Slater's Silence (Fear Niblet) by Nicky James

Author:Nicky James [James, Nicky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-19T04:00:00+00:00

Four

I met Sally at the coffee house on Richmond Street Wednesday morning. I’d spent until sunrise, sitting on the flat-topped rock, watching Kaiser fish while he chatted about salmon spawns, how to cook pickerel, and his plans for winning the fishing derby this year.

I no longer waited on the bench for him to finish. We both wanted more than a simple wave and hello each day. Instead, I brewed a pot of coffee, packed a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and met him at his secret fishing spot. He fished and talked my ear off while I watched and absorbed all he had to share.

“Do you want to sit on the patio?” Sally asked.

The Urban Grind wasn’t a popular café. It competed with the Tim Horton’s across the street and the Starbucks three doors down. It was why I agreed to hold our weekly morning visits at its location.

We were the only ones in the little shop aside from the two girls working the counter, but I nodded, knowing I’d feel better outdoors. The Urban Grind had a patio that overlooked the harbor. The morning air was crisp but not as cool as it had been a few days earlier. It was still too cool for most people to consider sitting outside with their drink, so I knew we would be left alone.

I gestured at the door leading out onto the patio, and Sally went ahead of me. We found a spot near the railing. The cast iron seating seeped cold through my jeans, but Sally didn’t complain.

“There is a light in your eyes today. Why are you smiling?” Sally asked.

I wet my lips and cupped my hands around my mug as I leaned closer, peering around once to see if anyone was near. Always alert. Always aware. My voice didn’t travel when I used it, and I knew Sally strained to hear me at the best of times.

“I met someone.” I cleared my throat when the words came out raspy. “A guy.”

Sally’s eyes lit up. “You met someone? Oh, Slater, who?”

I relaxed my throat and whispered, “His name is Kaiser. He fishes every morning by the pier.”

Sally’s eyes watered with her joy, and she touched her chest by her heart. My happiness meant the world to her.

I was twenty-two years old before I’d fumbled with my first words out loud in over a decade, and they were to thank her for taking me into her life. For loving me despite my problems. She’d cried and hugged me so hard, I wasn’t sure she’d ever let go.

“Tell me about him.”

I pinched my lips and worked words around my head before putting them to voice, again checking around me. “I don’t know a lot. He … understands me. He doesn’t…” I shook my head, unsure of how to explain.

“He doesn’t push you?”

“No. I haven’t told him yet.” I touched my throat. “He doesn’t know.”

“You will. When you’re ready.”

I sipped my coffee. It was growing cold fast. “I want to talk to him, but I can’t.

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