Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 91438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Leslie,” Silas said, nodding his head slightly. “How are you doing?”
Oh, shit!
This was his ex-wife.
The woman that I couldn’t seem to stop comparing myself to.
Ever since the night he’d told me what had happened with his ex, I have been slightly self-conscious.
I knew that Silas cared about Leslie.
Deeply.
He’d been head over heels in love with her.
Was he still?
Looking at Silas’ face, I couldn’t tell. It was unreadable.
He did that when he didn’t want his emotions examined.
He was good at it, too.
It was something that drove me up the freakin’ wall.
It was hard to gauge Silas at times because of his ability to literally shut down every single emotion that he was feeling.
Other people showed their anger with their words or their demeanor.
You wouldn’t realize Silas was even mad until he threw the first punch.
“Silas,” Leslie said, nodding her head at him. “I’ll see you later, son.”
Silas watched her as she walked away, and then turned back to his son when he could no longer see her.
“Sam, I need to talk to you for a minute,” Silas rumbled softly.
His son, Sam, looked up at him and glared.
“I don’t have time,” he answered immediately, not even giving his father a chance to explain why he needed it.
I gritted my teeth at the accusation in the man’s tone.
Seriously, who doesn’t have time for their own parent?
It’d taken a lot of convincing on my part to even get Silas to tell Sam.
“It won’t take but a minute. I need you to gather James and Sebastian, too,” Silas continued as if Sam hadn’t said a word.
“Fuck,” the man hissed. “I’ll meet you out back in ten.”
Then he walked past us, not even acknowledging me at all.
“That was fun,” I said humorlessly.
Silas looked down at me and winked.
“I know,” he said. “Take a seat here, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I sat on the bench at the back of the rapidly filling church and looked down at my hands in contemplation.
I’d met Sebastian, of course.
He’d been by many times with his kids and wife to see Silas.
The other two, Shiloh and Sam, I’d yet to meet.
And from what I’d seen so far, I wasn’t impressed.
It wasn’t two minutes later that two women walked up.
One had long, curly blonde hair, while the other had a short bob of brown hair.
I knew who they both were instantly from the pictures in Silas’ house.
Sam’s wife, Cheyenne, and Silas’ daughter, Shiloh.
Shiloh was married to the blonde man I could see across the room watching the three of us.
“Hi,” I said softly as they sat.
The two of them smiled.
The blonde more than the brunette, though.
“Hey,” Cheyenne said. “How’s it going? I’m glad you could make it.”
I blinked. “Uhh, thanks.”
I came because Silas looked nervous as hell, and I didn’t want him to go somewhere he wasn’t welcome by himself.
“We didn’t know that you were coming…or that you were dating my dad…until just about two minutes ago. Needless to say, we’re a little surprised. You’re pretty young,” Shiloh said, sitting back and crossing her arms, not holding any punches.
She was a beautiful woman, but it didn’t surprise me.
Silas wouldn’t have ugly kids.
Not with how gorgeous he was.
And after seeing his ex-wife, it was no wonder that Shiloh was so beautiful.
“I’m thirty in about a week,” I informed her. Thirty wasn’t young. Not by a long shot.
Shiloh raised a brow. “You do know that my dad’s fifty-four, right?”
I blinked, then nodded. “Yeah, I know that.”
“And you’re still with him?” Shiloh asked incredulity.
“Um, yes?” I asked, a question in my tone.
What was the big deal about me still being with him?
I loved him.
The fact that he had twenty-four years on me didn’t change that fact.
“So…what are your intentions?” Cheyenne asked.
I looked over at her and smiled. “You know, my father just told me that Silas told him his intentions yesterday. Then to have his daughter-in-law ask me the same question only a day later is kinda funny.”
Cheyenne smiled slightly. “Yeah, I can see how it would be. But you still didn’t answer my question.”
Shrugging I said, “I love him.”
Shiloh’s eyes narrowed, but surprisingly, she didn’t say anything negative to my admission.
“You better be good to him,” she whispered.
Thankfully, Silas returned twenty minutes later, because I was nearly over the two women sitting in the seat beside me.
“What happened to your beard?” His daughter asked sharply.
Silas sat.
Then Shiloh’s eyes turned to me accusingly.
What was wrong with his beard?
“Shaved it off,” he said without explanation.
Shiloh blinked. “What do you mean, you shaved it off? You’ve had that beard for years, and then all of a sudden you start dating her, and it’s gone?”
I blinked.
“Umm, he was like this when I met him,” I supplied helpfully.
Shiloh turned her glare on me.
“I didn’t ask you,” she hissed.
I snapped my mouth shut and turned my face to the side.
Wow. Just wow.
Should I even be here?
“I think I’ll run to the ladies room,” I said, getting up quickly.
I wasn’t sure when the ceremony was supposed to start, but I figured now was the time to go.
Maybe if they had some alone time together they could work out whatever was going on between them.
The two women, nor Silas, complained as I slipped out of the pew, and I was thankful.
Jesus.
I was really starting to doubt my sanity.
And poor Silas.
No wonder the man was lonely.
His own family didn’t even like him!
Which was crazy to me, because he was a man of honor. A huge heart and willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it.
Shaking my head, I moved purposefully down the aisle of the quickly filling church and headed straight to the bathroom.
I didn’t really have to use it, but I might as well.
I might even go on a walk around the grounds. Possibly hitch a ride back to Benton.
Surely Silas could take care of himself, right?
I hurried through the bathroom ritual, washing my hands and inspecting my makeup.
It looked pretty good, even after riding a motorcycle here for over an hour.
By the time I made it back into the church ten minutes later the ceremony had already started, so I closed the door quietly behind me and took a seat in the very back.