“It’s Abby. Ford’s friend.” She looks at me again and nods her head quickly.
“Yes, yes. Abby. Hello, dear.” She reaches for my hand and holds it in hers for a moment. She has a basket full of items, many small wooden ornaments, paint sets and red, gold and green jingle bells.
“What’s all this?” I gesture to her basket.
“Oh, I always bring some things to do with the kids. I don’t have any grandchildren of my own, so I always like to do easy crafts with the little ones.” She laughs to herself and pulls her basket closer to her chest. I liked Dolly the moment I met her. She’s kind and compassionate, but I’ve seen her get feisty when some of the kids get a little too rowdy.
“He’s very happy, you know.” She smiles in my direction and I don’t need to ask who she’s talking about or what she means when she looks at me with her pale blue eyes. The line moves a little forward and we both follow suit. She moves closer to me and takes my hand in hers once more.
“He cares for you. I’ve known Ford for a very long time and I’ve seen him hold himself together through some very hard times. I never had children of my own, so I always threw myself into my time downtown, with the kids.” Her eyes become misty as she speaks. “I’ve known that boy since he was eleven years old. I’ve seen all the stages of life he’s gone through, the good and the bad. As a young boy, I remember Ford being just wild, as all boys are, you know, but the sweetest boy.”
I nod my head at her comment. “I care about him very much, too.”
“I’ll tell you something,” she says as we get closer and closer to the cashier. “When he first got drafted, oh, I remember it like it was yesterday. He was over the moon. He was so happy. He wanted nothing more than to get right to work, you know how determined he is with his sport.” She looks me in the eye and smiles. “He came to the Rec Center a few weeks later and we talked, and I said, well I bet Grace and your parents are just thrilled.”
Wait. Who is Grace?
I’d have to assume an old girlfriend, surely, he’s had girlfriends before me, I mean look at him. “I’m sorry, Dolly–Grace?”
This is probably a question I should ask Ford himself, but now she’s piqued my interest. Dolly just shakes her head and huffs out a big sigh.
“Oh Grace Billups, she was… well, we all assumed that she and Ford would get married. All throughout high school and college, they were inseparable. She was at his side for everything.” Dolly clears her throat and turns her head as she takes another step forward. We’re getting close to the checkout here and I need to finish this conversation before that happens.
“Until she wasn’t.”
Confusion swirls in my head. Why didn't he tell me about her? To be fair, I never asked, but still if Dolly seems to think it was that monumental of a relationship then surely, he would’ve at least mentioned it before. It wouldn't be a complete surprise hearing her name.
“Anyway, that draft day was the last day I’d say he was truly happy… until he met you.” Dolly squeezes my hand as it’s finally her turn at the counter, leaving me with an abundance of unanswered questions.
Chase texted me earlier to let me know that he was staying at the training facility later today to work out with the guys. So once I’m home, I unload all of the stuff from my car and change into my oversized t-shirt and shorts.
“Alexa, play Christmas hits.” It’s not so bad having these little robots at our service for a bunch of random things like making grocery lists and setting reminders, or asking questions like “where’s the deepest part of the ocean?” Ford and I spent an embarrassing amount of time one night researching ocean depths to find the deepest part. It’s the Mariana Trench, by the way.
The music is blasting louder than normal so I can really get into the mood. It may still be eighty degrees outside, but I’m going to make it a winter-freaking-wonderland in here.
Right as I’m about to belt out the chorus of Mariah’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the front door opens and Chase, Ford and Nate walk in the apartment. I have a string of Christmas lights hanging over my shoulders and there is so much flock from the tree I just opened all over the floor. I give the guys a quick wave before asking Alexa to turn the volume down as they all walk past me and look around at what I’ve been doing for the last two hours.
“Don’t stop on our account,” Nate jokes as he grabs a candy from the dish and pops it into his mouth.
Chase reaches for the lights on my arms and pulls the ones that got slightly tangled in my hair. “I can help you put these up later. Go get changed.”
I give a confused look to Chase and then glance over at Ford and Nate, both still curiously looking around the apartment at the epic Santa invasion that has taken over.
So, I love Christmas. That’s not a crime.
“Why? Where are we going?”
“Mia said there’s this Christmas in the park thing happening and she’s roped me into going so I’m forcing these two to come along. Looks like Chase is forcing you,” Nate speaks up.
Mia did mention that to me earlier in the week and shit... I completely forgot. I head into my room and throw on a pair of leggings and a red sweater that hits just below my butt. It’s not freezing out, but anything below sixty-five is too cold for me. There isn’t really much time to fix my hair or make up, so I run a brush through my tangled hair and pinch my cheeks to give them a little color before walking back out to the living room.
I catch Ford’s eye as soon as he looks up and when he smiles at me, the butterflies start their dance in my stomach. Thinking back to what Dolly said, I have so many questions to ask him the next time we’re alone.
The cool breeze hits my face as soon as we step outside. Since the park is only a few blocks away, we decide to walk instead of driving. With the sun already set, you can see the lights of the city clearly. Red and green illuminate the streets, there are even fun little decorations up on some of the lamp posts as we walk by and all of the restaurants have Christmas music playing as we pass them. Everyone looks happy to be here. The holidays are such a special time of year, although it always makes me painfully more aware of the empty seat at the table.
“Over here!” Mia yells from the spot on the grass where she has a blanket set up. She’s sitting with another girl I’ve never met before, but she’s gorgeous. She has blonde hair that’s cut short into a bob and big brown eyes. She’s wearing a black leather jacket that looks like it probably costs more than my entire wardrobe.
“You guys know Nat. Abby, this is Natasha.” I wave hello and Mia stands up to give me a hug. Natasha greets the boys as if she’s known them forever, and hell maybe she has, it wouldn’t be the first new piece of information I’ve heard about Ford today.
