Page 143 of Take My Love

“Posey?”

Swallowing hard, I wince. “Yeah, about that…”

Since I don’t want any more secrets between us, I tell them everything. From when I told Ian to give Silas a hard time duringhis first week, to him catching Silas and I in a suggestive position, and then Ian coming clean about his feelings for me.

“He threaten y’all?”

“Yes, which is why I had to fire him.”

“Never liked that kid.” Dad shakes his head, frowning over the rip of his coffee mug. “Sounds like we need to find two replacements now, huh? One for Ian and one for Silas?”

I perk up. “Does that mean you’ll give Silas a chance?”

He nods. “And a loan so he can start up his business right away. If he’s gonna be datin’ and livin’ with my daughter, at least he’ll be workin’.”

Jumping out of my chair, I round the table and wrap my arms around him. “Thank you, Daddy. You have no idea how much this means to us. But him especially. He’s not used to someone else believin’ in him enough to give him a chance.”

He hugs me back. “Okay, now sit so we can finish our breakfast. I wanna hear how the goat soap business is goin’.”

“Sure thing, Daddy.”

Once we’ve finished eating and talking, Dad prints out a check for a hundred thousand dollars in Silas’s name. My eyes nearly fall out of my head when I see the number.

“This is a lot, Dad.”

“It should get him started for whatever he needs and we’ll consider the rest a sign-on bonus.” He lifts his shoulders. “I’ll get the paperwork started for the job. Tell him to come for supper tomorrow night so we can talk and sign the contract.”

“You really are a softie underneath your hard exterior.”

“Yeah, well…” He shrugs again. “I want y’all to be happy.”

“Thank you. We appreciate it. And if it helps, he makes me really happy, Dad.”

“Good.” He kisses the top of my head. “Maybe now you can give your mother grandbabies so she stops askin’ about it?”

I bark out a laugh. “Is that a condition? He has to knock me up?”

“I mean…” He grins cheekily. “You don’t wanna be too old poppin’ out kids, do ya? What are ya? Forty?”

“Oh my God, Dad. I’m not even thirty.”

“Well, in that case…” he quips. “Whenever y’all are ready. But I’d like to walk ya down the aisle someday. Can I have that at least?”

“Yes, I sure hope so.” I grin, thinking about the day Silas and I have our own wedding.

I stuff the check into an envelope before saying goodbye to my parents. It’s almost noon, so I put the check in my glove compartment and drive to the barn. Amaya’s been blowing up my phone. Apparently there’s a ton of gossip about where Ian is.

“Fuckin’ finally!” she shouts the moment she sees me. “What’s goin’ on?”

I grab my apron and some supplies, then start filling her in on everything with Ian and telling my parents about Silas. I don’t tell her about the business idea or the check since I want him to know first.

“I told ya he had a thing for you. We all did.”

“Even if I wasn’t with Silas, Ian ain’t my type. I think of him like a brother. Well,did. Now I think of him as a creepy weirdo.”

“Maybe that’s why his fiancée cheated on him with his stepbrother?” She snickers, and I try not to laugh, but it’s impossible with her. She makes everything sound overly funny.

“It’s strange ’cause he said he felt somethin’ for me the first day we met but then like a year later he starteddatin’ Sheila. But I guess he was waitin’ until he could find a different job to hit on me.” I shiver at the thought of us together. “Anyway…”