“I’m sure you’ll make it happen. You always did have a one-track mind and could tackle any problem that came up.”
Sawyer listened to the conversation and smiled. That was Ford. He remembered everything people told him, and he genuinely cared.
Gracie turned around, and he followed her gaze. Apparently she was being called from the kitchen.
She turned back and faced them. “So, what would you guys like?”
“I’ll have a burger, please, with sweet potato fries,” Ford said, then asked, “Is Ginger around?” Ginger was the owner of the dinner and she was the adopted mother of anyone younger than her. Yeah apparently he’d started remembering everything he was told to. That was life in Amber Falls.
Gracie shook her head. “Not today.”
Sawyer continued to look down at his menu before finally settling on a BLT with a side of fries. He rattled off his order and handed the menus to the waitress.
“Thank you, Gracie,” Ford said as Grace took the menus and left their table.
“Now…where were we?” Ford asked once again, reaching out and touching Sawyer’s hand. Sawyer grinned and took Ford’s hands. It was just good to take a moment and be them, on a date… just them, in love. They kind of passed go without collecting two hundred.
“How are you doing with everything?” Ford had that concerned look again. “I feel like you’ve not taken a moment, your dad… losing him.”
Sawyer leaned back. “Nope, we are not going there, not even a little.”
Ford leaned forward and took his hand again. “You know I’m not going to rush you, but, babe, you can’t avoid it forever. You know that, right?”
“Are we going back to the office after this, or just heading back to the house?” Sawyer asked, his changing of the subject none-too-subtle.
“Got it, babe.” Ford grinned. “I have to look over the budget and do the portfolio for the month. I also need to pick out a designer from the list your people in New York forwarded since I’m not having any luck getting in touch with your first choice. We need to find a head chef...” Ford let out a noise after he trailed off.
“The list goes on,” Sawyer chimed in. “Have I told you how amazing you are?”
“Not today.” Ford smirked.
“Well, sweetheart, you’re amazing.” Sawyer made sure Ford saw how much he meant that. “And I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” Ford’s eyes sparkled. “What do you have going on today?”
Sawyer dragged a hand through his hair. “I have a conference call with Mark. We need to settle on a VP to take over a lot of my former duties, especially the traveling part.”
“How is he doing?”
“Well, with everything going on, we haven’t talked much, at least not about anything not having to do with work.” Sawyer sighed. “I’m going to fill him in on the vandalism at the ski resort site and go through a lot of other things that have been happening. There’s a list.” Sawyer groaned. “A long list.”
“I’m sure everything will go well, love.” Ford patted his hand. “Let me know if you need backup?”
“You know you’re my favorite backup.” Sawyer snickered. “How about if he threatens to sell my shares, I call you in for help.” He laughed, and Ford chuckled.
“Deal,” Ford said.
Their food came, and they dug in while talking about the kids and life in general. Sawyer knew he could only avoid dealing with his dad’s stuff for so long. But he wasn’t ready.
23
Ford
Ford and Sawyer peeked their heads into Gavin’s room. “All set to be tucked in?” Ford asked.
Gavin snickered. “I am a little too old for that, but if you insist.” Ford could see the laughter in his eyes, and he knew that Gavin enjoyed it, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“You’re never too old,” Sawyer nudged him, “I like to be tucked in.”
They entered his room together, and Gavin tossed his covers back, climbing underneath his bedding. Both Ford and Sawyer settled him underneath the covers and Gavin released a yawn.
“So are we doing anything next week?” Gavin asked.
Ford frowned. “Doing anything? Like what?” He patted Gavin’s thigh. “Probably work and school… thus is our lives,” he let out an exaggerated sigh.
Gavin looked back and forth between them, and the look on his face said, “Are you crazy?”
Ford looked over at Sawyer, brow raised. What were they missing?
“Spring break?” Gavin rolled his eyes. “Duh. Some of the kids are going away on vacation.” He shrugged, “We’ve never had a vacation.” Gavin’s face scrunched up. “Dad took us to Coney Island once.” He looked between them again, biting his lips before continuing, “So I thought maybe we could do something.”
Ford looked over to Sawyer, eyes wide. Fuck, how had they forgotten about spring break? Sawyer looked as surprised as he did, they both looked back to Gavin. Okay, this was a major parenting fail. Maybe they did need one of those large calendar bulletin things. Ford definitely hadn’t known that spring break was coming up. This was probably one of those learning curves having kids made you add into your lives.
“It’s all going to be a surprise.” Sawyer pasted a smile on his face, and Ford followed suit.
Gavin’s mouth rounded in an O and his eyes brightened with excitement. Before they had an over excited kid on their hands, Ford nodded at Gavin. “But first things first. Sleep, then surprise in the morning.”
He hoped that statement wouldn’t bite him in the ass.
“Goodnight.” Ford leaned forward, placing a kiss on Gavin’s forehead.
He was glad Gav was back to letting them do this. He’d shut them out for a while there, and both him and Sawyer felt it.
“Goodnight!” Gavin said. He closed his eyes and turned onto his side. Sawyer kissed him on his forehead, too, and they both got to their feet. Ford turned
