Page 107 of Maple Mountain
Declan joined the fray, and Mia turned her attention to me and Hadley, though the two of them got lost in a conversation about all things baby related.
And because I didn’t have much to contribute to the conversation, I surreptitiously watched Lenni and Silas interact.
Silas had a paper napkin in front of him.He pulled a pen from his pocket and doodled on it.He slid the napkin to Lenni who stared at it for a moment and then she folded it up and placed it in her jacket pocket.
I turned and caught Archer staring at the two of them, his gaze narrowing.And then he saw me watching him.
I flashed him a look of understanding.
His jaw clenched, and so did his hand that was resting on the tabletop.
I lifted my half-drunk cup of hot chocolate to my lips, but it didn’t stop my smile.
“What’s got you grinning?”Hadley asked, knocking her elbow against mine.
“Tell ya later,” I said under my breath, but subtly angled my chin in the direction of Lenni and Silas.
She’d played it cool for a few minutes, but now Lenni had her head bent toward Silas, like the two of them were sharing secrets.
Mia smiled in amusement.She looked at me and mouthedcrush.
I nodded.
Oh yeah.
ChapterTwenty-Three
The House
“Silas goes to this fancy school,” Lenni explained as she took her empty dinner plate to the dishwasher.“He’s really smart.”
For the past hour, Archer and I had endured Lenni’s non-stop chatter about the wonder that was Silas—the thirteen-year-old boy that was the epitome of cool in her eyes.But judging how the two of them were boon companions by the end of our time at Sweet Teeth, I gathered it was mutual.
“I invited him to the Ridge to go riding after school tomorrow,” she said.“Is that okay?”
“You already invited him,” Archer pointed out tightly.“When are they going back to Waco?”
“Wednesday,” Lenni said.
“Son a of a bitch,” Archer muttered.
Lenni looked at him in confusion.“So can we take him riding?”
“Fine,” Archer said.
“Why don’t you head upstairs,” I said to her, “and put the finishing touches on your presentation for school.”
“Good idea,” Lenni said.“Thanks for dinner, Wyn.”
“Thanks for the salad you made,” I replied.“You did a good job.”
“Yeah, and thanks for not putting tomatoes in it,” Archer said with a mock shudder.
“You’re so weird about tomatoes,” she said with a laugh.
“It’s a fruit that masquerades as a vegetable.I don’t trust them,” Archer stated.
I laughed.“A tomato conspiracy.”
