Mended Hearts (New Beginnings Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

family to be my second one. Mathias was like a brother to me.” He looked confused. “I know there’s a lot more to this story than you’re telling me. And Mathias didn’t say anything except that you’ve had a rough time of it lately. I admire you for working so hard at building a new life here. But, Gracie, everyone can use a friend. I want you to be able to call me if you need anything. Maybe on those days you feel alone, you could call me up.” He shook his head and snorted. “Things aren’t going too well for me lately, either. Maybe on those days I feel alone I can call you up too. I might need a friend more than you do right now. Most of mine are on the other side of the world.”
    Gracie opened her mouth to speak, but just then Colby walked up to them. “Ready to go, Gracie?” He glanced curiously at Sonny.
    “Um . . . yeah. Colby, this is an old friend, Luca. We just bumped into each other. Luca, Colby.”
    Colby stuck out his hand and Sonny shook it.
    Gracie looked at Sonny. “Are you going to stay around for awhile?”
    “I can. Do you want me to, or should I just get lost?”
    “Well, since it seems you need a friend, you’d better stay. That way you’ll owe me when I need one.”
    Sonny smiled at her. She stepped up on the rung of his chair and leaned over the bar to pick up her water glass. Then she headed back toward the stage with the rest of the band. Sonny ordered another beer and settled in to enjoy the show.
    • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
    Sonny stayed through the last set and the bar would be closing in another hour. He’d switched to drinking water after his second beer, and got away with it—probably because he seemed to be a friend of Gracie’s. This was the first time in a long time he’d closed a bar down. He couldn’t remember the last time. But after Gracie had gotten skittish about him coming in to see her, he thought it was important to stress that he was interested in renewing their friendship instead of checking up on her. They’d chatted on a superficial level during her breaks, but he could tell she was wondering about his injury, how it had happened, and what he meant about his friends being so far away. Her manners wouldn’t let her ask flat out, though.
    Gracie walked over and reached around the end of the bar to grab her handbag. “Well . . . that’s it for tonight.” She said to Sonny.
    “It was great. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d been with the band for years.”
    She stood in front of him, her bag slung over her shoulder. “Yeah, it’s been working out well. Colby and I have worked together before . . . at a recording studio in San Francisco. It helps that I already felt comfortable with him before I got here.”
    Sonny slid off the stool and pulled his crutches into place. She glanced down at his knee brace, then back up into his face. He looked tired. She could see pain lines around his mouth and eyes that weren’t there a few hours earlier.
    “You shouldn’t have stayed so late, Luca. Your knee is really bothering you, isn’t it?”
    “It’s fine. I’ve been on it a little more today than I have been lately.” He smiled. “I’ll go home and ice it down . . . take an anti-inflammatory.”
    “What about pain medication?” she asked.
    “I hate that stuff.” His mouth quirked up on one side as he watched her shake her head at him. “If it hurts enough to keep me from sleeping, I’ll take something . . . Mom . . .” he snickered.
    “Don’t ‘Mom’ me. I’m feeling guilty here. My brother makes you come down here and then you sit on that stool all night . . .”
    “It was fun. And he didn’t make me do anything. It’s been really nice to see you, Gracie.”
    “It’s been really nice to see you too. Let’s go.” She turned and started walking toward the door, calling over her shoulder, “See you guys tomorrow!”
    Colby turned from where he was talking with a group of bar