M I R A B E L L E
The sun sank lower until the light faded into velvety darkness. The cooler air and the comforting sounds of night soothed me. The wraparound porch was one of my favorite places to relax and think.
And lately, those thoughts were of Silas.
Long and gangly was now tall and solid and filled out in all the right places. Hard work equaled hard muscles, and boy did my hands itch to touch. The young man had certainly grown into a stunning adult. And despite our confrontations and my stubbornness, he was kind and respectful. But the dominating presence was new. And damn, it turned me on and pissed me off, at the same time.
The storm door behind me squeaked.
I didn’t need to look to see who it was. My heart sped, and my breath quickened. The hair on my arms stood. My body recognized his presence. One thing was true: four years hadn’t changed much when it came to how I reacted to Silas Anderson.
His hand came into view, causing me to tense, but I relaxed at the glass of lemonade.
“Thank you,” I said, taking a much-needed sip for the dry mouth he’d caused. Mmm, slightly sour. Just the way I liked it.
“How you holding up, Mirabelle?” Silas sat in the chair next to me, sighing as he stretched his long legs.
“Why do you do that?” Exasperation tinted my voice.
“What?” His face bunched in confusion.
“Call me by my full name.”
“Because, to me, you’ll always be Mirabelle.” His arm slipped around my shoulder. “You may have gone away, tried to change who you are—new name, new hair, new city—but I like the person you were.” He tweaked one of my curls and winked at me. “I’m glad you quit straightening it.”
“And now?” I asked, holding my breath for his answer.
“And now, what?”
“You said you liked the person I was. What about now, Silas? How do you feel about me now?” I had nothing to lose by asking, but damn, my heart raced when he sat there, quiet for what seemed like forever.
“Mirabelle.” His voice was low and soft. “I can honestly say nothing has changed for me.”
He sounded like he was going to continue, but I had heard enough. My feelings had been ripped to pieces by his rejection before, and I wasn’t about to let it happen again. With the loss of Dalton so fresh, I couldn’t deal with this, too.
“Good to know, Silas.” I jumped up to leave, but he caught my wrist, holding me in place.
“Wait,” he demanded. “Dammit, Mirabelle, I wasn’t finished,” he growled, making my stomach clench.
“It’s okay, Silas. You don’t owe me an explanation.” I tried to put a smile on my face, hiding how much his words had hurt.
“I swear, woman, you are the most stubborn person I know!” Silas stood, tightening his hold on me. “I need you to let me explain.”
Heat radiated from his body to mine as his chest rose and fell. His breath smelled of lemonade as it feathered over my face. I wanted to close my eyes and fall into him, to let him hold me, to know if his strong arms felt as good in reality as they always had in my imagination. This man had the ability to completely undo me by doing nothing more than being close to me. I both hated and loved it.
“Mirabelle.” Silas cupped my face with his left hand. My breath caught in my throat as he stared into my eyes with so much emotion. I wanted so badly to hear what he was going to say, even if it scared me. He opened his mouth, but stopped when the door squeaked behind us.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” Caroline said, stepping out of the door. “Mira, you have a phone call. It’s Mr. Blake.”
Bryan Blake was the family lawyer. His call was one more slap of reality. It was time to settle Dalton’s estate.
“Thank you, Caroline,” I said, my voice breathless. Silas loosened his hold, and I backed away, putting much needed space between us. “Excuse me.” I turned and walked through the door Caroline was holding. As I answered the phone, I heard her apologize to Silas.
“Hello, Mr. Blake, this is Mira.”
“Could you come into the office tomorrow morning? Say around ten?” he asked, his voice kind.
“Of course,” I agreed.
“I need Silas to come along also. Do you want to let him know, or should I try his cell phone?”
That Dalton named Silas in his estate was no surprise.
“I’ll let him know. We’ll be there at ten.”
We said our goodbyes.
When I reached the porch, two forgotten glasses of lemonade were the only things remaining from our encounter.
A ranch this size had more than enough chores to keep everyone busy, so I headed to the barn, Rusty following like a loyal dog. I heard laughter when I entered, and smiled at the sound of the guys cutting up after the last few serious days. Dalton would’ve hated us being sad. I knew this, but it hurt just the same knowing I would never see him again.
“Hey, Mira.” Ryke threw up his hand when I rounded the corner into the tack room where he, Nate, and Silas were. Their laughter had stopped after they saw me, and I wondered what they were talking about. It was almost comical the way they were so careful around me.
“Hi, guys.” I forced a lackluster smile at the Davis twins before addressing Silas. “Can I talk to you a minute?” I asked, before walking toward Snickers’ stall. He put his nose over the gate as I approached, causing me to giggle.
“Hey, handsome.” My hands stroked his head and patted his neck.
“Is everything okay?” Silas stopped next to me, his hand landing beside mine.
“Yeah. Mr. Davis needs us to come in to the office tomorrow at ten to talk about Dalton’s estate.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He was struggling to hold back his emotions, too, and I lost it. The flood gates opened, only this time, he wrapped me up in his strong arms and held me as I cried. His lips pressed softly against my temple, mumbling soothing words. The last thing I wanted was to break down in front of Silas, but instead of pulling away, I buried my face into his chest and let him comfort me. It felt good—too damn good.
Snickers’ whinnies made me pull back. Horses were so in tune with human emotions. With one last stroke to his head, I turned to leave.
“Mirabelle.” Silas’s voice was so soft, so full of pain, if I looked back at him, I would start all over again.
“I think I’m going to go to bed. Thank you, Silas,” I said before walking away.
As I tried to fall asleep, I thought about the way everything felt so right in his arms. For once, I allowed thoughts of Silas to lull me to sleep.