Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
My heart ached at the life he’d described. “I don’t have any siblings,” I said slowly, “so I can’t relate to that part, but I know what it’s like to live with a parent who’s never satisfied. I don’t know who I would have become if I hadn’t gotten away from her poison. I don’t think I understood until she died that it wasn’t about me. I was never going to be good enough. I could have made a billion dollars and cured cancer, and she still would have found fault with me.” I took a long inhale of the tea, letting the herbal spice blend soothe the raw wound in my heart. It had taken me a while, but now I knew that understanding my mother didn’t erase the hurt. “What happened with Griffen?” I asked. “What did you do?”
“I don’t want to tell you,” he said, “but you should know what kind of man I am.” He set his mug on the side table with a click and crossed his arms over his chest. “My father was involved in a business deal that was going to make everyone involved a lot of money. It was with Forrest’s—Sterling’s fiancé’s—father. In a way, it’s the reason Forrest came back to Sawyers Bend.”
I nodded to let him know I followed the story so far. I was vaguely aware of Forrest’s past with the Sawyers, but I hadn’t known that Ford had played a role.
“Griffen and I found out our father was planning to double-cross Forrest’s dad, Alan, and take everything. We agreed we wouldn’t let that happen and started putting together a plan—but the whole time, I was undoing everything Griffen did to protect Alan and his company. I thought that if I could rescue the deal for my father, it would tarnish Griffen in his eyes, and I could finally be number one. I didn’t think he’d go as far as he did. In the end, my father exiled Griffen for trying to undermine the deal. He threw him out with only a backpack, banning him from Heartstone and Sawyers Bend. Prentice walked away with Alan Buckley’s company, and I took everything that was Griffen’s. His fiancée, his position in the company—all of it.”
I sipped my tea, processing. The way he described what he did without defending himself told me everything I needed to know about how much he’d changed. “How long ago was that?”
“Sixteen years,” Ford answered.
“And your father died two years ago?”
“Eighteen months,” Ford said.
“And that’s when Griffen came home?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“So, what happened after Griffen left? What came between sixteen years ago and eighteen months ago?” I asked.
Ford picked up his cooled tea and took a long sip before shaking his head—not in negation, but in what I thought was remorse.
“A lot of wasted time,” he said slowly. “I spent the first half of it kissing my father’s ass. Thinking if I could just be more of what he wanted, then everything would finally feel good again. I’d stop missing my brother. I’d be happy. But nothing I did was ever good enough for Prentice Sawyer, even when I worked by his side. Even after I’d protected him and double-crossed my own brother. To the outside world, I was the heir to Sawyer Enterprises. But at home, I was a constant disappointment, a fuckup, and a failure. Vanessa was a nightmare of a wife. She’s dead now, and I feel guilty saying it, but it’s true. Any woman who would dump her fiancé for his younger brother as soon as said fiancé was disinherited…Well, I should’ve known how that was going to work out. But all I could see was what she showed me. I was an arrogant, selfish idiot.”
He paused, and then his tone dropped lower.
“And then things got dark. My father started getting involved in business that wasn’t so aboveboard. One of those deals almost got Finn killed—and I didn’t stop it.” Self-hatred spiked through his words, so sharp I could feel it. “I’m surprised Finn can even look me in the eyes. He’s like Griffen in that. Or maybe he’s just so happy with Savannah and Nicky that he doesn’t have it in him to be bitter. He should hate me. Instead, he acts like everything’s fine.”
I was still caught on the almost got Finn killed part. “How exactly did you almost get Finn killed?”
Ford drew in a slow breath and let it out. Instead of answering, he said, “I came here tonight to tell you that what I said in the taproom was wrong. This can’t happen. You could have gotten seriously hurt that day in the parking lot. And even once we catch this guy, we don’t know that there won’t be another. I’m not safe to be around.”
I met his eyes, not backing down. “Then no one needs to know I’m around you.”