Grace (The Family Simon #5)- Juliana Stone Page 0,65
from his mug, letting the hot tea burn its way down his throat. There were things that Betty Jo knew—things he’d not shared with any other soul. And yet, there was so much more to his story, stuff even she didn’t know. More pain. More shame.
“She told me that Ben is dying.”
“Aw, man.” Betty Jo set down her mug. “She could have written you a letter or sent an email. Or a text message for God’s sake.”
He laughed, not because he found her statement funny, but because it was so damn pathetic. “I guess she could have.”
“Did she fly?” Betty was getting worked up something good.
“Nope.”
“She drove all the way from Arizona?” Grace and Teague glanced their way, no doubt because Betty’s voice had risen at least two octaves. “Mother trucker.”
He looked at her. “Mother trucker?”
Grace looked exasperated. “It’s the only thing I could come up with that makes me feel almost as good as saying fuck.” She made a face. “Beau wasn’t happy because Fitz’s vocabulary was getting a little, uh, colorful.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.”
“Anyway, he bet me a new Gucci bag that I couldn’t go a month without saying a curse word.”
“Guess you lost then.”
“Huh?” She whipped her head around and frowned.
“You just said the F word that rhymes with truck.”
She punched him in the arm. “Only counts if Beau or Fitz hears it.” She laughed and then grabbed up her mug of tea, her laughter slowly fading as her eyes rested on Grace.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t laid eyes on Ben since…well, since that last time.” He shook his head, mouth thinned. “I don’t feel anything for him.”
“Bullshit,” Betty said quietly.
“You can’t call bullshit.”
“Sure I can. I know you, Matt. All these years you’ve been hurting because you feel exactly the opposite. He’s your father. At the end of the day, no matter what, Dale Benjamin Hawkins is your father. You’ve got unfinished business there and if he passes before you get a chance to make your peace with him—“
“I don’t want to make peace with that son-of-a-bitch.” He was angry now and tossed the remainder of his tea. Damn but he needed something stronger.
“Five years ago, hell, three years ago I would have believed you. But not now. No way. You’re not the same guy.” She kicked at the edge of the fire. “You need to close the door while you still can. Whether it’s to tell Ben you hope he rots in hell, or whether it’s to tell him you forgive him. I never got that chance. By the time I found my way back home, Dad was sick. Do you know what it feels like to think that my last conversation with him when he was healthy was me telling him that I hated him?”
She kicked at the fire again. “I told him I wished he had died instead of Mom.” Her voice shook and she sank back into her chair. “That’s a regret I’ll carry to the grave, Matt.”
He squeezed her hand and kept quiet, because she was right.
“Anyway, it’s not really Ben I’m concerned about. It’s Delilah.” Betty’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust her. She’s up to something.”
Hot billowing anger rolled through him. Betty Jo had no idea.
Matt got to his feet just as his cell phone rang, and looking for an excuse to escape his reality, he went with it.
“It’s Logan.” He pointed to the boathouse and wandered over, accepting the call from Logan Forest with a frown.
“Everything okay at my place?” he asked. “Dory all good?”
“Yeah. Just heard from my brother, Travis. He stopped by this morning and the dogs are just fine.”
Relieved, Matt swung around eyes searching for Grace. She was throwing snowballs at Sabrina’s twins. She looked young and innocent and so damn adorable. What the hell did she see in him?
“That’s not why I called.”
Matt turned and looked out over the lake. He was almost afraid to ask. “What’s up?”
“I got a call from your dad’s wife, Delilah.”
That cold shot of fear that had been dogging him for days roared to life and his free hand closed into a fist. He didn’t say anything. He just waited for the hammer to drop.
“She said that ah, she was trying to get hold of you but couldn’t get a number to reach you at. Found out I was married to Betty’s sister and thought we’d be able to get a message to you.”