be there for them.” Slade shook his head. “I haven’t been the son I should be.”
Erika reached out for his arm, and he almost flinched the moment she touched him. He didn’t understand his reaction.
“Grief isn’t one size fits all. I’m sure your parents understand.”
He drew a deep breath and nodded. “There are days I still refuse to believe he’s gone.”
Erika parted her lips, but she didn’t say anything.
“And I think I know that if I spent more time with my parents, I’d have to face that reality.” Saying the words aloud made Slade feel a little lighter, a little less resentful.
“Do your parents live in Idaho?”
Slade nodded, and before he realized what was happening, Erika wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him.
“I’m really sorry, Slade. That’s just so heartbreaking.”
Slade closed his eyes and without thinking twice, slid his arms around Erika’s waist and let himself feel the comfort he’d been craving for so long.
Chapter Seven
Erika cleared her throat and started gyrating around to demonstrate. “Then, as Daisy and I stood at the bar, the guy pounced from his chair and began rolling on the table before jetting off toward the wall where he proceeded to demonstrate his non-existent parkour skills while his buddies tried to keep him from breaking his neck.”
Slade was laughing so hard that tears rolled down his cheeks.
Mission accomplished, Erika thought to herself. She felt just awful for pressing this near-stranger about his family. The least she could do was try to bring a smile to Slade’s face.
“You know what’s so weird?” Slade asked.
They’d walked out of the antique store long ago and were headed toward a fly-fishing store.
Not that either of them had ever tried to fly fish before, but she was determined to show Slade every ounce of her town.
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t found anything funny for a really long time. Since I’ve met you, I’ve laughed more in the last seventy-two hours than the entire year.”
Erika grimaced. “That’s sad. Really sad, actually. Because I’m not very funny.”
“You’re probably right.” Slade nodded, grinning.
“Thank you for the compliment, though.” She liked how he was looking at her. It wasn’t like the sloppy drunks at the bar who were imagining going home with her. His expression was sincere—grateful, really—and she appreciated it.
“It’s like I repatterned my brain for sorrow. Almost like I’m a bad brother if I experience joy again.” His eyes locked on hers, and an unexpected ripple of something she hadn’t felt in a long time ran through her. She wouldn’t call it desire. Maybe longing?
Erika stopped in her tracks and shook her head. “You’re not a bad anything. You’ve got to understand that it’s okay to live again after that loss. It might not be the kind of living you were used to, but it’s okay to let yourself live in a new way.”
Slade stared at Erika, and she immediately wondered if she’d gone too far. Maybe he didn’t want to hear advice from a single mom who rarely left her mountain town.
It was probably wrong of her to be doling out advice on a topic she didn’t know much about. She still had her sister, clung to her sister, and couldn’t even fathom that kind of pain.
“A new kind of living,” Slade muttered and glanced toward the fly shop.
A knot formed in her stomach. She’d definitely overstepped her bounds.
She frowned. “I mean . . . I don’t know. I shouldn’t speak on something—”
Slade brought his gaze back to hers, and her heart skipped a beat.
A faint smile touched his lips. “Thank you.”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step back.
“For what?” she asked softly.
“For listening. For talking.” Slade shook his head. “I feel like since I came to Silver Ridge, there’s been a lightness I haven’t felt for a long time.”
Relief washed through Erika, and she didn’t even know why.
It wasn’t like she’d probably ever see this man once he left Silver Ridge. But she felt his pain, could see his pain, and didn’t want to be a cause of any more of it.
She also couldn’t believe Penny.
Erika bit her bottom lip and glanced toward the fly shop. “Since neither of us is a fly fisherman, do you want to bypass that store and maybe go grab a drink?”
“I’d like that a lot.” Slade nodded. “Lead the way.”
“That’s where I excel. There’s a cute little pretzel shop that happens to sell great, big, frosty mugs of beer along with their cheese dip and fresh pretzels.”
“Sounds like a piece of heaven.” He