Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

WAYLON

Spending the night in Silas's giant bed with the city lights spread out beyond his high-rise window had been surreal, but knowing he loved me, that he was willing to be with me for real, was what was truly blowing my mind.

"You awake?" his morning-graveled voice rumbled from behind me.

"Yeah. This view is unbelievable. I've seen it in movies, but seeing it in person is wild."

I felt the soft press of his lips on my shoulder. "You've never been to the city before?"

"Nah. Sheridan came here one time with a friend. You know JoJo Reynolds with all the kids? Her parents brought them out here for her sixteenth birthday to see a show and tour around."

Silas shifted me around to face him. The dark beard shadow on his face was accompanied by a few pillowcase marks, making him look adorably sleep-rumpled.

He reached over to pull his phone off the charger on the nightstand before squinting at the screen. "Update on Camille from her doctor… doing fine. Uneventful night… should be coming out of sedation in the next couple of hours. They'll let me in then."

I let out a breath. "Thank god."

He put the phone back on the nightstand and turned back to face me. "You can do some touristy things while I'm at the hospital, and if you want, I can get someone from the office to show you around."

I reached out to trace the pillowcase marks on the side of his face with my fingers. "Baby, I'm coming with you to the hospital. I want to meet Camille, and I'm not leaving you to face the day alone."

"Security's tight. I don't know if they'll let you in."

I leaned forward to press a kiss to his prickly cheek. "I'm your legal spouse, which makes me Camille's brother. How can they not let me in?"

Silas's eyes widened before he let out an incredulous huff. "Holy fuck. You're right." He let out another laugh and murmured, "Legal spouse."

"What's so funny? It's true."

His eyes were bright with humor. "No, I know. It's just… at first, after Vegas, I wouldn't let the guys refer to you as my husband. Kenji started calling you my legal spouse. It's weird hearing you say it. It sounds so cold now."

"Were you embarrassed by me, Mr. Concannon?" Of course, I understood. In those early days after Vegas, we were both freaked-out by what we'd done. But Silas must not have realized I was joking.

"Never," he said emphatically. "I promise."

I caressed his cheek. "I was teasing."

"I love you," he said just as emphatically. The words coiled warmly in my stomach.

"I know. And I still can't believe it."

He leaned up to kiss me for a long, precious moment. "Believe it."

"What does this mean for us, though?" I pulled back and looked around at his bedroom, the city outside the window, barely lit with the sunrise. "You obviously have a life here. And mine is back in Majestic."

Silas moved to sit up, propping himself against the pillows before pulling me close. "When I came back here last night, I realized it no longer felt like home to me. Home is with you. That's where I want to be."

"How will you manage your job? I know it hasn't been easy since you've been at my place."

He grasped my hand and teased my fingers with his. "I have a plane. There's a small airport outside of Majestic. We can keep this apartment, and maybe you can come with me when I need to be here for meetings." His expression was hopeful, and I saw a vulnerability in it Silas rarely showed.

"What about the ranch? I have to feed the horses every day. I mean… sometimes my sisters can do it, but I?—"

Silas bit his lip, but I could see his eyes dancing. "Did I mention I had a billion dollars? Maybe we could hire a permanent ranch hand or twelve to help carry the load?"

Heat flooded my face as I realized the ramifications of his wealth. "Holy fuck."

"It'll take you a while to wrap your head around it. It's been years, and we're all still coming to terms with it. Poor Rowe—that's Bash's boyfriend—still insists on paying for his own meal when we all go out to eat. Drives Bash batshit."

I couldn't imagine ever being able to wrap my head around it. "I don't want your money, Silas."

"Well then, I guess we're going to have our first big marital spat because I don't plan on keeping it from you. And I sure as fuck don't plan on allowing you to keep killing yourself on that ranch without help."

"Dev said he'd stick around. He has some ideas for improving our breeding program."

Silas nodded. "That would be good for him. He's happy there, and I know you enjoy his company as much as I do."

"I do. But my point is, maybe the improved breeding program will increase profits enough to hire help."

He opened his mouth to argue with me but then stopped. "Sure, babe. Sounds good."

I barked out a laugh. "You ass. That's not what you really wanted to say."

He grinned, causing the pillowcase marks to crinkle next to his eye. "No. What I really wanted to say was don't be stubborn. But I also know we don't need to decide this now. Anyone looking for a job in Majestic is hopefully already busy helping with the exhibition anyway. We'll figure it out after things die down later this summer. In the meantime, we'll need to figure out how to add on to the house. As much as I love the place, I kind of need a place to put my clothes. Running out to the SUV for a change of clothes in summer isn't too bad, but it would be much less comfortable in winter."

