Page 5 of Fern’s Date with Destiny (Heart Falls Vignette and Novella Collection #4)

September, one year later…

C ody had thought life after the kiss, and committing to be only friends, would get...well, more awkward for one thing. Pushing aside the attraction between them should have seemed wrong or forced.

But it hadn’t.

If anything, interactions between them felt exactly how they should: easy, steady, real.

He still thought Fern Fields was the most attractive woman he’d ever seen, but instead of that truth ruining things, it had settled somewhere deep inside him.

Every time they bumped shoulders at a family barbecue, or when she leaned in close at a Fields kitchen table full of gossip and leftover pie, it just made him want to know her more.

And he did. Piece by piece, laugh by laugh, truth by stubborn, warm-hearted truth.

No drama. No crossing lines. Just two people learning to be friends.

Until today.

Tonight, to be exact.

If anyone asked him later, Cody Gabrielle would blame it entirely on that damned ringlet of hair she’d left loose on purpose—or fate had—because every time she tilted her head, that dark curl bounced and twirled like a hypnotist’s watch, telling him forget every promise and taste her one more time .

He dragged his gaze back to his half-empty beer, willing his brain to remember all the reasons kissing Fern was a bad idea.

Rough Cut Pub was full tonight with ranch crews off shift and locals mixing it up with out-of-towners. Chance and Rose were tangled together on the dance floor as if the world didn’t exist beyond each other.

From a booth on the far side of the room, Tansy waved but her focus remained tight on the two female friends at her side.

Cody was having an okay evening, that bouncy curl aside, until he caught sight of Shim, the clean-cut Silver Stone ranch hand with the polite manners and too-handsome smile, spinning Fern in a lazy two-step under the string lights.

Cody sipped his beer, slow and deliberate. Accidents happened all the time on ranches, he reminded himself. Fence posts fall, horses spook, guys named Shim find themselves face-first in horse shit.

Fern laughed, full and bright, and Shim’s grin widened as if he thought he had a chance in hell.

Cody swallowed down a growl and focused on the last of his beer.

Before he could plot any more suspicious barn mishaps for the guy, which was a total waste of time considering Shim worked at Silver Stone and not Red Boot, Fern spun away from the young man and beelined for Cody, her gaze locked on his.

Her sunshine yellow dress paired with cowboy boots that showed off her legs to perfection.

Tonight she wore her prothesis, the midnight black and silver section on her left arm glittering in the dance floor lights.

He didn’t move. Couldn’t have if he’d tried.

“Hey there, cowboy,” she teased, breathless from dancing, cheeks flushed a soft rose that did bad things to his pulse. “Why are you brooding over here like a tragic hero when there’s good music playing?”

“I’m not brooding,” he lied.

Her eyes sparkled with wicked delight as she grabbed his hand. “Liar. Come on.”

She tugged him up, no protest possible, and dragged him right into the press of bodies swaying to the next song. Before he knew it, she’d laid her left arm lightly over his right, her right hand resting on his chest right where his heartbeat threatened to give him away.

“Happy?” he murmured, dipping his head to catch her words over the music.

She hummed a yes and leaned in. “Very.”

They moved together, easy as breathing. She smelled like summer and soap and a hint of the spiced cider she’d been drinking. Cody breathed deep, soaking in her scent.

“Work going okay?” she asked, lifting her chin so her eyes caught his in the shifting light.

“Busy. Bookings scheduled into the New Year. My bosses have threatened to hire more hands for me to wrangle.” He smirked. “Poor souls.”

Fern laughed, and all her dark ringlets bounced, catching the light like blue-black diamonds and torturing him all over again. “You’ll make a lovely tyrant.”

“And you? Gallery still your kingdom?”

“Always.” Her smile widened, triumphant. “Chance keeps trying to boss me. I let him pretend it works.”

“You could run the entire county if you wanted, Fern Fields.”

She tilted her head, mock serious. “I probably could if I wanted to. Now to figure out if that’s what would really make me happy.”

Before he could tease her back, something failed in Rough Cut’s electrical system. A loud pop sang from the speakers right before sudden darkness swallowed them. Even the dim red of the exit signs flickered out.

