Sweet Solace (The Seattle Sound Series Book 1) Read Online Free

about it?”
    “This is silly, I know, but the connection. The fact that someone else cares enough to want to touch me for so long.”
    I looked down at our joined hands and rubbed my thumb across her knuckles. So many words lodged in my throat. “I’m sorry.”
    “For what?”
    “You’re still heartbroken.”
    She smiled a little, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Not like you think. I have Abbi. She’s a great kid.”
    “You think it would’ve lasted?” I asked, looking out at the water. The waves lapped in a steady rhythm. I loved the sound, the constancy of it.
    “Is this about your relationship, or mine?”
    Perceptive. I wondered if she was a psychologist. No. Her panic attacks would be too ironic for her to be a therapist.
    “I’m not prying,” Dahlia said when I turned to study her. I raised my eyebrow at her. She looked away. “Okay, I am.”
    “Jessica and I . . .” I drew in a deep, unsteady breath. “We’ve been rocky for a long time. Trust is hard.”
    My lips firmed as I began to walk again. We’d made too many mistakes, hurt each other too many times. Especially Olivia, my biggest regret. She would always be between us. If I’d tried harder, maybe . . . but Jessica wasn’t willing to forgive me for that night. I’d never forgive myself. I looked down, thinking how easy it would be to walk out there and not come back.
    But Mason deserved a father. Even if the best Mason would ever have was the fuckup I’d become.
    “You’ve grown apart?” Dahlia asked. Her foot slid into a hole in the sand, and I was relieved when I had to focus on her body, my arm around her waist, holding her steady.
    “There’s so much between us,” I said. “I married her because she was pregnant.”
    “Doug married me for the same reason.”
    “Ah, that explains so much,” I said, brushing the lock of her hair from my cheek. “I remember. You were high school sweethearts.”
    “Mmm. I met him my freshman year. He was a senior. I hit the popularity jackpot.” She laughed, the first true one I’d heard. The sound bubbled out of her, effervescent, drifting across the dark night. I wished I could bottle her laugh.
    “If your daughter’s in high school, you must have been a teenage mom.”
    “I was nineteen. Young, yes, but Doug and I had already been together for five years.”
    She had a kid two years after I’d quit Cactus Arrow. I didn’t know what to do with that information. I swallowed down a bitter mouthful of regret. “I don’t think I’ve got it in me. The staying power.” She deserved to know I was an even bigger bastard than she thought.
    “With Jessica or any woman?”
    “Who’s to say about another relationship? Jessica’s been pretty clear about her unhappiness for a while now. I’m not surprised we’ve unraveled.”
    I swallowed, thinking about her angry outbursts, about her look of triumph when I’d signed the papers that destroyed what was left of my family. Had it already been nine months? “I’m surprised by how much the failure hurts.”
    Dahlia leaned against my shoulder, comforting me. “You’re nicer than I remember. Or your lyrics led me to believe. If you’re not careful, I’ll develop deep feelings for you,” she said with a dramatic shudder.
    “My lyrics, hmm? That’s my best feature?”
    I walked into the shallow water, shivering at the chill temperature. Too cold, but we stayed there at the edge of the surf, laughing when the foam lapped over the edge of our jeans.
    “Do you still love it? Performing?” she asked, finally moving away from the water’s edge.
    That was the question. One I’d been asking for a while. “I like the energy. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the adoration. It’s great for the ego.”
    “You’re very attractive,” she said, her statement so matter-of-fact I wasn’t sure if she was attracted to me. “It’s easy to see why women throw their panties at you.”
    She pulled her hand from mine and plopped down