Ginny kicked her heels back on the siding of the house as she sat on the edge of the porch. Feeling Silas drop down beside her, she worried her inner lip, afraid of what he would ask. She couldn’t lie to Silas, as much as she loved Gavin.
“The mountain air is good for him.”
“Yes, it is.”
Though Silas seemed to agree, Ginny knew she wasn’t off the hook yet. Her brother had helped raise all of them; he was an expert at letting you walk into a trap of your own making. Unfortunately, her knowledge of that didn’t keep her from barging ahead.
“He’s probably just relieved that all of us tested negative for the virus. I’m glad The Last Riders were able to get testing kits.”
Silas twisted sideways to lean his back on a porch post, staring at her intently.
“Funny how he didn’t tell us last night before we went to bed that he was meeting Viper this morning.”
“Gavin said Viper texted him late last night and he didn’t want to wake us.”
“He could have told me at five when I was making coffee in the kitchen. Would have saved him having to sneak back in.”
Ginny started worrying her upper lip when her lower one split. “He probably didn’t hear you.”
Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Gavin wouldn’t have heard Silas in the kitchen from where he left.
“Quit biting your lips. Never play poker, Ginny. You always bite them when you’re trying to get out of lying.”
“I’m not lying—”
“I didn’t say you were,” Silas patiently continued with the same rapport they had shared from before her family had been torn apart. “I said trying.”
Ginny sat at the same spot she used to sit, where she could see cars passing on the road below through the trees. She and Silas would sit there every evening and watch the cars as they talked. He had listened as if her feelings were the most important things to him. So much of the advice he had given her she still used today. Silas was being too kind and honest to continue bluffing that Gavin hadn’t left last night.
“I don’t know where he went,” she admitted. “Are you going to ask him to leave?”
“No. I’m not concerned that he could have been infected while he was out. What I am concerned with is him not knowing the dogs have the run of the property at night. If Moses hadn’t pulled the dogs back, Reaper would be nursing several bite marks this morning.”
“Or still stuck in a tree. Remember when Lindsey wanted to surprise you with a box of Valentine’s candy. If Isaac hadn’t heard her screaming, she would still be stuck up in that tree.”
“She learned her lesson and never came back to the property.”
Ginny finally understood what Silas was trying to do. “You want him to stay.”
“Wasn’t that what I was saying?”
“You like him, don’t you?”
“Reaper is a hard man to like, but yes, I do.”
“I do, too,” Ginny admitted, smoothing her hands over her thighs.
“I know.” Silas placed his hand over hers.
“Am I that obvious?”
“To me.” He smiled. “I also know how you knew Reaper didn’t spend the night in his bed.”
Blushing at what Silas was imagining had her barging ahead before her words could catch up. “Nothing happened … I swear… He has troub— Gavin doesn’t sleep well.”
“Slow down, Ginny. You’re over eighteen, and so is he.”
“It’s not like you’re thinking.”
“Ginny ….” Silas tried to slow her down again.
“I wouldn’t disrespect you by … in your home.”
“I heard him too. You calm him down so he can sleep.”
“Yes. Please don’t say anything to him. He wouldn’t want you to know. Gavin doesn’t even realize I’m there.”
“Maybe not consciously, but he knows you’re there,” he told her.
“You think so?”
“Yes. I think he was treated so badly that his mind is in constant pain, and he can’t hide from it when he’s sleeping.”
“I don’t think he can hide from it when he’s awake.”
Silas nodded in sad agreement. “For a few hours a night, you give him peace. I’m glad he found you.”
“We found each other. I’m in love with him.”
“Does it feel the way you expected?”
“No, it’s so much more, Silas. What I feel is like I was walking along, and suddenly I found this insanely perfect rose that was just waiting for me.” Becoming embarrassed at the way Silas was looking at her, she dropped her gaze. “I’m being silly, aren’t I? I’m too old to be talking like a ten-year-old.”
“I hope you never get too old to stop talking that way. You’re a songwriter, and you describe your feelings with beautiful words. Don’t be embarrassed that your music gives you the ability to open hearts.”
“Gavin’s isn’t opening. He can’t wait to get away from me.” She sorrowfully stared at the road below. It wouldn’t be long before Gavin went down the same road, without her.