As the crowd gasped, then half laughed and half complained, Cody’s protective instincts roared to life. His arm slid around Fern’s back, pulling her in tighter before she could so much as blink.

“You okay?” His voice rumbled against her hair.

She pressed her cheek to his chest, voice muffled but teasing. “Kicking into hero mode, are you? It’s just the power, cowboy.”

“Don’t care.” He shifted them sideways as people fumbled for phones. “Stay close.”

She did. Too close. Perfectly close.

His hand found hers as they navigated the dance floor through the press of bodies as confused laughter rang out. In the soft glow from his phone flashlight, he caught a flash of her face. Reckless, trusting, lit from inside.

Outside the pub, the night was a wash of cool air and scattered stars. The sudden hush after the music and loud noises made his pulse roar in his ears.

Fern squeezed his hand once, her lips parting as if to say something clever.

Destiny…

He didn’t let her finish.

Cody cupped her cheek with his free hand, brushed his thumb against her warm skin, and kissed her.

Softly first. So soft. A question and a confession all in one. She sighed into him, and that tiny sound broke whatever restraint he had left. He slanted his mouth harder, deeper, tasting her laugh, her quiet gasp, her everything.

They staggered sideways to the edge of the back alley, half-shielded by the pub’s shadowed siding, lost in the kind of kiss that made ignoring the world easy. Her right hand fisted his shirt, tugging him closer, closer, until all his carefully built walls gave way.

His brain spun in useless circles. Apologies, excuses, plans, but none of it mattered. Fern’s mouth was warm and sweet, and she was right there, kissing him as if she’d waited an entire year for this as well.

Friends, huh?

Destiny, that patient witch, had finally had another idea.

He kissed her as if she was the only thing tethering him to the earth.

And Fern...

Well, hell. She wasn’t about to stop him.

Her mind, usually so quick to sort and categorize and plan, went deliciously blank. All she knew was the warmth of his hands, the rough brush of stubble when he angled closer. The taste of him with hints of beer and the fresh air he always carried with him, like wide-open prairie and safety.

When he finally pulled back, both of them breathless, she stayed right there. His forehead rested lightly on hers, and his smile was broad, the feel of his kiss echoing through her.

“Hi,” she whispered, inanely giddy.

“Hey yourself,” he murmured back, brushing her cheekbone again.

God, she’d wanted this, wanted him , for so long…

And yet not at all.

Because she’d meant what she’d told him all that time ago. She hadn’t wanted a boyfriend just to fill a space. She’d needed to build the rest of her life first, to stand on ground that was solidly hers.

Now she thought she had.

Her job at the art gallery wasn’t just because of a favour being done by a doting sweetheart for a family member. It was hers . The high-tech wings, the digital showcases, the community events and full-to-the-brim calendar. She’d dreamed them up and made them real.

Chance might be the artist with the worldwide connections, but Fern Fields had become his secret weapon, the glue behind every successful show.

She was twenty-three, nearly the age she’d scribbled on her childhood goal chart under ‘Find my forever person’. She’d laughed when she found the old tattered journal last month, the one filled with her childish and not so childish dreams all laid out in multicoloured glitter pen glory.

Deep down, wanting this now felt right.

Her friends were moving forward too. Charity was engaged to Dustin, planning a wedding full of family celebrations and laughter. Fern was so happy for them it made her chest ache.

Yet sometimes being the last Fields sister at home felt exactly like being last picked at recess.

She wanted someone to hold her hand. To kiss her like Cody just had. As if the world might disappear if he didn’t.

Her heart fluttered hard as he traced his thumb along her jaw again. He looked as if he might say something serious.

“You know,” she teased softly, “I always thought destiny was stubborn, but this is a record, even for her.”

He laughed, warm and low. “Couldn’t avoid it forever.”

She tapped her fingers on his chest. “So. Now what?”

Cody drew back just enough to look at her properly. Even in the faint glow from the pub’s window, the wicked glint in his eyes flashed at her and did dangerous things to her resolve.

