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“It’s not like that for us. Itcan’tbe.” She had the girls to think about. How confusing all of this would be for them. And complicated for her. All everyone in town would think about was how she was dating her husband’s best friend.
“When did it happen?” Lyric had abandoned her yoga routine and gave Tess her full attention. “Where?”
Tess didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t want to remember every tantalizing detail. But it was too late to go back now. “During your engagement party. At the hotel.”
“Of course!” Kyra popped up and went to the refrigerator in the corner of the room. “I should’ve known. Aiden mentioned something about a mystery woman who hooked up with Silas. But the answer is so obvious. Youbothdisappeared that night.” She brought back three water bottles and reclaimed her spot in their circle.
“You told me you’d met up with an old friend and spent most of the party catching up in a quiet corner of the lobby!” Lyric shook her head with a laugh. “I can’t believe I fell for that. Your hair was a mess when you came back to the room.”
“I’m sorry.” She sipped water to squelch the fire in her throat. “Jace’s cousin DeAnn said some things that got to me.”
“I should’ve been there.” Remorse clouded Lyric’s expression.
“It’s not your fault.” Tess sighed. “She caught me off guard, that’s all.” Because Tess had been having so much fun with Silas. “I walked out to that patio where the firepit was. And then Silas came looking for me.” Her whole body shivered thinking about how he’d wrapped her up in his arms, how he’d stroked her hair. “I still don’t know what happened. I was lonely, I guess.”
“You’re sure you only spent the night with him because you were lonely?” Lyric asked quietly. She liked the hard questions.
And right now, Tess had no answers. She only knew the thought of him leaving made her ache with emptiness again. “Maybe it wasn’t only the loneliness. Maybe there is something more there. For me, at least. But he was Jace’s best friend.”
“Whew.” Kyra blew out a weighted breath. “I know this feels complicated, Tess. Itiscomplicated. But you don’t have to carry any guilt about feeling something for him. He’s a single man. You’re a single woman. And you two have gotten close. You share a bond with him. It’s natural that you would develop feelings for someone under those circumstances.”
“Exactly.” Lyric leaned closer. “Did that night with Silas happen to be passionate and high velocity and fiery and intense by any chance?”
The blush flashing across her face was likely all the answer they needed. “You can’t say a word about this to my brother,” she told Kyra.
“I would never,” her friend assured her. “You know that. You can tell me anything and I won’t tell another soul.” Kyra seemed to hesitate but then continued. “I will say though… that morning in the café… it was pretty clear to me that Silas does have some feelings for you too. He tried to hide them, but he didn’t do a great job.”
For a split second, Tess’s heart hung suspended in hopefulness. But logic is what was needed here. “Pursuing a relationship with Silas would be too complicated. Especially for the girls.” And for her. “We have too much history. All of us together.” And she couldn’t trust her heart. Maybe she was simply trying to maintain a connection with Jace through Silas. Rather than examining that possibility, she jumped up and rolled her mat. “I should get going. I’ve got a ton of work to do at the ranch today.”
Kyra stood too. “And I’ve got patients coming soon.”
Lyric handed both of them their waters. “Don’t forget to hydrate.” She focused on Tess. “And we’re always here if you want to talk about anything.”
“Thanks.” Unfortunately, talking wouldn’t change any of her circumstances.
She said goodbye to her friends and walked out into the bright spring sunshine with Kyra’s words lingering at the edges of her thoughts.Silas does have feelings.There’d been times in the last month when she’d wondered if he experienced the same stirring of hope and fascination she felt when she saw him—a kind of lifting in her heart. But she hadn’t been around him enough to tell much. He’d helped her with the horse situation, but other than that, he stayed away.
Tess climbed into her truck and pulled away from the curb, rolling down the windows so she could breathe in the scent of the blooming lilacs in various yards throughout town. If Silas did have feelings for her—if she acknowledged her feelings for him—too much would change.Everythingwould change. And she and the girls had only just found their solid footing. They’d already created their new normal and she couldn’t upset their rhythm now.
She turned into her driveway and headed for the garage but hit the brakes when she saw Silas’s truck parked past the house near Legacy’s corral. Right on cue, her heart dropped, prompting a distinct change in her pulse. Instead of turning into the garage, she cut the engine and got out to make the long trek to the corral, already knowing she would find him there.
Silas’s back was to her when she quietly approached Legacy’s pen. She wasn’t sneaking up on him, per se… actually, she totally wanted to eavesdrop.
“I know how you feel, Pal,” he was saying to the horse. “It sucks to be stuck right in front of the thing you want most, all the while knowing you can’t have it.”
Tess’s hand went straight to her mouth, stifling a gasp.
But Silas must’ve heard anyway because he whirled around.
“Hey.” She let her hand drop back to her side, heart beating so fast she was sure he could see her ribs buckling.
“Hi.” He did that evasive maneuver with his eyes again. “I didn’t hear you coming.”
No, she’d made sure to shuffle her feet lightly over the grass, avoiding any sticks or crunching gravel. “Um, sorry.” She eased out a slow exhale. “What were you saying to Legacy?” What did he want most but couldn’t have?
“Oh…” He turned back to the horse, petting her mane. “I just think she hates being confined in this pen. Haven’t you seen how she paces along the fence all the time? She clearly wants her freedom.”
So freedom was what he wanted too? To leave Star Valley?
