Shock - Marie Johnston Page 0,45
slacks and a white business shirt.
“That’s a nice car. Did you drive it?” Lia asks Mom.
“No. That was Nathaniel’s. Ford’s dad.” Before uncomfortable silence can descend over the room, Mom adds with a chuckle, “You can guess where he got his name.”
Lia snickers. “Oh my God, you never told me.”
The dark moment is lost on Mom and Lia. There he is, my birth father, hugging my mom like she means something. And Mom named me Ford, as if that’d bring my dad back into her life. She must’ve waited for him so long, hoping the entire time.
Is that what Lia thinks Cass is doing? Waiting for me? Does that mean that no matter how much I try to be different, to be there for my son, I’m still like Nathaniel?
No, I’m better than that, better than him. I can’t force myself to be in love with Cass, but I can stick around and show her that I can be there for our son.
Lia turns the page and there my dad is again. A stethoscope around his neck, wearing a lab coat.
“He was a doctor?” she asks, her incredulous gaze shifting to mine.
“Didn’t Ford tell you? Nathanial is a pediatrician in Baltimore.”
Lia’s gaze doesn’t leave mine. “A pediatrician?”
“Johns Hopkins,” I say woodenly before pushing back from the table. “If I can’t be a better pediatrician than him, at least I’m a better father.”
“You’re a wonderful father, Ford.” Mom kisses the top of Jayden’s head. “Grandma’s going to miss you.”
She hands him off and Lia helps me gather all of his stuff and pack it.
We load Jayden up and when Mom goes back inside, I turn to Lia. “Would you mind driving so I can entertain Jayden and keep him awake for Cass?”
“No problem.” She takes the keys and looks back at the house. “Your dad is a pediatrician at a world renowned children’s hospital.”
“He was nothing but a sperm donor.”
“Seems like he had more influence than that.”
My jaw grinds. “He had a shit-ton of influence and none of it good.”
“You’re not your dad, Ford. And you’re better than your stepdad ever gave you credit for.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Of course, Lia. But not all of us are born with the opportunity to go wherever we want and be whatever we want. Some of us are rooted to a spot out of necessity. I’m okay with it. I just wish everyone else was.”
I slide into the back seat with Jayden and Lia gets in to drive. Neither of us says much, even after we drop Jayden off.
Chapter 12
Lia
“You’ve been quiet.” It’s my third shift working with Ford this week. He hasn’t referred to anything about last weekend.
I can’t quit thinking about it.
He pulls out of the hospital bay. Our elderly male patient with the broken hip is in good hands. The nurse we left him with is one of Ford’s old conquests and her smile was as shiny as her new engagement ring. Ford usually flashes his trademark grin and indulges in a little flirting—after we’ve left the patient’s room and are navigating our way through the ER. But today, he only gave her a polite nod, then left to restock meds.
“We’re working.”
“It’s more than that. You’re upset.”
“I’m not.” He shifts his gaze toward me and his jaw flexes. “I’m not.”
I wave my finger between us. “This isn’t us. You haven’t given me shit once for being five minutes late yesterday.” I had a flat tire and only one bar on my phone so I could barely watch YouTube to learn how to change it. I finally had to call a tow truck and a ride.
“So you didn’t know how to change a tire. I’m not giving you trouble for that, and you talked to the boss.”
“Ford. Out with it.”
He drapes a hand over the wheel. “Are we at the nagging stage of our fake relationship?”
I don’t know whether to laugh or be offended. “I swear to God, Ford, we can be at the ‘you can walk home’ stage of our relationship.”
“That’s parenting, not dating.” He goes quiet for a moment as he maneuvers onto the boulevard that’ll take us to our station. “Think I should talk to Cass?”
“About custody?”
“No, about whether she’s, you know, waiting around for me or something.”
I was the one who brought it up. I should have an answer, but I don’t. “I wish I knew. I have no idea how she’d take a question like that.”
“She might pick up and leave.”
“Maybe that was why she gave you an ultimatum.