“It’s nothing personal, Silas,” I assured him. “Asher’s been busy with his businesses and his horses. He hates the town gossip.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “Don’t we all. But less and less people are paying attention to that nonsense now. It won’t be long before the gossips will find something new to talk about and forget all about the old rumors. Maybe then Asher will start coming around again.”
I wanted to tell Silas not to count on that, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
At one time, Asher had tolerated people a lot better, and he’d been able to have a civilized conversation.
He’d always been an introvert, but he’d been socially functional.
Now, my brother had very little patience for anyone other than me.
I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened to Asher, but his really antisocial behavior had started not long after we’d moved to Austin.
It had gotten progressively worse over the years.
I’d tried to get to the bottom of it many times, but he took my head off every time I mentioned that he’d changed.
I’d learned to give him his space out of respect, but I still worried about him.
Obviously, we all changed as we got older, but his degree of isolation seemed a little too excessive, even for a guy as introverted as him.
I grinned at Silas. “We’re going to take that advice. Lauren and I are going to take a ride out to the river on my property this afternoon. It’s going to be too warm a day not to ride.”
The river that ran through our property was one of my favorite spots. Asher and I had made the river a dividing point between our properties, so he had one bank, and I had the other side.
It was the same river that ran through the Remington brothers’ properties and through Millie’s as well.
Silas beamed at me. “You always were a smart boy. You hooked up with the best available female in Crystal Fork, too. If you’re really smart, you’ll marry her before you get a ton of competition.”
I looked at Lauren, only to realize that she was actually blushing.
It was about the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
“We just started dating, Silas,” Lauren said in an admonishing voice.
“Don’t try to tell me that you two aren’t an item,” Silas drawled. “I might be old, but I’m not blind.”
“We’re definitely an item,” I told Silas. “And neither one of us is going to be dating anyone else.”
“Be good to her,” he told me. “When you strike gold, you guard that claim.”
Lauren folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not a gold claim, Silas.”
I winked at him. “She says that, but I plan on claiming her anyway. A guy knows when he’s gotten lucky.”
Silas patted Lauren on the shoulder. “Sorry that I compared you to a gold find. I was just trying to make Cole realize how valuable a good woman can be.”
Lauren huffed adorably, but I knew she wasn’t mad.
“I’ll get over it,” she said mildly.
She was basically humoring Silas because she quite obviously adored the man, even if he was a little outrageous sometimes.
Silas motioned toward the bar. “I got a few customers. You two have fun this afternoon. Be good to each other.”
I grinned at her once Silas had gone. “I think I’m about ready to get back to the ranch and start staking my claim.”
She tried to give me an annoyed look, but she failed miserably because she giggled right in the middle of trying to hold that look on her face.
