Chapter 9

NINE

WAYLON

Maybe it was because I'd built the place myself, or perhaps it was because I'd never intended to share it with anyone else, but seeing my house through someone else's eyes was nerve-racking.

"There's really just this one main room," I explained, hanging my hat on the hook by the door. "Sofa, fireplace, eating table, kitchen stuff. Then, over there through the archway on the right is the bedroom… well, it's not really a room so much as a nook with my bed in it. And then the archway on the left is the bathroom. No laundry or anything. I have to do that up at the main house."

Silas was a tall man with broad shoulders, and I was pretty broad myself. With the two of us in the tiny space, it seemed more like a dollhouse than anything.

"Sorry it's not much," I said. "But you're welcome to?—"

"It's amazing, Way."

I glanced over at him. "You like it?"

"It's perfect. I love it. Is that a tin roof? It looks like it has a story to tell."

The curved ceiling was one of my favorite features. "Yeah. I used reclaimed materials as much as I could. We have lots of neighbors who were willing to donate stuff or sell it to me cheap. The ceiling is corrugated metal from the side of an old barn at Jenks' dairy farm. He was the guy who stopped us to ask about horses for Georgie Pollner." I nodded in the general direction of Jenks's farm. "Their spread is about ten miles south of here."

Silas moved to the small love seat against the wall and sat down, immediately taking up less space and allowing me to breathe easier.

As he asked a few more questions and pointed out several other aspects of the house he particularly liked, I began to relax. Even though my house was tiny, it would be easier to share it with someone who appreciated it for what it was.

Finally, he met my eyes. "Way… if at any point you decide me staying here is too much, just tell me, okay? We can find a solution. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's solving problems."

I sucked in a breath. It was a novelty, having someone so concerned with my comfort. It was kind of him, and I was grateful, but it made me unsettled, too. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

He nodded and stood. "Okay, then I need to touch base with… that corporation to let them know about the change in… strategic consulting for the next couple of months."

I closed my eyes and groaned. "Shut up. I was working with what I had."

His rumbled laugh filled my home. "It was cute. And I appreciate that you did some investigating about me."

"Didn't you do the same about me?"

He placed his hand over his heart. "Me? Go snooping on the internet? Waylon Fletcher, how could you accuse me of such a thing?"

When Silas smiled, his entire face changed. He went from this intense, almost scowling man to a complete charmer. I was convinced the man could smile the pants off any human on earth.

He'd obviously done it to me at least once.

"What did you find out?" I pressed. "Surely there's not much about me on the internet besides my role as mayor."

"Not true. Apparently, some cute kid with your same name won quite a few junior rodeo titles back in the day."

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. "Jesus. God. Tell me there weren't any photos." Except I knew there had to be. Those pictures had been on the front of the Majestic Beacon several times over the years.

"Is it perverted if I was a little turned on by your teenaged booty?" he asked with a laugh. "It seems horse racing is good for the glutes."

His eyebrows bounced up and down, making me laugh despite my intense embarrassment. "You should try it. Might give you a better workout than your corporate hamster wheel."

Silas turned around and patted his ass, which looked plenty good already despite the overly large jeans he wore. "What exactly are you saying, Waylon? You don't like it the way it is? I'll have you know I work hard for this ass. Squats, lunges, donkey kicks… you name it, I do it. All in pursuit of the rodeo ass I saw one time on the cover of a small-town newspaper."

I shoved his shoulder. "Fuck off. And yes, you're a perv. If you want to lust after someone's ass, pick a real man, not a junior rodeo stud."

His laughter made me feel more at home than I had in a long time. He grabbed the hand I'd shoved him with and pulled me close. "Stud, huh? Why, Mayor Fletcher, I can't believe you just admitted to having been a stud in high school. How very brazen of you. And here I thought you were all… aw, shucks… who, me ?"

The tension crackled between us like a storm coming in strong. I wanted to kiss him again, to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to reenact the parts of our Vegas night I couldn't quite remember.

