“Oh yes. He’s perfectly fine,” she said. “I was just seeing if you would be home for dinner. I’m making meatloaf.”
Ford scrubbed a hand down his face and rolled his eyes, even as a smile tugged at his lips. “Yes, Mother, I’ll be home for dinner. Actually, I should be home early today since I’ll be leaving here in a bit.”
He hadn’t left before eight the last few nights, but since they were getting back on track tomorrow, he could start heading home at a decent time.
“Okay, honey. See you soon”
Ford hung up, shaking his head… would his mother ever stop treating him like a child?
“Maybe if you got your own place,” he muttered to himself.
When he turned around, it was to find Owen’s eyes on him, and his friend seemed to be holding back his laughter.
Okay, so they’d heard his conversation. Ford held up his hand as if to say, “Say one word, and I’ll kill you.”
“How does everything look?” Ford walked over to meet the brothers.
Drake’s eyes shone, enthusiasm pouring off him. “I think it looks great. We can have a crew here tomorrow morning.”
“Fantastic.” Ford clapped his hands grinning. “I guess if that is all, I’ll walk you out.”
Owen shook his head. “You don’t have to do that, Ford. We know the way.”
“Trust me, I’ve been sitting here going over documents, researching people for some of the positions, and I need to stretch my legs.” He took a second to grab his coat, then followed behind Owen and Drake.
As they filed out of the office, Drake spoke. “I want to thank you for thinking of me for this project.” Drake stopped and turned, and Ford nearly ran into him. “You have no idea what it means to me. Not just because I am grateful to have a job so soon after returning home, but also for being part of something that will change Amber Falls.”
Ford’s lips curved. Okay, so it wasn’t a requirement for the contractor to be passionate about this project, but it was definitely a bonus.
“Trust me, I am very happy to be working with someone that gets it, so I should be thanking you. I probably would have still been scrambling to find someone that…” Ford didn’t want to call Larry an asshole, but that was what his former contractor had been.
“Meshes well?” Owen supplied.
Ford nodded, smiling gratefully at his friend. “That works. Anyway, if it wasn’t for you and your team coming in to save the day, we’d still be on pause. I hope it hasn’t been a hassle to hire guys.”
“Not at all. I had contacts, and they’re all looking forward to getting started.” Drake reassured him.
“Okay, you’re thankful,” Owen interrupted and pointed at his brother. “Ford is thankful. Can we get moving?”
He and Drake snorted, and they exited the trailer.
“Impatient much?” he teased Owen. Ford slung his arm around his friend’s neck.
“Didn’t you say the kids were going over to their friend’s house, and Dean was picking them up after work?” Drake asked his brother. “So you can stay out a little longer.”
Ford could tell there was a conversation he was missing out on, but before he could ask, Owen began speaking.
“I did, but,” Owen looked away and gasped. “Oh my.”
“Nice try, changing the subject,” Drake said.
Ford’s looked to where his friend was staring, and his jaw dropped when he saw what was on the sign advertising the opening of the resort. He just stared at it.
“Who would… Who did that?” Owen’s face contorted, showing both disbelief and horror at whatever had captured his attention.
“Fuck you, fa—” Drake stopped short of reading the last word in shock. It was painted in bright letters on the sign. Drake asked, “Who would have done that?”
Ford had a pretty good idea. His heart sank into his stomach. Larry had apparently decided to be a thorn in his side. If he reported it, it would be yet another setback.
Could he just get a new sign announcing the opening and ignore that one?
He looked over to Drake and found the man staring hard at the sign, his hands fisted.
God, would the man quit because of the drama?
“I’m sorry. I hope this doesn’t make you want to run away from this job. It’s just the old contractor being a nuisance... I’ll get that taken care of.”
Drake turned to Ford. “Don’t even worry about it. And if you want, I can take the sign down, clean it up, and have it back tomorrow.”
“Really? That would be awesome.” Ford pressed a palm against his stomach as he looked up. “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t even mention it.” Drake went to the bed of his truck and grabbed a toolbox, then headed towards the sign.
Owen’s arms went around his waist. “Trust me, Drake’s guys won’t care. It’ll just make them want to do an even better job on this.”
Ford hoped so. Fuck, he wished Sawyer was there with him, sharing this too. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to be in charge after all.
He just wanted his boyfriend back.
Sawyer
Six days earlier…
Sawyer had gotten very little sleep the night before, and as he pulled up the street to the address the social worker had given him, the anxiety began to increase, causing him to squeeze the steering wheel harder to keep his hands from shaking.
The neighborhood was middle class, and when his GPS sang out, “Your destination is on the right,” he slowly guided his SUV to the curb and parked, blowing out a breath before looking through the passenger window. The house was an unremarkable saltbox style home with a small, manicured front lawn, but no indication that there were any children who lived here.
“Is this supposed to be what a foster home looks like?” he mumbled to himself.
Sweeping his eyes over to the covered porch in the middle of the front of the house, he saw a woman holding a small bundle, and one child gripping her
