Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)(47)

Isabel grinned. “I’m finding I like the type very much.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Ford asked.

“Nothing you want to know.”

He studied her for a second. “I’m going to take your word on that.”

“Smart man.”

Although imagining the look on his face if he found out that very-pregnant Linda thought he was sexy would be kind of funny.

“You never said what you did,” Linda mentioned a few minutes later.

“My family owns a bridal shop in town. Paper Moon. As I said, I’ve been living in New York. After the divorce, I wanted to get away, so I came back to run the business for a few months.”

Linda sighed. “Oh, that must be fun. All those happy brides. You get to help them find the perfect dress. Is there drama?”

“All the time. Emotions are running high and there are often mother-daughter conflicts. One wants traditional, the other wants anything else.”

“Sounds exciting. Clyde’s in auto parts. His dad left him a struggling business and he’s turned it into a multistate distributorship. We have over twelve hundred employees.”

“That’s impressive,” Isabel told her, thinking she and Sonia had talked about hiring one other person as they started their business. Twelve hundred was unimaginable.

“He wants to bring the sales team to the retreat,” Linda continued. “To help them relate to each other a little better. Sales can be competitive and Clyde’s worried their sense of unity is getting lost.”

“Clyde sounds like a smart guy.”

“He is.” Linda smiled at her husband, then turned back to Isabel. “Except when it comes to naming our baby.”

The server returned with drinks and took their order.

Clyde passed the basket of warm rolls to his wife, then looked at Ford. “How did you two meet?”

“I used to date her sister.”

Linda raised her eyebrows. “Really? And she doesn’t mind you two are together now?”

Isabel held up both hands. “There has been a lot of space and time,” she said. “Ford and my sister were engaged fourteen years ago. I was desperately in love with him, but he didn’t bother to notice.”

“My mistake,” Ford said lightly. “Maeve and I were way too young. A few weeks before the wedding, she realized her mistake. Because I was still a kid, I pouted. I left town in a huff, joined the navy. I got out a few months ago, returned home and we opened CDS.”

Isabel realized he’d given all the facts, yet kept many of the details private. She liked how he didn’t tell Clyde and Linda about Maeve cheating with Leonard.

He leaned toward her and grinned. “Isabel wrote me. A lot.”

She laughed. “Like I said, I was fourteen and had a mad crush on him. I wrote and wrote.”

“That’s so romantic,” Linda told her.

“Not really. He never wrote back.”

“Not once?” Clyde asked.

Ford shrugged. “There were a lot of reasons. But I enjoyed getting her letters.” His smile faded. “I was a SEAL. We had some tough missions. Reading about Isabel being a normal teenager in high school helped. She was a little wild in college, though.”

She pushed him. “Don’t spill all my secrets the first night.”

He grabbed her hand and lightly kissed her knuckles. “I would never do that.”

“Then what happened?” Linda asked eagerly. “You came back, took one look at her and realized she’d been the one all along?”

“Something like that,” Ford admitted.

Just words, Isabel told herself. It wasn’t true, but it sounded good for company. Still, she found herself wishing he was telling the truth. That he had taken one look at her and had known they belonged together.

Foolishness, she thought. She and Ford were only pretend-dating. None of this was real. She was passing through town and he was a guy who didn’t know how to be in love. They didn’t belong together.

Sure, the kisses had been great and she was looking forward to more. She liked his company and enjoyed seeing him. They shared a sense of humor, and she had the sense that if she needed him, he would be there, but that was different. They were friends and their relationship was something they’d created to fake out the world.

* * *

“YOU DID GREAT tonight,” Ford said as he drove through the quiet streets of town.

Isabel leaned against the door and drew in a breath of cool air. She’d had just enough wine to give herself a slight buzz. She wasn’t going to start singing anytime soon, but if she started giggling, she might have trouble stopping.

“I had a good time. I thought you and Clyde would talk a lot of business, but you didn’t. They’re a fun couple.”

“I agree.” He glanced at her. “You’re a fun girlfriend.”

“Thank you. Except for this car, you’re a really good boyfriend.”

He pulled into her driveway and parked. “I love my Jeep. Do not mention the flames.”

She opened her door and stepped out. “Admit it. They’re starting to embarrass you just a little.”

He came around and put his hand on the small of her back. “Never. They represent my lost youth.”