I stood there, looking at his puke, dreading the clean up. My already-touchy stomach wrenched, and I covered my nose.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, standing up with a grimace. “Do you have something I can clean this up with?” I couldn’t tell if his face was flushed because he’d vomited or because he was embarrassed. Possibly both.
I held up my hands. “I got it.”
“Clem,” he called, but I kept going. I was going to hurl if I stayed there.
No one with a concussion should have to clean up their own puke. So I hurried back to the big room and rifled through the cupboard above the sink. I didn’t own any of that powdery stuff elementary school janitors used when somebody puked in the lunchroom. But Momma always said dish soap was a solid, all-purpose cleaner. It would at least work for tonight. I’d bring my carpet cleaner from home tomorrow morning when I came to teach my barre class. I hurried back down the hall with a handful of paper towels, a couple of wet cloths, and the bottle of soap.
But when I arrived, the mood in the room was totally different. There was no more laughter, only silent, vigorous scrubbing from all three of them. I didn’t know what Silas had said, but somehow he’d put the fear of God into Anna and Holden. Someone must’ve grabbed some paper towels from the bathroom.
I knelt down to help, squirting soap onto one of the rags.
Silas held his hands up, his gray eyes drilling into me. “We've got it. You don’t need to touch this.” And I knew now that his flushed cheeks were because he was embarrassed. They were even redder than before—all the way to the tips of his ears. “Is there anything else you can do while we clean this up?” he asked in a tone and with an expression that screamed that he would pin me to the ground before he let me touch his vomit.
“Yeah. Okay.” I hopped up and hurried out of the room as fast as I could, my cheeks smarting. Why did he have to be like that? What was it about me that made it so he couldn’t relax? I looked around for something to do. Mirrors. I could clean the wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors. I took my time spraying them and wiping them off. Who knew how long they’d be back there, but I wanted to be busy when they found me. If he’d decided to accept Sophie’s proposal before, this had probably changed his mind. My stomach clenched,and I realized it had been in a knot ever since he’d entered the studio.
Silas must’ve wanted to be thorough because Anna brought the soiled cloths out and put them into a spare Food Lion bag. Then she grabbed a few more.
“How’s it going in there?” I asked.
“Fine.” She gave me a smile, but it was forced. She headed back to help some more.
Ten minutes later, they were finally done, and the mirrors had never been so clean.
Holden and Anna came out first. Anna was silent. Holden raised his eyebrows, but I could see a smile breaking through. “Good times,” he said.
“I’m gonna check out Uncle Holden’s new car for a minute,” Anna said, still looking a little rattled. Silas had to learn to relax. He had no idea how tense he could be or how it affected everyone else.
“Okay. I’m just waiting for Silas so I can lock up.”
I watched her get into Holden’s fancy smart car and smiled. That would take her mind off things.
A solid five minutes later, Silas finally came out of the bathroom, his hands looking like he’d scrubbed them raw.
“Hey,” he started. I expected him to apologize again but instead he said, “I have to grab some stuff from Mom and Dad’s and then I’ll be over. Do I need a sleeping bag or anything?” Oh. He was going to do it. “We’re staying at your place, right?”
“Yeah. Of course. No, you don’t need anything. It’s a three bedroom.”
“Ok. Cool.” He stepped around me. “I’ll see you there.”
“Wait.” I grabbed his elbow.
He turned, but kept his eyes hooded.
“Do you want me to call Billy? Have him check you for a concussion?”
His eyes flashed and his jaw clenched. “No. I definitely don’t want you to call Billy.”
Okay. “Well, do you at least want a ride?” I hated the way my voice was shaking. “You probably shouldn’t be driving.”
“I’m fine.” He pulled his elbow out of my grasp and headed for one of the old ranch trucks.
My cheeks burned right along with my eyes. But I pushed it all down. In a little while, Silas was moving into my house. I had to give him some grace. Today had been a lot.
For all of us.
six
