Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?” I asked as Sheridan supervised Bo and a couple of other guys from town loading my sister’s bedroom dresser into the back of the truck.
“Uh… hey, Way.” I could tell from her expression she was not thrilled at my arrival. “We’re, um, moving out.” She bit her lip, an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. “I know it’s terrible timing, but today’s the only day Vic and Casey could help us with their trucks—”
“Moving out? Like permanently?” It didn’t make any sense. “But… why?”
Her expression softened. “Way. Now that you have Silas, it makes sense the two of you will want to move into the farmhouse. You can’t live in your tiny house forever. There’s nowhere for him to put his stuff. So Aunt Blake helped us get a place in town. The Dormings’ place on Primrose. This way, we’ll be closer to the cafe and—”
I knew the house she was talking about, a historic bungalow a few blocks behind the Love Muffin that Sheridan had always loved since it backed up on the town park and had a colorful wildflower garden. It was a perfect choice for them. But…
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded. I rubbed the center of my chest, unsure whether the pain was from the situation with Silas or the feeling of loss watching my sister move out of our childhood home.
“I was going to, but… it never seemed like the right time. The purchase was up in the air until the last minute, and I didn’t want to get our hopes up in case we didn’t get the house. And you’ve been so stressed and busy, prepping for AdventureSmash, I didn’t want you to feel like you had to rearrange your whole schedule so you could help us move.” She blew out a breath. “Please don’t be mad, Way. I thought maybe you’d be excited because you and Silas could finally take over here and have all the room you need. We fixed up the apartment over the barn so that ZuZu would have her own place—”
The information was coming way too fast. “I thought you fixed up the apartment for Devon?”
She had the grace to look embarrassed. I wondered what else my family had been keeping from me. The whole thing made me feel out of touch, when I was already feeling out of step with Silas. I’d assumed his friends would be warm and welcoming, but Landry had acted like I was a roach under his shoe. If that was how Silas’s friends acted, what did that say about Silas’s feelings? Was I deluding myself into thinking we could have a future?
Sheridan glanced over at the guys as they hopped down from the bed of the truck. “We wanted to surprise you.”
I let out a scoff, suddenly losing whatever polite veneer I’d managed to hold on to this far. “Well, consider me surprised. But the joke’s on you, Sheridan. Because I don’t need this house. There is no Silas and me. There will be no settling down together. It was all a mistake. It wasn’t real.” I waved a hand at the ranch house and then back in the direction of my little house in the aspen trees. “He’s leaving next week to go back to the city and file for divorce. So you see? The ranch house will be empty. I won’t need it. I can stay in my own place and… and…”
Emotions clogged my throat and threatened to overflow out of my damned eyes.
“Not real? Are you kidding? Listen to me, Waylon.” Sheridan grabbed me and yanked me into a hug. “Two months ago, I might have believed you. But now I’ve seen you two together. I’ve seen how he looks at you. That man adores you. So who cares how things started? This is the real deal.” She pulled back but kept her hands on my arms. “This is because of what Eden said at the cafe, isn’t it? Aunt Blake was worried, so she called and told me. But Eden doesn’t know the whole story. Do you think a man who didn’t have real feelings would have stuck around and helped you for weeks and weeks? Shoveled shit, slapped at flies, answered Mrs. Jenks’ questions about the Statue of Liberty over and over again just for fun? Hardly. He cares about you. Hell, at this point, I think he even cares about Majestic. Lake McNair said Kicky Winshaw said someone made an anonymous donation to the food bank only a few hours after Silas had been asking pointed questions about the program. The donation was five figures, Waylon.”
I stared at her. “Really?”
She nodded. “No one else would have done that without someone in town finding out about it. It had to be him.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d suspected him of making an anonymous donation in town, but it was enough to make me wonder if he was wealthier than I’d assumed. When he’d paid for my transmission work and offered to bring adventure athletes in from out of town, I’d guessed he was richer than a regular business consultant—not that I really understood what a consultant in New York would earn in a year, but I also knew living in New York wasn’t cheap.