Repair Me (Kin #1)(56)
Author: Jennifer Foor

My friends, especially Lacey, thought I was crazy for loving him, with no hope of us ever being together again. She’d mentioned setting me up with other people. Thankfully, Shayne had stood up for me and told me that I wasn’t crazy. He kept pulling me to the side, when we were together, and whispering to me how much Ford missed me.

Looking back, he probably shouldn’t have given me false hope. In only three weeks he’d managed to move Ashley in. According to Lacey, they were looking for a bigger place to raise their child.

Ford had called me constantly the first couple of weeks. I refused to take his calls. Once they stopped, I regretted not wanting to hear his voice. It got so bad that one night I was out to dinner with my parents and our waiter had a southern accent. I had to leave the table. Later, my mother found me locked in a bathroom stall, in tears.

Nobody understood what it was like. I couldn’t get him out of my head, even when I knew he had moved on. The only thing that kept me going was my knowing that he wasn’t doing it because he wanted to. They didn’t know what it was like every time I showered and felt my piercing. They couldn’t imagine my angst when I glanced at my hip or saw it in the mirror when I was undressed. They couldn’t have known that I had reminders permanently drawn on my body. No matter if I moved on, I’d still have that. I’d still think of him every single time I saw it.

As much as being without him was killing me, I had to consider what life was like for him. Sure, he was doing what he thought was right, against everyone else’s opinions. He was the kind of guy that a person could count on and I think Ashley’s father knew that. He knew he could manipulate the situation and get Ford to do whatever he wanted. Hell with that much hanging over his head, I could only imagine the things he would have Ford doing. It made me sick.

Thinking that the only time I’d ever see Ford again would be if Lacey and Shayne married, I had started to get into a routine. Sure, I was far from being normal. I barely ate and socialized as little as possible. I even declined hanging out at my own house when Lacey suggested it.

To pass the time, I started working at a clothing store. It was a boring job and I folded more clothes my first week than I had my whole life. It still kept me occupied, which was exactly what I needed.

My dad’s new division was keeping him away from home and my mother was barely there. Going home to that empty house was miserable.

I’ll never forget the night I pulled up and saw that old red truck sitting in my driveway. I was so flabbergasted that I left the car running and climbed out. I approached the passenger side door and saw him looking down at the steering wheel. He turned and looked at me, but didn’t smile.

Ford looked terrible. He had circles under his eyes and looked so sad. I opened the door and climbed into the seat beside him, closing the distance between us. I said nothing as my arms reached around him. I closed my eyes and took in the familiar scent of him.

That’s when I felt his body shaking and heard the sniffles coming from his nose. I looked up and saw his eyes full of tears. This was a man that never cried, but here he was, a total mess. I reached up and wiped a tear away, but never took my eyes off of him.

“I love you, Sky. I love you so much that I feel like I’m suffocatin’ without you in my life. I’m sorry for drivin’ here, but you won’t take my calls and I just…”

I didn’t let him finish. My lips were on his and I held back nothing as our emotions led us to our passion filled reunion. Ford held me so close, as if he was expecting me to get out and run away from him. Didn’t he know that this moment had been one of the happiest moments of my life?

When we stopped to catch our breaths, Ford looked over at my car that was still running. “You should probably turn that off. Gas is too expensive to waste.”

I kept holding him. “I don’t want to let go.”

“Invite me in.”

“Where’s Ashley? How are you here right now?”

He looked down and smiled. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Try me.”

“My mother took her out of town to shop for baby stuff, so that I could spend the day with you. It was her and my dad’s idea. They’ve been tryin’ to help me. I guess they feel bad about all that’s happened.”

“How long do we have?”

He touched my face with his course hands. “She’ll be home in the mornin’. All we have is tonight. That’s if you let me stay with you, of course.”

I put my head against his and closed my eyes. “I miss you so much. I’m so sorry for ignoring your calls. It just hurt too much, Ford. I hate knowing you’re with her. I hate that she gets to have you.”

“She doesn’t have me at all, darlin’. Sure, we are livin’ under the same roof, but that’s the extent of it. I don’t speak to her and she knows I don’t love her. We don’t touch, Sky. How could I think about doin’ that when you’re all I want?”

His words were what I needed to hear. It didn’t matter to me that he had to go home. It didn’t matter if it was just for one night. I was willing to take whatever I could get. I needed to feel his love for me, even if it was just this one time.

Ford

I’d been miserable without her. Work seemed pointless and pretending to be nice to someone I couldn’t stand was damn near impossible. It had gotten so unbearable that talking to my mother wasn’t so bad. She hadn’t forced her way into my life, just offered this one thing to try to make me happy. I’d waited a week after leaving Sky to tell them why we’d actually broken up. My father said nothing, while my mother seemed genuinely offended that I’d been thrown into such a scandal, because my father couldn’t pay the bills. Then she blamed herself.

Since the breakup, I’d been sharing my apartment with the devil. Night after night I had to hear about our baby that was growing inside of her. She claimed that it was going to bring us back together and we would be happy. She was a fool. I could never be happy with her, knowing that Sky was out there somewhere. I’d given her my heart and she didn’t even know it. I knew what the right thing to do was, and I also knew where my heart would always be.

My mother offered me a plan; a way to spend time with Sky without Ashley or her father finding out. She’d finally got her license back and offered to take Ashley on a day trip to Baltimore. She told Ashley it was for them to bond and her to get to know the mother of her grandchild. Ashley bought it.