I blink. “That’s not how that works.”
He exhales through his nose, frustration sharp but controlled. “Caleb, she asked for things to be strictly professional. Then, we had… that night didn’t really solve anything. We want her, she wants us, but she needs time. So do we. I don’t have the answers you need right now. I’ve got a kid dealing with school crap and a town that won’t mind its own business. I don’t have the luxury of sorting through my feelings on your timeline.”
I flinch, but I don’t argue.
Because he’s not wrong.
Silas clears his throat. “Nobody’s asking you to drop everything, Boone. We’re just saying the not knowing is getting loud.”
Boone finally looks at him. “Then lower the volume.”
Silas opens his mouth, then closes it. For once, he doesn’t push.
That tells me everything.
I nod once, stiff. “Okay.”
Boone’s shoulders ease a fraction. Clearly, he expected more resistance and is relieved not to get it.
“Okay,” he echoes.
We leave it there.
Outside, the ranch feels too wide, too open. The kind of space that usually settles me now gives my thoughts room to echo. Silas walks with me as far as the porch, then peels off toward the barn, clapping a hand on my shoulder once.
“I meant it,” he says quietly. “I’ve got your back.”
“I know,” I reply.
He hesitates. “And… for what it’s worth? I think you’re doing the right thing.”
“Doesn’t feel like it,” I admit.
He gives me a small, crooked smile. “Yeah. That tracks.”
When he leaves, I stand there longer than I should.
Boone’s words loop in my head.
Lower the volume.
Don’t guess.
Silas’s words loop too.
I like her. I’m scared of pushing her away.
And Delaney…
Delaney is the problem and the answer and the thing I can’t stop circling.
I find her later in the kitchen, as I always do. It’s almost instinct now. She’s moving around the space, music low,Sadie perched at the counter, drawing something colorful and unidentifiable.
Delaney laughs at whatever Sadie says.
My chest tightens.
This is why I hesitate.
