That Grace girl was cute, and she sure could kiss. The baby had thrown me for a loop, but what the hell? I opened the door and followed her in to the diner. Nice ass.

“Glad you two could join us,” Ryker said, pointing to the bench across from him and Ana.

I smiled lazily at the former Sparrow. “So, this is your bun oven.” Ryker’s eyes opened wide. I knew that comment would get to him, but I wanted to see what it would do to her.

She leaned into Ryker’s shoulder. “You want to kick his ass, or should I?”

“Dude, you don’t meet the mother of your niece or nephew and call her a bun oven.” Ryker reached over and grabbed a piece of uneaten bacon from Ana’s plate.

Grace took Blue from my arms and put him in a baby seat at the end of the red leather bench.

I leaned over and gave Ana a kiss on the cheek. “You sure did grow up pretty. I remember when you were a scrawny little rat, stomping your light-up shoes.” I backed up and slid into the booth next to Grace.

“I loved those shoes. Even when I lived with Grams, I wore those light-up shoes.” Ana looked toward the red-headed beauty who sat next to me. “I see you’ve met Grace.”

“Oh, you mean my wife, Grace.” I looked past her to the car seat that had a monkey-shaped rattle hanging from the handle. Blue’s big eyes were zeroed in on the toy. “And apparently I have a son.”

Ana bolted upright. “You didn’t.”

Grace sunk into the seat a little. “I didn’t have much choice. Dad started going on about a wedding. He was winding up for his you’re-an-awful-daughter diatribe. I didn’t want to hear him try to convince me that Blue was a bad decision, so I blurted out that I had a husband.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Then Ryker and Silas showed up, and it kind of took on its own life.”

I was just getting ready to razz Grace when a cute little blonde waitress rushed over. “Hi, you must be Silas.” She sat down next to me on the edge of the booth and scooted her ass into my hip, which forced me to move closer to Grace.

“I am Silas.” I looked over at Ryker, who was shaking his head. It dawned on me right then that this was the waitress Nate told me about. The one who had it bad for Ryker. “You must be Hannah.”

The girl bloomed right next to me. “I am, sweetie. What can I get you?” She leaned toward me, making sure her body rubbed against mine.

I looked around the table and noticed a barely eaten omelet. “Whose is this?”

“That was mine before I lost my appetite,” Grace said.

“You finished?” I asked, even as I reached for the plate.

“Go for it, sweetie.” Grace did a perfect impression of happy little Hannah.

“Thanks, peaches.” I leaned toward Grace to get her fork and brushed my lips over her cheek. I leaned back and sent Hannah falling from the booth onto her butt.

“You, too?” she demanded.

I had no idea what she meant, and I didn’t care. “Yes, two coffees.” I looked at Ryker, Ana, and Grace. “You guys want anything?”

Ryker ordered a patty melt while Grace and Ana ordered decaffeinated coffee. Hannah stomped off while I cut through the cold eggs and relished the texture as it hit my tongue. Even cold eggs beat the MREs I ate in the field.

Blue worked himself up to a mini-fit, and Grace pulled him out of the carrier. “Do you mind?” She looked around the booth.

Everyone shook their heads. Grace covered her shoulder with a light green blanket and tucked Blue beneath it. Ryker and Ana couldn’t see a thing, but I got a regular peep show as she maneuvered her beautiful breast out of her shirt and into the baby’s mouth. It was a total dick move to stare at her, but I couldn’t help myself. Any man would have done the same. My species couldn’t turn away from a nice set of tits. I would have done anything to trade places with that kid.

Once Grace had Blue settled and happy, she turned her upper body toward me, taking away my peek at her perfection.

“I’m sorry to bring you into my mess, Silas.”

Ryker broke into uncontrolled laughter. “I wish I had been standing there when you told your dad that Silas was your man.”

Ana laughed too. “I would have loved to see both of their faces. Deacon Faraday’s face, just to get smug satisfaction from the fact that he was wrong about Grace. And you, Silas. What did your face look like when she approached you? I saw her pull you in and kiss you. I had no idea what the hell was going on.”

Hannah brought Ryker’s meal and the decaf coffee pot. I reached for Grace’s cold coffee and washed down the egg before Hannah filled her cup. “I don’t put up much of a fuss when a beautiful woman wants to kiss me,” I laughed. Hannah rolled her eyes before she walked away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grace smile. Her whole face lit up.

“He was a trooper,” she said. “He didn’t even flinch. The problem I have now is that my dad is in town for a few days on church business. He wants to have dinner with my husband and me tomorrow night.” She tucked her chin into the blanket, and her smile fell. “I’ll come clean tomorrow at dinner.”

Ryker piped in, “Or maybe Silas can finish the job. He can be your baby daddy until your dad leaves.”

My facial muscles twitched in sync, and Grace came to the rescue.

“Don’t worry about dinner. I’ll just tell him the truth. Not that it’ll be easy at this point, but I’ll handle it.”

It was a shame to see that bright smile turn into something that looked like worry.

She removed Blue from her breast with a pop and latched him on to her other side. I was once again given a titillating view of her tatas. I was even more jealous of the little man. To be pressed to those breasts several times a day would be heaven.

“I have to say, bro, Blue looked good in your arms.”

“That’s never going to happen.” I looked at the little boy who was now flopped on his mother’s shoulder while she patted his back. He was cute enough, and I liked the way he felt in my arms, but I was soldier material, not father material. “I mean, the kid is cute and all, but I don’t see myself ever becoming a father. Not after what our foster dad did.”

