Page 46 of Dangerous December
“There you would be wrong.”
Beth blinked. “You two must have had quite a conversation.”
“It wasn’t just his words. I think he’s really struggling with something, and he could use a friend. Frank Ferguson says the same thing.”
“Frank?”
“He and I used to teach together...ages ago. I saw him in the post office yesterday, and he mentioned being sorry that he startled Devlin on Thursday morning. To quote Frank, ‘It was like the poor boy had one of those war flashbacks, or something.’”
“Post-traumatic stress disorder.”
“It would make sense, given what he does for a living. Maybe he needs to get help. Or maybe he just needs someone to talk to. Of all people, you’d be the one who knows him best.”
“Not anymore.” Beth swirled the coffee in her cup and stared at the dark liquid, trying to dispel the sudden, graphic images of the horrors he’d probably faced. How could anyone ever get over something like that? “I’d be the last one he’d consider.”
Through the front windows, she caught a glimpse of Keeley and Sophie crossing the street together toward the store,walking arm in arm. Relieved at the distraction, she waved to them through the window.
Olivia touched Beth’s arm and lowered her voice as the other women came in the door. “Don’t forget what I said about Dev, honey, because I think that man is really hurting inside.”
“I don’t—”
“At least try. And say a few prayers for him, too. I’ll sure keep him in mine.”
At ten o’clock, the antique grandfather clock by the front door started its rich, melodious chime, and a customer knocked on the door of the bookstore.
Beth went to unlock it and flipped the window sign to Open, then returned to the circle of chairs in the back.
“We didn’t get very far with our book discussion,” Sophie said ruefully. “And it was my fault this time.”
Keeley and Olivia both enveloped her in a group hug, then Hannah and Beth took their turn.
“Whenever you’re having a bad day, you need to call one of us,” Keeley said, reaching out to grasp both of Sophie’s pale, delicate hands. “I just can’t imagine how hard it is to lose a husband. Actually, I can’t imagine what it’s like tohaveone, but that’s another story.”
“Usually, it was pretty nice.” Sophie smiled, though her eyes were still damp and her voice wobbled. “I didn’t realize our anniversary would hit me so hard this year.”
“How is Eli doing? Does he still talk about his dad a lot?”
“He does, almost every day. But that’s good for both of us, really. No one at the restaurant or my school even brings it up anymore. I suppose they all think we’ve had enough time to mourn.”
“They’re wrong,” Olivia said flatly. “There’s no timetable for grief. They just haven’t experienced it themselves, bless their hearts.”
“And now, with Eli getting older, he misses having a dad all the more when he sees other dads at school activities and Cub Scouts. I’m so torn—he needs a dad. But I just can’t imagine falling in love again. I tried dating again once, and it was a total disaster. Remember Allan?”
Keeley smiled. “Now, you’ll have to admit that he was an unusual case. How often are you going to run into someone who was an ex-con?”
Sophie’s mouth trembled, then she broke into helpless laughter. “And I didn’t have a clue—even when he had those ‘coffee meetings with his uncle,’ who turned out to be his parole officer. How naïve can anyone be?”
“Maybe when you get done with school, and have some time for yourself, you’ll find the perfect guy,” Olivia said. “Give yourself a break, dear. Things will happen when the time is right.”
A stout, middle-aged man walked in from the street, smiling as he passed the members of the book club standing near the door. He continued to the back and wandered through the bookshelves and displays as the women said their farewells.
His face, with its folds of flesh, made him look nearly identical to the bulldog gracing the cover of this month’sDog Lovermagazine displayed not ten feet away from him.
“Duty calls,” Beth whispered, hiding a grin. She turned away from her friends and went to the counter. “How can I help you?”
His benign smile wreathed his eyes in wrinkles. “I’m from out of town, and just wanted to stop by to look around. Nice store.”
“Are you looking for anything in particular?”
