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Whoa! Where the hell had that come from?
“I may just stay out of Ryker Falls then.”
“Probably the only way you won’t get the interference, but to be honest, we all know where you live.”
Ford went for a subject change. “These shirts though, man.”
Dylan was dressed like him in shorts and a pale blue T-shirt Mr. Goldhirsh had handed out to all the players. It hadTeam Ryker Fallsin bold lettering on the front. The back saidExercise + You = Healthy Mind and Body.
“Right.” Dylan looked down at his. “That man never misses an opportunity.”
“He made me go to the night school class for meditation and yoga. I mean, no one can make me do anything besides my mom.”
“He should have been a negotiator for the FBI. The man can make anyone do anything. I saw him once coerce Ted, who works out in his gym but doesn’t do much else, to accompany him on a two-day hike. Ted likes the finer things in life, like his bed and room service. He doesn’t like roughing it. We’re still not sure how Mr. Goldhirsh managed it.”
“Did Ted enjoy it?”
“No. But he said the conversation made up for it.”
“Mr. Goldhirsh is certainly a master manipulator,” Ford said.
“He’s good.”
“He really is.”
They walked a little farther with Grace asking a few questions about random things, which he or Dylan answered. If anyone had said to him a month ago he’d be walking along, holding a little girl’s hand, and doing it in another town, he’d have laughed. Ford hardly ever left the ranch unless he needed supplies or to see his siblings. Yet lately that had changed.
It was his siblings, yes, but it was also her. Autumn with the sweet face and killer body. Autumn, who giggled and had a quiet way about her unless she needed to go full-on mama bear. Then she was that and more.
“I like her… Autumn. I think it takes a strong woman to leave your support network and travel the distance she did to work and live in an entirely new town with people you don’t know,” Dylan said.
Ford grunted something and hoped that was that.
“So about the voices last night. You want to talk about them yet? And the bruises?”
“Nash had a bloody nose, Daddy. I kissed it better,” Grace said.
“Did he now? That’s interesting.”
“No, it’s not, and I’m not talking.”
Dylan snorted. “I’m probably your best bet though. That lot can’t keep their mouths shut, my wife included.”
“No offense, Dylan, but I’m not someone who likes to open a vein and bleed out.”
“Is the vein in question the one that relates to a certain cute schoolteacher?”
“Are you allowed to say she’s cute?”
“I’m married to the hottest woman in Ryker Falls, bud.”
Ford would refute that but grunted instead.
“Okay, so no talking. I’ll just give you my wisdom instead.”
“Can I stop you?”
“I was an uptight, screwed-up, emotionless wreck when I arrived in Ryker Falls. I nearly lost Pip through my own stupidity and inability to see she was good for me and understood me. I was of the belief I knew what was best. Luckily a few of the people who are now permanent fixtures in my life pointed out the error of my ways.”
