Page 8 of Fern's Date with Destiny
“But you’d look dashing.There is that.”
Cody rolled his eyes, the easy banter pulling him halfway back to calm.“Take better care of yourself.”
“I intend to.And of Rose.”
Cody followed Chance’s line of sight, and there she was, Rose Fields, the reason Chance had painted like a man possessed.Beside her, her sister Tansy.The tight-knit love of family clear in their body language.
Cody’s chest tightened before his mind caught up.Family,his brain repeated helpfully, even as another name—Fern—threaded through every thought and sent a low hum under his ribs.
His brother caught him drifting, so Cody raised his head sharply.He tilted it to indicate Rose.“You two are well suited.Don’t fuck this up.”
“You can’t mess up destiny,” Chance said.
The drop of the worddestinyhit hard.
“That’s what I said.”
Fern.He hadn’t even seen her slip around the corner.Now she stood there, bright as a star, so effortlessly herself that the floor shifted under his polished shoes.
“Right, Cody?”
He nearly tripped over empty air, scrambling to plant his boots before he made a complete fool of himself.Steady, cowboy.You agreed.Friends.She asked for space.She deserves your word to mean something.
“Fern.”He offered a quick chin dip.
She cocked her head, mischief dancing in her eyes as she examined his suit.“That’s a good look on you.But so’s your cowboy gear.”
Heat crawled up the back of his neck.He opened his mouth.Shut it.Opened it again.Say something normal.Something smart.Or just—go.Before you step over there and kiss her silly.
He coughed, focused on Chance instead.“I’m going downstairs to take another peek at the show.Great job.Catch up with you tomorrow.Fern, we’ll see you ’round.”
It was the best he could do.Run before he forgot how.
He pivoted fast enough to dodge Rose and Tansy’s curious eyes, boots hitting the polished floor with more force than grace.
Don’t turn back,he ordered himself.Let her laugh.Let her tease you about fate.You’ll keep your word.Friends.Nothing more, yet.But someday…
Behind him, Fern’s voice chased him down the stairs, smug and sweet and sure of things he wasn’t ready to claim.“Cody?Running from fate.Skipping out on destiny.Something like that.”
Cody nearly laughed out loud, totally amused at their inside joke.Yeah, sweetheart.Something like that.
For now, he let himself hope destiny wouldn’t wait too long.
3
September, one year later…
Cody 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.
