Chapter 34 Silas
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Silas
I wake up tangled in warmth.
Not just sheets. Not just bodies.
Presence.
Sunlight is filtering through the thin curtains, pale gold and lazy, dust motes drifting idly. The fire’s long dead, the cabin cool in that early morning way that usually sends people scrambling for blankets.
No one scrambles.
Boone’s on his back beside me, one arm flung over his eyes. Caleb’s half propped against the headboard, already awake, staring out the window, taking inventory of the forest. And Delaney is between us, hair loose, face soft with sleep.
She didn’t pull away in the night.
That’s the first thing I register.
Didn’t gather her clothes and retreat to the other room. Didn’t put space between herself and any of us.
She stayed.
My chest tightens with hope.
I lie still, afraid that if I move too fast, I’ll spook the moment. Boone shifts beside me, muttering something under his breath about coffee. Caleb glances over, catches my eye, and gives me the barest nod.
Delaney stirs then, lashes fluttering as she wakes. For a heartbeat, she just lies there, orienting herself. Then her eyes open fully.
Hazel. Clear. Awake.
“Morning,” she murmurs.
That single word is a choice.
“Morning,” Boone says, lowering his arm and squinting at her, checking she’s really there.
Caleb offers a quiet, “Hey.”
I smile before I can stop myself. “Hey, sunshine.”
She exhales a small laugh.
For a long moment, none of us move. The cabin hums with quiet. Wind through the trees. A bird somewhere outside arguing with the concept of dawn.
Delaney shifts closer, her shoulder brushing mine.
My heart does a stupid, reckless thing.
This is new territory for me. Not the sharing or the intimacy. I’ve had plenty of those. But this? Waking up without needing to perform. Without needing to joke my way out of it.
I want to be careful.
I want to be worthy.
Boone eventually groans and pushes himself upright. “If I don’t get coffee in the next five minutes, I’m going to be unbearable.”
“You already are,” Caleb says mildly, but he moves too, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
Delaney watches them go, then looks at me.
There’s something in her expression. Uncertain, but not afraid. Thoughtful. Intent.
“Last night didn’t feel like a mistake,” she says quietly.
My breath catches.
“No,” I say just as softly. “It didn’t.”
She studies my face. Then she nods once.
“I’m still scared,” she admits. “But I don’t want to keep pretending I’m not.”
That lands harder than any confession.
“I don’t want to be the guy you’re brave around,” I tell her. “I want to be the one you can lean on.”
Her eyes soften.
“That’s why I stayed,” she says.
It’s an opening I don’t rush through.
That might be the most surprising thing of all.
Normally, I’d crack a joke. Lighten it. Turn it sideways so no one could see how much it mattered. But Delaney’s looking at me in that way, standing at the edge and waiting to see if I’ll meet her there without pushing.
So I nod.
“Being scared doesn’t disqualify you,” I say. “It just means you’re paying attention.”
Her lips curve, soft and tentative. She leans in, presses a quick kiss to my shoulder, nothing dramatic, nothing heated. Just affection.
Then Boone’s voice drifts in from the other room. “Silas, if you’re having a moment, have it after caffeine.”
I grin despite myself. “Love you too, Boone.”
Delaney laughs, the sound easy now, and that’s a win.
We don’t linger too long.
There’s an unspoken tension between all of us. A sense that, as good as this feels, we need to take it back into the real world. Into the ranch. Into daylight and responsibility and Sadie and routines and choices that last longer than a night in the woods.
When Sunridge comes into view, my phone buzzes.
Mom.
I smile before I even answer.
“Hey,” I say. “You psychic or just bored?”
Her laugh crackles through the speaker. “I’m watching Sadie try to convince a chicken that it’s secretly a dog. You tell me.”
I glance toward the house, where Julia’s silhouette moves past the kitchen window, Sadie trailing behind her with what appears to be a plastic bowl and a lot of determination.
“Yeah,” I say, warmth settling in my chest. “That tracks.”
“You home?” she asks.
“Just pulled in.”
“Good,” she replies. “We should talk when you get a minute.”
Her tone isn’t sharp. Just… knowing.
Mom looks different at the ranch. She’s settled in already. She’s in worn jeans and an old sweater, hair pulled back loose, sitting at the big kitchen table with Sadie beside her.
Delaney stops behind me, and Boone follows shortly after, duffel still slung over his shoulder. The second Sadie spots him, she’s off the chair and halfway across the kitchen.
“Dad!”
He drops the bag without thinking, scoops her up, and presses a kiss into her hair. His whole body softens.
“Hey, peanut,” he murmurs. “You behave?”