“Now,” he said, voice firm and gentle at once, “I’m going to take you out.”

Fern blinked. “Take me out. Like a date?”

“Yeah, darlin’. A real date. Something more than me pressing you up against a wall outside a bar.”

Heat flared in her cheeks but she couldn’t stop smiling. “Hmm. The date sounds suspiciously wholesome.”

He chuckled, leaned in to nip at her lower lip. A quick taste that made her toes curl inside her boots. “Doesn’t have to be too wholesome. That’s up to you.”

If anything, Fern flushed harder. But that too was a good thing to know. “What’s the agenda for the date?”

“You’ll find out when it happens.” Cody eyed her earnestly. “I want to surprise you.”

“Oh?” She poked a finger into his chest, making a face as she considered. “Okay, fine. But can this surprise involve horses?”

“It can. It will,” he promised. “You still off both Mondays and Tuesdays?”

“Mm-hmm.” Because after a year of being friends, they knew each other’s schedules and so much more.

“Good. Tuesday morning. Be ready.”

She arched a brow. “How ready are we talking? Lip gloss and out on the town ready, or full-on field work ready?”

He grinned, teeth flashing white. “Somewhere in between. But dress warm. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Fern’s jaw dropped before she could stop it. “Seven? In the morning ?”

His lips quirked, mischief in his eyes. “I can make it six.”

She smacked his chest lightly, earning another quiet laugh that made her insides flutter all over again. God help her. She was so ready to fall fast.

He glanced past her shoulder, and she followed his gaze. The power was back on, and lights danced onto the sidewalk and street through the open doors of the pub as people returned to the floor.

All of them oblivious to the world-shifting moment that just happened in the shadows outside, Fern thought with amusement.

Her friends would be…

Her family…

Oh dear.

She groaned under her breath before offering Cody the brightest expression she could muster. “What do you say to the idea that we keep this to ourselves for a little while?”

He hesitated, smile fading slightly. “You don’t want people to know we’re dating?”

She hurried to reassure him. “Not because I want to hide—” Fern stopped dead.

She wasn’t about to lie, and secrecy was exactly what she was hoping for.

“No, I really do want to hide this from everyone, just for a little while.” She met his gaze straight on.

“I have a very large and loving family who like to meddle. This thing between us, it feels special. I want to keep it between us for as long as we can.”

Thank God, Cody laughed. “With less interference from your sisters and my brother?”

“And my parents, and grandparents, and Charity and her fiancé. Your bosses, and their sisters, and your coworkers…”

He whistled softly. “The list is long, isn’t it?”

“It means we both have lots of people in our lives who love us. That’s the good part,” Fern affirmed even as she wrinkled her nose, slightly frustrated by the simple truth. “I adore them all and they really are a pain in the butt at times.”

“I hear you,” Cody assured her. His expression went thoughtful, eyes turned toward the starry sky. Then he nodded, meeting her gaze again. “I won’t lie if I’m asked a direct question, but it could be fun to see how long it takes for anyone to figure out what’s going on.”

“Exactly.” Fern tapped his chest again. “ We know we’re dating, but until asked, we wait to see who notices.”

His conspiratorial wink made something inside her ache in a good way for an entirely different reason. It wasn’t just a physical attraction between them. Not anymore. The little connections that had built over the past year were there like support beams, turning even a small secret more meaningful.

It was theirs, and that made it important.

“ Fern .” From the top of the boardwalk, Charity waved.

Fern waved back then turned to Cody. “See you Tuesday.”

“You bet. Now go before I kiss you again and blow our cover wide open before we've even begun.”

She raised a brow and considered. “Depending on the kiss, it might be worth it.”

He laughed, pushing her gently toward the door.

Charity waited for her in the light of the doorway, heels bouncing lightly to the music. “You okay? That blackout was wild for a few minutes.”

“I’m fine. You guys?”

“Better than fine. Dustin hauled me off the floor and we entertained ourselves in the dark, no problem.” Charity grinned and Fern offered the expected eye roll and held her secret in tightly.

Her mind was already slipping away to the future. To surprises and a sweet and sexy cowboy with mischief in his eyes.