He shrugged, not caring to explain himself, but Halo continued to study him. “You were with Raven.”
This sent his head snapping backward. “What?”
“I might look rough, but you look like you didn’t spend the night sleeping.”
“Wow, okay,” Silas said, rubbing his neck.
“What does that mean? You guys an item?” Halo asked as she forked a big piece of cinnamon bun into her mouth.
“No!”
She raised her hands. “Just a question. We all can see something is going on between you two.”
“What? Who is we?”
“Me, Doc, and Bodie. Hell, even my daughter. We see the flirting. The way she looks at you. How nervous you get when she enters a room. It’s like watching an old computer reboot.” The older woman launched into a series of staccato body movements to underscore her point and, in the process, left Silas feeling embarrassed that the feelings he’d thought he had expertly concealed had been so obvious.
“Regardless of how it may seem, I can promise you it’s nothing serious,” he told Halo. “It’s only attraction.”
He could admit, however, that eating breakfast with Raven had felt comfortable, as evidenced by the story he’d told her about Chuck’s role in his surgery recovery. She was only the second person he’d ever shared that with. Her warm nature made it easy to share things with her.
“I like her for what it’s worth,” Halo said around the food she chewed.
“That’s a one-eighty for you,” Silas said.
“I’m a judgmental woman—some might call me a bitch—but I can admit when I’m wrong. And Raven—I don’t know how to describe it, but she does everything with an intensity I appreciate.”
Silas nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.
“Don’t worry, though,” Halo swiftly added. “I might’ve warmed up to her, but I’ll always want you heading Mountaintop. I still think she’ll get bored of this place.”
It was true. Raven had her arms wide open to embrace life and experiences, and Cedar was too easily grasped.
“Do you ever get tired of Cedar?” Silas asked Halo, surprising himself with the question.
“No, never. It’s a slow life I crave.”
It was a sentiment shared by many townspeople.
“And you?” Halo asked. “You like living in Cedar?”
“Yeah, it’s home,” he said easily enough.
He could see himself living in all sorts of places, and sometimes he thought about how coaching competitive archers destined for podiums would afford him that opportunity. But it didn’t seem like a desperate enough calling to abandon what he had going on in Cedar.
In Cedar, he was close to his family, had a beautiful home, and was around people he enjoyed working with. He was content.
ChapterNineteen
The time had come.Chestnut the squirrel had completely healed. It was safe for him to return home now that the splint was gone. Bodie had insisted they needed a ceremony to send the animal off, so the entire Mountaintop team stood in front of the cabin early in the morning on a workday to say farewell.
“This will be goodbye, my friend,” Bodie said to Chestnut, who’d been placed before them for the direct address. “Hopefully not forever. You can visit whenever.”
The buff man bowed his head and asked, “Anyone want to say a few words? Silas?”
Raven peeked over at Silas, who seemed to have gotten no heads-up about the speech he was supposed to deliver. He looked so handsome even when floundering.
“Whenever you’re ready, Silas,” Doc said with a playful nudge to Silas’s side, and Raven had to turn her head before she burst out laughing.
