A Simple Wish About love - Karice Bolton Page 0,28
She was a lot of fun to work with and so responsible.
Erika stopped at the table closest to her, and they were all doing fine.
By the time Erika’s shift ended, she was exhausted and couldn’t wait to crawl into bed. She barely had the energy to wipe down all the tables and chairs, but she somehow managed before she left for the night.
When she pulled into the driveway, she saw Scott’s bedroom light still on, and she shook her head.
“He’d better not be playing video games,” she muttered under her breath.
He’d spent dinner at his friend Jeremy’s house and was supposed to come home and finish his homework. Erika usually worked afternoons while her son was in school, but there were some nights that she had to be at the resort and always tried to find a place for him to be rather than at home alone. Not that he couldn’t take care of himself at this age, to a point, but she felt better if he were with someone.
As she snuck into the house, she listened for the sound of video games, but instead, with each step closer to her son’s bedroom, she heard a female’s voice. It wasn’t until she slowly opened the door that she saw Scott sleeping in bed with a magazine open to Miranda Cherry and her music playing in the background.
Oh, to be that age again. She smiled and wandered over to his stereo and turned it off before gently removing the magazine from his clutches and sliding the covers over him. She walked over to the door and stared at her beautiful boy and wondered when he’d stop thinking she was cool. She felt tears touch her eyes and felt absolutely ridiculous. This was supposed to happen. Children were supposed to grow up and out like her dad always said.
She turned off the light and softly closed his door before wandering to her own bedroom. When she finally crawled into bed, she picked up her phone and was surprised to see a message from Slade.
Hope you made it home safely. I bailed on work today. Had a few epiphanies. You know, the usual.
She giggled under the covers and found herself smiling long after she’d stopped. She could imagine Slade proud of himself for whatever enlightenment had found him. It had to be exhausting to be Slade, but she couldn’t help but be interested in what occurred to him.
Erika stared at her phone. It was late, but he’d messaged late at night.
It wasn’t like he had to answer until morning. She drew a deep breath and began to type.
What sudden realizations struck you down in the middle of the night? Curious minds want to know.
She hit Send and turned over in bed.
When her phone buzzed in her hand, she was startled. She really hadn’t expected him to reply until morning.
One of the things that occurred to me is that maybe I shouldn’t live in the past if I’m trying to create a future.
She looked at Slade’s words and warmed.
That’s a good one. I actually thought you’d send over some fortune cookie statement or something.
He wrote back.
Such faith.
Erika laughed and slid deeper under her covers.
Was he in bed too? She didn’t dare ask.
Or did she?
She let out a little groan of frustration and settled on a less provocative question.
What are you up to at this hour?
He responded with a smiley face and then a text.
Contemplating the meaning of life.
She smiled.
Boy, I thought trying to come up with tomorrow’s dinner for Scott and me was tough enough.
He wrote back, LOL, and she grinned. It wasn’t like he was here next to her, but it was nice to know they were both sharing this same moment in space, talking to each other for no other reason than they wanted to.
And by morning, she rolled over and woke up slowly, realizing she’d fallen asleep with him on the other end of the message. His last words to her were to sleep well, but she already had.
Chapter Eleven
It had been a few days since they’d slept with each other, virtually. His only regret was that they literally slept. But it was nice, simple, and platonic.
Just as she wanted.
And just as he needed.
Slade knew he had a lot of fixing to do before he could ever think about stepping into a relationship with Erika—or anyone, for that matter—but his sights were set on her.
After his meltdown in his brother’s car, he could safely say he needed to deal with losing