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

first pushed me to tour more, I agreed. I wanted some of the trappings of success, too. And I liked the screaming fans, the late-night parties.
    Over time, I changed my mind about what success meant. I was thankful I was able to do what I loved. That, right there, was worth a shit-ton of money. I was even more thankful I wasn’t working at a car wash all day, no matter how much Dale made. A car wash might be even worse than a soulless gray cubicle.
    I headed up the elevator to my place on the tenth floor. I yanked out the key to my crap apartment as I headed down the hall.
    Dropping my keys onto the kitchen counter, I pulled out the papers I’d carried around with me for the past few weeks. Jessica’s first salvo in the divorce war—a list of unreasonable demands designed specifically to piss me off.
    Over thirty years later, and the family cycle continued. The kid in me wept bitter tears of resentment all over again. I was no better than my father.
    “Moonshine Eyes” filled my head along with an image of Dahlia in the moonlight. Love isn’t something to throw away or let slip through your fingers.
    I didn’t want my soon-to-be ex-wife. Hadn’t for years. No, Dahlia was the only woman I’d ever yearned for.
    I left Cactus Arrow because I didn’t want to fuck up her life. She’d seemed happy with Doug, devoted even. What right did I have to mess with that?
    I breathed out. Pulled up the e-mail I’d typed to my lawyer in response to Jessica’s demands.
    I didn’t want to fuck up Dahlia’s life now either. But I still wanted her. More after spending the night with her. I pressed Send on the e-mail.
    Game on.

3
    Dahlia
    “ H ow’d it go last night?” Simon asked, his voice laced with suspicion. He slammed back a huge gulp of his drink. Simon always drank his first cup of coffee fast, the way most people took a shot.
    “Well, let’s see . . . I cried all over Asher. And I mean snot and near-heaves.”
    Simon’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “You did not.”
    “Mmm hmm. Afterward, we went to the beach, and he said he was trying to work through his marital problems with his wife so his kid had a chance at normalcy.”
    Simon shook his head, his dark hair the same shade as Doug’s. But Simon wore his longer, shaggier. Like Asher’s. Clearly, the sexy bedhead look was a rock-star thing.
    I liked it better on Asher.
    “I was surprised you came home last night.” Simon refilled his cup. No cream this time. He only doctored the first cup.
    I’d spent my formative high school years in the Northwest, and I liked my coffee to taste, well, like coffee. I raised an eyebrow as I sipped from my own mug. “Seriously? I’m repressed. You know that.”
    “You’ll cut loose one of these days. You don’t just stop the sensual daydreams. Ella’s made me read some of your books because she was sure you and Doug had a way better sex life than we do.”
    I laughed so hard I spilled my coffee. “I miss feeling that good.”
    “TMI, as Abbi would say,” Simon said, but he was grinning.
    “You still have each other,” I said, my tone now serious. “Talk about what you want.” I looked down into my mug, thinking about the last few years of Doug’s life.
    “You’ve never mentioned how bad the Huntington’s got,” Simon said.
    I gripped my mug. He knew I hated talking about Doug’s illness. Remembering was hard. Not just the disease, but Simon didn’t know that. I measured his facial features as my heartbeat ratcheted. Simon’s eyes were concerned, sad.
    He didn’t know. He couldn’t. I turned away, struggling against the anger and anxiety.
    “He would’ve died much more slowly, and it would’ve been painful for you and Abbi to see that decline,” Simon said.
    I fisted my hands so hard my short nails bit into my palms. “So it’s fine that he went skydiving and didn’t open his parachute?”
    Simon came around the island and gripped my arm. “You remember how he acted when he