Between Breaths (The Seattle Sound Series Book 2) Read Free Page A

leave my stuff in storage forever. And I’ll need closure with Ken.”
    Lia nodded slowly, eyes never leaving mine. “You know I’m here any time you want to talk.”
    “Thanks for not pushing.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t do any good.”
    I wasn’t so sure, but I couldn’t tell her that.
    “I’m going to help Abbi pack,” I said.
    Lia smiled at her daughter’s name. “Explain to her she doesn’t need four swimsuits to go to San Francisco, please. We’re touring Stanford, not hitting the beach in San Diego. I’m not getting through to her with her excitement-fogged brain.”
    “Will do.”

    * * *
    T he emptiness of the house settled over me before Asher finished pulling down the driveway the next morning. I’d never learned how to be alone. I’d always lived with someone—Lia and my dad, then my mom and her new family, various roommates, and finally Ken. That’s why I’d wanted these three days. To prove to myself I could be alone.
    Less than a month from my thirty-first birthday and just now learning how to be by myself. Sighing, I scooped up another pile of Legos Mason had dribbled across the living room and headed toward the overflowing bin. Not wanting to face the silence yet, I pulled out the vacuum and ran it over the whole first floor.
    The kitchen clock read nine when I finished, so I changed into my running clothes. Attaching my iPod to my armband, I shoved in my earbuds. Setting out, I ran toward the trail Abbi had shown me earlier this summer.
    As I hit the path that looped around the small lake, a doe slid from the tree line. I stopped. Just before she lowered her head to drink, she raised glimmering brown eyes, her entire body poised to sprint away. I wanted to touch her. To feel the velvet of her nose against my palm. I wanted to stop squelching my desires and actually do some of the things with my life that others did so effortlessly.
    When I stepped forward, I hit a small twig and she flinched back. In one leap, she disappeared. I stood there, breathing hard as mosquitoes swarmed my sweaty skin.
    I’d always been afraid to look for a man I actually wanted. Like the doe, I was too skittish to let him close enough to find out if we’d be compatible. I could continue to do so and pine for a relationship like Lia and Asher’s, or I could stop trying so hard to keep people out and face the fact I was lonely and sad because of my fear.
    I turned and jogged back to Lia’s house, pondering the changes I’d need to make.

Chapter 3
    H ayden

    G oing straight to hospice would have won me points, but I couldn’t care less about scoring points with my mum. We didn’t have a relationship, hadn’t for nearly two decades. So I chose to focus on my needs, which included some much-needed rest. Sleeping was rare what with the late-night performances and hours-long partying. The thirteen hours of pillow time proved how much my body needed to reset.
    I woke up at 4:00 a.m., stretched my arms over my head. Dark though it was, I wanted to get out into the city, go for a run. I loved running on the beach back in Sydney, where the warmth of the sand in summer traveled up through my feet, pumping into my muscles and making it easier to take the next step. Impossible here, so I settled for the popular running trail in the Olympic Sculpture Garden suggested by the sleepy-eyed desk clerk.
    I ran down rain-drenched Elliott Ave., marveling at the lit skyline, so different from my dad’s hometown of Melbourne, which boasted a low-key city center. This place reminded me more of Sydney but with some extra eye-popping style. Home to some of the world’s most well-known brands, Seattle was primed for further success.
    The smattering of people I passed moved out of my way as I ran, unaware and uncaring—to them, I was just another driven, success-oriented city dweller. They didn’t see that as I ran faster and harder, I slid closer to the demons I’d been fighting for years.
    Namely my mum.
    Rather,