Page 13 of Spiritwarrior

Instead of following him inside, Jody strode off in the direction of his trailer. When Silas was angry, it wouldn’t do any good to badger him. He was a great believer in the live-and-learn philosophy.

Dammit. Jody kicked a large stick out of his way. He knew better than to give Silas attitude. Being the oldest of ten kids of a single father, Silas had borne the responsibility of caring for the younger children. After their father and little sister had died in an accident, he took on the full-time responsibility of their family without complaint. Jody didn’t think he would have had the capacity to handle the obligations of putting a roof over their heads and food on the table for so many children, all the while experiencing his own grief, as Silas had done.

Silas had always been the more serious of his siblings. After the accident, he had grown even more somber.

Reaching his trailer, Jody changed from his jeans and T-shirt to gray cargo pants and an orange hoodie. After putting on a thick pair of socks, he laced up his boots before heading out of the door. With five minutes to spare, he rushed to where he was meeting up with his brothers for the job they had been hired to do for the day.

His brothers were gathered around Matthew and Isaac’s workshop. When he felt the focus of their gazes, his eyes automatically went to Jacob—they had a close bond and looked out for each other. Reading the caution in his eyes, Jody walked to where he was standing to listen to what Silas was saying.

“We need to have the fence installed by lunchtime.”

Was Silas talking about the job in the new housing subdivision? How in the fuck were they supposed to get it done in four hours? Not about to ask Silas the question and draw his ire again, Jody remained silent.

Thankfully, Jacob didn’t feel the same restraint.

“That’s a three-day job; what’s the hurry?”

“This morning, we’re going to be working on the job. Then Matthew, Isaac, Jacob, and Reaper will be finishing the other job.”

What other job didn’t he know about?

“What will the rest of you be doing?” Jacob frowned. “Matthew said his next order won’t be ready until next week.”

Instead of looking at Jacob, Silas stared at Jody. “We’ll be working at the diner.”

Jody’s mouth dropped open.

Unable to wait for Jacob or one of his other brothers to ask the question burning in his mind, he asked it himself. “What will we be doing at the diner?”

“Whatever the new owner needs us to do. She is having trouble settling in and needs our help before she becomes discouraged and sells the diner.”

From Jody’s perspective, he wanted the woman to sell and leave town. The sooner, the better. Especially before his soul mate came to town.

“What does it matter if she does?”

Silas arched an eyebrow in his direction. “It doesn’t matter to me if she does, but you might care. The owner is your soul mate.”

Jody started shaking his head. “She isn’t my soul mate.”

As the words came out of his mouth, he felt the truth in his bones.

Turning around so his brothers couldn’t see his face, Jody recalled the reaction he’d had when he saw her for the first time. His soul and body had recognized her as his mate; it’dbeen his damn ego that had let him down. Silas had warned him numerous times that his hookups were going to bite him in his ass.

“She is,” Silas argued firmly from behind his back.

Jody turned back around. “I met her this morning.”

All of his brothers stared at him with curious eyes, except for Silas.

“When did you find out?” he asked him.

“This morning when I woke up. I saw the stars becoming clearer. I woke Fynn up. He was telling me what he saw when you came home.”

“The stars didn’t want me to know ahead of time.”

“No, they didn’t,” Silas agreed. “It was the first time since before Greer’s stroke that I could see her here.”

Jody stared at Silas sympathetically. Silas had read the stars after Matthew’s soul mate had arrived in town. Silas’ soul mate’s star was also moving closer to his, which meant Silas and his soul mate would soon be together.

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