I leaned in and kissed his mouth before pulling back. "We can move into the big house. Sheridan and Bo moved out."

His forehead creased in concern. "But you love your little house."

"I do. But I love you more. Way more." I imagined living with Silas in the house I grew up in. "But maybe…"

"Maybe what? Tell me." He reached out to run his fingers through my hair.

I inhaled. "Maybe I do want to spend some of your money after all."

He snickered. "Ahh. And so it begins. You were after me for my money all this time. You sly minx!"

I shoved him and ended up falling on top of him when his arms stole around me. I kissed him again because his lips were simply too tempting to resist.

"That house has so many memories," I tried to explain. "And I…"

"Want to make some changes? That's fine. I think it's a good idea."

"I want to make it ours. I don't want to live in my parents' house. I want to live in our house."

Silas's eyes filled with warm affection. "Our house. I like that. And ZuZu's. We don't want her to feel left out."

"You'd be okay with my sister living with us?"

He frowned. "Of course I would. Where else would she live? She's family. Would you say no to Camille living with us if we lived in a large farmhouse?"

"Of course not!"

He shot me a told you so look.

"Fine," I allowed, laying my head on his bare chest. "But she supposedly fixed up the barn apartment for herself. So maybe we need to figure something else out for Dev. I guess he could move into the tiny house."

Silas's fingers combed through my hair. "We'll figure it out. We could also build a new place if you'd prefer that to moving into your parents' house."

Daydreaming about a future with Silas was easy. If we hadn't needed to head to the hospital, I could have spent all morning throwing out ideas with him. Unfortunately, Camille was still lying in a hospital bed, recovering from a gunshot wound. And I knew Silas was itching to get his eyes on her again.

"As fancy as this place is, bet you can't beat my shower for sheer luxury," I said, forcing myself off him to start our day.

He simply shot me a knowing look.

And quickly proved me wrong.

The view from his enormous shower was of the entire city, complete with a giant green rectangle that was supposedly Central Park.

"Holy shit," I breathed, reaching for the wall to keep from feeling dizzy.

Silas's arms came around me, and I could hear a laugh in his voice. "You won't fall into the park. The window is solid, I promise."

"This is why I don't do much rock climbing," I admitted. "Not so great with heights."

He pulled me away from the window wall and held me under one of the jets. "But you taught me how to climb."

"Pfft. I taught you on the smallest face of Mount Alice. There's no big drop-off like on Maude. Besides, the climb we did had permanent anchors and a bed of dirt and pine needles at the bottom. The stuff Eden climbs is scary as shit, and sometimes a fall would involve landing on jagged rock. Sometimes she invited me to her competitions, and I couldn't watch. I'd stand there staring at the ground while pouring sweat and praying."

Silas busied himself with the shampoo bottle. "If you stay married to me, what will Eden say?"

His question took me by surprise. "I don't… care? I don't see how it's any of her business." I tried to ease the tension by adding, "Besides, she had her chance."

I shook my ass in a little impromptu dance maneuver to display what she was missing. Even though it turned the edge of Silas's lips up, I still sensed tension radiating off him.

"Will you miss being married to a woman? I mean… I can't give you babies, Way. Not like Eden could."

I was surprised by his insecurity. "Silas. I don't want Eden. I don't want a woman. And I don't want kids if it means I can't have you, too. I don't need any of that. What I need is my husband, the man I'm in love with. Do you understand?"

"You might change your mind."

I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around him. The feel of his body never failed to light me up all over. "I might," I admitted. "I know well enough to never say never. But I can tell you this… I can't imagine that happening. Not with the way I feel right now. I've never felt anything like what I feel for you. Not with Eden, and not even in my daydreams."

I took a breath before continuing. "I've thought a lot about that night in Vegas, about why I would have done something so out of character, so unbelievable. And here's the thing. I remember how I felt when I was with you that night. I felt… I felt seen. Understood. Happy . And I knew even then I didn't want it to end."

My words seemed to sink in. His expression softened, and the tension faded from his body. "Same. Being with you is the first time I stopped thinking about work long enough to learn a little more about myself. I saw how valuable you are in Majestic, how loved you are. And I wanted to be part of it. I love watching you interact with your friends and neighbors, and I get pleasure out of seeing their faces light up when they see you coming. You are living this life that…" He paused for a beat. "That's generous and kind. It's the way I always wanted to be, but I didn't know how to do it outside of the corporate structure. I'm great at helping people in business. And I enjoy that. But you're great at helping people full stop. And I realized that's more in line with what I want and the kind of life I want to live, the kind of person I want to be."

Silas and I had spent a lot of time in the past two months getting to know each other, but he'd never been that open with me before.

"We can do it together," I said with a voice made wobbly by emotions.

