Page 12 of Fern's Date with Destiny
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.“Weknow 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 wastheirs,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.
4
Fern hurried down the stairs and slid into the front foyer three minutes before Cody was supposed to arrive.Partly because she’d taken longer to get ready than expected, changing outfits more times than she should have, and partly to avoid meeting one of her parents.
She and Cody had said they wouldn’t lie to direct questions about what they were doing, but keeping her mouth shut would be the simplest way to keep thingshush hushfor at least a week.
She shoved her feet into her boots, pulled her coat off the rack?—
“You’re up early on your day off.”Sophie stood in the archway leading to the family room, hands wrapped around a mug of tea.
“Off for an adventure,” Fern tossed out.Generic, yet reason enough to excuse her odd behaviour.
“Nice,” her mom said.She stepped to the window beside the door and peered out.“That’s Cody’s truck.”
“Yup.”Fern slipped her coat on and reached for the doorknob.
Her mom beat her to it, swinging the door open and offering a kiss goodbye.“Say hello to Chance and Rose from me.”Sophie waved at the truck.
“Okay.”Fern scurried away so fast she was all the way down the sidewalk before Cody could make it around the truck to open the passenger door for her.
He waved back at the house as she crawled in then returned to the driver’s seat before eyeing her cautiously.“Is our secret gone that quickly?”
“No.”Fern let the wave of shock pass by before amusement snuck in.She turned to face Cody.“Mom saw you and assumed we were meeting up with Rose and Chance.”
“Sweet.”Cody put the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb.“Let’s not hang around and wait for your dad to come out with something for us to deliver to one of them.”
