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Still groggy, Silas climbed out of his car and cruised in through the café’s squeaky door.
Minnie nearly bumped into him, armed with a coffeepot in hand. “Mornin’, sweetie.” She sidestepped him. “It’s awful early to be laying eyes on your gorgeous face.”
“Tell me about it,” he grumbled. Especially since he’d been here until ten last night. Then when he’d gone home, he hadn’t been able to shut off his mind. Even playing a round of solitaire hadn’t gotten his thoughts off of Tess. “I’m supposed to meet—”
“Silas!” Kyra waved at him from the table in the back corner. Aw, hell. What were she and Aiden doing sitting with Thatch? He wasn’t in the mood for Aiden’s bullshit at this hour of the morning.
When Silas approached the table, Aiden stood abruptly. “What’re you doing here?”
Silas shot their guilty-looking buddy, Thatch, a hearty glare. This was clearly a setup. “I got a text.”
“So did I.” Aiden directed a not-so-friendly look in Thatch’s direction too.
But their friend pointed at Kyra, deferring the blame. “Don’t look at me like that. It was all her. I swear. She made me text both of you, even though I told her this wasn’t going to be pretty.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Kyra signaled to a passing waiter and quickly ordered a round of cinnamon rolls because she knew full well none of them could resist Minnie’s cinnamon rolls. That was the only reason Silas would stay.
“It’s time to get over whatever is going on between you two.” She tugged on her fiancé’s hand. “Now sit.”
Aiden dropped back to his chair, glowering at Silas. As if this little meeting had been his idea. He could’ve still been in bed dreaming about Tess right now.
“And you can sit right there,” Kyra told him cheerfully, pointing to the seat across the table that already had a steaming mug of coffee sitting in place waiting for him.
It didn’t appear as though he had a choice. Silas had to hand it to Kyra, she knew how to get her way. He took a seat and got started on the coffee. He was going to need all the caffeine he could get for this discussion.
“I’m sorry I had to resort to extreme measures to get you two in the same room, but this had to be done.” Kyra’s bright smile turned stern. “You guys are like brothers. And you’re always there for each other no matter what. So we’re going to sit here and talk about what’s upsetting you both.”
“Can’t we just go outside and punch each other instead?” Silas asked. “That’s typically how we like to handle things.”
The woman gaped at him with a mixture of bewilderment and horror.
Yeah, she didn’t get his sense of humor. “I’m kidding.” Sort of. He and Aiden had decked each other a few times over the years. And the physical altercations always solved things much faster than using a bunch of words. Silas had never been good with words.
“Now, it’s important that we all get on the same page,” Kyra went on with an overly calm tone that she likely used on her pediatric patients. “We’re supposed to be making wedding plans right now and Aiden has a question he needs to ask you.”
This ought to be good.Silas set down his mug and sat back, watching his friend with a smirk.
“I was going to ask you to be one of the best men in my wedding. But you probably won’t even be around next fall anyway.” Aiden crossed his arms. “So Thatch will have to run the mission solo.”
Was he serious right now? “I’ll be around for your wedding.” Silas had always shown up for these guys when they needed him. “I wouldn’t miss that day for anything.”
“You don’t know that,” Aiden argued. “You might be off on some contract mission. Or you might get yourself killed over there.”
“Ah. Okay.” Kyra’s head bobbed in a perceptive nod. “This is good. Silas, I think Aiden is trying to express that he would be very concerned for your safety if you take that contract job.”
“No,” Aiden countered. “I’m telling him only a dumbass would walk back into the fight that we were all fortunate enough to survive.”
“He’sworried,” Kyra rephrased.
Then he could get over it. “First of all, there is noif. Iamtaking the job.” He’d already told Fletch he’d help and he never went back on his word, so his friends had better get used to the idea. “Would you rather have me stick around here if I’m not happy?” He didn’t dare mention the real source of his unhappiness.
“No,” his friend grouched. “Yes. I don’t know.”
“No one wants you to be unhappy.” Oh, look who decided to join the conversation. Those were the first words Thatch had spoken in this showdown that he’d helped facilitate.
A waitress interrupted and delivered their cinnamon rolls but Silas couldn’t eat his. He didn’t even pick up his fork. “I’m going on one mission. Because you, Thatch, and Jace made me a good soldier. I can help out there. I can make a difference.” He wasn’t making a difference here. “This is important to me. It’s something I feel like I need to do.” And he needed his friend to support that.
“Good, Silas. Thanks for sharing how you feel.” Kyra turned to her soon-to-be husband. “How does his point of view makeyoufeel?”
