Chapter 51
FIFTY-ONE
My fingers twist in Winston’s fur as I watch the trucks rolling in from the hollow heart field, and my pulse thunders.
This is the last of it. The entire field is now harvested. All day, it’s been a steady stream of trucks loaded with potatoes backing up to the storage shed, lifting their beds to dump into the hopper as the belt carries everything up and into the building, forming long, rising piles inside.
But no one has checked any of them yet. Because if there’s going to be hollow heart, it’ll show up in these final loads from the middle zone. And Silas needs to be here for it.
I watch as the tractor pulls off the field and makes its way towards the yard across the packed dirt, dust lifting behind it in a wide trail that hangs in the air before slowly settling back over the rows that were just taken down.
Silas pulls the tractor and harvester into the lot and kills the engine, his gaze landing on the first truck from the middle zone unloading into the hopper as he climbs down. I can feel the tension in him from here.
I follow his gaze to watch potatoes tumble into the hopper in a heavy rush, knocking against each other as they drop, then get caught and carried up by the belt.
Dirt shakes loose from the potatoes and falls through the gaps before they disappear into the shed, and Rob and Peter stand on either side of the line, clearing the occasional clump and making sure everything keeps moving.
Silas’s eyes flick to me, and I smile at him.
We’re both anxious about this, but he is especially. He’s put everything he has into this field. He saw the potential in it, refused to let it go, and gave it everything it needed to thrive.
And it’s going to work.
I step up beside him and press a kiss to the side of his head. “Breathe,” I say.
He pulls a deep breath in and meets my eyes as he releases it.
I hold his gaze and smile softly as I feel some tension leave his body.
“Come on.” I nudge him towards the line.
“I think you’re going to be good, boys,” Rob says, glancing between us with a smile as Silas steps up to the belt.
They all look good… But that’s the thing about hollow heart.
They look completely fine on the outside, and it’s only when they’re cut open that we see the damage inside. The hollow cavity in the middle, caused by stress and uneven growth, that hides until someone goes looking for it.
Silas reaches out and grabs a potato off the moving belt, holding it in his hand as he looks down at it. Then he reaches into his pocket, pulls out his knife, and flicks the blade open.
My pulse quickens as I watch him position the blade over the potato and pause. His eyes lift to meet mine as he pulls another deep breath in, then slices it down the middle.
I step forward with my heart in my throat, peering at the two halves in his hand.
And it’s perfect.
It’s fucking perfect.
No discolouration, no hollow cavity… perfect.
Silas drops it and quickly grabs another one, slicing it open. And it’s the same thing.
No hollow heart.
He turns to me as wide smiles spread across both of our faces, and he drops everything to the ground before he pulls me into him. I wrap my arms around him, and we fall into a fit of laughter as we jump and hug like fucking idiots.
“So, good news?” Scott’s voice cuts through our laughter, and Silas pulls back from me just enough to look at him and his Papa as they round the side of the shed to join us.
“Good news,” he says with a big smile.
“Alright!” Peter yells from the other side of the belt, holding his arms up in the air as Rob lets out a whoop as well.
“Never a doubt,” Papa says with a smile as he shoves his hands in his pockets and gives Silas a wink, and his dad gives us both an approving nod that’s full of pride.
I reach up and grip Silas’s chin, turning his head towards me again. His beautiful hazel eyes are alive and sparkling.
“You fucking did it,” I say.
He pulls me closer, tightening his grip on me. “We fucking did it.”
Then he leans in and kisses me, holding onto me like he’s never going to let go.
I completely melt into him, gripping the back of his neck to hold him as close as I possibly can, and my love for him completely takes over.
We really fucking did.
Winston splashes through the water to bring his ball back to me, and I eye him, taking a step back. But he just drops the ball at my feet, with no spray of sandy water.
“Well… that’s a nice change,” I mutter, bending down to quickly grab the ball and throw it before he changes his mind.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I reach in and pull it out, already rolling my eyes because I know what it is.
Keigan
Come on, guys.
I’ve been so supportive.
I release a sigh and watch as the typing dots pop up again.
Keigan
You’re ALL taken now. And I’m the only one who isn’t.
So you need to help me with my dating profile. Levi, I helped you. It’s only fair.
I snort a laugh and type out a response, sending it at the same time Silas’s and Jade’s responses come through.
When I was with Silas?
Silas
He didn’t need one.
Jade
He was with Silas.
The dots immediately appear.
Keigan
WELL I DIDN’T KNOW THAT.
Silas, take a picture of me on your tractor next time I’m home. Ladies love tractors.
Jade
You don’t know how to drive a tractor.
Keigan
Silas will teach me.
Jade
Silas, don’t do it.
I watch as no responses come through and chuckle.
Keigan
Silas?
Rustling behind me pulls my attention to the pathway onto the beach, and Silas steps out onto the sand.
I smile at him and hold up my phone. “You see what Keigan asked?”
