Epilogues #3
“Oh, fine, I see how it is. Ditch Auntie Lena the second your mommy is in the room,” she teased, setting him onto his little feet then poking at his belly.
He squealed with laughter, giggling and running in place on his little sneakers. “I wove my Wena. I no ditch.”
Warmth swelled from her being, and she peeked over at me before she smiled down at him. “We all get to love each other so much, don’t we? No favorites.”
My chest squeezed in that unending affection Meems shared with everyone. The way she’d taught her grandchildren to be.
And they’d accepted me right into that fold as if I’d been there all along.
I never dared to imagine having this kind of love in my life again, terrified of it for fear of a broken heart.
But I realized the walls I’d built might have shielded me from the threat of pain and tragedy, but they were also shielding me from the good.
And I wanted that good.
I wanted it all.
Kai came scampering around the counter, pure grin on his face, eyes the color of Silas’s shining with joy and mirth.
I scooped him up and kissed the crown of his head. “Did you have a good morning with Meems and Auntie Lena?”
“I pway mowercycle!” He zoomed his hand through the air. “I go Daddy’s mowercycle?” He pointed in the direction of the shop.
“After lunch I’ll take you for a ride,” Silas promised.
Kai turned back to me. “I eat right now!”
Light laughter rippled, and Elena stepped forward and set the big, insulated lunch box onto the counter. “Someone is eager, and it’s a good thing because I made spaghetti and meatballs. Silas and Kai’s favorite.”
She peeked over at her brother when she said it.
He arched a brow. “That seems like a lot of effort for lunch.”
She shrugged an innocent shoulder. “Nothing is too much effort if it makes my big brother happy.”
Speculation filled his expression, and I bit down on my bottom lip.
I knew this was coming.
Elena and I had stayed up all night three nights ago talking about it.
Weighing the pros and cons.
Her dreams against her fears.
Her need against what her brother wanted.
“Really?” He wasn’t buying it.
She paused then sighed, then she pulled the folded piece of paper from her back pocket.
She’d printed out the listing.
Had stared at it in secret for days.
Had contemplated and strategized and visualized herself within its walls.
She spread it out on the counter before she stared her brother down. “I’m opening a store in this location.”
She tapped her finger on the sheet.
“With or without your blessing, but I really hope I have it.”
“Elena…” Silas drew out.
The subject was touchy. I mean, the man could be crazy overbearing. Overprotective.
But was there ever an ‘over’ when it came to the people you loved?
I got his hesitation.
His own fear.
It wasn’t like we lived a normal lifestyle. It was dangerous enough out there even when you weren’t involved in the things that we were.
But that was no excuse for not allowing Elena to live.
She lifted her chin. “I know you’re afraid and you think you have to watch over me every second of my life.
But I’m not a little girl, Silas. You’ve loved me and protected me, but you’ve also kept me caged for years.
I don’t have my license, I had to get my degree from an online university, and I’ve been on two dates in my life, both of which you followed me to the restaurant. I need to breathe.”
She begged that, her hands clutching her shirt over her heart.
“I need to chase my dreams. I deserve to experience everything this life has to offer.”
My attention ping-ponged between them.
A tremor rocked through Silas, and Elena inhaled a staggered breath.
“Brinley helped me set up a business plan. I have everything together. I just need five thousand dollars to get started. I don’t even want to ask that of you, but because you didn’t let me work, I don’t have any money saved. You’ll be repaid within three months.”
Silas’s overwrought gaze slid to me.
Terror and uncertainty.
I dipped my head in soft encouragement.
He looked back to her, words locked on his tongue.
He didn’t need to speak because Elena pressed on, “And I want to get my own place.”
That sent agitation blustering through Silas, and he roughed a hand incessantly through his hair.
Pacing three steps in one direction then the other.
Before he stopped and looked at her.
“This is what you really want?”
“Yes.”
He inhaled through his worry before he gave. “Okay. But only if you agree to let Trevan go with you.”
It was just as Trevan stepped through the shop doors. His and Elena’s eyes locked.
I wondered if Silas just didn’t want to feel the severity that rocketed between them, and instead pressed on and said, “You’re the only one I trust.”
And I was pretty sure by the look on Trevan’s face that he didn’t trust himself.
The End