Page 38 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls (Ivy Falls #3)

FORD

Defend My Choices

It was a three-minute toast but it felt like three hours.

Gray and I were supposed to say a few words and then dinner was to be served, but as soon as we were done speaking, every blowhard in the room wanted to share their two cents about how they’d somehow added to the joy of our parents’ long marriage.

For the entire toast, my father stayed iron-jawed, never bothering to look at me. I didn’t care. Piper had done me a favor by spilling my secret about Africa. I only wished I’d been brave enough to take him on the way she had.

When the waiters entered the room with the first course, I dashed out into the hall.

Piper wasn’t in the bathrooms or waiting in the lobby.

I checked the back lawn and upstairs in the ladies’ locker room.

Like a ghost, she’d vanished. Panic filled my throat as I dialed her number.

It went straight to voicemail every time.

I rushed down the stairs and collided with a woman at the bottom.

‘Ford,’ Missy said with a wide smile. ‘It’s good to see you.’

‘Look, I’m in kind of a hurry, but I wanted to apologize for that day. That situation at brunch.’

She waved me off. ‘I swear I did not know that was a setup from your mom. Thought it was only supposed to be a short hello.’

My frantic gaze continued to sweep the area for Piper. ‘I really do wish you the best, and it was good to see you, but I need to go.’

‘Do you have to run off? I wanted you to meet my girlfriend. It’s the first time I’ve brought her to something like this and it’s, well, a lot. Thought it might be nice to introduce her to at least one person here I don’t think is a total douchebag.’

‘I… I would love to but there’s this girl…’

‘The stunning brunette?’

‘Yeah, she is my…’ I took a rough swallow. We didn’t have a name for what we were doing, but if I had my choice I would call her my… everything. ‘She sort of had it out with my dad and now I can’t find her.’

Her eyes lit up. ‘Wow. Brave girl. I like her already.’

‘Me too,’ I gushed. ‘But I’m afraid I screwed it up and that she’s taken off.’

She made a shooing motion. ‘Go. If I see your mother, I’ll say you had a patient you needed to see.’

‘You’re the best! Text me when you’re free. Come to Ivy Falls with your girlfriend. I’d love to meet her. Show you around town.’

‘We will.’ She made that shooing motion again.

I raced out the doors of the club and skidded to a stop in front of the valet. ‘My date. Tall brunette?’

‘The one in the black dress with those hot legs?’

‘Yes,’ I said, biting back my jealousy.

‘She took off in a ride-share fifteen minutes ago.’

I shoved my ticket and a twenty-dollar bill at him. ‘There’s twenty more for you if you have my car here in two minutes.’

He took off at a sprint and I dialed Piper’s number again.

No answer.

Shit. I had a lot of explaining to do and I hoped she’d give me the time to listen.

I knocked twice. Three times.

Panic pressed against the walls of my chest.

What if she wasn’t here? What if she’d gone to her brother’s?

The walk to their house ran through my head. I turned and took two steps before the door slowly opened.

‘What are you doing here?’ There was a tentative edge to Piper’s voice I didn’t like.

‘Why did you take off?’

She pulled the door all the way open. Gone was the sultry black dress. Instead an old T-shirt hung from her shoulders. Worn-out jeans with holes in the knees covered her gorgeous legs. ‘I didn’t think me hanging around was a good idea, considering I yelled at one of the guests of honor.’

‘Can I come in?’

The way she shook her head punched the air from my lungs.

‘Tonight was a lot. You were right about it being exhausting. I should have listened. That crowd… All the alcohol… What I said to your father.’ Her chin quivered.

‘Maybe we should let things end now. You go back to your life and I’ll return to mine. ’

‘No,’ I said on a frenzied breath. ‘Please do not think for a second that I’m upset with you.

That I want this to end. Who I’m really pissed at is me.

I should not have exposed you to any of it.

I should have stood up to my dad.’ I scrubbed a hand over my mouth.

‘Better yet, I shouldn’t have gone at all. ’

‘No. You needed to be there for your brother. He’s a piece of work, but it was clear he did not want to do the toast on his own.’

‘Please give me a minute. I want to explain a few things.’

She worried her luscious bottom lip before she took a step back and let me inside.

I walked to the kitchen island and set my coat down. She hovered a few steps away and all I wanted was to pull her into my arms. Breathe in that coffee and sweet vanilla scent of hers, and let my heart go back to a normal rhythm. But before any of that happened, she deserved the truth.

