dark?”

Fern tilted her head to study him, considering her answer. “Rose isn’t the type to tease. If she’d figured it out, she probably wouldn’t have said a word to Chance. She’s good at protecting people’s privacy.”

He pressed his lips to her temple, soft and sure in a way that still made her chest ache. “You should tell her.”

“What?” She reared back slightly, mock scandalized. “Break the rules of our bet? Never.”

He chuckled, but his eyes were warm. “Technically, I think I won the bet. No one knew by the end of September, but Chance had definitely figured it out in December.”

“Fine, you won,” she informed him primly. “But to not make it awkward, I’ll put out some feelers. See what my sister does or doesn’t know.”

“Tansy and Ivy too,” he added, all calm practicality.

Fern blinked. “You want me to spill to the whole family? Cody, Tansy is so distracted she wouldn’t notice if I moved to Peru. She’s got a new relationship. She’s hip deep running the food situation at High Water. She can barely remember where she left her phone.”

“And Ivy?”

“That’s just opening the floodgates,” Fern muttered. “If I tell Ivy, she'll tell Walker, who will tell his family, who are somehow related to or connected with half the town. That door can stay shut for a little longer.”

Cody’s brows knit together. “You’re sure this isn’t going to cause hurt feelings?”

“Nope.” She cupped his jaw, letting her thumb stroke the rough line of stubble. “I might get teased, but teasing in six months versus teasing now… It’s a win in my books.”

He leaned in to kiss her, soft and slow, like they were both remembering how good this was when it was simple.

Fern pulled back just enough to unlock her phone and fire off a text to Rose

Fern: Can I bring a date tomorrow night?

The typing dots appeared instantly.

Rose: That’s why we told you to bring Cody, silly girl.

Fern huffed a laugh, showing Cody the screen. “Well, that answers that question.”

He exhaled. “She knew?”

Fern’s phone buzzed again.

Rose: Chance can’t keep a secret to save his life. Once he started acting suspicious, it wasn’t hard to guess. But don’t worry. No one else knows unless you want them to.

Fern felt something unspool in her chest. Relief she hadn’t realized she was carrying. “So much for stealth mode.”

Cody still looked worried. “I don’t care who knows anymore. As long as you’re okay with it.”

She settled in closer, pressing her lips to the underside of his jaw. “I’m better than okay.”

They arrived at Rose and Chance’s place the next evening just after six.

Fern loved their house. It backed right onto her mom and dad’s yard. She’d grown up watching the big willow trees in the back sway over both properties as if they belonged to everyone.

The porch light glowed a welcome. She followed Cody up the steps, her heart a ridiculous combination of steady and nervous.

Rose met them at the door with a knowing smile. She hugged Fern first, then turned to Cody with that same soft affection she gave everyone she’d pulled into her wide circle of family.

“Come in, you two.” She pretended not to notice how Cody hovered closer to Fern’s side than usual. “Dinner’s almost ready. Chance is in the kitchen insisting he’s making the world’s best mashed potatoes.”

“Bold claim,” Fern teased as they stepped farther in.

Chance popped his head around the corner, wooden spoon in hand. “I heard that!”

They all laughed, and just like that, the tension eased.

Dinner was simple and perfect. Roast beef, fluffy rolls, gravy that Fern could have happily bathed in. The potatoes that were astonishingly good. They ate around the big table, Chance and Cody telling stories about each other and growing up, Rose smiling so fondly it made Fern’s chest go warm.

They didn’t mention the weeks Cody had been gone, except for Rose’s soft observation that she was glad he was taking care of himself.

Cody, in turn, didn’t flinch when she said it.

After the plates were cleared, Chance pulled a Crokinole board out of the hall closet, setting it on the octagonal table in the den.

Cody whistled softly then rubbed his hands together. “God, I haven’t played in years.”

“Don’t worry. We won’t lose, despite your lack of skill.” Fern offered a cheesy grin, sensing the spark of mischief in him that she’d missed so much.

He arched a brow. “You think you’re better than me?”

“I know so.”

Chance snickered. “Bro, that’s just a demand for us men to take down the ladies. Gently, of course.”

Rose arched a brow. “Et tu, Brute?”

He raised his hands into a what-can-I-do position. “We’ll kiss it all better once you lose.”

Fern and Rose exchanged evil grins. “Time to wipe the floor with them?” Fern asked.

“They asked for it,” Rose pointed out. “Poor, poor suckers.”

He should have known the second Chance pulled out the Crokinole board that they were doomed.

It wasn’t that Cody was bad at the game, because he wasn’t, but it was impossible to concentrate when Fern sat beside him, her cheeks flushed from laughter, her hair all tumbling curls bouncing around her shoulders.

He’d missed this, missed her, more than he’d let himself admit even when he was thousands of miles away pretending he could outrun whatever waited in his bones.

But running hadn’t solved a damn thing. Now here he was, flicking wooden disks across the board, pretending his hands weren’t liable to betray him at any second.

Fern caught his eye as Rose leaned over the table to line up her shot, and the slow grin she gave him nearly undid him. She looked so damn sure, so solid. As if she was right where she was meant to be.

As if maybe he was, too.

Chance whistled, low and sharp. “Quit making googly eyes at your girlfriend, bro, and take your turn.”

Girlfriend . Even the innocent word in an innocent setting made his heart swell. “From what I see, making googly eyes at our women is a requirement for the men at this table,” Cody teased back.

Fern hummed innocently as she repositioned one of the scoring pegs. “It’s fine. We’ll allow it. Especially if you keep losing graciously.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you’re in for a rude awakening.” Cody flicked his disk—dead on, center hole.

It thunked home, and Rose gasped.

Chance whooped. “Hot damn! Look at that!”

Fern clutched her chest dramatically. “Betrayal! You’ve been practicing in secret.”

Cody leaned back in his chair, tried to look modest and probably failed. “Just talent, sweetheart. Natural-born.”

She stuck out her tongue.

Rose reached over, though, and offered him a high five. “I hate to say it, but that was beautiful.”

The game settled into an easy rhythm. Bickering and cheering, the four of them slipping into that comfortable space Cody hadn’t realized he’d been starving to experience again. It felt good, like coming home to himself.

As if remembering who he’d been before the fear had crawled into his gut and made him someone who ran instead of staying to fight.

It didn’t escape him that this type of game, one requiring dexterity and coordination, he might not be able to play forever. The idea scared him even as it kept his ass right there in the chair, playing.

If he only had a limited time, he’d better enjoy it while he could.

By the time Rose and Fern landed their last shots, the ladies were ahead by exactly ten points. Enough to crow about for the next month.

Chance groaned. “You realize they’re never going to let this go.”

Fern fluttered her lashes. “Victory tastes sweeter when it’s shared with family.”