He just nods, stepping up beside me as he looks out at the water.
Winston’s head pops up, and he immediately takes off towards us once he spots Silas.
“Yeah,” Silas says. “I’m not doing that. I haven’t forgotten the time he drove my bike into the garage and bent the front tire.”
I laugh. “Good call.”
Winston runs up to Silas, his soaked fur dripping saltwater onto the sand as he plops the ball at his feet.
Silas bends down to pick it up, and I let my eyes roam over him, lingering on his perfect ass in his dirty work jeans before moving up the line of his body.
His frayed black T-shirt clings to all the right places on his muscular back and shoulders, and his arms are still streaked with dirt from work.
But as I reach his face, my pulse picks up, and the butterflies come alive. The warm golden glow from the setting sun spills over him, highlighting his features in a way that makes it impossible to look away. His smile is soft and easy as he watches Winston, and he just looks… content.
I haven’t seen too much of him this week since he’s been busy harvesting, and his days have been long and brutal. But every evening, we end up here on the beach as the sun sets, and everything feels like it’s slowing down just for us. And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
Silas turns to face me. “I have something for you.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
He nods, and his gaze slides past me. “It’s in the lighthouse.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Is it… your dick?”
His face twists as he looks back at me. “Why would my dick be in the lighthouse?”
“Well, no,” I sigh. “I mean, are you going to give me your dick in the lighthouse?” And my heart thumps a little harder at that thought.
Silas just rolls his eyes with a huff and a half smile.
Then he takes off running.
“Race ya!” he calls over his shoulder.
Oh, fuck no.
I take off after him, digging my feet into the deep sand as I push forward to catch him, and Winston barks as he launches out of the water to chase after us.
I push harder, gaining on him with each step. He glances over his shoulder and picks up speed… But I do too.
We’re shoulder to shoulder as we near the lighthouse, both of us running as hard as we can in the sand and onto the stone path. But we both reach out and touch the lighthouse door at the same time.
He smiles at me, and I drop my hand, opening my mouth to tell him he cheated, when he yanks the door open and bolts inside.
Fucker.
His footsteps echo up through the tower as Winston squeezes past me and races after him, and I take the steps two at a time, ready to make him pay for that.
When I near the top, he smugly smiles down at me as I climb the last few steps, and Winston sits proudly at his feet.
“That doesn’t count.” I point at him and narrow my eyes. “The race is only to the door.”
Silas nods thoughtfully. “So… you’re ok with it being a tie?”
The competition flares to life inside me at the thought of that. But it quickly fades as my gaze roams over his face and I take him in.
The space is flooded with the last light of the day; warm gold and soft orange spilling through the windows that surround us, wrapping around him and catching his hair, his cheekbones, his hazel eyes, and his beautiful smile, reminding me I already won where it really matters.
I step into him, sliding my arms around his waist as I press a kiss to his nose. “Yes. As long as I’m by your side, I’m more than ok.”
His hands slide up my back to pull me closer, and his mouth finds mine in a soft, slow kiss. Everything about this moment is unhurried, easy, and comfortable, as we just hold each other in the soft evening glow and let everything outside this space slip away.
Silas then releases me and steps back, turning towards the bin that holds our past. He lifts the lid, reaches in, and pulls out a piece of paper.
I watch him as he looks over it in his hands for a moment, then steps towards me again and holds it out.
My breath catches as I take it into my hands, and all I can do is stare down at it.
It’s his drawing of the hollow heart field.
Where the rows stretch across the page in layered strokes of deep brown and sun-warmed gold, and he’s perfectly captured the subtle shifts in the land he knows better than anyone.
It’s drawn in a way that makes it feel like I’m standing in it instead of looking at it.
But… there's more to it now.
New lines are worked into the soil, the curves following the dip of the rows to form an almond shape, which pulls my gaze inward to honey flecks and lines throughout soft brown, forming an iris.
Through the middle of the field lies a faint outline, so subtle I almost don’t see it. It looks like stitching, pulling two pieces together. And as I look closer, I see it’s two pieces of a heart, lying over the middle two zones that became one.
My gaze lifts to the top of the page, where the sky above the field is lit with the same sunset tones washing over us now. But he’s woven streaks of red into it that look like ripples of energy.
Warmth spreads through my chest as I take in the incredible details and vivid colours, and I run my fingers over the red streaks in the sky.
“The field was missing something,” Silas says.
I lift my eyes to meet his, and blink back the tears welling in them.
“And so was I.” The corner of his lips tilts up in a soft smile. “You.”
A tear slips down my cheek as I step into him and press my lips to his, and an intense swell of emotion rises in my chest.
I ask myself every day how I got to be so lucky to have Silas Gallant in my life. I always have, and I always will.
My heart was hollow without him. And now, I don’t think it’s ever been so full.
I hold him tight as I let myself get lost in him, in this place where we used to escape the world and create our own stories.
And now, we begin a new one together.
Here, forever, where we were always meant to be.