‘Things are complicated with my parents. My mom, she had a major car accident a year ago and broke most of the bones in her leg. It freaked out Gray to the point where he was calling me every few hours, begging me to come back, but I couldn’t leave because we were down three doctors on the ship at the time.

’ I clasped my fingers together, not wanting to remember the terror in my brother’s voice that day.

‘Over the phone, and through online chats, I stayed in touch with my mom’s doctors.

Made sure she got the best care. When she was out of surgery and recovering, I made a promise to Gray and my parents that after my latest contract was up I’d come home.

That’s why I took the job here in Ivy Falls. ’

‘And the new contract?’ she prompted.

‘When I got back from Africa, I stayed at my parents’ house. It was hell. The constant nitpicking, the judgment, it all reminded me of why I’d left in the first place. I couldn’t get back to my boss on the Humanity of the Seas quick enough to ask for another contract.’

‘Why didn’t you tell them?’

I sank down onto the stool at the counter.

‘I should have, but it’s always the same argument, and I’m tired of having to defend my choices.

’ I tented my hands on the counter, the image of my dad’s red face tonight playing through my head.

‘My father keeps trying to set up interviews at local practices. And tonight, I couldn’t get the words out to tell him, or deal with seeing the disappointment on his face again.

’ A stilted breath slowly filled my lungs.

‘I don’t want to hurt my mom either. She’s not always the kindest person, but in the end she is my mom.

’ I rubbed at my tired eyes. ‘That terrible scene was all on me, and I’m damn sorry you got caught up in it. ’

Her feet padded toward me and when she put her hands on my cheeks, the tension in my jaw went slack. ‘It’s okay.’

I closed my eyes, too ashamed that I hadn’t defended myself.

That she’d been drawn into the ridiculous drama with my parents.

She already had so much going on in her life and here I was dragging her into my own problems. Exposing her to shit that I had no right to.

It was the last thing she needed and I wondered if she regretted making this deal with me.

‘You were incredible tonight, Bird,’ I whispered. ‘Much braver than I could ever be.’

‘Ford, look at me.’

When I finally opened my eyes all I saw was her loving gaze.

It made me want to tell her that I was falling for her.

That every minute she wasn’t with me, I was thinking of holding her hand, winding my fingers through her gorgeous hair.

How when she laughed it sounded like a sweet melody.

The pure bliss I felt when I gazed at her face every morning knowing that waking up beside her was a damn gift.

To me this was much more than a fling. I wanted more time.

More touches. More kisses. But she’d made our deal clear, so instead of confessing how I really felt, I bit the inside of my cheek and let her talk.

‘The reason I spoke up tonight was because I couldn’t listen to your father talk badly about you.

What I said to him was true. You’ve come into this town and earned everyone’s admiration and respect.

There has not been a moment when you’ve hesitated when someone has asked for your help.

Old Mrs V. Silvio and Ferris. Dex. And for me.

’ She pulled in a shaky breath. ‘You’ve taught me to trust myself.

Shown me that I can build a real connection with someone without screwing it up.

’ Her hands moved to cup my jaw. ‘Your time in Ivy Falls has changed all of us. You’ve grown relationships here.

Made friends. That’s a fact none of us will ever forget.

And as far as your parents,’ she huffed, ‘you don’t need their approval.

If they’re too dumb to get out of their own way, to see what an amazing man you are, that’s one thousand percent their fucking fault. ’

She bent down and brushed her lips over mine, her loose hair falling in a dark curtain around us. I tugged her hips closer and deepened the kiss.

The way she spoke like I was already gone sent a crack through my heart.

She’d meant what she said about parting as friends, and the thought of it sent an ache so deep through me that it rattled my bones.

I pushed the pain away and settled into the here and now.

The feel of her soft skin under my hands.

How the pulse of her body thrummed against mine.

This was what I wanted, what I needed right now – her and nothing else.

My hands moved around her waist, tugging at her shirt.

She wrenched it over her head and then went to work on unbuttoning mine.

My pants followed and she reached inside my boxer briefs and cupped my erection.

I smiled into the next kiss she planted on my lips, lifted her up onto my waist and walked straight back into her bedroom.

It didn’t take more than a minute for us to be naked.

She climbed onto my lap, making me forget everything about tonight except for the way she held me, and how I loved it when my name ripped from her lips.