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I step next to him, looking at his profile and daring him to give me his gaze. “Yes you did.”
“Nah, I don’t think I’d threaten the mother of the woman I just promised I’d try not to be such an asshole. I definitely don’t think it would be a good idea to threaten her life not even twenty-four hours after I made the promise to my woman I’d be better.” He shakes his head a little, his gaze firmly fixed out the window. As if he’s worried the town car is going to come barreling up the driveway again.
But that’s not Virginia’s style. She’s not going to come back with literal guns blazing. She’s going to come back with suits and try to bury us with paperwork and lawyer fees and legal terms I’ve never even heard of before.
“Why does she even want this house so bad? I thought she hated Rosewood,” he mutters, his breath fogging up the glass a little bit.
“I don’t know. The last time she was here, she said she was going to tear the house down, so it’s not really about that. If I had to guess, I’d say . . . spite.” My mother is really good at a lot of things. Carefully controlled rage, spite, revenge, etc.
He glances at me finally, a single brow arched in disbelief. “Spite?”
I try to view my mother objectively, as a woman and not my mother. It’s an exercise I’ve done plenty of times before, sometimes with more luck than others. But with every time I practice this, it gets a little easier to separate the two. She’s flawed like every other human I know, but her flaws seem to have brought out all the worst traits in her.
“If I had to guess, I’d say she has her own childhood trauma she’s trying to work through. But that’s not really my responsibility to fix it, yeah? It’s not my responsibility to fix myself, to change every single thing she perceives as my flaws, just so she fucking loves me. She gave birth to me, but she’s never been my mother.” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, releasing it slowly as the next thought feels true, even if it is uncharitable. “Some people aren’t meant for motherhood, it seems.”
“Some people are,” Silas murmurs.
“I’m just gonna go,” Cora whispers, but I don’t really hear her.
I can’t hear much of anything because my heart is thumping loudly in my ears. I turn toward him, but I didn’t realize he was so close, and my lips skim across his chest. I suck in a sharp breath when I see his expression. Lips parted, brows even slashes over his eyes bright with reverence.
“Silas.” His name is a prayer and a question all in one. And he answers it in the way I’d hoped.
His large hands cup my face as he pulls me closer. His lips meet mine in a passionate, all-consuming kiss that leaves me dizzy with lust.
33
EVANGELINE
“Are you sure it’s okay that we’re doing this?” My fingers drum a quick beat against my thigh. The sun casts bright golden light through the tinted windows, highlighting every speck of dust in the air. I always thought it was weird we could suddenly see dust floating in a shaft of sunlight, but not any other time.
The two-lane highway stretches into the horizon, tall trees on one side and fields on the other. In the far distance, I can see some houses in a little subdivision.
“I’m sure, sweetheart.” Nova answers with the same amount of patience he’s had with me since he told me about today’s surprise plans.
“And they know we’re coming, right? We’re not going to sneak up on them and scare him?” I worry my bottom lip, lacing my fingers with Nova’s hand resting on my thigh.
He dips his head, his eyes on the road. “They know we’re coming. We’ll be there soon. About five minutes.” He grins, as if he was anticipating my next question.
Which is definitely fair because I was right about to ask him how much longer. I’m normally much better with surprises. But after everything that’s happened in the last few weeks, combined with the fact that we’re in some strange sort of limbo, and my nerves are shot. I don’t know where Hunter and Dixie are, and that’s done on purpose. All I know is that we’ve been driving for nearly three hours at this point. The scenery is beautiful, and the company is great, but I’m just anxious to see him.
“I kinda wish we were on your bike,” I murmur, gazing out the window. It’s so very green here, almost like we’re headed to one of those wooded park areas. I mean, sure, we’re on a highway, so it’s not like it’s totally remote or anything. But I don’t know, it doesn’t feel like we’re in a big city.
It kind of reminds me of the place Nana Jo and I would go to for a little getaway every once in a while. They’re like timeshare properties in a special community, usually around a lake. I don’t even know if Nana Jo owned a timeshare, or if it was something she just rented or borrowed from a friend.
My mind leads me from thoughts of Nana Jo to Magnolia Lane and then to my mother. I still can’t believe she just walked in my house like that the other day. It feels more than an invasion of privacy. It feels like a direct hit, even though she hasn’t really done anything. Not yet. That’s her specialty though, isn’t it? It’s the not knowing that eats people alive. The constant worry and looking over your shoulder, expecting her to be there figuratively and sometimes literally.
“I’d love to have you on the back of my bike, sweetheart. But we needed a little more protection today.”
I nod, running the pads of my fingers over his knuckles. “I know. Maybe when we get home we can go for a ride?”
He grins, and that dimple of his pops out to wink at me. “I’d like that.”
“It’s a date,” I tell him, sending him a bright smile. “Hey, do you think we should change the locks on Magnolia Lane?”
“Bane’s on it. But he said no amount of fancy security will work if we don’t lock the front door.” He sends me a pointed look.
I roll my lips inward, my cheeks growing warm. “That’s true. I guess I’ve been in Rosewood too long if I forget to lock my front door, hm?” I tilt my head to look at him. The sun shines through his window, highlighting his hair in almost a faint strawberry color. My fingers land on the soft strands, flipping the short length through my fingers.
