Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 369

Chapter 369: The Talk
Ford was enjoying spending a little time with Anaisa. She took on an almost motherly air towards him, and his heart responded enthusiastically rather than resentfully.

She didn’t baby him, like she sometimes did Daniel, but the tone of voice she used was one of unquestioned authority mixed with affection.

Ford grimaced as he began to piece together just how much the absence of a mother’s love had shaped him. Probably nearly as much as the absence of a fatherly example.

He understood the family more and more as he interacted with them, and he understood himself a little better, too.

“Copper coin for your thoughts?” Anaisa prodded.

Ford blinked, and realized he’d been caught staring at the entrance where Mia had disappeared moments before.

“Ah…” He flinched.

“Annie, don’t torture the poor fellow. You know his thoughts as well as I do,” Grandpa commented. He was sitting off to one side, unobtrusively whittling. Ford frowned, his hand involuntarily going to the empty sheath on his belt.

He’d learned earlier that the knife was plunged deep in the monster’s brain, and no one dared try to get it out after what happened to Mia. It was a shame the blade was gone, but he couldn’t fault the woman for saving him, and the others, from the jaws of the beast.

“I’m not torturing him, I’m offering him a sounding board in case he wants to discuss… anything… while certain people are out of earshot.” Anaisa defended herself.

“Is that your hint that I should get out of earshot, too?” The old man raised a bushy eyebrow in mild indignation.

“Not at all. I just know how helpful it can be to discuss things with others.” Anaisa turned back to Ford. “You are perfectly free to ignore my questions as nosy or inappropriate.”

“Thank you,” Ford swallowed uncertainly, looking between the two other adults. The area lapsed into silence, and Grandpa spoke again.

“If you do want to talk shop, Ford, you better do it quick before the ears you don’t want overhearing come back.”

“I’m not sure what we’re talking about,” Ford admitted, a bit at sea. Maybe he was still groggy from his magic exhaustion.

“He means how you feel about Mia,” Anaisa lowered her voice. “If you want advice, or just to talk to someone, we’re here.”

“How I feel?” Ford felt like a moron. He’d talked some with Grandpa about things after promising not to pursue Mia until after the journey was over, but Anaisa prying into this topic was a bit of a surprise.

“She’s a bit of a matchmaker,” Grandpa quirked a small grin. “Can’t say as I blame her in this case, but on the whole, she can be a bit nosy when she wants.”

“I’ll forgive that indictment of my wholesome curiosity,” She teased her father-in-law gently.

“What is it you want to know?” Ford hesitated to ask the question, but he didn’t want to shut down a conversation Anaisa thought might be helpful to him.

“So many things,” Anaisa smiled. “Anything to keep my mind occupied, like how you feel about Mia, whether you intend to act on your feelings and when, any questions you might have…”

She paused here and looked at him expectantly, while his gaze flickered to the entrance. He was half-convinced that Mia or Seth would walk in at exactly the worst point in this conversation, but so far, nothing had happened to that end.

“I don’t know what I feel, exactly,” Ford admitted, and Anaisa nodded knowingly.

“I won’t pry any more than you want me to,” She told him gently. Ford inhaled deeply.

“Thank you. I’ll let you know if I need help figuring anything out.” He told her.

The offer was incredibly tempting. He could pick her brain, ask what Seth meant when he forbade ‘pursuing’ Mia, and how he would go about doing that when the time came.

He jumped slightly, realizing that he actually did want to know how to do that. That he desired to pursue her, and yet…

“Actually,” He swallowed as both Grandpa and Anaisa looked at him, one with anticipation, the other with mild amusement. He paused.

“What is it?” Anaisa prompted after a moment.

“My parents never married,” He explained, and her face darkened slightly. Well, it would, given that it was a reminder of her father’s lechery. “So I’m not really sure what that looks like. What it means to be like that. I wouldn’t mind knowing more.”

Grandpa’s eyes slowly changed, and a grin grew across his grizzled face into a broad smile that almost scared Ford into retracting the question.

“You’re telling me you’d like a talk on how to be a good husband?” He asked with a twinkle in his eye. “Because I do have a doozy of a speech I gave to both my sons, and they turned out absolutely—

“Don’t you dare,” Seth’s voice from the entrance of the cave made them all jump.

Ford felt all the blood drain from his head. The man had become less hostile, even congenial, recently, but his tone…

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—” Ford began, but Seth held up his hand.

“Grandpa, you will not give Ford the same embarrassingly graphic lecture on the ‘responsibilities and joys of being a husband’ that you gave me and Trace.”

“What lecture?” Anaisa leaned forward with interest. “Why don’t I know about this lecture?”

“Trace probably couldn’t tell you about it even now without blushing to his hairline,” Seth shook his head.

“I wasn’t going to give him that part of the speech, at least not until it became relevant,” Grandpa straightened his shoulders. “Just the rest of it. Honor and kindness and leadership. All those parts.”

Seth’s eyes narrowed while Ford’s widened. Just what, exactly, was in this talk?

“I didn’t mean to cause–”

Seth held up a hand for silence again as he addressed his father. “If you can promise me that you won’t deviate into that territory, I won’t interfere. Otherwise, I’ll take over and answer any questions Ford has myself.”

The youngest man’s eyes widened. What exactly were they agreeing not to tell him about? Grandpa’s smile grew wider.

“Now, I can make that promise pretty easily, but I think it’d be a sight more entertaining to watch you give him ‘the talk’, so… I’ll let you handle this one, Seth. I’m very interested to hear it all, myself, from your perspective.”