His eyes flicked down to my lips and back up. His own mouth was turned up at the edges. I was close enough to notice his left eye sat a little lower than his right. His right eyebrow had several lighter strands in the inside edge that, from afar, made it seem like that one eyebrow was shorter.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before any sound came out, we heard the crunch of tires on gravel through the open front door.

Silas released my hand and stepped back. I glanced out the door and recognized the dark red SUV. "My sister. Sheridan," I muttered. "Guess she didn't want to wait for dinnertime after all."

He pressed his lips together before nodding. "That's fine. I need to call the office anyway, so I'll take my phone for a walk while the two of you talk."

"You'll have a hell of a time getting service. The best spot is down by the riverbank, but be careful not to get too close. There's big water right now because of snowmelt."

He looked up from his phone screen. "Don't you have Wi-Fi?"

I laughed. "You're adorable. And if you knew what percentage of this house project went to just getting electricity out here, you'd be shocked. If you can't get a good call through, you should at least be able to get texts."

As the reality of his new situation sank in, I nudged him back outside and directed him toward the river path. Sheridan gave him an awkward greeting in passing, but I waved her to the small porch before she could try for more.

"He looks upset," she said, setting a canvas bag on the wooden planks before throwing herself down on the bench next to the front door.

"Just found out about the Wi-Fi situation," I said with a grin.

She laughed. "Ah."

I took a spot on the porch step, leaning forward and clasping my hands together with my elbows on my knees. "Say your piece."

Sheridan's thick hair was in its usual braid. She flicked it behind her before she spoke. "I just want to know what the hell happened in Vegas. You went there to propose to Eden, and you came home married to some guy . What are you playing at? You're not even gay."

I'd thought long and hard about this on the drive home, and I knew I needed to find a way to sell her on a variation of the truth. If I made too much up, I'd never be able to remember what I'd said. If I told too much of the truth, she'd blab to Aunt Blake.

"I'm not gay, you're right. I'm bi. And it's… new. Kind of. I mean… I knew I had some attraction to guys, but I never explored it. Never really felt the need until now because I like women, too." I swallowed. "And I kind of thought I'd end up married to Eden eventually anyway."

"Everyone thought that," she said before lifting her eyebrow. "Except Eden."

"Apparently." I blew out a breath and tried to clear my thoughts. "I really did go there to propose to Eden, but she shot me down right away. And then she got her period, so it didn't even matter."

"Shit. That's good, at least."

I nodded. "I met Silas that night. And before you say anything, I know. I know it was fast. But…" I let out a breath. "Sheridan… when I started talking to him, suddenly… suddenly I felt like myself . I don't really know how to explain it. I felt like I could breathe. I felt like… like this mix of heady excitement and bone-deep rightness I'd never even imagined before. He listened to me. He didn't ask anything of me. He wanted to protect me, to learn about me. He didn't judge. It's like he saw me. The real me. Not the mayor. Not the rancher. Not…" I shook my head. All of this was true, but it sounded ridiculous.

Sheridan's face relaxed into a soft smile. "Wow. You really do like him, don't you?"

"I do."

That was the truth, too. In fact, it was a little scary how much I liked Silas. How, even though I should have been focused on the sister in front of me and the pile of chores waiting on me, my thoughts kept wanting to trip down the river path after him.

"That's great, Way. Really." She bit her lip.

"But?" I prompted.

"But marriage? Legal marriage? To a man you knew for a single day? It's reckless. Do you even know if you like the same things, want the same things out of life? Where are you going to live when his job is back East? I know you said he was a successful corporate… something… but do you know that for sure? He's driving a subcompact rental, his jeans look older than you are, and you put him in a position where he could take half your assets when you get divorced. Think of the ranch, Way."

Part of me was amused—of course I was thinking of the ranch. I didn't need Foster or Sheridan to remind me to think of it because I lived, breathed, and slept it every day. Another part of me was not amused for that very same reason. I also took exception to the when we got divorced bit… which was probably unfair since I knew better than anyone that this marriage had an expiration date.

