Fourth Down Read online

  Chapter Five

  Poppy

  I had my doubts after our talk at the coffee shop, but Ford was serious about trying to be nicer and about us being friends. We weren’t exactly sharing our deepest darkest secrets, but he did stop avoiding me. When I arrived at 2:00, he hung around until ten minutes before his shift. After he was done with work at 11:00 he came right home. Maggie was always in bed for a long time by then, and I heated up a plate of food for Ford. Whatever I had cooked for dinner earlier that night.

  Last week on both Wednesday and Thursday night I ended up staying past the end of my shift, sitting and talking with Ford while he ate. We didn’t talk any more about Maggie or my dad. Instead Ford asked lots of questions about my classes and where I wanted to go to medical school. I talked about Brooke and could even laugh about some of the predicaments she had gotten me into over the last couple of years.

  She had tried to get me to go out with her tonight, but I had to babysit my brothers. I’m not sure which would be the lesser of two evils. Although I did promise to go to the pub with her on Friday night. Apparently she was into some guy who would be playing in a band there. Now that Ford and I were on good terms, it’s possible I agreed to go with her because I knew I would see him. He had been so nice the last few days that it was hard to believe I had been intimidated by him before.

  It was 5:30, and I had to be at my mom’s house by 6:00. Hopefully I could have them in bed by 8:00 and spend a few hours on homework before my mom and Rick came home. Things never went as planned where my brothers were concerned, but I could hope.

  I called the pizza place and ordered an extra large cheese pizza, because the little devils never wanted to eat my cooking. Grabbing my backpack and keys, I left my apartment for an evening in hell. Right as I opened the door I squeaked in surprise to find Ford standing there with his fist raised like he was just about to knock.

  With a hand over my racing heart, I scolded him, “You scared me!”

  He put his hand down and looked at the keys in my hand and my bag over my shoulder. I might have imagined it, but he seemed disappointed to find me leaving.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Um…are you going out?”

  “Yeah. Not out, but I have to babysit my brothers tonight.”

  Ford stuck his hands in pockets and scuffed the floor with the toe of his shoe. “I didn’t know you had brothers.”

  “Unfortunately, I have three.” He was still standing in my doorway blocking me from leaving. “What are you doing here? Is Maggie okay?” The thought that he could be here because something happened to his mom suddenly had me worried.

  “Oh, no. Mom’s fine. It’s my night off, and Jane’s there. So my mom kicked me out of the house to do something fun.”

  This still didn’t answer the question as to what he was doing here. Was he coming to do something fun with me? Damn babysitting!

  “My friends, Josh and Grady, are both busy with their women. I don’t want to go hang out in a bar since I work in one every other day. So…I thought I’d stop by and see if I could take you out to dinner. You know, since we’re friends,” he added quickly.

  Thanks for the clarification, Ford.

  “Oh. I would but my mom lined me up to babysit like three weeks ago. I can’t back out now,” I explained. Even if we were just going out as friends I was seriously disappointed to miss out on spending more time with him. Ford was a puzzle that I was enjoying solving piece by tiny piece.

  He had finally moved back a step so I walked out the door and turned to lock it behind me.

  “I could come with you and help out,” he offered.

  I turned to give him an “are you completely insane” look. Who in their right mind would offer that?

  “You don’t know what you’re saying. They are awful on a good day,” I said, starting to walk down the stairs toward my car.

  Ford followed me down the stairs. “Come on, they can’t be that bad. How old are they?”

  “Four.”

  “Four? They’re all four?” He looked so darn cute and approachable when he was confused.

  I laughed, “Yes, four year old triplets.”

  He took off his hat and ruffled his fingers through his hair. “Huh. Well, my offer still stands. Seriously, Poppy, I don’t have anything better to do and my mom won’t let me back in the house until at least 10:00.”

  I rolled my eyes at his less than flattering suggestion that I was his last resort. “When you put it that way how can I refuse,” I said sarcastically, trying to step around him to get to my car.

  “Hey,” he said, reaching out to grab my arm. “That didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was please can I come with you? I enjoy your company, no matter what we’re doing.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine. But we should drive separately so you can leave when you get tired of them, which will probably be about twenty minutes after we get there.”

  His hand went to the small of my back to guide me toward his truck. “No, I’ll drive you. I need more adventure in my life,” he joked.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Half an hour later we arrived at my mom’s house, pizza in hand. My brothers immediately started devouring it as soon as I set it on the table. I introduced Ford to my mom and Rick and dropped my bag off in the living room. When I came back to the dining room, Rick was talking to Ford about what a tragedy it was that he was injured right before being drafted. Ford looked more uncomfortable than I had ever seen him, and he looked to me with pleading in his eyes.

  Before I could intervene, one of my brothers piped up, “You play football? That’s cool! We can watch the game together.” The other two cheered for that suggestion around mouthfuls of pizza.

  “That’ll be fun,” my mom said as she quickly kissed each little boy and dragged Rick out the door. “Call me only if it’s an emergency. We’ll be back by 11:00.”

