Page 20

Marnie hadn’t even locked it. They opened the door, surprising their babysitter. Marnie jumped up, leaving the sofa as if she had springs. There was a book in her hand. “Quiet,” she whispered. “The baby and the dog both just went to sleep.”

“Oh,” she and Silas both said, at the same time. Their disappointment was evident. She’d wanted her baby; he’d wanted to see Judge. Would he want to wait around in case the dog woke up and wandered in to see him? Did she want him to wait?

Marnie grabbed her purse from the table by the couch, and walked straight to Silas. “Would you give me a ride home? I could call Clint, but he’s hoping to finish that last chapter tonight. It’s a little late for me to walk that far.” Her eyes widened. “I am pregnant, after all.”

Silas sighed and agreed. What choice did he have? Marnie was nothing if not persistent.

Just as well. Gabi told him he could stop by and see Judge any day. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t.

Marnie was at the door when she stopped, spun around, and said, “I’m such an idiot. This is a date, and I’ve interrupted your goodnight kiss.” She turned her back to them. “Proceed.”

“We don’t have to…” Gabi began.

Silas stopped her with gentle fingers on her chin and a smile she couldn’t resist. He kissed her lightly. It was a friendly kiss with a hint of something well beyond friendly in it. A promise, maybe. A suggestion that there could be more. He took his lips from hers for a split second, and then they were back. This time the kiss was deeper, and much too short.

Marnie called, “Time!” Then added, “That’s long enough for a first kiss.”

Silas backed away. “How do you know it’s the first?”

“I am not an amateur,” Marnie said as she opened the door.

Silas turned. “I’ll check on Judge tomorrow.”

Gabi nodded, watched the two leave, and then locked the door behind them. She felt Silas on her lips for a long while after she heard his truck pull away.

* * *

His reason for asking Gabi out in the first place had been to get close to Mia again and figure out what was going on with the kid. Springer or not? He had to know. He hadn’t gotten anywhere near the kid tonight, but still, the evening had not been a complete failure.

He liked Gabi. His feelings were unexpected. Unwanted, even. He couldn’t afford to like her so much.

“Sorry if I ruined your plans for the evening,” Marnie said as they turned onto the dirt road that would lead to the cabin where Maxwells had lived for years.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Silas said calmly. “Gabi and I are just friends.”

“Ha! That was not a friendly kiss.”

He glanced at his passenger. “You turned your back to us.”

“I peeked. Duh. Did you really think I wouldn’t? I knew you two would be well-suited. It’s just so obvious.” Marnie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “However, now that it seems you two are on the right path, I have a word of warning.”

“Warning?” he snapped. “You’re the one who…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said. “Just don’t get seriously involved with Gabi unless you plan to keep it up. I don’t want you to scare her out of town. If y’all get involved and there’s a blowup, she might just get up and leave. I don’t want her to leave. I like her, and she knows how to cut my hair, and it doesn’t take a mind-reader to know she’s skittish as all get-out. It wouldn’t take much to scare her off, I’m afraid.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Gabi’s not looking for a relationship, she made that much clear,” he said.

She snorted, a little. “You know nothing about women.”

“Even if that’s true…”

“Even if? Trust me, it’s true. Maybe I don’t have super powers like the rest of you, but I know how women think. A bad relationship on top of whatever scared her to this place would be devastating.”

“What makes you think she was scared?”

Marnie gave him a long-suffering sigh that spoke volumes. What it said, for the most part, was You’re an idiot. “All you have to do is look at her for two minutes to know. I was invited in, offered the librarian job, and still, if not for Clint I wouldn’t have stayed very long. Gabi has been here more than a year. She hasn’t asked questions or poked around because she’s always got her head down. If she sees anything she shouldn’t she explains it away, or dismisses it as her imagination, or forces it from her mind. Why? Because leaving scares her more than accepting the unacceptable. Of course she was scared here.”

Marnie talked too much. Silas was glad to see the lights of the Maxwell cabin ahead. He still hadn’t decided how to go from here. Did Mia have Springer blood? Would that make enough of a difference or should he plan on sending Gabi packing, no matter what?