Page 62 of The Forever After Bet

“You don’t need to come back until three.” Bree gives me an evil smile and bats her lashes.

“I can only stay until two fifteen, but I have Jack coming to take over for me,” Ford says as he picks up a handful of flyers.

”What? Why?” Bree whines.

Leah and I stand there waiting for Ford to answer.

“I have to pick my sister up from the airport. She’s been on a business trip.”

“Why can’t your mom do it?” Bree asks.

“She’s in Seattle with my dad for the weekend.”

“Oh.” Bree pouts.

Leah and I take off and leave Ford to deal with Bree. I feel a little hurt that he didn’t even acknowledge me. I wonder if something bad happened. I’ve never known him to be late.

“Hey, what’s up?” Jack asks, walking up to us. “Did Ford make it?”

“Yeah. What’s going on? He was acting weird,” I say.

“His grandpa Ernest fell and broke his arm,” Jack says.

“Oh, my gosh!” Leah exclaims.

“What happened? Is he okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, he was outside, salting a part of the driveway that gets slick as the ice melts. It’s a hairline fracture. Nothing too serious. His grandma said he has to spend a couple of hours at the hospital and get a cast. Gigi called the ambulance when she saw him fall, and Ford met them at the hospital.”

“So, why is he here?” I ask Jack.

“Because of Bree. She’s been blowing up his phone all morning. I’m going to go take over for him. He thinks that when he leaves, Bree will leave. We want to make sure his grandparents’ driveway is clear before they come back home. Ty said he’s picking up June and bringing her over.”

“That’s great. The three of us can handle the booth for the afternoon,” I say.

“Awesome. Ty and I will be back when we’re done to help take everything down and clean up.” Jack nods, and he and Leah take off to relieve Ford so he can return to the hospital.

I pull out my phone and text Ford, asking him to meet me in the auditorium before he leaves.

It’s dark in here except for a few stage lights. I lean against the wall next to the door, waiting for him. He hasn’t texted me back, so I don’t know if he’ll show up. Finally, the door opens, and Ford walks in.

“Hey,“ I say, pushing off the wall. Ford grabs my hand, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms tightly around me. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.” I soothe, running my hands up and down his back.

Ford lets out a breath. “I’m sorry about earlier. All I wanted to do was grab you and hold you, and it was the one thing I couldn’t do.”

“I knew something was wrong. I thought maybe you were mad at me for being there.”

“No. It was a relief to see you. My grandpa is okay, but getting the call from Gigi and then seeing him being lifted out of the ambulance was scary.”

“I’m sure it was.”

Ford lessons his hold and looks at me. “I’m glad Jack found you and that you texted. I didn’t dare text you with Bree around. She watched me like a hawk, and she didn’t hand out a single flyer or talk to anyone. She just watched me while I did everything.”

“That’s creepy.”

“Yeah, it was unnerving.”

“I’m sorry for the ‘I can get a man’ comment. She gets under my skin, and I just react.”

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