She rolled her head to the side to give him a glare. “Focus, Wright.”

“Oh, I am, Mags. I’m focusing on a nice comfortable mattress. Clean sheets. Rain on the window. Your hair spilling out like—”

“Silas. Aren’t you the least bit excited?”

“I’m real excited,” he promised darkly. He trailed a finger down her neck to the delicate ridge of her collarbone.

“You’re terrible,” she whispered. But there were goose bumps cropping up on her skin. She extended her arms and framed the coin on the camera screen. “I never found gold before. Matchbooks. Every back issue of Bikini Babes. A rat skeleton. But no gold.”

She took several shots and then tried a few other angles to catch the raised detail on its surface.

“Now we just need to figure out how to search for gold coin designs. I wonder if a reverse image search would work?” Maggie mused.

“I can do you one better than some online search,” he said, patting her leg. “Come on.”

He climbed to his feet and helped her up.

“Where are we going?”

“Into town.”

Fortyflirty: Did anyone else catch the hot, dirty landscaper in the background of Dean’s video on FB today? Just me?

JesusLuvsMe39: I HATE HATE HATE the tile she picked for the main bathroom. Ugh! Maggie has lost her touch. This show is basically one giant homage to horrible taste.

Leo4Life: A low maintenance woman who can swing a sledgehammer like that? Marry me, Maggie!

20

20

They left Kevin snoring in Maggie’s bed and headed into Kinship in Silas’s truck. She’d changed into clean jeans, a tank, and a soft cardigan that had him fantasizing about her wearing nothing but it and a pair of easily removable underwear.

The rain had slowed to a steady patter on the windshield. It was the perfect afternoon to slow down.

“Got time for a detour?” he asked, pulling up to the first traffic signal at Kinship’s town limits.

She frowned. “Detour?”

“My source has something going on this afternoon until two. We’ve got some time to kill.”

“I could have finished cleaning the surround,” she complained.

His girl was wound tight.

“Trust me. You’ll like this.”

“You always say that just before you try to talk me into something I don’t want to do.”

He slipped his fingers through hers and brought the back of her hand to his mouth. “And you always have a good time once you’re smart enough to give in.”

She sighed and then perked up. “Five bucks says I won’t like it.”

“I will take that bet, and maybe I’ll be gentlemanly enough to buy you a coffee with my winnings. Now, be a sweetheart and text my mom back and tell her we’ll bring coleslaw for the cookout Sunday.”

He handed her his phone.

“What do you mean ‘we’?”

“You and me, Mags. You and me.”