Finn waved a hand at the gate. “Come on. The flight is about to leave without us.”
Silas sighed and unplugged the charger. He shoved it, along with his phone, into his carry-on bag.
Finn sat down. “Miriam?”
Silas nodded. “I don’t really want to talk about it though.”
“It might help.”
And so would a drink from the airport bar. “Nah, I’m good.”
Finn stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his feet at the ankles. He leaned back and sighed. “I know I gave you a hard time when you first got back. After the crap you pulled, it wasn’t entirely undeserved.”
“Here we go again.” He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.
“You’ve changed.”
That was unexpected. Silas cracked one of his eyelids to look at Finn.
“You’ve been busting your tail out there. Every practice. Every game.” He cleared his throat. “I’m impressed.”
This was more than an olive branch. This was almost an apology for not giving Silas a chance to prove himself when he’d returned to the Storm—though he doubted the keeper would ever call it that.
Silas opened his eyes all the way and sat up in his seat. “Thanks, man.”
“It’s true.” The keeper rested his elbows on his knees. “And I’ve been thinking that maybe I’m not the only one who is realizing that you’re not the same guy who left two years ago.”
Miriam.
Was Finn trying to give dating advice to Silas? It sure felt like it. Not only that, it sounded like Finn was giving his blessing for Silas to pursue Miriam. Even though he didn’t need permission, Silas appreciated what Finn was trying to do.
If only Silas knew what he was going to do. Should he pursue Miriam and convince her that he’d grown and realized his mistakes? Or would it be better to let her go?
He still didn’t have an answer when he boarded his flight later that evening and hoped that he’d come to a decision before he saw Miriam again. He knew that if he saw her while he was still trying to decide, it would be impossible to walk away this time.
When he got back to Florida, Silas couldn’t stop thinking about Miriam, so he did what every rational human being would do—he avoided her at all costs.
He still wasn’t over the fact that she’d been hanging out with Harris while watching the Storm play in Wisconsin. Not that spending time with Harris was the issue. They worked together and had been at a Storm watch party—it would be crazy to think they wouldn’t interact a little.
It was the lie that had bothered him.
Silas wasn’t sure what that meant. Did it mean that her feelings for Silas were truly platonic? He didn’t think so, but maybe he’d been seeing things that weren’t really there. The only way to know for sure was to talk to Miriam, and as lame as it was, he was afraid to find out if he was right.
It was why he was looking at the sixth house of the day with his real estate agent, Bernard.
The middle-aged man looked tired as he led Silas into the kitchen. He barely lifted his hand as he waved at the room. “As you can see, this one has mahogany cabinets and granite counters—just like the last two we looked at. The windows let in a lot of natural light.”
Silas walked around the small kitchen island to look out the window over the sink. It faced the backyard which had two giant oak trees that shaded almost the entire yard.
The realtor walked up and stood beside him. “Those trees will keep the house cool in the summer.”
Silas looked at the lush lawn and imagined adding a small patio. He could put a picnic table or maybe a fire pit out back. It would be the perfect place to hang out on Saturday mornings when the weather was nice. Silas pictured him and Miriam drinking coffee out there.
He stepped back quickly. “I don’t like it.”
Bernard huffed and put his arms out. “You haven’t even looked at the rest of the house. What’s wrong with this one?”
The frustrated attitude caught Silas by surprise. He thought that real estate agents were supposed to be patient while people looked for their dream house. Not that Silas would be all rainbows and sunshine if he’d spent the day looking for houses with someone who didn’t know what they wanted.
Silas thought that if he looked at enough of them, he’d find his dream home. The problem was that he kept imagining Miriam in every single one that he and the real estate agent visited. If Silas saw her during the showing, what hope did he have of not being tormented by her absence once he moved in?
Bernard looked at him expectantly.
“The pollen would kill me in the spring.”
Bernard pointed at the paper in his hands that had all the details on the house. “It says here that the A/C unit is equipped with a HEPA filter. As long as you keep the windows closed in the spring, you should be fine.” He paused. “Or chop the trees down if that would make you feel better. I have the number of a great tree guy. He can get those suckers down and hauled away in a day.”
Silas had to give Bernard credit. The guy was trying really hard to get Silas to fall in love with this place—any place. “I don’t know. Those trees could be home to cardinals or blue jays. Could you imagine if the neighbors lost a beloved bird because I have allergies?”
Bernard set the paper down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you even want to buy a house, Mr. Jenkins?”
“Of course I do.” Silas wanted to get settled in Waterfront. Moving out of his parents’ house was a
