Page 123 of Final Proposal

“Sure, but . . . do you mind telling me what the hell is going on?”

Callahan’s grin concerns me. The last time he grinned like that was when they showed me CCTV footage of me in an elevator with a woman I was dating. They thought it would be hilarious to critique my technique.

Fucking assholes.

“It’s not that,” Ledger says and laughs.

“It’s not what?” Ellery asks.

“You’re better off not knowing,” I say and press a kiss to her cheek that definitely makes her want to know more.

“Take a seat,” Callahan says, but when I don’t, he guides me and pushes me to sit on the couch.

“What in the hell . . .” But my words stop the minute I hear our dad’s laugh fill the room and see him on the screen. He’s seated in a chair, one ankle set on the other knee. He’s leaned back, his arms on each side, his lips pursed.

My heart leaps into my throat. To hear that sound, to see him . . . I look at Ledger and Callahan, and they just motion for me to look at the screen.

“Tell me about Fordham,” a person off camera asks, and I know exactly what this is.

The interview tapes for the biography.

My father’s smile is wistful, adoring, and tears spring to my eyes simply because of his response when he’s asked about me.

“Fordham is . . . he’s an incredible kid. Hard-working. Dedicated. The hugest fucking heart. If you’re looking for juicy stories on him, there are none. He kept his nose clean except for when he was trying to take the fall for something Callahan had done.” He chuckles and runs a hand over his face much like I’m doing right now.

It makes me smile.

“Thanks for that, man,” Callahan says with a pat on my shoulder. “I still owe you for those.” I was so enthralled with my dad on the screen that I didn’t notice both Ledger and Callahan were sitting on either side of me.

“Carly and I used to joke that Ford was the rock of our family. If you needed help, he was there. If you needed to talk to someone, he was there. If we needed someone to mediate between Callahan and Ledger, he was there. Fordham cracked the best jokes at the times we needed them most. He can read a room better than anyone I’ve ever met and would know what comment to make to either diffuse a situation or put someone more at ease. He worried about everyone because he wanted everything to be okay at all times. He wasn’t bothered by taking a back seat to his brothers because his own light shone through regardless.”

“He sounds like a great guy.”

“The absolute best.” My dad looks at the interviewer and smiles in a way that seems like he’s looking right at me. “Carly and I used to joke that he was the kid who knew what to do in every situation. He was Just Ford. Humph.” Another smile as a memory clearly flashes through my dad’s mind by the far-off look in his eyes and the softening smile.

“What does that mean?”

“That was how Carly and I used to refer to him. Just Ford. I forgot about that. When we would lie in bed at night and go over our days . . . whenever one of the other boys would act out or get in trouble, she used to say, why can’t they be more like or just like Ford? We laughed and said that wasn’t fair to the others . . . but it stuck between the two of us, and eventually was shortened to Just Ford.” He chuckles. “God, that feels like forever ago.”

“Just Ford,” the interviewer says.

“Yep. Ford is . . . the peacekeeper of our family. The even keel in our sometimes-stormy life. He’s . . . just Ford.”

The recording cuts off, but I keep staring at the black screen, hearing his words and seeing his smile.

Just Ford.

It meant so much more to him than the indifference I first read it as.

Tears are on my cheeks. I don’t even know when they fell, and I don’t fucking care. It’s just my brothers and Ellery here. The three people in my life who matter the most.

Ledger squeezes the back of my neck and shakes me back and forth as Callahan pats my back with his palm.

I look up to find Ellery across the room. Her cheeks are stained with silent tears, but the smile she grants me is everything.

She knew all along there was more to the story.

Just as my brothers did. Just as they set out to prove to me.