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These are the people who give him hell every time he comes to this town and said they would rather run out of their Xanax prescription in the middle of a Prada sample sale than ever step foot in Harvest Grove.
Literally. The one time Ford spoke more than a short, clipped sentence about them was to repeat what his mother said to him before he left that year. Those were her exact words.
I know he comes from money. Obviously. The man bought me a fucking house that was definitely not cheap. I’ve looked it up online ten thousand times over the years, hoping the number would change to something I could afford. Like, free.
He’s always referred to them as selfish and stuck up. No grasp of how the real world works. I’ve always had the fear that he never included me in his life outside Harvest Grove because he was embarrassed by small-town, Halloween-obsessed me. Him ghosting me in bed the morning after the first time we have mind-blowing sex, multiple times, makes all those worries from the last six years come flooding back.
Just like always, he’s keeping me apart from the rest of his life for some reason. The rest of his life has actually shown up in mine this morning, and he’s still not letting me be a part of it.
My hands press against my stomach trying to calm the nerves and worry, but it doesn’t work. I try to bring his voice into my head, promising me he won’t hurt me, but my family won’t shut up and let me think.
“Just so you know, the background check we did on him six years ago was a little more thorough than we told you. We’ve got info going all the way back to his second-grade teacher,” Penny admits.
“Mrs. Claymore was a smart dresser for that time.” Ginger nods.
“She really was. Anyway, you need to know that—”
“Stop!” I shout, holding my hands up in the air. “Don’t you dare say another word. Enough people have been spilling mine and Ford’s secrets the last few days that I want to scream. I don’t care what you know. I don’t care what the rest of that background check said, and we’re going to have a serious discussion later about invading someone’s privacy. I’m sure there’s a good reason why he left this morning and hasn’t told me his family is in town.”
Don’t you dare cry right now, Sidney. Don’t you dare! He wouldn’t hurt you, remember?
“When Ford is ready to tell me, he’ll tell me. I’m not going to jump to conclusions. I’m going to sit down, finish this coffee, and wait for him to come tell me what’s going on.”
Right? You’re not going to jump to any conclusions, are you, Sidney?
I prove that I’m not by grabbing my coffee, sitting down at my table, and taking a nice, calm sip, even though my heart feels like it’s in my throat right now and my stupid eyes are stinging with tears. I ask about his family every year. I know his parents throw a huge, elaborate anniversary party every year at some fancy hotel in Portland. I know his mother is obsessed with Chanel, and his father bought a boat he namedCash Cow—which he refuses to step foot on because he can’t swim—just so he can tell people he owns a boat. I know they spend Christmas in Paris. I know his older brother’s name is Finch, and he doesn’t speak to him for some reason. I might not know everything, but I know enough. I know who these people are. HeknowsI know who they are, and he doesn’t want me to meet them.
Why hasn’t he told me his family is here?
“He fucked around, and now he’s gonna find out.” Penny nods, sliding back her chair and standing up, as all the other Care Bears around me do the same. “Ginger, get the rope and the torches.”
Oh shit….
Chapter 19
Ford
“What, too soon?”
“There’s no winecellar down here. Honey! Tell Ford there’s no wine cellar down here,” my father shouts from the top of the basement steps.
“Ford, your father says there’s no wine cellar,” my mother states as she walks by me at a clipped pace, pulling open a door in the kitchen that will be the pantry once the shelving is installed. “Where… where is your maid supposed to sleep?”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, dropping my head into my hands with my elbows resting on the kitchen island.
The kitchen island where just last night my dreams came true.
Why in the hell did I leave Sidney in bed this morning to deal with this shit? If I ignored them, they would have gone back to Oregon eventually.
Being woken up at six this morning with Sidney’s soft, warm, naked body pressed up against me and her legs tangled with mine made me extra pissed off when I had to roll away from her and answer the phone. Without even opening my eyes, I growled into it, “Stop fucking calling, Marcus. I’m not giving you any details about my sex life.”
Hearing my mother immediately say my name on the other end of the call woke me right the hell up. Talk about awkward.
“They don’t like to be called maids anymore, Mom,” my brother Finch says from the living room, making me lift my head and blink a few times, still in shock to see him standing there.
Seriously, why did I leave Sidney forthis?
I haven’t seen this man in six years. I thought I’d finally gotten over my need to punch him in the face the next time I had to be in the same room with him, but watching him flick one of the leaves on the garland on the mantle and then snort at it makes my hands clench into fists.
