Page 81 of Traces Of You
It had her looking around to see if she recognized anyone she saw at the bakery this week like Cora. Or if someone would make eye contact with her and smile or wave.
Nothing though.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
His eyes were drilling into hers. “It feels as if there are a lot of eyes on us,” she said with her head down, looking at the menu that they’d been handed when they sat.
“I’m sorry. As I said, it’s me.” But he lifted his head and scanned the area, just like he’d done when they walked in.
She’d seen him do it at every store they entered.
He was aware of everything going on around him and she had no reason to be afraid, but she was jittery when she wasn’t a few days ago when she got food in town alone.
Someone waved at them and Ford returned it. “Seems to be.”
“Does it bother you? You’re safe here. The more who see you with me, the more who will realize it. Trust me, in a small area, everyone is nosy and if they see something out of place, I’ll know.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
He laughed. “Reenie. It’s part of protecting you. These people stopping me, they know who I am. What I do. Hell, Buddy is on the town board and had to pull me aside to say what a great job I did yesterday.”
It seemed like weeks ago, not just a day, that he’d been speeding away from the orchard to the armed robbery taking place.
Just another day in the life for him and she’d been sitting in her cabin sweating and waiting on news.
“Does anything bother you?” she asked. “Get you worked up so that you have to find a way to come down?”
He shrugged. “Not really. No one wants their leader not calm or cool under pressure.”
The server came over and took their orders, then moved away to give them privacy again.
“You’re right. Does the weight you carry ever get to be too heavy?”
She hated that all she did was add more bricks to the load.
“No,” he said. “Never. Don’t think that. Don’t worry.” He put his hands on the table, palms up waiting for her to drop hers into them. She did. “I’ve lost women in the past because they couldn’t handle it. My job, my family. I can handle it all and that includes watching out for you. I’m not afraid to ask for help when I need it.”
His siblings. His parents. His community in a way by bringing her out today by his side.
She got it.
“I’m learning to ask for help.”
“I want us to learn together.” He squeezed her hands for reassurance. “I’m not perfect and I’ll make mistakes.”
She laughed. “Ford, no one could make as many mistakes as me.”
“And yet, look where you landed, so you did something right.”
22
EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED
“Iheard you had a lot of eyes on you today,” Clay said hours later.
Reenie was in the kitchen helping his mother with dinner. As much as his mother said she had it, Reenie insisted, then shoved him out the door to walk the property with Clay and his father, checking on the growth of new trees planted behind the houses.
“Who told you?” he asked.
