Ford placed a hand on my thigh, squeezing. “You’re honoring her, Bell. It’s beautiful.” He glanced down at the small piece of my tattoo that peeked out of my tank top. “Your tattoo is honoring her, too, isn’t it?”

I smiled. “Violets and bluebells.”

“And you designed it, didn’t you?”

I placed my hand over his, linking our fingers. “I drew it out, and the tattoo artist put it on me.” As much as Ford had said he thought my scars were beautiful because they were a part of me, I knew they still hurt him. Hurt him because they marked the pain I’d been through. “I didn’t want to cover up the scars. I wanted to make peace with them. With all that had happened. This was my way of doing that.”

Ford slid off his stool and wrapped his arms around me. “You are so damn brave. And always so wise beyond your years.”

“I’m healed, Ford. I’m safe. Those scars aren’t your fault.”

He held me tighter, and I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I know it’s not my fault. I really do. But I hate that I wasn’t there to help you through it. It’s hard for me to forgive myself for that one.”

I fisted my hands in his t-shirt. “But you’re going to have to. Just like I have to forgive myself for my anger towards you. We were lost in our own world of hurt. And doing our best with what we had at the time. Now, we’re doing things differently because we have new tools.”

Ford pressed his lips to the top of my head. “I can promise you this much. You’ll never have to face the hard stuff without me again.”

It wasn’t a promise to stay on Anchor, but it was close.

I’d take it and run.

36

FORD

“I don’t think all of these are going to fit, Cupcake.”

I looked at the back of my SUV, full to the brim with potted plants. They were all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Bell was right, they would never all fit at Vi’s grave. “I might’ve gone a bit overboard.”

Bell laughed, the sound catching on the breeze and taking root in my chest. “Might’ve?”

I gave her a mock scowl. “We can put the rest at my place.”

She smiled, the movement causing the green in her eyes to catch the light. “I like the idea of having plants to tend at your house.”

“You’re going to have to teach me how to keep them alive. I have a black thumb when it comes to growing things. My gardener back in LA actually asked me not to do anything to the plants there. I kept killing them.”