When A Man Loves A Woman(25)

“You too, Mac,” she said as she stood at the door and slowly closed it behind him. Once the door was closed and Mac was no longer in view, she leaned against the back of the door and let out a sigh. Suddenly, she felt restless. Mac had left a huge void in his wake. She had to wonder whether this was truly about Mac’s presence or an indication that there was something missing in her life. She wasn’t one of those women who always felt a need for a man in her life, although she had dated frequently in the past. With every step she took toward leading a faith driven life, Delilah was discovering that she had always tried to fill the voids in her life with men. Was that why she couldn’t stop thinking about Mac Donahue?

She would like to think there was something more going on then what she’d been guilty of doing so many times before. Now, as opposed to the past, she knew the difference between feeling empty and being fulfilled. Although she felt a tad lonely at times, she enjoyed her life. She was content. Her feelings toward Mac weren’t based on filling a hole. It was based on something infinitely more solid. A connection. Something simmered in the space between them whenever they were together. Delilah couldn’t ignore it even if she tried. It tantalized her and frustrated her. At times she wondered whether she was imagining the whole thing, while at other times she wanted to explore the connection more.

To add another layer to her feelings she also felt an overwhelming urge to help him with his quest to find Callie. Based on everything he had told her and from what she’d sensed, finding Callie would be the only surefire way for Mac to obtain closure.

Mac deserved peace. And a happy ending tied up with a bright red bow.

Dear Lord, she prayed. Let Mac find Callie. Allow this wonderful man the healing he so desperately needs.

**

After leaving Delilah’s house, Mac sat in his truck outside and made a quick call to Parker asking him to meet him at his house. Parker was crashing at Wyatt’s beach house while he was in town. He couldn’t wait to show his cousin the photograph and the article. It felt as if he was about to take a giant step forward in the search for his sister. Hope shined inside him like a beacon. He prayed it would lead him home—to Callie. She was as much a part of him as his parents and all six of his brothers. He could no more give up the search for her than he could abandon any member of his big bustling Donahue family if they ever needed him.

Callie needed him. She always had. And he needed her too. Desperately. The ache of losing her was still there, like a drumbeat thrumming inside his chest.

He glanced over at Delilah’s bungalow. There weren’t many places in this world that Mac felt completely at home. It was one of his many quirks. It was one of the reasons he had been through so many foster families until he found his forever family with the Donahue clan. No home had ever felt right until then.

Delilah’s home had felt soothing and natural to him. The feeling shocked him since he wasn’t used to feeling that way when he first entered someone’s home. He knew it was all tied up in his past and his feelings about finding a place to call home. And he was fairly certain his favorable reaction to the house had everything to do with the woman who owned the bungalow house. Delilah Dalton. She intrigued him. Whenever he was around her he felt a little bit tongue tied by her sweet, soulful vibe. He had no clue how such a beautiful, centered woman was single in a town like Breeze Point. He knew a dozen guys or more who would love to take her out. Parker was one of ‘em. At the moment, according to Blue and Sarah, she was single. Temptingly footloose and fancy free.

He had an opening to pursue something with Delilah. As someone who found the whole dating scene daunting, he wondered whether he could bite the bullet and ask Delilah out on a date. It wasn’t as if this was new territory for him, but it had been a while since he had dipped his big toe in the dating pool. And, if he was being completely honest with himself, Delilah’s ties to Blue and Sarah put extra pressure on the situation. Hadn’t that been the main reason he hadn’t taken her out in the first place?

By the time he made it over to his house off Cove Road, Parker was just pulling into his driveway right behind him.

“I like what you’ve done to the place,” Parker drawled as he exited his car, took his dark sunglasses off and looked the cottage over.

Although the cottage was a work in progress, Mac had already made major changes to the façade and he was working on remodeling the kitchen. An addition would come further down the road. One day soon he would like to invite Delilah over to see his place. Since she was good friends with his sister-in-law, Layla, he knew she must have been a visitor at the cottage prior to him having moved in. The symmetry of it made him shake his head. He had been a visitor at her bungalow due to his relationship with Mr. Banks. Likewise, she knew the lay of the land of his cottage due to her relationship with Layla. Either this relationship was meant to be or the two of them were too entwined in each other’s worlds. Time would tell, he thought with a chuckle.