she couldn’t. She watched him walk away, sank back into her chair and thought that maybe, just maybe, her world was about to change forever.
16
Matt Hawkins had been attending these kinds of fundraisers for years. Like most small communities, New Waterford didn’t have a lot of corporate dollars to go around, so when money was needed for something a fundraiser was the quickest way to get the job done.
New roof for the arena.
New seats for the football stadium.
New dugouts for the ball diamonds.
Monies for their senior support programs.
You name it, there was a fundraiser in there somewhere, and like most of them, there was usually a social function that involved three things that used to make Matt halfway happy. Music, women, and booze. He’d supported the community the best way he knew how, by going all in and usually being the last to leave (that’s if he didn’t get into it with someone and get his ass kicked out)
Tonight, for the first time in as long as he could remember, Matt couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the dance. He stood in the dark near the stage and leaned against the wall, content to watch Grace on the dance floor with Betty and her sisters, Bobbi and Billie. The girl could move and, damn, but the four of them were attracting their fair share of male attention.
“You hiding from the Simon clan?”
Matt glanced up as Logan Forest walked up to him and flashed a smile. “Nope. Just playing it low key.” He’d said goodbye to Eden, and Noah, Grace’s father. Surprisingly the older woman had given him a hug—a real hug before leaving with her husband. He wasn’t sure where it had come from, but he’d take it.
“So what’s going on between you and Grace?”
“Not sure yet.” It was a simple answer, and about all he was willing to share. Forest was a good guy—he’d given Matt a chance when no one else in this town would, and if not for Logan he doubted he’d be earning a decent living doing something that he loved. Hell, he’d probably be in jail or worse.
He’d offered Matt a job when the booze and drugs had pretty much taken over and made him a detriment not only to himself, but to others. Probably as a favor to Betty, but still...
Matt was damn sure that he owed the man his life.
Logan offered Matt a beer but he declined. He planned on leaving soon and nothing was going to stop him from getting behind the wheel.
“Shit, brother. You turning over a new leaf?” Logan shook his head and grinning, raised his beverage in a mock toast.
“Something like that.”
Logan settled in beside him, back against the wall and long legs spread out in front. His wife, hockey girl Billie Jo, smiled their way and then all four of the girls started to giggle. Grace’s hair swung all over the place as she showed them some kind of dance move—something that Matt had never seen, but something he’d be willing to see again…in his bedroom.
“Glad things went well today,” Logan said. “The girls and the committee did good. Raised a lot of money and I know that it made Herschel proud. Would have made their father proud too.”
“You been up to see Trent lately?” Betty’s father had never been a fan of Matt’s. Not that he could blame the man. Up until a few years ago, he had been nothing but trouble. Still, it killed Matt to see the sadness in Betty’s eyes when she talked about her father.
Alzheimer’s or dementia or whatever the hell you wanted to call it, sucked.
“Billie and I took Abel to see him a few days ago. He has no idea who we are and his health is failing.”
Logan fingered the label on his beer. “Whatever happened to your old man? Last I heard, he moved to Arizona? He still alive?”
Matt’s face darkened at the mention of his father. He was someone he didn’t talk much about. “That son-of-a-bitch will probably outlive us all.”
He knew that Logan didn’t get the hostility. No one did. To the community at large, Dale Benjamin Hawkins—known as Ben to everyone—had been a salt-of-the-earth type. A standout cop. A guy who volunteered his time to coach hockey and baseball—and a man whose wife left him saddled with a young son when she’d taken off for parts unknown.
None of them knew the truth, because Matt had never told a soul.
“You want another?” he asked Logan, pointing