Chapter 15 Silas
Silas
The drive to our gated community is quiet.
Not unusual, considering it’s mostly retired Steele Valley natives and a handful of Voltage teammates who enjoy the privacy. It’s close enough to the practice rink but still far enough outside the city limits that I don’t hear highway traffic when I’m unwinding on the back porch.
Now, though, I’m even more grateful to be in this neighborhood since the ladies around here watch Aubrey when I absolutely cannot bring her with me. Hence why I’m pulling into Mrs. Slater’s driveway at ten till five.
I slide out of my truck and make my way to the front door. The hesitation before I knock has nothing to do with the woman on the other side.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
I’m tired and enjoying my last few minutes of quiet for the day. That’s all.
Mrs. Slater opens the door a moment later. “Hey, honey. You know better than to knock,” she says before stepping aside to let me in. “Aubrey and Oakley are in the kitchen making bracelets.”
As I follow her through the house, I catch sight of Oaks patiently showing my sister how to tie off a string of sparkly beads. The gentleness and love in Oakley Kate’s eyes and the pure adoration in Aubrey’s face steal my breath.
I never should’ve let her go. I should have fought harder, begged her to stay or chased after her.
Aubrey squeals when she spots me. The sound is enough to make us all wince, but damn if it doesn’t make me smile.
“We really need to work on your inside frequencies, kiddo,” I say as she launches herself at my chest.
She’s practically vibrating with excitement as she steps back and holds out her wrist. “Bubba! Look what Kate helped me make. Isn’t it fab?”
“Fab?”
“Yeah, you know.” She plants her hands on her hips. “Like, fabulous but way cooler.”
“Way cooler, huh?” My eyes shift to Oakley, whose cheeks flush pink as she bites her lip to keep from laughing. “What kind of language are you teaching the kid, Kates?”
Aubrey’s giggles are contagious as I pretend to glare at her favorite person.
Oakley caves first with a huff, but even she can’t keep the laughter from her eyes or tone.
“Only the coolest nineties and two-thousands slang,” she says.
“Have you heard what kids are saying these days? She could be going around saying skibidi and sus and all these other words that I have to look up regularly to even guess at what they mean. You should be thanking me, really.”
“Yeah, Bubba.”
I lift a brow in Aubrey’s direction, and she runs off, her giggles trailing after her.
“Get your stuff together, little bit. I picked up the white cheese dip you asked for.”
“Okay!” she hollers as I see Mrs. Slater slip around the corner to help her gather her belongings. Once I’m sure we are alone, I lean my hip against the kitchen table, cross my arms, and study Oakley as she cleans up. Her leg is elevated on the stool beside her with an ice pack around it.
It isn’t my business. She isn’t my business, but that protective instinct doesn’t have an off switch now that she’s back in Steele Valley.
“You lied earlier, Kates,” I say, my voice low and gravelly from trying to keep my emotions leashed.
She glances up, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing like her thoughts are buffering. “What? No, I didn’t.”
The squeak in her voice gives her away. I tilt my head to the side and wait patiently. She’ll own up to it in three…two…one.
“Ugh, fine. No-good, nosy hockey hunk,” she mutters as she latches the final container before looking at me.
“Hunk, huh?” I can’t help the half-smile that tugs at my lips.
“Yeah. Big old hunk of annoyance who refuses to mind his own business.” She sighs, blowing a stray hair from her face. “They said it needs surgery. A plate, screws, the whole shebang,” she admits softly as she fiddles with the ring on her right hand.
My heart skips a beat as I recognize it—the promise ring I gave her before her high school graduation—but I keep quiet.
Instead, I pull my phone from my pocket and send a text to Liam.
I’d already talked to him about getting a new referral together for me, but I didn’t want to send it if she didn’t need it.
“What, your girlfriend couldn’t wait a few more minutes for you to text her back?” Oakley sasses, and I do little to stifle the growl that rumbles through my chest.
The sane part of me knows this is a terrible idea, but the part that still has an Oakley-shaped hole doesn’t give a damn.
Leaning forward on one arm, I catch Oakley Kate’s chin between my thumb and forefinger and lean in close enough that the urge to kiss her is nearly undeniable.
Her breath hitches as one of the sweetest little whimpers slips from her lips.
Keeping my voice low, I say, “Passive aggressive isn’t usually your style, Oakley Kate. If you have something on your mind, say it.”
