Page 91 of Doc Rock
“Sie—”
“Ford. I knew you were leaving,” Sie said quietly.
“I—”He glanced at Hel and Frost, who were trying to pretend that they weren’t witnessing the conversation.
“Eat.”Sie gestured again at the burger and chips.
“Sie—”
“Eat,”she told him again, and he finally took the hint that she didn’t want to discuss it and sat down.
“Thanks.”He picked up his burger, trying not tofeelannoyed that Sie shuffled her seat away from him.
Sitting in silence, he chewed methodically on his food and attempted not to stare at Sie.
“Well, this is awkward,”Hel eventually said.
“Hel,” Frost hissed.
“Well, it is,” she muttered back.
Ford glanced across at Sie andnoticeda small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She was obviously entertained by her friend’s blunt assessment.
Hel made eye contact with Ford and lifted an eyebrow.“Does that happen to you often?”
Ford put his burger down and sighed.“Yeah. I don’t really go anywhere anymore that isn’t a VIP area with bodyguards.”
“I know that feeling,” Frost agreed. “It could get hectic while I played in the NHL. I can’t imagine how bad it must be for you.”
“I kinda assumed, as Taylor wanders around here, that I’d be alright and that no one would care.”Ford took another bite of his burger, which he had to admit was a good burger, better than he expected.
“He usually wears the face ferret, and also, people are used to him now. You’re new and exciting,”Hel said.
“Midnight Thunder coming to town is the biggest thing that has happened to Burra Creek for years,”Sie murmured.
“I’m working that out.”Ford laughed.“But I’m glad we decided to come here.”He gazed at Sie, who was carefully studying her burger and not looking at him.
The four of them sat in silence until Hel broke it again,“I missed your concert to propose.”She held her hand up to show off a ruby ring with a halo of diamonds.
“Oh yeah, Clara told me. Congratulations.”Ford nodded. It had slipped out of his mind after finding Sie.
“Yeah. I was meant to be the doctor, and I asked Mai to cover so Icouldgo to Frost’s last ice hockey game of the season and propose.”
Ford’s gaze swung to Sie. He had been so close to not finding her again; if the pair in front of him weren’t together, he would never haveknownthat he had only been kilometres from his wife.
He would have continued with his life, wondering where she was. Hoping that every woman with long black hair was her.
Sie sighed, put her burger down and said quietly,“I’m glad you did.”
This time, her eyes met Ford’s and held.
Hel completely missed the point, in that self-centred, in love way, and she gazed at Frost.“Me too!”
Frost seemed to have more awareness than his fiancée, and he reached over and grabbed her hand.“Let’s go and buy some more drinks.”
Hel opened her mouth to protest, and closed it again when Frost raised his eyebrows.
“Same again, guys?”Frost asked.
