* * *
Ford
With my thoughts a jumbled mess,I walked straight from the main inn to the diner. I strode inside—glad to see it was empty save for my twin and Everly—and jerked my chin at them both.
“Hey,” Everly said, her eyes warm and concerned. Beck had clearly filled her in on what was happening—how much, I wasn’t sure. But I could use a female perspective, so I was glad she was here.
“I see you’re back in the land of the living,” Beck said, setting a giant strawberry spinach salad in front of Everly. “Does that mean you pulled your head out of your ass?”
“Kind of. I mean, mostly. I was all set to figure that shit out, but then I got a text from Addison and had to swing by the inn before she castrated me. And then I ran into Quinn’s absolute shithead of a father—I told him to never come back, by the way, so if you see him around, call Brady. Or me, because I wouldn’t mind landing him on his ass. After that, I picked up the package Addison wasn’t going to deliver because she’s not my fucking courier—her words, not mine—and I foundthis.”
I slammed the box down on the counter and raised my brows at him.
Beck looked at it, then at me, then at it again, before shifting his gaze to Everly and then back to me. “I want to ask about the whole dad thing, but I feel like you’re really pushing this box on me. Did you buy me something?”
“No.” I took off the lid, pulled out the black metal ring that was nestled inside, and held it up for him and Everly to see. “It’s for me. I think. Probably. Well, I’m pretty sure. Okay, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure…”
Everly laughed as Beck said, “Awfully certain of yourself…”
“My deduction skills say I’m right.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, first, it was addressed to our cottage. Second, it’s basically a replica of this one.” I held up my hand where I wore the black silicone ring Quinn had put on my finger the day we’d gotten married. “Except it’s metal. And third, it’s engraved with this…”
Beck and Everly both leaned forward as I held out the ring to them.
“No take backs…” he murmured before glancing at Everly, then me, brows up. “Are we supposed to know what that means?”
“No, butIdo. It’s… It’s like mine and Quinn’s thing. I said it right before we got married… Had it engraved on the inside of hers.”
“Aww.” Everly leaned on her elbow, sliding closer to me, and I swore her eyes actually turned into hearts. “That doesn’t sound like something afakehusband would do. In fact, that’s book-boyfriend material right there. Did she love it?”
“Um…” I scratched my temple, thinking back to when I’d given it to her. Maybe doing so after slipping a vibrator inside her pussy with the intent of making her come in public had been the wrong move. “I don’t really know. She didn’t say too much when I gave it to her.”
“She does seem like the strong, silent type,” Everly said with a nod. “But I bet she was squealing like a schoolgirl on the inside.”
“So she got this for you, huh?” Beck said, arms crossed over his chest. He looked like his typical grumpy ass, but there was also relief in his posture. Like her doing this had settled something inside him. I wish he’d share with the class, because I had no clue.
“Well, what does it mean?” I asked.
“What do you mean,what does it mean?” Beck stared at me with a furrowed brow, and I was pretty sure he’d have smacked me upside the head if I were within reach. “It means you’re a dumbass for leaving, and you’re a dumbass now because you’re in here talking to us instead of hunting for your wife.”
“I think I’m done with you calling me a dumbass today.”
“You don’t want me to call you a dumbass? Stop acting like one, dumbass.”
Everly reached out, placing a hand over Beck’s, and said, “I think what your brother means to say is that this shows she is clearly as into this as you are. And that you should probably find her and talk out your issues.”
Beck pointed a finger at Everly and nodded. “I mean, if you need to be coddled, then yeah, what she said.”
I blew out a deep sigh, scrubbing a hand on my face. “Okay… But what do Isay?”
“When you see her, you’ll know what the right thing to say is,” she said.
“And what if I don’t? What if it doesn’t magically come to me?”
Everly shrugged, shooting me a smile. “Then you tell her you love her. That you never want to live without her. And then you actually talk about the issues that pushed you apart in the first place, so this doesn’t happen again. Because I kind of love the idea of having her as a sister-in-law.”
