“Want me to go away?”
“That depends.” He shot her a sideways look. “Are you planning to keep annoying me?”
Her lips quirked. “Pretty much.”
“Then no.” He was surprised to find he meant it. “Stay and annoy me.”
“Was planning on it.” She stretched her legs out in front of her, crossing them at the ankle. “So what’s got the big, bad Sasquatch hiding on his porch in the dark? Let me guess—teenage angst?”
He grunted.
“That’s a yes.”
He groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. “He doesn’t want to go to school tomorrow.”
“Oh, the horror.” She pressed a hand to her heart in mock dismay. “A teenager who doesn’t want to go to a new school where he doesn’t know anyone? Call the National Guard.”
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m not trying to help.” She turned to look at him, her eyes serious despite her teasing tone. “I’m trying to get you to see how ridiculous you’re being. The kid lost everything. His mom, his home, his friends. And he got dumped on a dad he doesn’t know. Of course he’s acting out. He’s angry and scared and has nowhere to direct that anger except at you.”
“I know that.”
“But you’re still taking it personally.” She shook her head. “You’ve got the emotional intelligence of a rock sometimes, Sasquatch.”
Says the woman who practically lives in the wilderness, searching for a ghost.
He bit down on the thought before it could become a sentence. Last time he’d said something like it, she’d slapped him. He wasn’t eager for a repeat performance.
“I don’t know how to fix it for him,” he said instead.
“Maybe you can’t.” She shrugged. “Maybe you just have to let him be angry until he runs out of anger.”
Bear stared at her. “That’s your advice? Let him be angry?”
“It’s better than trying to force him to be okay. You can’t control how he feels, Bear. You can only control how you respond.”
He wanted to argue, to tell her she didn’t understand, but the words died in his throat.
“Yeah.” She bumped her shoulder against his again. “I’m right, and you know it.”
Bear sat with that for a moment, letting her words sink in. Shewasright. He’d been trying to force Logan to be okay, to accept this new reality, when what the kid needed was time and space to process.
Walker had said as much, hadn’t he? But Bear hadn’t listened to him, either.
“I had a shitty day too,” Greta said suddenly, breaking the silence. “Thanks for asking.”
The corner of Bear’s mouth twitched. “You want to talk about it?”
“Maybe.” She leaned back against the step behind them, head tilted toward the darkening sky. “Ruthie Campbell came by the shop today with her hairstylist of all people. For a second, I thought she was there to give me a makeover.”
He tilted his head and studied her long enough that a pretty flush worked up her neck and filled her cheeks.
“What?” she demanded.
He shook his head. “Trying to picture you with that old lady poof Ruthie has. You couldn’t pull it off.”
Greta snorted and smacked his arm. “Look at you, Sasquatch. Making jokes.”
