I turn Silas around and wave my hand at the table and two chairs off to the side of the pavilion. Mary London and Deuce have delivered two plates of food from The Velvet Throne and a champagne stand.
“Our first date. Well, a re-do of our first date,” I explain.
Silas puts his hand on my back and walks us over to the table where he kisses Mary London’s cheek and does that backslapping thing with Deuce guys always do. Then Deuce wraps his arm around Mary London and forces her to leave even as she tosses questions over her shoulder.
“Did he say it? Are things good? Call me!”
Silas shakes his head at his busybody sister’s shenanigans. He holds out a chair and I sit. He places a cloth napkin across my lap and then has a seat across from me.
“Thank you for arranging this, Betsy. This is…amazing.”
I dip my head. “It’s the least I could do after I ruined our date at The Velvet Throne.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, honey. You just needed some time and I respect that.”
I smile at him, appreciating how well he knows me. “Champagne?”
Silas’s whole body emits a weird little shiver. “Um, no, thanks. How about this dinner though? It looks great!”
Music starts playing abruptly. Silas looks around.
“Deuce was supposed to start that earlier. Looks like he just remembered,” I explain. Boy, as far as grand gestures go, this one has been a little rough. Then again, I got the guy, so I guess it hasn’t gone too badly.
Silas takes my hand in his and then we eat our dinner, chatting all the while. We talk about our week, our families, our pasts, and most importantly, what we dream for the future together. It’s the best first date I’ve ever gone on.
“Care to dance?” Silas asks after we’ve finished eating.
I glance around and see some fellow citizens in the park, enjoying the cooling temperatures after dark. Most people have given us some space though, which I appreciate. Dancing in public isn’t really my thing, but maybe it could be.
“I’d love to.” I stand and he moves us into the center of the pergola.
He folds me into his arms, my cheek resting against his chest. The gentle thud of his heartbeat makes me smile. He has to wipe the sweat off his forehead and I hope he can’t tell I have a bead of sweat running down my spine. The sun’s gone down, but it’s still August in the South. Somehow, the humidity and heat doesn’t even bother me anymore.
Instead, it feels like a gentle hug from my new home.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Silas
January
“But it’s so cold out,”Betsy whines as she laces her barely used running shoes.
She’s been joining me on the occasional run over the last few months as the weather cooled off, but today I enticed her to go with me on a hike instead. Okay, calling it a hike is generous. North Mississippi doesn’t have anything to climb. Today’s adventure is more of a nature walk, which is perfect for what I have planned.
“It’s gonna hit mid-fifties. That’s not cold,” I scoff, fidgeting with the house key. I need to calm down or she’ll suspect something. It’s incredibly hard to pull one over on Betsy thanks to her suspicious nature.
“Do you have any of those hand-warmer things?” She stands, looking cute as ever in black leggings with a white stripe down the sides, a dark gray puffer jacket, a scarf in light pink Nanaknitted for her, and her hair up on the top of her head. She did some sort of wing on her eyes with black eyeliner.
“You know people use those in the snow, right?” I point out the window of my house. “There’s bright sun and no wind today. Hardly hand-warmer-worthy.”
I know this because I’ve been watching the weather reports all week planning today’s outing. Betsy snuggles into my side with a sigh.
“Fine. For you I’ll brave the great outdoors.”
I grin over her head, stupidly giddy every day when I wake up, knowing she’s by my side. She still lives with Nana, but frequently finds herself over at my place. Thankfully, the two houses are only a five-minute drive apart. Deuce has been giving me shit about the perma-grin I’ve been sporting ever since Betsy and I got back together. Then again, he’s never fallen in love, so he has no idea the joy it brings.
“And I love you for it, storm cloud.” I kiss the top of her head and then steer us toward the front door.