Sadie grins. “Aunt Julia says I’m very creative.”
Julia arches a brow. “That’s a diplomatic way of saying enthusiastic.”
Caleb steps in last, quiet as ever, giving Julia a nod that turns into a small smile when she looks up at him.
“Good to see you, Jules.”
“Likewise, Cal,” she says. “You boys survived the woods?”
“Barely,” Boone mutters, but there’s no heat in it.
The kitchen feels full in the best way. Lived in. Normal. As if the last twenty-four hours didn’t happen in a vacuum but folded right back into the rhythm of this place.
I watch it all from the doorway for too long. Boone with his daughter. Delaney at Sadie’s level, chatting. Caleb leaning against the counter, already unpacked emotionally even if his bag isn’t.
Boone clears his throat. “Alright. We should probably get settled.”
Caleb nods. “I’ll grab my bag.”
Delaney stands. “I should unpack before I forget what I brought.”
Boone shifts Sadie to his hip. “I’ll get her settled. Thanks again for watching her, Julia.”
“Anytime,” my mom replies. “She’s excellent company.”
Sadie beams. “I showed her Pickle videos.”
Boone winces. “I’m sorry.”
Julia laughs. “Worth it.”
They head off, boots thudding softly down the hallway, Sadie chattering a mile a minute about unicorn horses and snacks and something called sparkle rules.
And then it’s just us.
The kitchen quiets, the house exhaling around us, settling back into place.
Mom sets Sadie’s crayons aside and turns her chair so she’s facing me fully. She doesn’t pry. Never has.
“So,” she says lightly. “Cabin trip.”
I drag out a chair and sit across from her. “Yeah.”
“That was supposed to be a question,” she adds.
I smile despite myself. “It was… a lot.”
“Mmm.” She sips her tea. “And?”
“And good,” I admit. “Complicated. Honest. Messy in the way that feels like it matters.”
She watches me carefully now, not missing a thing. “You look different.”
“Do I?”
“You do.” She smiles. “Less like you’re waiting for the punchline.”
I blow out a breath. “She scares me.”
Julia’s eyes soften. “Good.”
I snort. “You’re supposed to reassure me.”
“I am,” she says gently. “The right things should scare you a little. It means you’re not hiding behind the easy version of yourself.”
I stare down at the table, tracing a groove in the wood with my thumb. “I don’t want to be a phase for her.”
Julia nods slowly. “Then don’t act like one.”
I look up.
“She’s been taken lightly before,” I continue. “Written off. Reduced. I don’t ever want to be another man who makes her feel like she has to perform or disappear to be safe.”
Julia reaches across the table and covers my hand with hers.
“Then you show her who you are when things aren’t fun,” she says. “When it’s quiet. When it’s inconvenient. When she’s not dazzling, and neither are you.”
I swallow. “I want her to take me seriously.”
Her smile turns proud. “Then take yourself seriously first.”
From down the hall, I hear Boone’s voice. Caleb’s quieter reply. Delaney’s laugh, soft and real, drifting through the house.
I glance toward the sound without meaning to.
Julia notices.
“You’re not just talking about her, are you?” she asks gently.
I freeze for half a second.
Then I exhale.
“No,” I admit. “I’m not.”
Her expression doesn’t change.
“It’s Boone,” I say. “And Caleb.”
I brace myself anyway. Old instincts die hard.
Julia tilts her head slightly. “All of you?”
“Yes.”
“And she knows what she’s choosing?” she asks.
I nod immediately. “Yes. We’ve talked. Really talked. No secrets. No pretending.”
She studies my face for a long moment, searching for more. Recklessness. Avoidance. A joke waiting in the wings.
She finds none of it.
“Huh,” she says.
That’s it.
Just huh.
“That’s… not what you were expecting me to say, is it?” I ask carefully.
Julia smiles into her tea. “I was expecting you to tell me you finally stopped running from something that mattered.”
I blink. “You’re… okay with it?”
She sets her mug down and looks at me fully. “Silas, I’ve known Boone and Caleb since you were all half-feral teenagers. I know who they are. I know how they love. And I know you.”
She squeezes my hand again. “If you’re telling me this because it feels real and intentional, and not because you’re hiding, then yes. I’m okay with it.”
My chest loosens in a way that I didn’t realize was tight.
“She’s been hurt,” I say quietly.
Julia nods. “Then you all need to be very careful with her.”
“We are,” I promise. “We will be.”
“I believe you,” she says simply.
She gives my hand one last squeeze and lets go.
“Go unpack when you’re ready,” she adds. “I’ll be here.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She smiles. “Anytime, sweetheart.”