“I’m not telling you that. Believe me, I don’t like this whole situation any more than you do. Babe, I know you’re angry. I am, too, believe me. But it won’t do us any good to let it ruin our lives in the meantime. He’ll go in front of a judge, and they’ll deal with it. Let’s—”
Ford shot up from the couch, silencing Sawyer before he could finish. “I swear to god, if you say ‘let’s not worry’ or something equally ridiculous one more time, I will lose my shit.” He shrugged. “I don’t believe it. I’m sorry. What’s to stop him from doing anything between now and the time he has to appear in court?”
Ford wasn’t sure why he was yelling at Sawyer. He could tell Sawyer was as pissed as he was but trying to keep it together for his sake. However, Ford was tired and sore, and he was sick of worrying about what was around the corner.
Couldn’t everyone just leave them alone? Was it fuck with Sawyer and Ford season?
“I’m sorry, Ford. I wish I had more answers.” Sawyer reached out, took his hand, and pulled him down into his lap. Ford drew in a long breath, his eyes shifting back to Sawyer’s. “I love you, Ford. Please, babe, don’t let this fester and eat you up inside. We will get through this, together. I know we will.”
Ford slowly nodded. “I love you too.” They shared a brief kiss before Sawyer cleared his throat.
“We have a busy day tomorrow.” Sawyer let out a groan. “I forgot to tell you that I got an email from the Historical Society this morning. I called them before breakfast and made an appointment for us to go in and talk to them, then all hell broke loose over Larry, and I never got a chance to let you know.”
Ford pulled back, brows furrowed. “What for?” He slid off Sawyer’s lap so he was on the couch and they could talk face to face.
“It seems when they were draining the water caused by the damaged pipes, an old foundation was uncovered, and they had to call and notify the Historical Society since the property is close to other prominent markers. So, we have to meet with them just to verify what the foundation was a part of and that it’s not something of greater historical importance to Amber Falls.”
Ford’s eyes widened, and Sawyer quickly went on. “It’s only for verification purposes. There’s no reason to believe the foundation is some great find, but we have to be sure before we continue with the building process.”
He tried to process the information, unsure what it all meant. Historical? Really?
“So… if it comes back that it’s part of some historical landmark, what happens?”
“They’ll halt the construction, and if anyone wants to fight it and designate this part of the property as historical and in need of preservation, well, we could be forced to remove everything that has been erected so far or shut down entirely.”
“Shut down!” Ford’s brain was going to explode.
“Babe, I doubt it will come to that. Again, this is only us taking precautionary steps. I doubt there’s a problem or we would have found out ages ago. I really think we’ll be fine. Just, please, don’t worry about it.”
Ford nodded, but all he could think about now was how they would have another delay with the construction. His brain blocked out the shutdown part.
Why was Sawyer so calm?
The next morning, Ford and Sawyer waited for the bus to arrive to take Gavin and Savanna to school. They weren’t sure about letting them go, but the kids insisted that they were okay and didn’t want to miss any more days. Sawyer agreed since he wanted to resume normal activity as if the previous night’s events never happened. That way, the kids would keep to their schedules. They’d had gone through enough upheaval as it was.
“Have a good day at school,” Sawyer said, and they took turns hugging the two older kids, then watched them get on the bus.
The kids looked over their shoulders and waved at them, and Ford’s gut twisted because he knew they were worried about everything that happened, but Sawyer smiled and waved while mumbling a quick prayer, hoping Gav and Savie moved on from fear about the attacker and just had a good day.
“Let’s get Callum to my mom’s,” Ford said. They walked back into the house to finish getting ready, grab the car keys, and lock up.
“Oh, by the way.” Sawyer started. “I might get my car back today. I need to remember to call them after lunch. It'll be nice to have another car in the family.”
Ford smiled. His blood still boiled when he thought about Larry and how he had smashed up Sawyer’s car. And knowing he was still out there… it all just irked him. But the worst part of it was that it made him feel powerless, feeling like he couldn’t do anything about it was the worst part.
“What are you thinking?” Sawyer asked as they got into Ford’s car.
“I’m thinking about how Larry has taken too much from us, and now we have to go and make sure that your dream isn’t going to have to be given up totally. That’s fucked up. Everything is just…” he sighed, “it’s a lot.”
He looked to the back seat where Callum kept singing rain rain go away to himself while looking out the window, oblivious to them talking. They’d played the song to him a lot, and he guessed it had stuck. Although he wasn’t quite getting all the words, Ford knew he would with time.
“Babe, don’t stress. We’ve got this.” Sawyer reached across the seat and touched Ford’s knee. Ford wanted to believe the same, but his mind was taking him all over the place, and most of those thoughts weren’t good.
They pulled
