A huff escapes me as my eyes travel to Silas’s abandoned workbench, where his tools scatter the surface, an oil pan sits under the tractor, and his hoodie is draped over the stool.
Easier said than done.
“Winston!”
I look up and down the dirt road in front of the house, both amazed and annoyed that he was able to take off as fast as he did. The road has open fields on either side where I stand, and I don’t see him anywhere.
“Winston!” I yell a little more firmly.
For fuck’s sake. I was going to take him to the beach again this evening, since it blew his mind last night, but it looks like he might have already run there himself.
With a sigh, I start to turn to head towards the beach, but a flicker of gold fur catches my eye, disappearing into the woods just up the road near the farm.
I groan, taking off at a run after him.
If anyone’s running a tractor this evening, I don’t trust him not to just run right up to it thinking it’s a fun new game. And that could end up being a complete disaster.
I run hard, reaching the end of the driveway Winston entered. My lungs burn as I book it up the driveway of Silas’s grandparents’ house. Luckily, I don’t see any tractors in the field that runs along the driveway, but I still don’t want him in that field. They’ve been working hard to get the soil ready, and the last thing they need is a goofy golden retriever digging through it all.
“Winston!” I shout again, pausing partway up the driveway as the house comes into view. I look around for him, but everything’s quiet. It looks like Silas’s grandparents aren't home, and I don’t see Winston anywhere.
He must have kept going up the driveway to the old cabin in the woods.
I pull in a breath and set off at a run again. That cabin has been empty for as long as I can remember. I can only imagine what it looks like now.
My legs shake, and my chest heaves as I reach the trees, and they close in on me as I round the corner. But as the cabin comes into view, I stop dead in my tracks.
Winston sits on the front porch with his tongue out and tail wagging… sitting right next to Silas.
I pull air into my lungs, trying to catch my breath as I step forward. “Uh… hey.” I point at Winston. “That’s my dog.”
Silas glances over at him from his chair on the porch, and I notice the sketchbook on his lap and a pencil in his hand. My already racing heart seems to skip a beat, and I fight the urge to take a step closer.
“Winston, come,” I say, motioning for him to follow me, but he doesn’t move. He just continues to sit next to Silas with a goofy smile.
Silas doesn’t say anything as he just continues to watch me with a look that says I have just seconds to get out of here before he loses it on me.
Oh, fuck that.
“Look, I didn’t know, ok?” I throw my hands out to either side of me, as if there’s anything I can offer here that won’t make this worse. “If I knew you were doing something with that field, I wouldn’t have suggested scrapping it.”
He still doesn’t speak. He just gives me a single nod, then turns his gaze to the woods.
I huff out a breath as my frustration grows and takes over. “That’s it?” I ask, trying not to go off on him. “You’re not even going to speak to me?”
His eyes snap back to mine, and I pause. The hard edges of my anger soften a bit as I take in the look in his eyes, and I release a soft sigh. It’s the same look he had yesterday when I saw him by the tractor.
Fear.
I take a step forward. “Si…”
“Don’t.”
I stop, and Silas stands, tossing his sketchbook on the chair.
He shakes slowly as he stares me down. “Don’t do that.”
I hold his gaze as my brow furrows. “Do what?”
