Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 387

Chapter 387: Hatching an apology
The men walked away from the group. The look Mia shot Ford before he walked away was filled with questions, and a little bit of fear.

For him, or for herself?

He didn’t know. Was he doing this the wrong way? Should he have taken the time to warn Mia he intended to apologize to her father?

Being the kind of man who took responsibility for his actions was not the easiest or most straightforward task. For several minutes, the two worked to find fallen wood, and used the hatchet to chop it into sections that would be easier to carry back to the camp.

It took longer than Ford wanted to work up his courage. They seemed about ready to head back to the others with armfulls of wood when he finally cleared his throat.

“Sir,” He began, and Seth sighed.

“You tend to address me that way when you’re afraid,” He frowned. Ford froze. He was afraid, but he was trying very, very hard not to be.

“I just wanted to talk about something,” He squared his shoulders and tried to stand taller. Seth stood almost a head higher than he did, but he could still face his mistake head on.

Though, he didn’t really like the thought of calling it a mistake at all.

“I’m listening,” Seth offered, putting down the armfull he carried and brushing off his hands.

“I need to apologize to you,” Ford steeled himself to look straight into the man’s eyes, like Grandpa had coached Daniel to once before.

“I’m a little afraid to ask what you’re apologizing for,” Seth joked, but his smile was strained.

“I broke a promise to you. I vowed that I wouldn’t pursue Mia until we got back home after saving Trace,” Ford’s courage buckled a little as Seth’s smile fell away.

“And you have pursued her?” Seth asked seriously.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know exactly what the term meant when I made the promise,” Ford cringed. “I asked Grandpa, and he said anything that’s meant to make her have feelings for me… anyway, Sir, just now, I was trying to hide us both from the birds. The creatures attacked–”

“And you saved my daughter’s life, again,” The older man guessed.

“Well, yes,” Ford blinked, “of course, I had to, I couldn’t let–”

He was getting sidetracked, telling the story. He needed to just get it out before he began trying to justify his actions or trying to put himself in a better light than he deserved.

“I kissed her. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for failing to keep my promise.”

Ford locked his muscles so that he wouldn’t flinch when Seth began to scream at him, or attack him. Mia’s father froze for about ten seconds, as if his brain had stopped functioning.

“Ford, I’m going to ask you to repeat that.”

“I… kissed your daughter, breaking my promise not to pursue her until we returned home. I… needed to confess and apologize. Grandpa told me that’s what a man does when he wrongs somebody, and I didn’t want to delay telling you—”

“Because I just agreed half an hour ago to send you off with her, Anaisa, Grandpa, and Martin without me.” Seth concluded. “You know, if you’d put this off, you might have gotten away with me not finding out at all.”

“I wanted to do the right thing. I didn’t want to chicken out,” Ford ducked his head humbly.

“This was the first kiss?” Seth’s eyes narrowed, and Ford’s widened.

“Yes, Sir. I’ve never kissed a woman before,” Ford stuttered.

“I meant Mia specifically, but I can’t say I hate your lack of experience in this,” Seth pursed his lips. “Are your intentions honorable?”

“Sir?”

“What’s your endgame? What do you want from my daughter?” Seth’s voice gained a sharp edge for, surprisingly, the first time in the conversation.

“I want to marry her,” Ford blurted out. “I have no idea how to ask you, or her, or any of that, honestly. I don’t know the slightest thing about how to go about all this except what you and Grandpa have taught me. I’ve come to think, based on our conversations, that you’re not wholly against my eventual pursuit… but I do want to marry your daughter. Very much.”

To his surprise, Seth relaxed into a smile.

“I guessed as much about you, since you asked for advice on being a husband, but I had to make sure.” He paused and became more serious again. “If I had you promise not to kiss her again until you married, would you keep that vow?”

Ford’s mouth fell open a little, and he hesitated. He certainly wanted to make whatever promise the man felt the need to extract from him to keep the peace, but when he thought of Mia’s face, her clear blue eyes, the feel of her lips… Those thoughts weren’t helpful right this minute!

“I would try my best, Seth.” He responded honestly, shaking off the memory. “Given that I failed once, I don’t want to try to guarantee that I wouldn’t fail again.”

He braced for the consequences of his words, but Seth looked at him evenly for several moments.

“I know I’ve been a hothead about my daughter. Maybe someday if you have one of your own, you’ll understand,” Seth told him. “But with how many times you’ve saved her life, and again, just now, with the birds, I can’t very well begrudge you the opportunity to pursue her hand in marriage and still keep my integrity.”

Ford gaped, not quite believing his luck. Seth didn’t hate him, wasn’t hitting him, wasn’t even yelling at him.

“Does that mean I have your permission?” He dared to ask. “Isn’t that something I require?”

He was fuzzy on the specifics, but even if that wasn’t something he needed, he realized it was something he very much wanted.

“Traditionally, you ask the parents of the woman for their permission, yes.” Seth confirmed. “Although Sarah isn’t here, I will tell you that I will give our blessing, however–”

Seth paused for a moment and sighed. “The timing is not ideal. Please, for all our sakes, focus on rescuing my brother and getting everyone out of there in one piece. Once everyone is safe, we can discuss… the rest.”