Her eyes flit back and forth as she grips my wrist and slides my hand to cradle her cheek instead, nuzzling into it.
She says a million little things without speaking a word. That one little action, something so simple, says so much.
“You’ll get a text shortly with the info for our team’s orthopedic surgeon.
He specializes in lower extremities and won’t put you under a knife unless absolutely necessary.
” When Oakley starts to protest, I slide my hand further back, letting my fingers tangle in her hair, and give a gentle squeeze.
“If you don’t want to reach out to him, then delete the message when it comes through.
A second opinion won’t hurt anything, and Liam’s brother is the head ortho, so they’ll squeeze you in whenever you decide to call. ”
“So bossy,” she whispers as her eyes start to go glassy.
The words, “you love it,” are on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them back. It’s probably for the best that Aubrey and Mrs. Slater walk back into the room when they do.
I drop my hand from Kate’s face and push off the table. “Think about it,” I mumble before turning to face the bouncing ball of energy in the form of a small human.
“Taco Tuesday, now?” she asks, her heels barely touching the ground.
“After you, Queso Queen.”
“Yes!” She punches her fist into the air before racing to the door. “Later, Mrs. Slater! Bye, Kate!”
“That girl is something else,” Mrs. Slater says with a smile.
“She was good for you?” I ask as I rub the back of my neck.
“Always, Silas.” She glances between me and her daughter hesitantly before continuing. “She did mention not knowing where she was staying next week. I think she’s a little worried about whether she’s traveling with you or not.”
I nod as I try to force the tension from my body. Fat chance. Avoiding Kate’s questioning gaze, I offer my thanks again.
“Let me know if you need me to watch her next week.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Before Kates can question her mother’s words, I nod toward her leg. “Go kick that leg up on pillows and ice it, Katibug.”
She swats at my hand and misses, but I still catch the little smile that tugs at her lips. “Later, hotshot.”
And even with everything so uncertain, I still leave grinning like an idiot.
The five-minute ride home is full of Aubrey’s continuous chatter about all the things she and Oakley Kate talked about, and it fills my heart with warmth just as much as it deepens the fissure that holds all of Oakley Kate.
Nothing hurts more than when Aubrey asks one single question while I heat up the chicken in the microwave, once again thankful for a team chef who preps the basics for me.
“So, since Kate came home, does that mean you and her are going to get married now?”
My hand freezes mid-stir as the queso bubbles in the pot. I nearly drop the wooden spoon as it becomes difficult to remember how to breathe.
It takes three tries to clear my throat and push out a response, but the surprise at her question remains. “What do you mean, bug?”
She holds one hand out, palm up, then the other.
“You love her. She loves you.” She clasps her hands together and tucks them under her chin, and my heart damn near breaks.
“People always leave.” She shrugs, looking away from me for a second.
“But if they come back for you, it means they’re special. ”
Sniffing back the emotion at her words and vulnerability, I push the pot off the burner and cut the heat before lowering myself to Aubrey’s level and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“Kate is special, Silas. You should make sure she knows that.”
“Aren’t you a little young to be giving relationship advice?” I ask as I struggle to wrap my head around the truth this little girl just piled at my feet.
Aubrey huffs, her little arms crossing over her chest as she stares at me defiantly. “I’m almost ten, Silas. Plenty old enough to know these things.”
I sigh as I settle onto one knee and rest my hand on her shoulder. This kid is either going to be the death of me or the reason I live to be one hundred. At this point, I don’t know which.
“You’re right that Kate is special, Aubs. And I do love her, but it isn’t that simple.”
“Well, it should be,” she huffs.
I study the kid before me, battling with myself on whether it’s the baby sister or the wise-beyond-her-years kid who is standing here. If everyone could see the world with kid logic, we might actually be happy.
“Maybe so, but life doesn’t work that way.” I push back to my feet and make sure all the ingredients are within reach before placing two taco shells in Aubrey’s purple dinosaur taco holder. “How do you even remember us being together, kiddo? You were tiny back then.”
Aubrey looks past me, and I hate the pain that sits there. As her lower lip trembles, she stomps her foot against the carpet. “She’s a better mom than mine is,” she says quietly.
I scrub a hand over my face as I fight back the curses that surface at the mere mention of Aubrey’s mother.
We share a biological father, but that’s all he was for either of us. He left my mom when I was five. He left Aubrey’s mom before she was born.