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“A woman came to his place today. Her name is Delilah. Do you know her?”
“I do.”
Grace watched Duke closely, but the man wasn’t giving anything up. This guy was good, she’d give him that.
“Who is she?”
Duke grabbed the menu off the bar. “What did Matt say?”
“Nothing,” she replied. “Not a damn thing. He refused to tell me anything about her and got angry when I asked.”
Duke’s eyes softened. “He’ll tell you who Delilah is when it’s right for him.”
“But what if it’s never right?”
“Then it’s never going to be right. That’s all. Sometimes situations or people are just never going to be right. Doesn’t matter if it’s what we want or what we crave or even if it’s what we need. That’s the thing about life and relationships. They’re messy and some of us don’t come out of them whole. Some of us spend our entire lives searching for the one thing that can plug the holes. Stop the bleeding. Some find it and others don’t.”
Grace’s throat tightened and she pushed the glass away. No way could she have any more of it—not right now. She’d choke for sure.
“I think you need a bowl of my wife’s homemade chicken soup.”
“Yeah?” She managed a smile.
“Greek salad?”
She nodded. “Sure.”
“Okay. I’ll put the order in.” Duke paused. “You seem like a real nice young woman with a lot to offer the right man. I can’t tell you if Matt Hawkins is that man or not. But I can tell you that lately he’d been different. Something about him has changed. Maybe it’s you. Maybe you plugged one of those holes. Give him some time, but know that you might not have enough of it. Time I mean. Know that he might not ever be right.”
Grace’s eyes welled up. “Who knew that I’d find the smartest man, ever, right here in New Waterford.”
Duke grinned at that, his handlebar mustache, quivering. “Don’t be spreading that information around. I need to be serving drinks and not doling out advice.”
“So why’d you take the time with me?”
He winked. “Because you’re a pretty lady. And I like pretty ladies.”
Grace didn’t finish her drink after all. She filled up on soup and the most delicious Greek salad she’d had in a long while. By the time she was done, her belly was full and her emotions were a little more stable.
“Anything else?” Duke asked as he cleared her dishes.
“I’m good,” she replied, eyes moving to the floor and her bags. It was almost nine and her driver would be here soon. “Thanks for everything, Duke.”
“Not a problem. I hope things work out for you.”
She stared into his soft blue eyes for a long time, thinking about his words of wisdom and about what she was going to do. “I do to.”
Grace paid her bill. She called the car service and cancelled it. And then she called Bud. The old guy had to do a run out to the Bingo hall before he came for her.
Grace was fine with that. She would wait.
22
Matt sat in the parking lot of the hotel for nearly three hours. It was cold as hell, a bitter November day, and the gray, overcast skies did nothing to improve his mood.
The old Matt wouldn’t have waited, but he knew he needed more time. He needed his anger to dissipate because, like an old fri
end, all the bad shit from his past was stirring things up, and Matt knew that if he went offside, even just a little, things could go bad.
