Harding had been grinning through her whole media gods bit, but the smile softened with empathy when the conversation turned to her escape from the big city. “I get that,” Harding said. In New York, it was easy to be a part of something big, which was great, but when you were a part of something big, it was harder to see yourself. “I hope this is the break you’re looking for.”
The loss, Jake’s coma, stood like an elephant in the hallway between them, but the note of sadness and regret that tinged Harding’s smile gave it as much of a voice as he felt any words could. Sometimes just feeling things together was enough.
“He is,” Harding agreed with a nod. The pride for his eldest brother warmed his tone and the light laugh that followed. “The dude’s a legend, even if he doesn’t realize it. No way! What sort of business does your brother do?” He asked the question at the same time that she asked hers and then laughed. “I’ve got one more brother up my sleeve,” Harding answered when it was his turn. “Really talented artist. My daughter, Laurel, still lives with me for now. Pretty much my whole family’s here.” It was nice to have them all nearby. It helped keep Harding out of trouble. “How many siblings do you have?”
“I’m 33. The businesses are pretty new, though. When I moved back, I felt like I needed to put down some roots and one gym was for sale. I had some money. I considered trying something else out in that space, because the one gym was for sale because it was in competition with the other one, but then I got a few cool ideas, managed to turn things around, ended up buying the other one...and...man, I don’t want to bore you too much with all the gym talk, but hey, even if it wasn’t your thing before, it’s never too late to start and you should for sure try all our smoothies. They’re delicious.”
Harding would be lying if he said the amount of supernatural types in town didn’t affect his business though. It was hard to convince a person like Savannah to purchase a membership when he knew she could probably lift this couch by herself if she wanted. Harding had no illusions about who was carrying the most weight as they made their way back up with the couch. “What is it that you do?” he asked, to pass the time while they made their way up the stairs.
At her door, Harding stopped. He pressed his lips together. “Hmm,” he said. “Well, we’re already holding it so the most narrow part would go through the door...Maybe we should remove the legs?”