Once he was breathing clean air again, he took the call and put it to his ear.
“Keaton.”
“Chace, Silas,” Silas replied. “Listen, son, visiting hours are over and they made Sondra and Faye leave the room. Sondra’s got Faye in her Cherokee, we talked her into leavin’. Nothin’ she can do sittin’ in the waiting room and whatever she can do tomorrow she’ll do it better if she gets a little rest. We’re takin’ her home.”
“Right,” Chace muttered.
Silas said nothing.
“I’m still at the shed, Silas,” Chace told him when this silence stretched.
“Okay, son, but you didn’t answer my question,” Silas stated.
Chace blinked.
What question?
“Sorry, didn’t catch the question.”
“We’re takin’ Faye home.”
“Got that.”
“Son, I need to know which home we’re takin’ her to.”
Jesus.
Was the church deacon Dad of the virgin girlfriend he’d deflowered asking him which bed he wanted to sleep in with his daughter that night?
“Yours or hers?” Silas continued.
Fucking hell, he was.
Chace quickly processed this and the question and figured Faye would want familiarity around her.
“Faye’s,” he told Silas.
“Right. You gonna be long?”
“I’m leaving in five, trek to Sioux is about ten minutes, bit more and then I’ll be there a couple minutes after that.”
“Right. We’re idling, ready to leave now. We’ll probably arrive around the same time. See you there. If you get hung up, see you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow?
He didn’t ask.
He just said, “Right, Silas.”
“If I’m not there when you get there,” Silas continued, his voice soft. “See to my girl. Like her Momma, Faye is, in a lotta ways and not just hair and temper. She can stand strong through a lot of shit, son. So strong you won’t even know inside she’s sufferin’. But inside, she’s sufferin’. And now is one of those times. You gettin’ me?”
There it was. The reason Silas Goodknight didn’t mind Chace sleeping beside his daughter.
“I’m getting you, Silas,” Chace replied quietly.
“I reckon you are,” he muttered then, “’Bye, Chace.”
“Later, Silas.”