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"Like you signed a lease?"
"A short-term one."
"How short-term?"
"Three months."
Ford looked relieved, maybe even happy. Knox wasn’t sure if his brother’s mood shift was due to himnotstaying at his house or that he’d be in town for a few months. He figured it was probably the first, but he told himself that his brother was happy that he was going to be around for the summer.
Knox heard the slider behind him and knew without even glancing over his shoulder that Chrissy had walked out on the deck. He knew because of the look on his whipped brother’s face. He was clearly a man who was ready to put a ring on it.
Chrissy wasn’t rocking his mom’s solitaire diamond yet, but Knox knew it was just a matter of time before his brother stuck it on her finger. If it was up to Ford, Knox was sure his brother would drag her to the courthouse first thing Monday morning to make it official, but he doubted Chrissy would want to move that fast.
"Here are some more burgers." Chrissy stepped beside Knox, holding a platter of uncooked patties.
Ford took the plate from her and leaned forward for a kiss. It was strange to see his brother being affectionate. The only woman he’d ever seen Ford with was his first wife, Tish. The two weren’t lovey-dovey, which made sense considering they weren’t a couple before they got married. They’d hooked up one night, and then she showed up and told him she was pregnant. Ford dropped out of college and joined the military so that Tish and the twins would be taken care of with housing and medical insurance.
If he had to guess, he’d say his brother never loved Tish. But from what Knox had witnessed in the short time he’d been in town, Ford was head over heels in love with Chrissy.
"So, how are you adjusting to civilian life?" Chrissy asked as she blew a stray hair off her forehead and turned her attention to Knox.
"It’s great. I have no one to answer to. No responsibilities. No commitments, just possibilities."
As much as Knox had loved and been honored to be a part of one of the country’s most elite special forces, he was glad that he was not contractually obligated to report to anyone. Last night, when Laura asked him what his longest relationship was, he hadn’t been joking when he said twenty years. Knox truly believed that the time he’d served in the Navy had been like a marriage. He’d dedicated his life to service, and the men and women he’d served with were as much family to him as Ford, Sebastian, and Keaton were.
"Mmm, possibilities," she repeated as a small grin tugged at her lips. "How was your dance with Laura?"
"He got shot down." Ford chose this time to chime in.
His older brother had always found joy in Knox being taken down a peg or two. Especially if it was a woman doing the taking down. Not that it happened that often. There was only one other time that Knox could remember being rejected by the opposite sex.
It happened when he was fourteen. The first week of freshman year, Knox took a chance and shot his shot with Kailey Mitchell, the hottest girl at West High who also happened to be a senior, the head cheerleader, and dating the captain of the football team.
Being bold had never been an issue for Knox, so on the third day of high school, he saw Kailey walking across the quad, and he walked up to her and asked her out in front of the rest of the cheerleading squad. She told him he was cute but too young for her, then she kissed him on the cheek.
Word of his rejection quickly made its way around the school and somehow even to his brother, who was in college at that point. He got home from school that day and got a call from Ford giving him a hard time about him getting shot down.
What his brother, and the entire school, never knew was that by Homecoming a month later, Kailey had started sneaking into Knox’s bedroom, and they’d hooked up the entire year until she left to go to college in Texas.
So even that rejection hadn’t stuck. Just like he hoped this one wouldn’t either. And the only way that would happen was if Knox stuck around Whisper Lake.
The next half hour was filled with a slew of activities. Knox watched as his brother talked to Connor about baseball. He helped Chrissy’s youngest daughters adjust their bike seats, and he even filmed a TikTok with Chrissy’s teenage daughter.
Knox knew yesterday that Chrissy was the right person for Ford, but after seeing his brother interact in this casual environment with her and her kids, he was even more certain than ever. Ford fit right in with the family. They loved him, and he clearly loved them.
"Did you get enough to eat?" Chrissy asked as she lowered herself onto the deck beside him.
"I did. It was great. Thank you."
He glanced beside him and saw Chrissy watching his brother the same way he’d just been. She said with an exhale, "He’s pretty amazing."
"He’s a’ight," Knox teased.
She smiled and turned toward Knox. "Listen, I’m not sure what happened between you and Laura, but I just want you to know that I know Laura seems tough, and she is. I’ve always admired her for her single-minded focus and determination. She gets knocked down and gets right back up. She’s smart, ambitious, knows exactly what she wants, and won’t settle for anything less. But I think there’s a lot more to her than just that. I think that if someone was able to get past her defenses, they would find a much softer side to her. That there’s more to her than she lets people see."
"You sound like you’re talking from experience."
"I used to be...different. At least to the outside world. I was a perfectionist and sort of kept people at arm’s length. I think a lot of peoplethoughtthey knew me, but they didn’t."
