AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But now he didn’t want to leave. Even for a month or two, or however long this assignment with Fletch would take. He didn’t want to go. That was the bottom line.
He walked up the narrow staircase and found himself standing in the austere kitchen. The man who’d sold him the house had updated everything with a clean, plain modern style, all whites and grays, and he’d never thought about making any changes. Mostly because he’d never thought of making any place a home. He’d never needed a home. He’d never longed for a home because he’d never known one.
Until Tess.
Yet again, he fought against his instinct to pick up his phone and call her. At least twice a day this entire week he’d had to force himself to set down his phone. As much as he’d wanted to see her, to spend time with her, he couldn’t sneak around, hiding everything behind Morgan’s and Willow’s backs. They deserved better than that and so did their mom. Maybe Morgan and Willow would come around, like Tess had said when she’d stopped by his house. And what if he was gone when they did? Would they feel abandoned?
Silas pulled his phone out of his pocket. He’d never been good at waiting. He liked action. But if he wanted to be with Tess, he couldn’t keep doing things the way he’d always done them. He didn’t have to go all the way across the world to give them space. He’d given them space this whole week. And if he told Fletch he wasn’t coming, he’d be here if Morgan and Willow ever came looking for him.
Before he could call Fletch, the doorbell rang.
Silas stuffed his phone into his pocket and opened the door. “Morgan?” The girl stood on his stoop holding a tablet.
“Hi, Silas! I was wondering if you could help me with my science project for school.” She marched into his house. “It’s due next week.”
“Uh.” She wantedhimto help her? He glanced past her to where Tess’s truck was parked in his driveway.
“Mom is helping Willow out of the truck but I would like to get started as soon as possible.” She held out her iPad so he could see the screen. “I need to build a 3D horse exactly like this, and my mom said she has no idea how to do that, and I said, ‘I know! We’ll ask Silas.’ Because you always help us with stuff.”
Some internal dead bolt in his chest unlatched, allowing him to breathe easier. “You’re sure you wantmeto help you?” The last time he’d seen her, she pretty much hadn’t wanted anything from him.
Morgan grinned at him. “I couldn’t think of anyone better to help. Mom said you might be too busy because you’re getting ready to leave for your new job but you’re not really going to go, are you?” This girl gave new meaning to the term puppy-dog eyes. “We need you here. Me and Willow and Mom. We don’t want you to go.Idon’t want you to go away.”
A sense of purpose swelled through him, far more powerful than any he’d experienced before. To be there for these girls, for Tess… that was all he would need for the rest of his life.
One sentence. That was all it took to change his entire life.
“Hi, Silas!” Willow skipped in through his front door, followed by Tess.
Tess was here. She’d pulled her hair up with just a few strands curling down along her neck. She wore no makeup and had on a tattered sweatshirt and leggings. And she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“Hey. Sorry to stop by unannounced like this.” The woman nervously touched her hair, eyes shifting uncertainly. Because she didn’t know yet. She didn’t know that Morgan had laid a claim on his heart. If these girls had truly let him in, he would never let them down.
“Are you kidding? You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
“Can you make me some pancakes, pretty please?” Willow gazed up at him with her round, innocent blue eyes.
Silas lowered so that he was eye level with the girl. “I thought you didn’t like my pancakes too much.”
“I don’t,” she said simply. “But I really like you.” The girl threw her arms around his neck and instant warmth filled his eyes.
“I like you too.” He could hardly speak.
“Before you make pancakes, I need to know if you can help me build the horse.” Morgan showed him the picture again. “I want it to look exactly like this.”
Still kneeling, Silas studied the screen. The woodworking plans depicted pieces all cut out of oak plywood and put together like a 3D puzzle. “Sure, we can do that. We have plenty of scrap wood at the office. And I’m sure we have all of the tools we’ll need.”
“Yes! Thank you!” Morgan hugged him too and then the two girls started to dance around him, making up a song about building a wild horse.
“This was all Morgan’s idea,” Tess told him. What was she doing still standing so far away?
Silas closed the distance between them. “I know.” He had seen the authenticity in both girls’ simple requests. “I will help them with anything,” he murmured. “I will do anything for them and I’ll do anything for you.”
“Stay.” Tess clasped her hands in his.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Not now. “In fact, there’s something I need to do.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket with the three of them standing there watching him.
Fletch answered on the third ring. “Yo, Beck, I was just getting ready to call you.”
