Chapter 53 - The Husband I Buried

Then

Luis

I’d shown up, like Silas suggested. After that, I kept going.

Silas asked me to meet him one afternoon. By then, I was still couch-surfing, but starting to get sick of it. Silas mentioned a job he thought I’d be a good fit for.

I’d been coming to the Institute long enough by then that the front desk didn’t ask for my name anymore. The place was beginning to feel like home.

Silas didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He never did. ‘You hungry?’ he said. I nodded.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘We’re going for a drive.’

We drove out to a diner just off the highway, vinyl booths cracked with age, the smell of burnt coffee clinging to everything. It was nothing like the Institute. It was louder. More exposed. I wondered if that was the point.

We slid into a booth near the window. He ordered for both of us without asking what I wanted. I didn’t care. A burger was a burger, and I wasn’t paying.

‘Your parents still not talking to you?’ he asked, like he was talking about the weather.

‘No,’ I said, watching the counter for our food, my stomach grumbling.

He nodded once, unsurprised. ‘They will.’

I let out a short laugh. ‘You don’t know them like I do. They’re stubborn.’

Silas smiled, faint and knowing. ‘I know enough.’

The waitress dropped off our plates, doing another trip for a round of milkshakes. Grease soaked through the paper liner. I ate like I hadn’t eaten in days, because I barely had.

Silas picked at a couple of fries, waiting until I slowed down.

‘How would you feel about staying at the Institute?’ he asked casually.

I froze, burger halfway to my mouth for another bite, then set it back down.

‘I already have a place,’ I said. ‘Kip’s couch isn’t glamorous, but it’s—’

‘Temporary,’ Silas finished. ‘And you’re tired of being temporary.’

I hated that he was right. Like he’d pulled the thought straight out of my head.

‘Come on, it’s gotta be a step up from Kip’s couch,’ he said, biting into his burger.

He was right. When he first found me, I’d stayed for days. Slept better than I had in months with a full belly. No drinking. No noise. No pretending I was fine.

‘Unless you want to go back to your parents’ house, try your luck there?’ he said, knowing I wouldn’t.

The army had changed me in a way my parents didn’t understand, and unless I was willing to do what they said and try things their way, there was no going back. They’d made that clear.

I sighed.

‘Your mother loves you,’ he said quietly. ‘Trust me.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, she’s done a damned good job keeping you safe.’

I looked down at my hands, unsure what to do with them. The diner felt too bright. Too open. Like I was sitting under a spotlight. I picked up a handful of fries.

‘What about the job?’ I asked, needing something solid to focus on. Practical.

Silas smiled again, this time warmer. Proud. ‘You help us,’ he said. ‘You learn. You grow. You stop fighting yourself.’

‘And in return?’ I asked.

He leaned back in the booth. ‘In return, you get a room, a job. An opportunity.’

I told myself I was just considering it.

That I wasn’t ready to say yes.

But Silas didn’t rush me. He didn’t need to. He already knew.

I picked up my burger again and bit into it.

‘Why are you helping me?’ I asked. ‘You barely know me.’

His expression flickered.

‘I know you well enough,’ he said. Then, after a beat, ‘And I knew your mother.’

My half-eaten burger slipped from my hand.

‘You know my mother,’ I repeated. ‘How?’

He shrugged. ‘I used to. A long time ago. She was brilliant back then. Fierce. She had a way of seeing through people without making them feel small.’

I swallowed. ‘She never mentioned you.’

A small smile touched his mouth. ‘Well, she wouldn’t have,’ he said, as if remembering. ‘You remind me of her,’ he added. ‘I bet you’re nothing like your dad.’

He was right. We had never seen eye to eye.

But how did he know?