Chapter 420) A Sunny Winter’s Day

Windenburg
Proprietor's Square
Silas Cameron's home

A last look into the hallway mirror, Silas was about to grab his coat and leave when he heard his name called from the kitchen, facepalmed himself, hurrying back into the room where his mom smiled at him.

“Almost forgot these!” she told him as she handed him the flowers.

“Thanks mom! What would I do without you!” he told her hurried, one quick peck on her cheek and he was off.

He didn’t have far to go, just next door, but the closer he got to the front door, the more intensely his heart pounded. Swallowing hard, he raised his hand and knocked, his heartrate increasing with every second thereafter.

Windenburg
Havisham House
Olivia McCoy's home

The sound of the door being unlocked and opened made him swallow hard, as did the view he got.

It wasn’t his charming next-door neighbor, usually sporting blonde braids, casual clothing in pastel colors and a big smile, but a young man. The type most women wanted, and most men secretly wanted to be, checking off all the marks for the tall, dark, handsome cliche effortlessly.

Gulp.

“Yeah?” the leather-clad tall-dark-handsome now asked impatiently, his tone borderline rude.

Silas cleared his throat.

“Is Olivia home?” he asked, hoping this guy was not her boyfriend.

“Depends on who’s asking. I don’t know you. Who the hell are you?” the warmth of his deep auburn brown hair and deep blue eyes belied by his frosty voice and demeanor.

In the background, Silas heard and saw Olivia coming down the stairs, their eyes met and she hurried over.

“Creighton! Let him in! Hi Silas, sorry about my brother, the Neanderthal!” she shoved Creighton, who nudged her back, for a brief moment the siblings reverted back to child age slapping and shove at each other.

Silas entered, noticing a smirk when his relief was a little too obvious. Brother? Phew!

“Hi Liv. Here, these are for you.” Silas remembered the flowers he had bought for her and handed her the bouquet, ignoring the gleeful snorted laughter by her brother.

She accepted the flowers with a big smile, smelling them, while shooting her brother a warning glare.

“Thank you Silas! These are beautiful! I love them! How thoughtful!” she beamed.

“Just kiss him already …” Creighton said with an implied eye roll.

Both Olivia and Silas blushed.

“Weren’t you leaving?” brows furrowed, Olivia asked her brother.

“I was, but this is too good to pass up. Painful, yet mesmerizing, like watching a train wreck.”

With an exasperated sigh, Olivia opened the door again to push her brother through it.

“YOU are a train wreck! See you soon, love ya! BYE!” she called out, before slamming the door shut in his wake.

“Sorry about him. He’s such a dork! He just broke up with someone and is extra-cranky.” she smiled apologetically at Silas.

“Oh, yikes. Sorry to hear that. And dork? Not the term I would use. Which brother is he? The …. ahem …”

“The Vampire one, yes. Don’t worry, he’s all bark, no bite. No pun intended, hehehe. Let me put these beautiful flowers in water. You’re dressed up nice, going out?”

“Ah, yes, actually I was hoping I was … with you. Would you … go on a date with me? I know it’s short notice but …”

“Yes!” she cut his painful banter off.

After setting the flowers in a vase, she handed Silas the remote to her TV.

“I’ll be quick!” she told him and ran upstairs.

Silas couldn’t help but smile.

She liked him. Definitely like him. YES! But that brother … oof. There was always that one. Among his siblings it was Esmée who was the scare of every dating sibling. But as complicated as she could be, she wasn’t a Vampire. Eeesh!

Rather than watch TV, Silas looked around Liv’s home. Photos of her and her family, nic-nacs, the usual things you would find in a young woman’s home.

Leafing through books with interesting titles, he dropped one when she came back down the stairs.

WOW!

Which is what he said, too, generating a big smile and a twirl.

“You like it?”

“I do. You look beautiful.”

“Aww! You are too sweet.” she beamed.

This date was different than the last, which hadn’t been an official date, just a friendly dinner together, sniffing each other out and him making up for accidentally peeking into her window.

This one was a date, a real one, in every way.

He took her to a nice dinner, then a stroll down the promenade, unwilling to call it a day already they walked all the way to Everett Heights.

Windenburg
Everett Heights Public Park

It was there that the mood changed in a way that Silas dared a first kiss.

Was he in love?

That kiss, he could feel it from the top of his head to the tip of his toes, a jolt of lightning rush through him, leaving him with a pleasant, strange tingle and a foolish smile, looking at her glossed over eyes and similarly foolish smile, she felt the same.

