Sawyer laughed and looked down at his shirt. He’d totally forgotten about it. “Yup… exactly like this.” They both got to their feet, and he took Ford’s hand in his. “I’m sure they’ll love you as much as I do, or almost, anyway.”
They walked towards the elevator hand in hand, and Sawyer checked his pockets and realized he didn’t have the key.
Good thing Nate was there. He wasn’t sure Savanna would bother to open the door for him. She’d probably be happy to have him locked out of the apartment.
The ride on the elevator was quiet, and when they stopped outside the apartment, he squeezed Ford’s hand in his. God, he hoped that Ford didn’t bolt because there were days he’d wanted to, but he was all his siblings had. But that didn’t mean Ford had to stay too.
He knocked on the door, and after a minute, Nate opened it. “Forget something?” He looked between them, then down to their joined hands. “Guess my work here is done.”
Sawyer ignored his friend, the smug asshole, and entered the apartment.
“Good to see the two of you worked it out.” Nate looked at Ford. “For the record, I told him to tell you from the start. Figured if you bolted, you didn’t deserve him. Good to see I was wrong… or right.” Nate shrugged, “Whatever, you get what I mean.”
Ford chuckled and shot him a look. “I will not point out that your friend had more faith in me than you did.”
Sawyer groaned. Yeah, he wasn’t off the hook yet.
Nate grinned at Ford. “I think I’ll like you.”
Ford chuckled. “I think I will like you too. Thanks for getting me over here.” They shook hands, then Nate looked at Sawyer. “I’m going to head out and leave you two alone to your madhouse. I cleaned up the baby, Gavin has clothes on for now but not sure how long that will last, and Savanna, well, yeah… I’m not a miracle worker.”
Sawyer chuckled. “Well, that’s more than I managed. Thanks, man.”
Nate nodded, then left the apartment.
When they walked into the living room, Gavin looked up, his eyes immediately going to Ford. “Who are you?”
Ford turned to Sawyer. “May I?”
Sawyer grinned and nodded, squeezing Ford’s hand that he still hadn't let go of.
“I’m Ford. I’m a friend of… ” He hesitated and looked at Sawyer, and in a low voice, he asked. “What do they call you?”
“He’s my friend,” Sawyer finished answering for him. He then laughed. “And I’ll introduce you to these two.” He walked over to the youngest, taking Ford with him, then dropped his hand and lifted his brother. “This little munchkin is Callum. He’s twenty-two-months old and has been known to put anything and everything in his mouth.”
Ford chuckled and waved at Callum.
Gavin came up beside him, and Sawyer placed his free hand on his brother’s shoulder. “This here is Gavin. He’s ten, and he’s my bud. Isn’t that right?”
Gavin nodded. “Yep!”
“Savanna is in her room. I’ll introduce you to her. Hopefully she’ll open the door.” Sawyer turned around and that’s when he saw Savanna at the edge of the room.
Sawyer debated what to do. Did he ignore her and let her come to them, or was that cats?
“Hey.”
“Savie,” Gavin said. “Come meet Sawyer’s friend. His name is Ford, like the car.”
Ford’s eyes danced with amusement. “Yup, like the car.”
Savanna nodded, but didn’t say a word. He thought about telling her to say hi to Ford, but she was out here with them, so it was a start.
“I’m hungry, is there still food?” She looked in the direction of the kitchen, then back at him.
He smiled and nodded. “If you have a seat at the table, I’ll get you a plate.” She shrugged and headed towards the dining area and grabbed a placemat and coaster from the sideboard. When she put it on the hardwood table, she shot him a look that said, ‘Happy?’
When she was finally seated, she looked to Ford, then back at Sawyer, then at Ford again. He watched her closely all the while bargaining with a God he hadn’t prayed to since he was a kid. Sawyer wasn’t sure what Savie would say or how she would react.
Ford walked over to her and held his hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Savanna. I’m Ford.”
Sawyer moved to intercept them. She was out here with the rest of them, and he hoped it would be their turning point, so he didn’t want Ford to scare her off.
Savanna studied Ford for a moment. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but then she held her hand out. “Savanna.”
Sawyer stayed put, his eyes ping-ponging from one to the other.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Savanna. If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”
Sawyer watched his sister, waiting for Savanna to tell Ford to mind his business or leave her alone, then run back into her bedroom. He just waited for it. Instead, she responded. “Fifteen, how old are you?”
Ford snorted, “Twenty-three.”
“Okay,” she shrugged and looked down at her phone.
Sawyer stared at Ford. How had he just done that? That was the most civil Savanna had been since the kids moved in.
Ford smiled and shrugged like he could read his mind.
Sawyer shook his head. He should have trusted Ford. The man was special; he’d already known that. It was like that moment when your spotter took the weights off your chest at the gym and you weren’t choking anymore. The fog had now cleared from his vision.
Everything would be okay. Right?
Sawyer had formed something of a ritual when getting the younger kids to bed, and Ford watched him, then jumped in to help without needing to be asked. Sawyer had found the bathroom tidied following Callum’s bath after he’d gotten Cal his sippy cup of milk. He usually took that time to tidy in there since the little guy preferred drinking it on his own.
Even though Sawyer wanted to spend the night just talking to