His grin made the rest of me just as wobbly.

"Silas?" The woman in the hospital bed was pale, but I could still see her resemblance to my husband.

"I'm here," Silas said, tugging my hand to pull me closer to the bed. "I brought someone for you to meet."

Camille looked tired and sore but remarkably alert for someone who'd been sedated all night. "Are you the cowboy?" she asked with a crooked grin.

"Are you the chemistry genius?" I teased back, reaching out to gently squeeze her hand. "It's so nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Your brother's very proud."

Her eyes flicked to Silas's. "Who knew he would be the one to enjoy bragging about having a doctor in the family. The man is still terrified of shots."

Silas leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You must be feeling better if you're already spilling my embarrassing secrets."

Her smile dimmed. "You must have freaked out. You got here fast. Kenji?"

Silas nodded. "He was on top of it, as usual."

She turned back to me. "Thank you for keeping him company. You didn't need to come all this way."

Instead of correcting her and explaining we hadn't come together, I simply nodded. "I didn't want him to be alone. He was very worried about you."

Silas's hand snuck into mine and held on tightly.

Camille turned back to Silas. "I was scared. While it was happening."

I felt the tension in his grip and heard the heartbreak in his voice. "I can't imagine."

All of us knew he was holding back from what he really wanted to say, whatever magical words might entice her to change jobs and put herself in a safer position. I was proud of him for holding back while she was in such a state.

"Luis Alamilla was the security guard who lost his life," she whispered. "He had three kids, Silas."

"We'll help them," he said, crouching down and reaching out to hold her hand. He still didn't let go of mine with his other. "We'll make sure they're taken care of."

She nodded and looked away. Tears fell down her cheeks as she sniffed. I stepped away to grab the box of tissues off a nearby counter and handed it to her.

It took a little while, but she eventually told us what had happened, how the hospital's own policies of corporate profits and budget cuts had caused the understaffing issues. How in the end it had been a malfunctioning door lock that had failed to keep the shooter out, a door lock that staff had complained about several times but that corporate hadn't approved the replacement for yet.

Silas sighed. "They're going to get their asses sued."

Camille nodded. "They're going to deserve it, too."

I could see the cost of Silas's silence as he continued to hold himself back from pressing her to quit. Finally, she sighed. "I'm not coming back here."

He stared at her for a beat as if making sure she'd meant what she'd said. "Really?"

More tears leaked. "It breaks my heart to say it because I love my job, love serving the people in this neighborhood, but I can't work for this hospital anymore. And… I've been here six years, Silas. It's long enough. It's someone else's turn. And I'll find someplace else where I'm needed."

He leaned over her and pressed another kiss to her wet cheek before taking a tissue and carefully drying her tears.

"Come to Majestic," I said without thinking.

Silas turned to me. "What?"

The idea began to flesh itself out in my head. "Come to Majestic and help us upgrade our clinic. Silas and I have plenty of room. An entire ranch house. And if you don't want to live with us, I have a tiny house you can live in."

Camille looked from me to Silas and back again. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Silas said with a grin. "He's been trying to turn their clinic into a hospital for a long time. If we get the AdventureSmash deal, it'll go a long way to helping get state funding because it'll bring more tourist traffic to the area, and our need will be even greater than it already is."

Camille met my eyes. I could see a familiar spark of excitement in them that Silas got frequently. "Silas is the king of finding funding for things."

"He definitely is," I said with a laugh.

She grabbed her brother's hand. "You willing to work on this with me?"

Silas's tension burned away like morning fog on Clara Peak when the sun hit it. "Hell yes, I am. You know I am. I would love the challenge, and I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more than watching you in your element. You'd love it in Majestic. The people are amazing, and the whole area is beautiful."

Camille reached out another hand to me. "And you, Waylon? That means you'd have to stay married to this guy…"

I took her hand and pretended to consider the question, puckering my face in an expression of distaste that fooled exactly no one. "I mean… I'll have to think about it. Might really cut into my casual encounters ?—"

Silas laughed.

"—but on the other hand, it's convenient as hell to have someone who already knows how I like my eggs?—"

He rolled his eyes.

"—and I…" I bit my lip. "I do believe he'd look pretty fine wearing my cowboy hat, come to think of it."

Silas's gaze, intense as usual, burned into me.

"Kenji told me he makes a pretty decent First Gentleman, too," Camille teased. "First one Majestic's ever had?"

"Best one Majestic's ever had," I said softly, eyes still on this kind and loving man who'd picked me up at a bar in Vegas… and had never let me down. "What do you say, city boy? Do you want to stay married to me?"

"Stay married to Mr. Majestic?" His face broke into a grin big enough to build a future on. He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me close. "I do."