My heart will be perfectly, completely, utterly fine. Or so I’ll tell myself.
He sighed. “Okay. Good night, then.”
After he shut the door and padded back to the living room, Kat punched the pillow next to her. She didn’t know if she was glad, mad, or sad: glad that it had happened, mad that it had ended, or sad that it couldn’t happen again.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Kat jumped, and Silas laughed at her expression. “Jesus, you scared me!” she said.
He handed her a cup of coffee. “Sorry. I know you’re on edge lately, and for good reason.” He looked her over. “How are you doing?”
Instead of answering, she sipped her coffee.
“I’m doing all right. I got the window boarded up at the house, and they were able to clean off the paint.” She sighed. At the moment, she was on her lunch break at school, and she’d rather hoped to keep to herself. But Silas was her friend, and she knew he was worried about her. He also knew about her predilection for coffee in the early afternoon, bless him.
“Are you still staying at Gavin’s place?” He didn’t look at her when he asked the question, which made Kat tense.
“For now, yeah. I’d rather not be alone if something else should happen.”
Silas grimaced. “Just thinking about what could’ve happened to you.” He turned toward her, his gaze serious. “You know you can always stay with me, right?”
“I do. Thank you.” She pressed his hand. “Seriously. You’ve been a lifesaver these past few weeks.”
“Kat…” His knee brushed hers, and then his hand was on her elbow. “Have you thought about what I asked? I mean, about us?” When she didn’t reply, he added, “I know it’s a bad time. I do. But I’m worried about you. I could help you. Take care of you. And I’m not sure Gavin Danvers is the best man to do it.”
That caused her to bristle. She set her coffee down on the bench. “Do you even know Gavin?”
“I know enough about him. I know that he’s messed up from his marriage, and that he’s not going to commit to anyone. Not right now. And not with his daughter having issues.” Silas’s eyes were beseeching, and Kat couldn’t find the strength to argue with him. “I care about you, Kat.” He made a noise in the back of his throat. “That’s not true—I mean, I love you. I love you, Kat.”
Kat sat there, stunned. She’d known Silas was interested in her and cared about her, but love? It was too much, and with everything going on. She slumped next to him, so exhausted she couldn’t even move away.
“Kat, say something.”
“I can’t, Silas.” Her voice was a whisper, and he had to lean toward her to hear her. “Not right now. I’m sorry. I do care about you, though. As a friend.” She grimaced at that, but it was true. He was a friend, and had always been just that.
Silas took his hand from her elbow. He stared off in front of them, and she wondered if he was angry. But when he spoke, it wasn’t anger lacing his voice. It was resignation. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Her world tilted on its axis. She almost blurted out a denial, but she bit her tongue. “I don’t know,” she answered, her heart pounding in her chest.
“I think you do know, and I wish you weren’t. Not just for me—although I’m selfish enough to admit that’s part of it—but because I think you’re going to get your heart broken.” He rose from the bench, but not before adding, “Just, watch yourself, Kat. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
Her emotions were so snarled that she couldn’t figure out how she felt. Part of her was angry at Silas’s warning, while another part of her was terrified he was right. Did she love Gavin? Maybe she did. Maybe she’d fallen for him the first time they’d kissed, or when she’d seen him taking care of Emma.
She took a deep breath and finished her coffee, almost laughing at everything that had been happening. Gavin Danvers had already gotten under her skin and, she was afraid deep inside her heart that she was only going to get hurt in the end.
Chapter Ten
Gavin realized the irony that was his life when he wanted the woman who was currently staying at his apartment and driving him crazy. Not because she was a bad houseguest. No, she was the ideal houseguest, he had to admit: clean, quiet, and she cooked. But it was seeing her walk around his apartment, seeing her toothbrush next to his on the bathroom counter, and smelling her scent everywhere that drove him insane. It was like having a wife again.
And he really, really didn’t need to think of Kat as his wife.
It didn’t take long for word to get around town about what had happened. Joy had stopped by Gavin’s to see Kat, and Adam had also dropped in, asking if they could help in any way. Soon it seemed like everyone in town wanted to help: Grace, Jaime, even Gavin’s parents, along with every person who had ever talked to Kat. Her coworkers from school stopped by in droves, bringing casseroles and other dishes, hugging Kat and offering her various condolences. And then, of course, there were the raised eyebrows about a single man offering Kat a place to stay. Heron’s Landing was a small enough town where something like that raised eyebrows and created whispers, but Gavin refused to let that stop him. Let the old biddies gossip; he wasn’t going to let Kat get hurt just because some people thought it was unseemly for her to stay at his apartment.
One of the people who stopped by more than once was Kat’s friend and coworker, Silas Fraser.