Did it really happen?

Just like that?

Wow!

They continued to walk some more, they talked, by now there wasn’t much in each other’s lives that hadn’t been at least mentioned, even her big brother didn’t seem all that scary anymore after some of the childhood memories she had shared. Funny ones and sweet ones. Evidently, she was just as close with her family as he was with his, which seemed to be a problem for some women he had gone out with in an attempt to find new love. Once his mourning phase changed to pure loneliness and he had been ready to try to find someone new, it proved to be much harder than imagined, especially for a single dad of two. Oh … right …. that. There was that elephant in the room, or rather two tiny ones, his twin toddlers, the main reason any attempt at dating since the death of their mother had fizzled out once he mentioned them. The cat was already out of the bag with Liv, she knew about them, but how did she really feel about a man with baggage? One kid was a tough sell, two … hm.

“Umm, Liv? There is this thing … you know I am a full-time single dad, right?”

“Yeah, I remember. Why?”

“Ahem … I don’t know where this may lead, but unless I am getting the totally wrong read from you, you’re not the friends with benefits type either … so, how do you feel about a guy with twin toddlers. Me just showing up without warning to ask you for a date is not the right way, I know that, but it is what it is and how this will have to be. I am at the mercy of whomever is willing to help me out and have to respect their conditions. Few plans are ever solid and most of the time I have to be spontaneous. Plus, I have to be mindful of my words and actions, since I AM the mayor of this town.”

Her response was to stop walking, then a peck on his cheek and a smile.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I could lie now and say it doesn’t bother me, that your kids are no problem, but the truth is, I don’t know. I hope it’s not, but I have zero experience with kids, except a sister who’s 18 months younger than me, so I can’t say if your kids would be a strain on whatever this is. I don’t know how to change diapers or anything. And frankly, I am not really looking to be someone’s mom at my age. But I think I really like their dad, as in REALLY like him, and I REALLY wanna try and see if things work out between us. Besides, you’d be dating a girl with Vampires in her family, which always comes with a string of issues, plus my mom and dad just can’t figure out where they stand with each other, their relationship has always been so complex and complicated but both have been and still are excellent parents and all of us kids are close with both of them. You already met one of my brothers, Sawyer, the oldest and not a Vampire, won’t be much different than Creighton was until he gets to know you better, they are both overprotective of Dani and me. Danielle is almost 18 but has her teen moods, so no telling what form she’s in at any given point. So, it won’t be a picnic for you either. Is that good enough or a dealbreaker?”

“It’s more than good enough. You’re honest, I respect that so much. I get it, it’s not easy from your side and I will tell you there will be times where I have to cancel plans we may have made last minute because a kid got sick. All I ask for is your patience and understanding, I am not looking for a new mom for them. I got this, and they have a village raising them, I am looking for someone for me. Someone who’d love me for me, who’d want to be with me. I’d like not feel so damn lonely all the time anymore.”

“I get that, lonely in a crowd, totally get it. I am a tough sale too, as soon as guys hear I was born in Forgotten Hollow or have Vampires in my immediate family I am the freak and they’re running for the hills. The only ones who didn’t run were those looking for something casual, but no boy I ever met wanted to take me home to mom and dad. Damaged goods through no fault of my own. You know, I actually dropped out of college because of it. Well, I am taking a leave year, but I probably won’t go back. So tired of having to lie or being the school freak.”

“I can’t imagine anyone thinking of you as a freak. You’re amazing. And you should totally go back to college and get your degree, those are important nowadays. Wow, sorry, I kinda sound like a dad now.”

“You TOTALLY sound like MY dad … It’s cute. And the other stuff is the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Except family, but they kinda have to love me. You don’t! I mean .. I … I didn’t mean it like THAT … not saying that you love me I meant .. you know … ahem …”

“You wouldn’t be wrong though. I never believed in love at first sight but starting to think that’s why I couldn’t look away when I saw you in your bathroom. I never met any girl that made me feel the way you have and do. Not even Jane. My kids’ mom. With her it was … complicated to explain. Casual turned into serious when she got pregnant and it turned out to be by me, not that on-again-off-again boyfriend she had still been seeing while she and I were doing our thing. Definitely was not love at first sight. But with you, I think it is.” Silas’ honesty was met by a certain smile that reached her eyes, making them sparkle, and without words she told him she felt the same way.

They kissed, and this time, the kiss felt like the promise of a beginning of something great.