Page 35 of Fern's Date with Destiny
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 knownthe 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.
Itthunkedhome, 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.”
