Page 53 of True Honey
“It’s funny how it sounds coming out of someone else's mouth, scares me a little,” Josh sighed. “You’re Silas’s-”
“Fiancée,” I finished quietly.For now.
“Around here that makes you family you know,” he said to fill the silence that flooded in. “They’re really loose about the term,” he grumbled. “And it can be great to have them but sometimes…”
“It’s nice to have quiet?” I asked him and he nodded.
“Silence is my favorite sound,” Josh admitted. “And the Hornets are loud.”
“Very,” I smiled at him, I could feel the anxiety retreating and I was grateful for the conversation he had so generously provided.
“Do you like the silence too or are you crying in the storage closet for another reason?” He asked eventually. Every time someone walked by the door I flinched nervously, thinking they might try to come in here or might be looking for us. But Josh never moved, his body like stone against the floor, his brown eyes so cautious of everything around him.
He was nothing like Silas, not in a bad way, just... the opposite. Silas seemed to be the type to give and give until he had nothing left, his generosity being hisdownfall. Josh was guarded, careful with his words and slow to give his trust to someone. It was clear that he had questions he wanted to ask me, perhaps for the sake of his family…for his brother but he didn’t. He continued to let me be sad until the last tear dried up and I finally started to feel like myself again.
“This job can be a little overwhelming,” I confessed, unsure where the honestly had come from.
“You’re working in the office with Susanna?” He asked.
“I know it’s just a secretary job—”
“I was going to say she might be the hardest-working person in the whole building.
Josh cut me off. “I couldn’t answer phones all day, I’d go insane.”
“A week ago I would have sold her job short but today I’m learning that she does in fact do more than anyone else,” I chuckled under my breath, still trying to compose myself.
“That’s usually the case,” he said.
“Can I ask you something?”
He scratched the back of his neck and pulled his hat back over his messy hair with a nod.
“Is Silas really the guy everyone makes him out to be?” I asked and Josh’s serious expression softened. “They all tell stories about him like he’s the best of them.”
“I wouldn’t really know,” he said, the honesty in his voice was refreshing. “We didn’t grow up together, so I don’t have the stories or the memories. I have…” he paused, “had, a lot of resentment and anger toward him for a long time.”
“Because of your father?” I asked, knowing I was probably wading into dangerous territory. Worst case scenario, he didn’t answer.
“It’s easy to assume a person is like their father through rumors and gossip, I didn’t know a lot about Silas for a long time.” Josh inhaled slowly, “What I do know,” he said, wetting his bottom lip. “Is that Silas has never let me down. Even when I bit the hand that fed me, even when I didn’t deserve his kindness. He just kept trying.”
“Thank you,” I said to him, knowing exactly what he meant and finally understanding Silas a little better. “Sorry for invading your panic attack closet.”
“I don’t mind sharing,” he said with a small smirk. “You’re family, remember?”
SHORE
Ihad made up my mind. I was going to follow Arlo’s terrible advice and be selfish for once. Incredibly selfish. All I could think about was her and she’d been avoiding me like the plague since the last dinner disaster. Sending her home in a car to put distance between her and all of the horrible things coming out of those idiot’s mouths had seemed smart at the time.
Until I realized that I had sent her home alone.
She thought she did something wrong and now I was paying for my stupidity.
I shrugged into my favorite hoodie and a pair of shorts before wandering out into the kitchen hoping to catch her before I needed to be at the stadium for the Harbor VS. The Hornets game. Cael had organized it to raise money for local animal shelters; it had turned into more of a Willy Wonka situation when he proposed a lottery for kids to get to make up the opposing team.
Families could buy chocolate bars at games and if your kid unwrapped a bar with foil, they got a place on the team. It was ambitious, but it was working, from chocolate sales alone Cael had raised over a hundred grand and the games ticket sales would raise even more.
August was at the counter alone in the kitchen and I looked around for Drew, trying to dampen my disappointment that she wasn’t awake yet.