  I gave a half-hearted wave and focused my attention on my brothers, who were peppering Ford with all kinds of football questions. Seriously? They barely knew the alphabet, but they knew the names of formations and plays? I guess I know what Rick’s priorities are with his sons.

  “Okay, boys. That’s enough questions. Can you introduce yourselves to Ford?” I asked, trying to impart some manners. They just looked at me like I was speaking another language. “Tell him what your names are,” I clarified.

  “Braden!”

  “Brandon!”

  “Bryden!”

  Ford glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged. “Yeah, I know. My mom needs help in the baby naming department. You do remember my name is Poppy, right? Not short for anything, just Poppy. Like the flower.”

  He laughed and studied my brothers, who were wearing different colored versions of the same shirt. He rubbed his chin like he was deep in thought. “I think I’ll call you red, green and blue,” he declared. The boys seemed delighted by that idea for some reason that only makes sense in a four year old’s mind.

  Once they were done shoveling the pizza in, there were a few pieces left for Ford and me. Rick had left the TV on to the football game in the family room, and the boys pulled on Ford’s arm until he followed them.

  “Come on! Let’s watch football,” they cried.

  I caught up with them and grabbed for Ford’s other arm but caught his hand instead. “Are you okay with watching the game? Your mom mentioned that you don’t watch football anymore.”

  He glanced down at our joined hands and nodded. “I’ll be fine. You should start on your homework while I have them occupied in here.”

  I released my hold on his hand, because it was just kind of awkward to be holding hands for no reason. “Um…okay. I’ll just be in the dining room. Yell if you need help.”

  “I was a four year old boy once, you know,” he replied.

  I had to smile as I remembered the photos Maggie had shown me of Ford as a little boy. “I know. Your mom showed me the pictures.”
/>   From the dining room table where I had set up my laptop and spread out my notes, I could hear my brothers asking Ford a million questions. He answered them all, even the ridiculous ones. He was patient and kept their interest better than if the sky had opened up and rained matchbox cars. Next time I had to babysit I was definitely bringing him along.

  The game ended shortly after 8:00 and I switched off the TV and declared it bedtime. The boys insisted on Ford coming upstairs to see their room, which turned into showing him their pajamas and talking him into reading them a story. I just had to supervise, which officially made this the best babysitting experience ever. When they were finally tucked in and we were sure they weren’t coming out for one more drink of water, we went back downstairs. With Ford entertaining them all evening, I had made great progress on my homework. So, I packed up my books and laptop. Maybe we could find a movie to watch for the next couple of hours until my mom and Rick came home.

  Ford was on the couch with his shoes off and his feet up on the coffee table. His baseball cap lay beside him on the end table, and his hair was sticking out in a few places. It made me want to curl up beside him and run my fingers through it. To tame it down or mess it up more. It didn’t matter which; I just wanted to touch him.

  From the first time I saw him in his cowboy hat and no shirt on Halloween, I was attracted to him. His less than pleasant demeanor after that had prevented me from wanting to act on that attraction. But now that he was actually being a decent human being? And stretched out on the couch with that space right next to him calling for me to snuggle up? Even if I wanted to, it would be a cold day in hell before I ever made the first move on a guy. Especially this guy. He was way out of my league, and he probably saw me more as a little sister anyway.

  I didn’t realize I had been standing in the doorway staring at him until he turned his lethal blue gaze on me. “Poppy? You okay?”

  Snapping out of my Ford induced daze, I nodded. “Yup, I’m fine.”

  Then I noticed what he was looking at and ran over to try to snatch it out of his hands, but he was faster. He moved the family photo album off his lap and held it out to the side, causing me to miss when I lunged for it. I ended up sprawled across his lap, reaching for it. Why was I always inappropriately touching him?

  “Give me that!”

  “No way. It’s only fair since you’ve seen my baby pictures.”

  “Fine,” I huffed, trying to gracefully crawl off his lap. He chuckled at my obvious discomfort and put his arm along the back of the couch behind me when I sat up next to him. Here I was snuggled up against him after all.

  “Walk me through your life, Poppy,” he said setting the photo album so it was half on his lap and half on mine. With a sigh, I leaned in just a bit closer and looked through the album with him. There were a lot of me as a baby and a little girl with both my parents. From there the pictures jumped to the time after my dad’s death. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my mom must not have wanted to remember the long months when my dad was sick.

  When we got to pictures of me when I was in high school, Ford pointed out that I wore a Cornell t-shirt in at least half the pictures.

  “Why aren’t you at Cornell? Or did you just really like that shirt?”

  I leaned my head back against his arm and looked up at the ceiling. “Cornell was my dream school. I was accepted, but the scholarships I got weren’t enough. My mom and Rick couldn’t afford it. They really couldn’t afford anything, which is why I work two jobs.”

  Ford’s hand dropped to my shoulder and he absentmindedly traced circles on my arm. Even through my shirt I could feel the warmth of his fingers. I glanced at him to see why he was being so quiet, but he looked lost in thought. As if he suddenly remembered me, he looked down with a sad smile.

  “I guess I’m not the only one with broken dreams, huh?”

  I shrugged. “My dream wasn’t quite as big as yours.”

