The Marine and Me by Cathie Linz

Author:Cathie Linz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Steve frowned at the older man. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me right enough.” The guy’s voice sounded defensive. “I’m interested in your grandmother.”

“Interested in what way?” Steve wanted to make sure he understood what the stranger was trying to communicate.

“Interested in asking her out.”

“And you’re telling me this because?”

“Because I wanted to know your thoughts on it.”

“My thoughts on you asking my grandmother out on a date? I don’t even know who you are.”

“My name’s Patrick O’Hara and I’m the owner of this establishment and the tavern next door.”

“How do you know my grandmother?”

“I live in the neighborhood. So what do you think?”

Steve looked down at his empty plate. “That you make a great deep-dish pizza.”

Patrick frowned. “I meant about your grandmother.”

“I don’t know.” Steve was at a loss. He’d never had a guy approach him and ask him about his grandmother. It felt weird. “Help me out here, Chloe. What do you think? Can you vouch for this guy?”

“He donated catering services for two of our library events this year,” Chloe replied before giving Patrick a smile of gratitude.

Steve was not so easily impressed. “So he supports libraries. What else do you know?”

“That we get a lot of calls in the reference department from patrons at his tavern with bar bets, guys wanting to know how many calories are in beer or who invented the helicopter, things like that. But Mr. O’Hara is standing right here, so if you have personal questions, why don’t you just ask him whatever you want to know?”

Steve shifted his attention back to the older man. “Have you served in the military?”

“United States Army. Four years. Korea.”

The information made Steve relax a bit. The army wasn’t as good as the Marine Corps, but still…The guy was a war veteran. “So you want me to put in a good word for you with my grandmother?”

Patrick nodded. “That’s right.”

“I suppose I can mention the fact that I ran into you this evening and that you asked about her. That you seem to run a tight ship in this eating establishment. You don’t have a criminal record, do you?” Steve narrowed his eyes at him, sending him a warning look that had made young recruits tremble in their boots. “Because I have friends on the Chicago police force, so I can check that out.”

Patrick showed no signs of bending, let alone trembling. “I have three sons and four grandsons on the Chicago police force. And no criminal record.”

“That’s good.”

“Maybe you could put in a good word for me as well,” Patrick suggested to Chloe. “Women tend to listen when other women talk to them.”

“I’m curious, Mr. O’Hara.” Chloe had to ask the question. “What makes you think that you need all this assistance before approaching Wanda yourself?”

“Well, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.”

“How so?” Chloe asked.

“There was this community thing. Some kind of spring fair several months ago. They had a bake-off and I was the judge in the dessert division. Wanda was a tad upset that I didn’t give the blue ribbon to her kolachkis.

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