His lips curved at the memory they invoked. Both he and Ford had gone into town together and ran into Melissa, her mom, and a brand new puppy. Ford had worked part-time at the family-owned grocery store managed by Melissa’s dad and was good friends with them. This, of course, had been before college, and then he’d gone back again part-time afterward until he’d been hired to work for Sawyer. Ford being Ford took time to talk with the mother-daughter duo, and, of course, he had to pet the puppy, so he'd taken his gloves off and handed them to Sawyer.
He’d tried giving them back to Ford, but he’d looked up at Sawyer and told him that he preferred holding hands when he could feel their skin touching.
His lips curved at the memory, and he stuffed the gloves back in his pocket.
When he looked up, it was to find the driver already waiting on the sidewalk with his luggage. Sawyer pulled his wallet out and got a twenty for the man.
“Thank you,” Sawyer said as he took his luggage from the driver and handed him his tip.
“Anytime, sir. Have a good flight." The man’s smile was wide as he pocketed his tip.
Hearing the driver refer to him as “sir” made him realize how different life was in a small town, how much more open and friendly people could be, speaking to each other on a first name basis. Sawyer shook his head at the thought. It would never have occurred to him a month ago back in New York City.
The airport was packed with numerous other guests flying out of Colorado. He could hear several languages being spoken as he walked up to the desk to check in his luggage, and he steeled his will to re-enter this fast-paced world after the dream he’d been living.
Amber Falls was no Vail or Aspen—not yet—but it could be. It wouldn’t take much to make it one of those destinations people clamored to get reservations for. Still, he would do everything in his power to make sure that Amber Falls never lost its charm or appeal. It was that ambiance that made the place so desirable. The irony didn’t escape Sawyer since he'd complained a lot to Mark about all the hoops he'd had to jump through to get the resort renovations and all the other add-ons approved.
He didn’t want to drive the people of Amber Falls out because the cost of living became too high. Sawyer knew in Aspen, most of the people that worked there had to commute from down valley because housing in town was out-of-this-world in price, and rental units were nearly non-existent. It had become too exclusive and not for the average person anymore.
Sawyer finally got it. They were a community there, and somehow, he had been accepted and become a part of it, all because of Ford. He would do anything to preserve it. The plan he had for Amber Falls was a small town that happened to have a ski-resort. He wanted to help the town grow, but he refused to allow it to become another high-end vacation destination only for the elite.
“How was your stay?” The woman batted her long lashes at him. He noted her heart-shaped face and pouty lips, and unlike before where he might have flirted, he gave her a polite smile and said, "Fine, thank you," even though his brain screamed, Couldn’t have gone better.
When he didn’t respond to her obvious signals, she stopped her flirtations toward him and went ahead with completing his check-in, handing him his boarding pass and telling him what gate he was at. Sawyer thanked her before making his way over to security.
The whole song and dance of dealing with the TSA ate up some time. He felt like every inch of his body was scanned and scrutinized before he was finally able to pass. Sawyer worried it would put him over, but he checked his phone and sighed in relief.
He still had thirty minutes until they would announce boarding on the flight, so he wandered over to the magazine stand and leafed through a few of them. He grabbed one titled Colorado Tourism—he was about to be a part of it, so he might as well keep up with what was going on. He paid and returned to his gate. Sawyer was about to open the magazine but realized he had a text to send.
Sawyer: Checked in. Waiting to board. Miss You.
The reply was almost instant, telling him that Ford had been waiting for his message. Since he’d started dating, he didn’t think there was a time he’d ever checked in with a lover. Maybe his assistant to make sure there was a car waiting when he arrived, but there’d never been anyone serious enough to… that cared… Sawyer had never had a reason.
Ford: Miss you too. Make sure you call when you arrive. Love you.
His lips curved at those two words. He would never get tired of hearing, or in this case, reading them.
Sawyer: I will. Check out Colorado Tourism Mag and also see what other print and online publications we will need. Love you too.
Ford: On it. Have an idea about that actually. But gotta check some stuff out first.
Of course he did. Ford’s knowledge of Amber Falls and his insights had been invaluable to him.
Sawyer: I trust you.
Ford: You say the nicest things. Call me later. GTG. :)
Sawyer sent a smiley face, a heart and heart-eyes emoji, and shook his head at himself. He was communicating in emojis like a teenager instead of a thirty-four-year-old man.
Ford brought that out in him.
Even though the resort had been fulfilling a childhood dream, it was an excellent investment, and he loved that one dream coming true had led him to a dream he hadn't even known he wanted. Ford. Home.
It was a thousand times better that he was doing this with Ford by his side.
Sawyer found
