Page 60 of Sipping Seduction
Silas Stewart was one of the only people left. I cautiously made my way over to him, hoping that he would be willing to do a favor for someone he probably considered more enemy than a friend. Pete the Dog greeted him first, nudging his nose straight into Silas's crotch. It seemed to be a bad habit of his—one we’d have to work on overcoming.
“Whoa, hey there, buddy.” Silas scratched behind Pete the Dog's ears, then looked up to see me right behind him. “Hey, Frannie. Good race today. We had a nice turnout, don't you think?”
“Yeah, I couldn't have asked for a better day for it.”
He was being polite and saying the right words, but I could tell by the way his eyes softened at the edges that he, along with everyone else who'd been in attendance today, had seen what went down between me and Evan.
“What's the school going to do with all that extra money you raised?”
“We've got a lot of kids who need extra school supplies and it's also going to allow us to plan a few more field trips. You wouldn't believe how much it costs by the time you rent buses for a couple hundred kids.”
“That's great. It's always nice to see everybody come out in support of a single effort.”
I offered a tentative smile, hoping I wasn’t about to overstep.“Speaking of everyone pitching together, would you be open to me asking for a small favor?”
“Sure, what do you need?” he asked.
“Seems like I don't have a way to get home. I was wondering if you might be kind enough to give me and Pete the Dog here a ride?”
The tension in his shoulders seemed to relax just a little when he realized I wasn't going to ask for a major request. “Sure, no problem. My truck’s parked just over here.”
I followed him over to where he'd left his truck, waving and thanking the few people that were still tearing things down along the way. Silas opened the door for me and the back door for Pete the Dog. Once we’d all buckled in, he started up the truck and looked at me.
“Just one question for you, Frannie. Where do you want me to take you?”
That's when I realized I didn't have a home to go to. My house was still at least a week and a half or two weeks away from being inhabitable, and all my belongings were at Evan’s. The two of us definitely needed to talk, but I wanted to give him a little bit of time to cool off. For the first time in my life, I had nowhere to go.
Tears welled in my lower lids, and my chest tightened. I bit down on my lower lip and tried to figure out who I could ask for another favor. I was really racking them up, and I'd probably spend the rest of my life trying to pay them back.
“Um,” I said, trying to buy a little time.
“You could always go to the distillery,” Silas said. “Or I can drop you off anywhere in town.”
I thought about my dad's place, but they wouldn't allow dogs. I supposed I could sit outside in the courtyard with Pete the Dog, but the forecast for later on this afternoon called for rain. The easy thing to do would be to go back to the house and get my car, but I wasn't ready to face Evan yet.
“Just a second,” I said to Silas. Then I pulled up my phone and shot off a quick text to Ruby. She responded right away and told me she was wrapping things up for a private party at the distillery, but to head to her place and she'd give me the code to the garage.
“Can you take me to Ruby’s?” I asked Silas.
“Yep. No problem.” He pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the north side of town. All the Bishops lived within a five-mile radius of the distillery, which made it easy for them to get back and forth to work and also made it feel like they were a tight-knit family.
Silas pulled into the drive and was about to get out, probably to open my door.
“I've got this. You've done enough already. Thanks so much for the ride.”
He nodded. “Are you going to be alright, Frannie?”
“Yes,” I said with more conviction than I actually felt. “Everything's going to be fine.”
I opened up the back door and Pete the Dog bounded out and across the driveway. I looked up in time to see a squirrel race across the street and up a tree in the neighbor’s front yard. Today couldn't be a day where Pete the Dog listened.
I dropped my purse in the front yard and raced across the street after him as he jumped up on his hind legs and scratched at the trunk of the tree.
“Stop it.” I lunged for his leash.
Silas joined in the chase and within a few minutes, we had Pete the Dog cornered between the house and the neighbor’s chain-link fence. When he realized there was no hope of escape, Pete the Dog sat down and wagged his tail, his way of apologizing. I grabbed him by the collar and secured his leash on my wrist, chastising myself for being so careless in the first place.
As Silas and I walked back across the street, Ruby pulled up. She got out of the car, looking like a million bucks. “Oh, Frannie, there you are. I thought for sure you’d beat me here and be settled inside by the time I got home.”
