Page 19 of New Hope

Chapter Seven

FORD

Tina Reardon stood behind a lectern, her pencil skirt and crisp white blouse as immaculate as her hair and makeup. She looked like she should be conducting a meeting inside a large corporate board room instead of the small school’s library. “Thank you all for volunteering your time and talents to this year’s Parent/Teacher Organization. We’re happy to have you on board. I’d also like to give a warm welcome to our newest PTO member, Mr. Ford Scott.”

My face heated as about twenty sets of curious eyes turned toward me, their owners clapping. “Um. Thanks,” I murmured as I tossed a hand in the air in a feeble sort of wave. From the corner of my eye, I saw River’s shoulders start to shake, clearly amused by my embarrassment. I waited until everyone had turned back around before nudging him hard in the ribs with my elbow. He huffed out a laugh and I glared at him. “This is all your fault,” I hissed.

“Sorry,” he whispered. The smirk on his face told me he was anything but, but at least he had the good sense to stop laughing.

“How did I let you talk me into this anyway?”

“Easy. I told you it was for your daughter. Which is the only reason I agreed to this too, by the way.” I nodded, conceding to the fact. It was true that we’d both do absolutely anything for our girls, including serving on the PTO.

As Tina launched into an in-depth description of all the things she planned to accomplish that year as president of the PTO, I let my thoughts drift to Ellie. She and Hannah sat quietly in a corner of the room, their heads close together as they flipped through the pages of a book. Ellie lifted her face and grinned at her friend, and the two of them giggled over something they’d read.

Her eyes danced with an excitement I hadn’t seen in far too long and my heart ached with love for her. Seeing her smile brought a wave of nostalgia for the innocent, fun-loving kid she used to be, before she’d had her heart broken by her mother. Once again, I was bewildered at how Connie could have walked away so easily. I could never give my daughter up. Not for a second. She was a part of me. Walking away from her would be like cutting my own arm off.

With each passing day however, I was beginning to see signs of improvement. Ellie was talking more, she was excited to go to school, and her smiles came more readily. To some people, that may not seem like much, but to me, it felt like a gift. I was finally beginning to get my daughter back and I knew exactly who I had to thank for it. Hannah and River.

After our trip to the orchard, the four of us had begun doing things together on the weekends, exploring many of the fun things Rhode Island had to offer. Everything River and Hannah came up with felt like an adventure and Ellie and I had been soaking it up, reveling in the simple joy of exploring our new home.

“And I thought, who better to head the committee than a couple of dads. River and Ford, what do you say?” My head whipped around at the sound of my name. Tina was staring at me with an expectant grin. In fact, everyone was looking at me with the same hopeful smiles on their faces. Everyone except River, who was trying to hold in a laugh. He could obviously tell I hadn’t been paying a bit of attention.

I shot him a look that begged for help, and he turned his gaze to the rest of the room. “We’d be honored. Thank you.”

I waited until everyone had finished clapping and Tina started talking about fundraising options before I turned to River. “What exactly did I just agree to?” I caught a whiff of his cologne as he leaned over to whisper and his warm breath against my ear sent a shiver down my spine. I considered rubbing my arms, pretending to be chilled in case he’d noticed, but those thoughts flew out the window with his answer.

“You agreed to pose for this year’s sexiest dads calendar. It was a great fundraiser last year, but I bet we’ll make even more with you in it. Especially if we have you in your uniform, maybe leaning against a police cruiser. Oooh! What if you hold up a pair of handcuffs?”

“What?” I nearly shouted. Several heads turned in our direction, but I didn’t care. I was too busy trying not to freak out. River pulled his head back to look at me and that was when I saw the mischievous smirk he was wearing. “Oh, my God. You’re such an asshole,” I whispered, much quieter that time.

His whole body shook as he tried to keep from laughing out loud. It was several moments before he was able to speak. “Sorry, but that was just too good to pass up. And the look on your face…” The mere thought brought on another round of laughter. I folded my arms across my chest and pretended to scowl at him.

“Are you finished now?” I asked when it seemed as if he’d finally pulled himself together.

“I think so.”

“That was mean.”

“Kind of, but it was also hilarious. It was also payback for you cheating at the corn maze.”

My lips twitched at the memory of me telling him to tie his shoe so we could get a head start. “Touché.”

River flashed a wide grin at me that had my stomach feeling like I was barreling down the steep hill of a rollercoaster. I chose to ignore the strange feeling however, until I could examine it more closely. Right then, I had a more pressing matter. “Seriously, what did I agree to?”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t set you up for anything bad. We just agreed to head up the committee for the Father/Daughter Dance.”

I shot a nervous glance toward the front of the room where Tina was still talking then looked back at him. “Are you kidding? I don’t know the first thing about putting together a dance.”

“I do. I helped out last year. In fact, I still have all of my notes, so this year should be a breeze. But if you’re still not sure, we can tell Tina you’d rather do something else instead.”

I sighed. “No, it’s not that. I’m happy to help out and the dance is something Ellie will enjoy. I just don’t want to screw anything up.”

River’s face softened. “You won’t. We’ll work on all of it together.”

I glanced over at Ellie and Hannah. They were busy drawing in the notebook Ellie had gotten from the treasure chest after her appointment with River. She suddenly looked up, her eyes searching for mine as if to reassure herself that I was still there. Her features registered her relief as she found me. I smiled at her, despite the ache in my chest.

It killed me every time I saw the worry in her eyes, the pain left behind by her mother’s abandonment. But it also served as a good reminder of why I was there. Everything I had done, the reason why I’d sold our old house, quit my job, and moved us to another state; it was all because of Ellie. She was my life, and I would spend the rest of it making sure she felt as safe, secure, and loved as possible.

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