Greatest Love Story

Chapter Seven

"I have some tied up in the business and the rest I'll have to scrape up somewhere," he answered on a harsh breath while he pushed his fingers through his hair. "But what about Owen? You know he can get you out of this," Silas tried to convince him. Even though the man hadn't been an attorney for long, he was damn good at what he did and Silas wished North would give him a chance to prove it. 

"The shop is guilty. I don't like it, but he has good reason to sue the business. The court will see it that way, and I'm not going to risk him tacking on more money because of me being stubborn," he explained. 

"Don't be dumb," Silas said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You know damn well that John's a swindler, so you shouldn't even be thinking about taking the deal. Ninety thousand? That's outrageous."

North shrugged, looking frustrated. Silas leaned forward and pushed, "If you're not going to listed to me, can you at least talk to Owen? Even if you don't want to take it to the courts, you should get his opinion before deciding on anything."

North grunted and crossed his arms. Silas didn't like how his brother looked—so tired and worn down. He wished he could've known him earlier, seen how he was while growing up. North was still private about his past, especially when it came to her,  but what did he look like when his happiness was unrestrained? Not a single picture adorned the walls inside his house, so none of them had any ideas about what he was like before they got there. He usually went to work, then went home. He didn't have a dating life, no other friends. He was...what was the word? Oh, right. A hermit. 

North chugged down the rest of his beer and slammed a twenty on the table. "Fine. I'll go talk to him right now, but I'm not promising anything. Will you get off my back about it?"

Silas refrained from rolling his eyes. He knew that his friend would look back one day and realize he was only trying to help, but at the moment, alcohol and frustration clouded his judgement. After successfully hiding his own frustration, Silas stood and took a drink from the water Amanda was nice enough to bring to his table, which reminded him..."Put that poor girl out of her misery and go out on a date with her. She's obviously into you."

North's head reared back. "What the hell, dude?"

He sighed and repeated, "She's into you, so why don't you ask her out? You know, get out of the shop for a little while and enjoy yourself?"

North actually rolled his eyes, and that one brief indicator showed that he wasn't only depressed and lifeless. Silas almost cheered before North answered, "Not interested," before walking out the door, not once looking in the bartender's direction. Silas followed behind and made sure to wave goodbye to her, which she returned with a stiff smile.

"You need to get back out there, North! You haven't dated at all for years. Not since..."

"Don't," North snarled as he whipped around, fists clenched. "Don't you dare finish that." 

Silas's lips pressed together. "Something needs to change. You're wasting away doing what you're doing, and we're all tired of watching it happen."

"I never asked you or anyone else to watch," he replied before turning around and stalking over to his Jeep, slamming the door once he was seated. The tires peeled out on the pavement, which made Silas throw his head back and let out a puff of early summer air. After letting his angry thoughts dwindle, he went to his cruiser and went off to finish the work day.

A few pointless calls later, he was changing into a set of running clothes and shoes then made his way to the lake. He tried to go jogging a few times during the week to stay in shape and to let off some steam, and it just so happened that today was one of those days. He passed by some familiar faces on the paved sidewalk that lined the edge of the water and made sure to nod his greetings through his labored breaths. 

Up ahead, he saw a blonde haired female struggling to get away from a large white bird nipping at her heels. Silas made his feet go faster after he heard her sharp squeals. "Gosh darnit, you white feathered menace! Get off of me!" she shouted and used her hands to whack at open air.

"Hey!" Silas clapped his hands together sharply as he came from behind. The goose thankfully became spooked and flapped its wings until it veered into the water. A smaller version of the animal soon appeared next to it, which tipped him off to the fact that the goose was most likely showing aggression due to having its gosling around. 

The female's shoulders started shaking, but Silas couldn't see her face. Worried that she might be crying, he took a step closer and asked, "Are you alright?" 

He sucked in a sharp breath when her laughter appeared. Thank God. Even as an adult, he didn't have a damn clue what to do when females started crying. The girl turned to face him while struggling to get ahold of herself. "Yes, I'm sorry. It's just..." she lost her words to more laughter. "I just forgot how evil those things are."

Silas felt frozen staring into her eyes. They weren't just plain green, they were the color of fresh spring growth and had a slight reflection of calming blue from the dancing surface of the lake. They gazed at him with kindness and a slight twinge of interest, an interest he was more than willing to explore. Her hair was tied at the top of her head and fell down passed her shoulders. Shaking himself out of it, Silas asked, "Are you sure? Those things have a mean bite." 

She took a moment to look herself over, eyes scanning the tanned arms peeking out from the short sleeves of her pink shirt and the bare skin that showed from the bottom of her form fitting leggings. Silas spotted a pink welt near her ankle and cringed, but she just brushed it off by saying, "It's nothing a little ice won't fix, and I don't see any blood, so I'll call that a win." Her grin was self-deprecating. 

He smiled and shook his head. "If you say so."

They went silent for a moment and he fought off the urge to preen under the assessing gaze she pinned him with. "Well," she finally said, cheeks flushed. "Thank you for the save. I'm glad you got here before I could do any serious damage." She winked and stepped to the side. Silas tried not to panic as the girl went to move around him. He didn't want to see her go, and the thought of not having the opportunity to get to know her better, bothered him. She couldn't be from here or else he would have ran into her earlier on, so who knows if he'd get to see her again? 

"Wait," he blurted. He felt the nerves bubbling in his stomach—which was so very odd—but the inexplainable feeling that demanded him to ask gripped at his throat. "I apologize if this is too forward, but would you care to have coffee or dinner with me tomorrow?"

Way to come off creepy, he scolded himself. You've hardly spoken to her and you're asking her out on a date? He tried to come off as non-threatening as possible by softening his features while she stared into his eyes. After a moment, she nodded and gave him a shy smile. "I would like that. Dinner at Willie's, seven o'clock?"

Silas mentally pumped his fist into the air. "Sounds great. I'll see you then."

She nodded and started jogging in the direction of the parking lot. She was already too far away before he could grab her name, but Silas just shrugged and continued on with his jog, his thoughts dancing in excitement the entire time.