Grace nodded, and her whole demeanor changed. She wilted like an out-of-water flower.

I pulled a twenty from my wallet and slapped it on the table. “Ryker, are you going to show me around the booming metropolis of Fury?”

“What? At the mention of responsibility and parenting, you want to bail?”

He was right. It was a subject that bothered me. I’d never thought about settling down before. But seeing Ryker with Ana each time we Skyped and now seeing him sit beside her completely content made me wonder if he didn’t have something amazing started. There was a tiny, twisted knot of jealousy forming in my gut.

“We can stay, but you mentioned working on the house, so I figured we could get started right away.”

“Let me finish eating. We have to hit Mona’s first. She’d never forgive me if I didn’t bring you by her place.” Ryker picked up his patty melt and consumed it in six bites. He drank his coffee and leaned over to give Ana a kiss. “I’ll see you soon.”

I looked at Grace, who was getting Blue ready to leave. It would have been so easy to lean down and kiss her again. I wanted to feel and taste her lips once more, but that wasn’t wise. Grace was the kind of woman who needed a full-time man. Blue needed a full-time father. Full wasn’t a word synonymous with Silas Savage, unless you were saying he was full of shit.

Instead, I said simply, “Nice to meet you, Grace,” like we hadn’t shared the most amazing kiss.

Fifteen minutes later, we were pulling in to Mona’s driveway. She opened the door as soon as we walked up the steps.

“Get in here.” She opened the door wide and stepped aside to make room for us to pass. I wondered whether she knew she was wearing one pink sock and one red one. “I don’t own the electric company, and it’s cold out there.” She waited for us to step into her living room, and then she locked the door tight. “I made hot cocoa.”

Ryker looked at me and smiled. “You’re in for a treat.”

We followed her into the small kitchen where hot milk steamed in a pan on the stove. She gave it a quick stir and then stepped back.

“Let me look at you.” She walked around me like she was inspecting high-end goods. “I hate winter,” she grumbled. “Now take off that coat and beanie so I can see if you’re as ripped as your brother.”

I let out a mock gasp. Ryker entertained me with Mona’s antics each time we spoke. I wrapped my arms around her thick waist and picked her up. “Mona, you’re a cougar,” I said, mock-scolding, as I turned her in a circle.

She didn’t fight all that hard. In fact, her hands went to my arms, and she squeezed like she was testing the ripeness of a peach. “Put me down, young man.”

I set her softly on the worn-out linoleum flooring. It was probably original. It still had a harvest gold hue, but the pattern’s color had been completely rubbed off in several places, leaving white cloudy dots that clearly marked the high-traffic areas.

I pulled off my jacket and beanie and ran my hands over my recently sheared head. After three days of no shaving, my scruff was almost as long as my hair.

Mona dumped cocoa powder and sugar into the simmering milk. “This here’s the secret ingredient.” She unwrapped two chocolate bars and broke them into pieces as she added them into the mix. How the nearly blind woman managed to make anything was a mystery to me.

She ladled the steaming mix into three owl mugs and set them on the Formica table. “Okay, young man. I need some answers.”

I leaned back and sipped the hot chocolate. I had to give her credit; it was the best I’d ever had. “What do you want to know?” I knew from Ryker that when you spoke to Mona, you used your best diction and grammar skills. She’d be as quick with a correction as she was with her treats.

“Are you here for good, son?” She leaned forward and stared at me like she was a human lie detector, but I knew she was just trying to see me. I didn’t know Mona well, but I felt like I knew her through Ryker. He always had a good Mona story to share.

“No, ma’am. I’m on leave waiting on reassignment.” That teetered on the truth. I was waiting on the Army, but it wasn’t for reassignment. Well, not exactly.

“Oh, pish. Your brother is going to be a father. You’re going to be an uncle. We’ve got a few single women in town that you could court.” She ran her hand through her white curly hair.

“Are you volunteering?” I asked. From what Ryker told me, she could take a good ribbing as easily as she could give it.

“In my heyday, young man, I could have given you a run for your money.”

Ryker let loose a laugh. “She’d wear you out, Silas.”

“But I’d have a private supply of hot chocolate.”

“Oh, lord. Like I told your brother, I’m too old to have your babies, so find yourself a nice young woman and knock her up.” She leaned back and enjoyed a sip of her cocoa.

Ryker leaned in like he was going to tell her a secret. “He’s married to Grace.”

Mona spit out a mouthful of hot chocolate, showering me and Ryker with a sticky mess. “You married her already?” Her light blue eyes grew as big as saucers. “You have good taste. That girl is a keeper.”

“We are not married.” It seemed like every conversation I’d had since I arrived back in Fury involved me marrying Grace. “Her preacher dad showed up, and I guess she hadn’t told him about Blue and … well … I stood in as her husband. We were fake married for five minutes.”

Mona twisted her mouth in the way some people did when they were thinking. “You could do a lot worse than Grace. She’s beautiful inside and out.”

I looked up to the ceiling and rolled my eyes. “Not happening, Mona.”

“Good thing. I can’t recommend you if you can’t speak in full sentences.”

I had to laugh—I’d been warned about my language, but I’d still been caught. “So, what you’re telling me is I could do worse than Grace, and she could do better than me.” I was totally in love with this old woman. She was exactly whom I would have picked as a grandmother if I’d been given a choice.

And Mona’s response only served to convince me further. “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said smugly.