I smiled. Silas smirked. And then he was in my arms.
I breathed him in, holding on as tightly as I dared. “I’m very grateful you moved in next door—not once, but twice. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a while, Silas. The very best. Boston is lucky to have you.”
“I—”
“And don’t forget, you owe me tickets,” I said quickly.
“Yeah, sure. I…yeah.”
I kissed him again and opened his door. “Drive safe.”
He didn’t budge. “I don’t want to go.”
“You don’t have a choice, Si. Neither of us do. You’ve got a new shot, and I’ve got a lot on my plate, and it’s just the way it is. Maybe it’s a case of bad timing, and maybe it won’t always be this way. But for now…you’ve got a job to do. Go do it, baby.”
Silas worked his jaw, his eyes blazing with unspoken emotion. “I’ll be back.”
“I hope so.”
He climbed behind the wheel and after an agonizing minute, finally started the engine.
Then he was gone.
And with him, a huge piece of my heart.
CHAPTER 25
COOPER
July ended in a heat wave. The electricity went out after a lightning storm and melted all the ice cream at Swensen’s and caused an uproar in town.
Silas texted. He found a condo with a view of the Charles River. He sent pics and emojis with heart eyes.
August was a blur of camps for kids, tears with Sarah, who’d ultimately decided she’d visit every weekend. We all knew that wasn’t feasible, but no one said anything. There was a party in Fallbrook to send Frank and her off…and more tears.
Ivy and Chase started school in Wood Hollow at the end of the month. They loved it. They missed some of their old friends, but they had friends here too. They both texted Silas often.
Ivy sent him selfies with her culinary creations, and Chase made videos of Rhys and Greta’s new puppy and told him they were asking for a dog for Christmas.
Silas sent me updates from Boston via text. It was hot and there were a ton of tourists. He didn’t mention that he’d seen his ex and her famous beau. He didn’t have to. The three of them made headlines at a Red Sox game, and it was all anyone could talk about in town. Our Silas knew famous people.
He also sent more emojis with hearts.
September began with a flood of incoming permits. A demolition team cleared the overgrown shrubs, cracked cement, and a few dozen trees in the plot behind the mill, and the construction team broke ground for Mill Depot a few weeks later.
Oh, and the NFL season was underway.
We had a watch party at our house for game one—Boston versus Las Vegas. Everyone cheered like mad as Silas took the field. Unfortunately, we lost.
They won game two, lost game three, but we all agreed that he played well. Silas was getting real playing time and had even scored a touchdown. ESPN raved about his return and debated whether he’d ever seriously considered retirement.
“He probably wanted out of LA,” a sportscaster commented recently. “Anderson obviously has juice in the tank. This guy is tearing it up out there!”
Entertainment news was more concerned with the posse of celebrities who showed up in droves to Boston games now. There was speculation Silas was dating an actress. I knew it wasn’t true, but I didn’t ask for clarification.
I still got daily heart emojis. And tickets to game four.
We were friends trying to navigate distance and feelings we couldn’t express. It was frustrating and yet…I supposed the hearts made me hopeful.
