AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nice.” He should have felt relief. She was married or in a relationship, which was a good thing, he told himself. Weirdly, it pissed him off instead.
Chapter4
His name was Ford. She’d thought about that night and him constantly since he’d looked after her. A random act of kindness from a stranger Autumn had thought she’d never see again.
She didn’t remember much, but she did remember being held against his warm, solid chest when she’d fallen into him after he’d opened the door. That plus his arms holding her as he walked to her room.
When she’d woken the following morning, her head dusty and eyes scratchy, she’d remembered the man who had helped her. His gentle hands and the deep rumble of his voice as he’d talked to her. Of all the places he could have lived, it was here, where she’d moved to build a new life for herself and Ritchie.
She shot him a quick look. He was smiling at someone and not looking her way, which suited Autumn just fine. Ford Winter was hot. Smoking hot.
His hair was thick and dark. Broad shoulders, a face that told her he spent plenty of time in the sun. Deep brown eyes and a really nice mouth, which she shouldn’t be noticing. Jeans and a long-sleeved white button-down shirt, which he’d rolled up at the sleeves. He was one of those effortlessly handsome guys Autumn stayed away from because they usually went through women far too easily. Which wasn’t fair—he’d already proven he was a good guy.
Get it together, Autumn.
“How old is your son?”
He’d turned to face her. His eyes weren’t friendly now; they were narrowed, and he looked pissed about something. She wondered who’d said something to annoy him.
“Ritchie is five.”
“More drinks.” Joe arrived with a tray. “How about these two?” He looked from Ford to Autumn. “Who’d have thought our Ford was such a hero.”
“What about them?” Maggie demanded. “Why is he a hero?” She was shooting looks between him and Autumn.
“Of course he’s a hero. A man with his manners is bound to have saved a woman or two at some time,” Miss Marla said, reaching across Autumn to pat Ford’s large hand.
“I have manners,” Joe said.
“I know you do, dear.” Miss Marla smiled at him too, so he kissed her cheek.
This town was a weird, amazing, wonderful place to live. She’d only been here a month but knew many of the locals. They’d made her and Ritchie feel as if they belonged, as if they were part of the community that was Ryker Falls. She felt happy and safe for the first time in years.
Autumn didn’t usually collect people. She had her school friend Jasmine, but there was really no one else other than her grandparents. She wasn’t exactly comfortable around people over four feet tall. Her “resting bitch face,” as her ex had called it, scared people away. Autumn called it her BS shield.
The Robbins sisters had adopted Autumn and Ritchie from the first day they’d arrived in town. They’d turned up on the doorstep of her rental property with food and smiles, said they’d heard she and Ritchie were coming, and welcomed them to Ryker Falls.
The welcome had been humbling and put a lot of her doubts about moving away from her grandparents to rest.
“He saved her one night in a hotel,” Joe said, drawing her back to the conversation going on around her.
Autumn’s eyes shot to Ford, who was looking even more annoyed now.
“I didn’t save her. You make it sound like I slew a dragon or something.”
“Close,” Joe Trainer said.
“When was this?” Nash asked.
The Robbins sisters had filled her in on all the locals, so after meeting Maggie one day in Tea Total, their shop, she’d learned the woman had two brothers. Nash and Ford. She hadn’t known Ford, the oldest, was her guardian angel.
“When I went to Rummer for that conference when Dad couldn’t go.”
“And what happened?” Maggie demanded.
“It was no big deal.” Ford shrugged.
“And still I’m none the wiser,” Maggie stated loudly.
