Page 5 of Secrets Bared
She handed over the cash as requested and took her keycard. “Anywhere you suggest for a decent meal and a drink?”
The manager raised an eyebrow and gave her a once-over. “You look like you could use a beer. Tracey’s is just next door.” She pointed to Maggie’s left. “You can even walk.”
“That’s perfect, thanks.”
Maggie took the elevator up to the second floor and dropped her suitcase off in the room. It looked just as basic as the others she’d stayed in. When she got where she was going, maybe she’d find something different. Then she rode back down to the first floor and headed out the door.
The sign for Tracey’s Bar and Grill lit up the evening sky. Maggie had been so focused on where she would sleep tonight that she hadn’t noticed it on her drive in. She opened the door and stepped inside a dark, cozy dive bar. Normally, a place like this would make her skin crawl, but the woman wiping down the bar didn’t look like she accepted any shit from handsy patrons. She had to be six feet tall, built like a rugby star. Maggie instantly felt safe here and hidden. Few patrons sat scattered around in booths along the wall, conversations hushed. Maggie strode over to the bar and sat on the stool at the end.
“What can I get ya?” asked the woman she assumed was Tracey.
“A menu, please.” Maggie hung her purse off the corner of the bar, unwilling to take up extra space.
The blonde powerhouse slid a laminated piece of cardstock over to her. Maggie scanned it quickly, grinning when she saw exactly what she was craving. “I’ll take the mushroom burger with a side of onion rings, please.”
“What do you want to drink?”
The menu had mentioned a beer that paired well with the burger. It had been ages since she drank anything harder than soda, wanting to keep her wits about her when Sean got in a mood. She ordered that, and the bartender put the menu away, then poured her beer from the tap. “I’ll give Jack your order; it’ll be out shortly.”
Her greasy burger and thick onion rings hit a craving she’d been having foryears.While she ate, Maggie pulled the map out of her purse and let her eyes wander. Where could she go? How was she going to decide?
“Where you headed?” Tracey asked as she polished a glass.
Maggie sighed. “Actually, I need a destination. I’ve been driving enough.”
Tracey set the glass down and leaned over the bar. “Do you believe in fate?”
Maggie pondered the question. Had it been fate that led her to Sean? No, that was timing and his persistence, and her mother telling her to go out with the guy. He’d worn her down, despite her initial lack of attraction. She’d let her mother convince her he was what she needed.
“I don’t know. I don’tdisbelieve, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Tracey nodded. “I've got an idea. Let’s throw a dart at it and let the universe decide.” She pulled a roll of tape from somewherebehind the bar. “If you don’t like the answer, you can throw it again.”
“It’s as good an idea as any.” Maggie shrugged and followed Tracey to the dartboard along the wall. Tracey taped the map up over the dartboard.
“Don’t worry if you don’t hit the dartboard; most drunks miss it, too.”
Maggie shook her head and laughed as Tracey handed her a dart. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and willed the universe, or whoever was out there, to guide her where she needed to go. Pulling her arm back, she let the projectile fly. It landed with a thud, and she opened her eyes.
“That’s the middle of nowhere!” She lamented. Tracey walked up to the map and peered at where the dart had landed. Maggie followed.
“Looks like you’re going to Hawthorn Hills.” Maggie squinted at the map in the dark, so Tracey pulled out her phone and shone the flashlight on the dart.
“Huh. So, it does.” A tiny dot next to where the sharp point pierced the map showed the town name. “Do you know anything about it?”
“Nope. Never heard of it.” Tracey pulled the dart out of the wall and peeled the map down. She folded it back up and handed it to Maggie.
Maggie returned to her seat so she could finish her food before it got cold. A voice from two stools over that she hadn’t realized was occupied stole her attention.
“Hawthorn Hills, huh? It’s a cute little town.”
She looked over to see a man drinking a beer, a few silver strands in his dark hair catching the light from his phone. He wore a dress shirt and a loosened tie, his jacket draped over the stool between them. He’d rolled up his sleeves to show off hisolive-toned forearms, and Maggie felt a stirring of attraction for the first time in ages.
Huh. She’d thought for sure everything with Sean had shut down that part of her for good. And now that she’d left him, she could finally look at someone of the opposite sex without fear of repercussions.
The man reached his hand over the stool and held it out for her. “Kirk.”
She quickly wiped the onion ring grease off onto her napkin and shook his hand. He kept it short and business-like, and her shoulders relaxed.
