Page 123 of Deal Breaker
FORTY-FOUR
Landyn
Ford’s brothers showed up with six kinds of chips, two coolers of beer, and enough nervous energy to make me feel like I was hosting a job interview instead of a backyard barbecue.
Poppy didn’t notice. She took one look at Jesse, who greeted her with a bracelet making kit and a Hello Kitty stuffie, and immediately decided he was her favorite.
“No offense,” she whispered to me later, “but Uncle Jesse is the coolest person I’ve ever met.”
Wes was quieter. Gentle. He helped her scoop potato salad onto her plate and cut her hamburger into two equal halves without being asked. And when she accidentally knocked over her juice, he was the first to clean it up, telling her, “Don’t even worry about it, kiddo. Happens to the best of us.”
Noah taught her a secret handshake. It had six steps and ended with a fist bump and a wink. She practiced it all evening like it was the most important thing she’d ever learned.
Ford didn’t say much. He manned the grill, opened beers, kept one eye on her the whole time like he didn’t want to miss a single moment.
And me?
I just watched with my heart in my throat. Watched the way she slid into their lives like she’d always been part of them. No awkwardness. No hesitation. Just a little girl, meeting the rest of her family.
There was a moment, later on after she’d curled up between Jesse and Noah on the deck steps, licking the last of a popsicle from her fingers and giggling at something I couldn’t hear, when Ford came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“She’s going to be so loved,” he whispered into my hair and something in my chest cracked open.
It’s been a week since that night, but the feeling hasn’t left me. If anything, it’s only grown.
Ford told me to come over tonight, which has become a pretty regular occurrence. I have a key now, which still blows my mind a little.
He told me he and Poppy were going to cook dinner for me after their date day today. These daddy-daughter dates have become the thing that Poppy most looks forward to. Just the two of them. Ford picks her up in the morning and the two of them spend the whole day together doing something fun. I think today was going to be mini-golf and milkshakes.
They’ve been glued together lately with bike rides, soccer in the park, and Saturday morning pancakes with chocolate chips and way too much syrup. He’s showing up for her, and she’s soaking it up like sunlight.
I pull up to his house just after five, expecting to findthem in the kitchen, Poppy waiting eagerly to tell me all about who got the most holes in one.
But the second I step inside, I stop.
There are daisies everywhere.
Not a few. Not a vase or two. Hundreds of them. Everywhere.
White and yellow blossoms line the front entry table, the staircase, the kitchen island. There’s a trail of petals scattered along the hardwood floor, leading upstairs towards his bedroom.
I blink, stunned, hand still on the doorknob. Ford knows I love daisies. I’ve mentioned it more than once. But this…this is something else.
I follow the petals up the stairs and down the hall, through the warm quiet of his house until I find him sitting on his bed, leaning against the headboard.
He smiles when he sees me. Just the sight of him makes my knees wobble. He’s in jeans and a plain black T-shirt, barefoot, relaxed in a way that makes him look unfairly gorgeous.
“Where’s Poppy?” I ask, still dazed, making my way to him.
“Movie night with Jesse and Wes. She’s thrilled. I think Jesse promised her Twizzlers and popcorn for dinner.”
I laugh softly, stepping towards the bed to join him. “You tricked me.”
“I did,” he says, unapologetically. “I wanted a night with just you. We have three hours before they bring her back.”
I glance back toward the door. “Did you buy out an entire florist’s inventory to make this happen?”
He shrugs one shoulder, a little sheepish. “You said daisies made you feel like magic once. I wanted to give you some magic.”
