Page 25 of Doc Rock
“Sie,” Ford muttered.
“Oh, I… um… didn’t you just…”Clara’s words trailed off, and her eyes went wide.
“Sie?”Ford repeated, stepping forward until he was right in front of Sie.
He’d imagined so many times what he would say if he ever found her. He never gave up looking, even after sixteen years, as she had taken a piece of his heart, and he had to find her, orit wouldnever be complete again.
He leaned toward her. Behind her glasses, she had pale blue eyes, whereas Sie had violet eyes. For a moment, he doubted himself.
Was this really her?
“Ford,”Sie replied, her trepidation obvious.
When she spoke, his doubts evaporated.
“Can we talk?”Ford wasn’t aware of anyone else. Only her.
“Yes,”Sie said, her voice more mature than the one he remembered.
The person he'd lost had been barely an adult, and this woman was thirty-eight years old, the same age as him. He couldn’t believe that after sixteen years of looking, he had finally found her.
“Is everything okay?”Clara stepped between them just as Ford reached to take hold of Sie’s hand, and he dropped his clenched fist to his side.
He needed to touch her, to check she was real.
“Yes.”Sie drew her gaze away from his to reassure her friend. But, like him, she couldn’t look away for long, and soon her eyes were back on him.“We haven’t seen each other in a while.There's a lot to catch up on.”
“You’re sure?”Clara asked uncertainly.
This time, Sie smiled, and Ford’s heart skipped a beat.
Stop it.She had left him.His treacherous heart shouldn’t be responding like this.
“Yes. It’s fine. Ford, shall we?”She didn’t wait for his answer, merely walked away from him.
“Sie.”He rushed to catch up, falling into step beside her, not noticing that they were still among the other guests when he hissed,“Where the hell have you been?”
Sie kept walking.“Let’s not make a scene here. My friends are having a lovely party.”
“You think I’ll make a scene?”Ford’s voice rose.Howcouldshe be so calm?
“You already are,”Sie said evenly.
He glared at her.
How was she so unaffected by seeing him?
Had she forgotten everything they shared?
Had he meant nothing to her?
Is that how she'd left him so easily?
“As you can imagine, I was pretty surprised tohearSie Harrington singing at a baby shower,”he said through gritted teeth.
Her shoulders stiffened, but she continued to walk away from him, muttering,“Nearly as surprised as I was toseeGraham Ford at my friend’s baby shower.”
They had passed the edge of the party and were heading out into the bush that surrounded Clara and Taylor’s garden when Ford caught hold of her arm and spun her to face him.
