band there. Now that Ford and I were on
good terms, it’s possible I agreed to go with her because I knew I
would see him. He had been so nice the last few days that it was
hard to believe I had been intimidated by him before.
It was 5:30, and I had to be at my
mom’s house by 6:00. Hopefully I could have them in bed by 8:00 and
spend a few hours on homework before my mom and Rick came home.
Things never went as planned where my brothers were concerned, but
I could hope.
I called the pizza place and ordered
an extra large cheese pizza, because the little devils never wanted
to eat my cooking. Grabbing my backpack and keys, I left my
apartment for an evening in hell. Right as I opened the door I
squeaked in surprise to find Ford standing there with his fist
raised like he was just about to knock.
With a hand over my racing heart, I
scolded him, “You scared me!”
He put his hand down and looked at the
keys in my hand and my bag over my shoulder. I might have imagined
it, but he seemed disappointed to find me leaving.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.
Um…are you going out?”
“Yeah. Not out, but I have to babysit
my brothers tonight.”
Ford stuck his hands in pockets and
scuffed the floor with the toe of his shoe. “I didn’t know you had
brothers.”
“Unfortunately, I have three.” He was
still standing in my doorway blocking me from leaving. “What are
you doing here? Is Maggie okay?” The thought that he could be here
because something happened to his mom suddenly had me
worried.
“Oh, no. Mom’s fine. It’s my night
off, and Jane’s there. So my mom kicked me out of the house to do
something fun.”
This still didn’t answer the question
as to what he was doing here. Was he coming to do something fun
with me? Damn babysitting!
“My friends, Josh and Grady, are both
busy with their women. I don’t want to go hang out in a bar since I
work in one every other day. So…I thought I’d stop by and see if I
could take you out to dinner. You know, since we’re friends,” he
added quickly.
Thanks for the clarification,
Ford.
“Oh. I would but my mom lined me up to
babysit like three weeks ago. I can’t back out now,” I explained.
Even if we were just going out as friends I was seriously
disappointed to miss out on spending more time with him. Ford was a
puzzle that I was enjoying solving piece by tiny piece.
He had finally moved back a step so I
walked out the door and turned to lock it behind me.
“I could come with you and help out,”
he offered.
I turned to give him an “are you
completely insane” look. Who in their right mind would offer
that?
“You don’t know what you’re saying.
They are awful on a good day,” I said, starting to walk down the
stairs toward my car.
Ford followed me down the stairs.
“Come on, they can’t be that bad. How old are they?”
“Four.”
“Four? They’re all four?” He looked so
darn cute and approachable when he was confused.
I laughed, “Yes, four year old
triplets.”
He took off his hat and ruffled his
fingers through his hair. “Huh. Well, my offer still stands.
Seriously, Poppy, I don’t have anything better to do and my mom
won’t let me back in the house until at least 10:00.”
I rolled my eyes at his less than
flattering suggestion that I was his last resort. “When you put it
that way how can I refuse,” I said sarcastically, trying to step
around him to get to my car.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out to grab
my arm. “That didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was please
can I come with you? I enjoy your company, no matter what we’re
doing.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Fine. But we should drive separately so you can leave when you get
tired of them, which will probably be about twenty minutes after we
get there.”
His hand went to the small of my back
to guide me toward his truck. “No, I’ll drive you. I need more
adventure in my life,” he joked.
“Don’t say I didn’t
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