I smiled and kept my patience. "He's not going to take the ranch, Sheridan. He has plenty of money. He really is a corporate strategy consultant. In Vegas, he was wearing a killer suit and staying in a high-end hotel on the Strip. You can check out his LinkedIn profile for yourself." Silas could have concocted years of fake comments and entries from other well-known corporate executives, but that seemed a bit of a long game to con someone out of an eighth of a debt-ridden horse ranch. "And we've already agreed to draw up a postnup to protect our assets. Which was Silas's idea."

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, well… that's good, at least."

"And as to the rest… I don't know yet. Maybe you're right. Maybe it was a little reckless." It was. It surely was. "But I promise none of it will come back on you or ZuZu or Wynn, okay? I won't let the family down."

"I know you won't. I just… I want you to be happy, Way."

"Well, I am." I thought for a second about my crazy schedule, my pathetic bank balance, and the expiration date she'd just reminded me of, then added, "Mostly."

"Good." She leaned forward and patted my hand, then sat back with a grin. "I admit, it's kinda cute to see him wearing your shirt."

I blinked at her. "My… shirt?" I'd noticed, too, that the old flannel Silas wore looked like one I'd donated weeks ago. It wasn't—couldn't be—the same one, but I didn't correct her. It was probably a happy-husband thing to share clothes like that… at least, if the secret, possessive thrill I got from the idea of him wearing something of mine was anything to go by.

"And did you notice the back of his neck got red when Janice Godfrey said she'd caught y'all kissing in the alley? So cute. Then he grabbed your hand and kissed your knuckles one by one. I thought Stella's eyes were going to pop out of her head." She sighed. "And she was there with the PTA moms. They were all swooning. And him with your hat ? Jesus, Way. I guess that means it has to be serious, doesn't it?"

Silas hadn't worn my hat… that I knew of, anyway. He'd simply held it.

Held it against me while we'd danced.

And while we'd kissed.

Held it the whole way from Vegas to give it back to me.

I sucked in a shaky breath and jumped to my feet. "I should probably go, ah…" I jerked a thumb in the direction of the barn. "…get my chores done while Silas is occupied."

"Sure." Sheridan stood. "By the way, I called ZuZu right after you left the cafe, so she knows."

"Shoot." Suddenly, I remembered I hadn't thought to warn my little sister about any of this. "What'd she say?"

"She didn't seem surprised. She said she always thought you had a crush on Lake McNair and that when he and Jackson got together, you went into a deep depression."

While Lake McNair was a good-looking man, I'd never had a crush on him or thought of him in that way at all. If anything, I thought his husband was hotter. "Didn't he and Jackson get together right around when Dad died?"

"Oh." Sheridan looked startled. "Yes. God. Well, ZuZu had it half-right."

It was nice to share a laugh.

She moved past me to the canvas bag she'd left on the porch floor. "Almost forgot. I stopped by Pete's and picked up a take-and-bake pizza for you. Decided I didn't feel like cooking after all. Hope that's okay."

"Course it is. Thanks."

She opened the bag to show me a big pizza and six-pack of beer. I also recognized a large cardboard to-go box from the Love Muffin.

"Toffee bars, fresh this morning. You can have those for dessert. And there's also coffee cake for the morning."

I gave her a hug. "Thanks. You're the best."

She squeezed me tight. "You know I love you, right? And I only want the best for you."

Her words were probably kinder than I deserved. If she'd shown up suddenly married to a stranger, I would have lost my damned mind, and we both knew it.

"I know. Thank you."

When she pulled back, she shot me a wink. "Don't love you enough to take the afternoon feed, though. That's all you. I've gotta get back to the cafe."

I thought about all the work that was left to do on the ranch and groaned. But at least if I was at the barn, I wouldn't be tempted to assert my marital privileges in the world's tiniest house.