  He dropped his head back too and started playing with strands of my long hair, running his fingers through it and letting it fall.

  “It’s not any different, Poppy. It was something you really wanted, and no matter how hard you worked for it you couldn’t have it. Your dreams are just as important.”

  I didn’t really know what to say, but Ford continued on, “I would have played football for minimum wage. I loved it that much… Everybody probably thinks it’s the money I’m upset about losing. It is, but not for the reason you would think. When I decided to go into the draft after my third year, it was for the money. I would have preferred to stay at LSU and play another year. My mom’s cancer had come back, and I thought if I could get that big signing bonus and contract I could get her the best medical care. I thought I could bribe the cancer to leave.”

  His voice was gruff, and I could hear the emotion in it. From what his mom had told me, I was sure this was the most he had talked about it in three years. I didn’t want to speak for fear he would stop opening up. So, I reached up to his hand playing with my hair and linked my fingers with his. He didn’t pull away like I thought he might. Instead he held my hand in silence for a long while.

  “Are you asleep?” I whispered after like fifteen minutes of silence.

  He chuckled and turned his head to face me, putting our mouths mere inches apart. In that moment, my heart started racing and I completely stopped breathing. Ford’s eyes searched mine, for what I didn’t know. Then he broke the moment and sat up, dropping my hand and turning his attention back to the photo album. He flipped the page to pictures of my senior prom with Aiden.

  “Who’s this douchebag?”

  I couldn’t help giggling at his spot on assessment of Aiden. “That’s Aiden, my ex-boyfriend. And you’re right about him being a douche.”

  Ford shut the album and put it on the table. “What did he do?” His mood was suddenly serious like he was expecting me to say Aiden used to beat me or something.

  “Oh, you know. We dated through the last two years of high school, planned to go to college together. But when the time came, I stayed here and he went off to Cornell without me. We tried to stay together, but by Christmas break of freshman year it just wasn’t working. So we split up.”

  “Where does the douchebag part come in?” Ford asked.

  “Oh, that would be when he was cheating on me the whole time he was gone. We were already broken up by the time I found out. And by then I really didn’t care.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  “It’s not like he was the love of my life or anything. And he had the nerve to call me last week and ask me to help him cheat. After two years of not speaking, he calls and asks to use one of my philosophy papers. Can you believe that?”

  I shook my head and looked toward Ford, expecting him to be laughing with me at Aiden’s stupidity. Instead his eyes were shooting blue daggers.

  “What?” I asked, alarmed.

  “Is he still calling you?” Ford asked in a tight voice.

  “He called a few times the next day, but the paper was due that afternoon, so I haven’t heard from him since. He sounded pretty sure he was going to flunk out, so he’ll probably be back in town by the holidays.”

  Ford humphed at me. “Well, if he bothers you again, let me know. I’ll take care of it.” His tough guy act made me want to giggle, but I held it in. He probably wasn’t trying to be funny.

  I nudged Ford with my elbow. “Look at you being all nice,” I teased.

  He rolled his eyes and picked up the TV remote, effectively ending our heart to heart. I was hoping there might be a fun romantic comedy on, but when Ford stopped on another football game I kept my mouth shut. Although I was just getting to know him, I knew he had taken big steps forward tonight.

  When I was still living at home, Rick had football on the TV nonstop. I never paid attention, and I had never watched a full game. So, this was an educational experience for me. I asked Ford just as many questions as my brothers had, and he answered them all.
Towards the end of the game, he was volunteering information without me having to ask. Football turned out to be a much more interesting sport to watch than baseball or basketball and especially more interesting than golf. Once I got the basics down, I could follow along fairly well. And I rooted for the opposite team than Ford, because I liked their uniform colors better. He seemed to think that was ridiculous. And he quickly corrected me when I called their uniforms “outfits”.

  By the time my mom and Rick arrived home shortly before 11:00, the game had just ended. I gave my mom a quick rundown of the triplets’ evening, and then we gathered our stuff and left. It was already late, and I had class in the morning. Stifling a yawn, I stared out the window into the darkness as Ford drove us back to the north end of the lake.

  “Thanks for coming. That was the easiest night of babysitting ever.”

  He smiled over at me. “No problem. It was fun.” We lapsed into a few more minutes of silence before he asked, “Does your mom do a big Thanksgiving dinner?”

  “Yeah, she usually does. Except this year they’re going to Rick’s sister’s house in Buffalo.”

  “They’re going? What about you?”

  “You did meet my brothers, right? There’s no way I am spending hours upon hours squished in a minivan with them. I told my mom I had to work and study this week.”

  In the dim light I could see Ford frowning. “You can’t spend Thanksgiving by yourself.”

  I shrugged. “Sure I can. Thanksgiving isn’t that big of a deal. Now if I was going to be alone on Christmas, that would be pathetic.”

  Ford huffed at me again but didn’t say anything else. We pulled into my driveway, and Ford cut the engine.

  When he started to get out, I said, “You don’t have to walk me up, Ford. I’m just going twenty feet away.”

  He ignored what I said and waited for me to come around the back of the truck before following me up the stairs. I unlocked the door and turned around, not sure if he was expecting me to ask him in or what.