have happened in Tyler’s office after Olivia and I left.
And speaking of Tyler, he showed up a few minutes after Olivia left.
Silas stood and turned.
My heart started to race.
Tyler stared at Silas.
Then he looked at me. “Olivia here?”
“She went to talk to Claire,” I said.
Tyler nodded and approached the counter.
“Silas,” he said.
“Tyler,” Silas said.
There was no handshakes and hugs… but there weren’t any punches thrown either.
Tyler sat right next to Silas.
They exchanged a look that I wasn’t too sure of.
“Okay, what the hell is happening here?” I asked.
“What?” Tyler asked.
“First, Zeke and Silas are looking at each other weird. Now you and Silas…”
“It’s fine, darling,” Silas said.
“Oh, I love when he says that,” Edith said. “Darling…”
“Easy there,” Ma said to Edith. “He’s the father of my grandchild.”
“Stop,” Edith said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Hey,” I said. “Edith. What’s with the horse thing?”
“I want to learn how to ride a horse,” she said. “Thomas is being a fool about it.”
“Why do you want to do that?” Tyler asked.
“Why not?” Edith asked. “Being in the hospital scared me.”
“It was an appendix,” Ma said.
“Exactly!” Edith said. “Thomas thinks I’m going to fall and hit my head. I’m going to smack his head soon if he doesn’t leave me alone about it.”
“So an appendix made you change your life?” Silas asked.
“Are you being sarcastic, Mr. Rock Star?” Edith asked.
Silas showed his hands. “Not at all.”
“He’s worried about you,” I said. “Thomas, I mean. He doesn’t want anything else to happen to you.”
“As I said before, I’m not living in a bubble.” Edith’s eyes moved. “Although I wish this place had a bubble around it right now.”
We all turned our heads and looked.
I sighed.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Silas growled.
Who was entering the restaurant now?
Finn freaking Rohrick.
He wasn’t alone either.
His father was with him. The big wig of the police in town.
Teddy Rohrick looked and acted the part.
He puffed his chest out as far as he could and stuck his chin out the same.
Finn had that cocky look on his face.
Tyler was quick to stand and turn.
“Tyler, don’t,” Ma said.
Layla and Lola came hurrying to Finn and Teddy.
Both dogs barked.
They knew how to judge a character.
Tyler snapped his fingers at the dogs. “Layla! Lola! Go lay down!”
The two dogs hesitated, wanting to go against Tyler’s command.
But then they slowly trotted off.
“Looks like the rock star is back,” Finn said. “That’s good. Good to see you, Silas.”
Silas stood up next to Tyler. “You know, Finn, it was strange driving through town without you up my ass.”
“Oh, I can start following you again if you’d like.”
“Okay,” Teddy said. He touched Finn’s arm. “That’s enough out of you.”
“Listen to your father, Finn,” Tyler said.
I saw the smirk on Finn’s face like he wanted to make a comment about him having a father and Tyler not. If that happened, there would have been no stopping Tyler from going after Finn.
Teddy stepped in front of his son.
Smart move.
“You’re the Silas I’ve heard all about,” Teddy said.
“I guess,” Silas said.
“I’ve spent money on your music.”
“Big fan?”
“I think you know my daughters are. Back in the day though. Not so famous now though, right?”
“That’s by choice,” I said, feeling this sudden urge to defend my man.
“How are you feeling, Mila?” Teddy asked with a big smile.
I could never figure out if this guy was sincere or full of shit.
“I feel great,” I said.
“I guess baby fever has hit the Justa family,” Teddy said. “Two babies at the same time. That’s always fun.” Teddy then pointed to both Silas and Tyler. “Also see that the family squabbles still happen, huh?”
“Just working out a few details,” Tyler said.
“To be fair, it’s your son’s fault,” Silas said. “Trying to tie me to a crime I didn’t commit.”
“Yeah, about that,” Teddy said.
“We’re done talking about that,” Ma said. “Teddy, I can get you some coffee to go. Our treat.”
“I’ll throw in a bagel,” Edith said.
“I’ll throw a foot up his ass if he’s not out of here in two minutes,” Zeke yelled.
“Ah, Zeke, relax,” Teddy said. “You’re too old to get that worked up.”
“Son of a bitch,” Zeke said.
“What do you want, Teddy?” Tyler asked.
“Finn heard that Silas was back in town and I told him we needed to come settle this thing up,” Teddy said. “We owe you an apology, Silas. It was a couple of dumb teenagers from over in Hopper. They were sneaking into Gardner and just causing problems. That’s all.”
“That’s all,” Silas said. “Other than me being followed, pulled over, accused…”
“Water