Page 99 of Game Changer

“I do,” I admit. “You’re the most remarkable person who ever graced this earth. I’m so fucking lucky I met you.”

Her bottom lip trembles. “William, I…”

“William!” A loud male voice breaks through the moment and the sounds of Manhattan. “Jesus, man. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”

I know exactly who just called out to me. I shake my head slightly. “He speaks the truth. As soon as he’s close enough, he’ll grab hold of me. This guy is a hugger.”

Opal laughs.

I flash her a smile just as I feel a hand tapping my shoulder. I turn abruptly to greet the man I knew was on the approach. “Tony! It’s good to see you.”

Normally, that would be the truth, but I’m running out of time with Opal. The clock is ticking away on those precious sixty minutes she gave me.

He flings his arms around me to give me a full-on hug. “I’ve been meaning to call you.”

I step back and pat his chest. “I’m here now. How’s Ramona?”

“Good doctors, great care, prayer,” he recites the three things he’s been leaning on since his wife was hospitalized. “She’s coming home in a few days.”

Opal steps into my view, so I gesture toward her. “Tony Gallanto, this is Opal Waverly.”

Tony nods at me as he taps his finger to his bottom lip as though he knows he needs to keep a secret. Tony is a former client, so he knows how closely I guard the details of what I do for a living. “Hey, Opal. It’s good to meet you.”

Opal smiles at him. “You too. I overheard something about someone named Ramona.”

“My wife.” Tony proudly pushes his shoulders back. “Greatest woman in this city. She took a tumble on her bike a couple of weeks back. Broke her hip in two places.”

“Oh no.” Opal’s hand leaps to her mouth. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

He adjusts the collar of the button-down shirt he’s wearing. “She’s good. She’ll be good. Ramona is a fighter. She’s tough. She has to be to put up with me, right, William?”

I pat his cheek. “You’re getting her through this, Tony.”

“With your help,” he reminds me. “You’re the one who talked to Dr. Northrup.

He only agreed to do the surgery because he’s afriendof yours.”

I almost wince at the emphasis he puts on the word friend. I didn’t outright tell Tony that the best orthopedic surgeon in the state was a former client, but it doesn’t take a genius to connect those dots.

Tony doesn’t have a lot of friends in this city, so when he reached out after Ramona’s accident, I recommended Larry Northrup. Tony tried to get the details worked out, but it took a call from me to the good doctor to get all of the pieces to fall into place.

Opal studies my face. “That was kind of you.”

“This is the kindest guy you’ll ever meet.” Tony slaps the center of my back. “He’ll go out of his way to make your life better. He did that for me. I can never repay him.”

He paid me very well to help shore up his life, so Ramona would take notice of him. They had crossed paths a few times at parent-teacher conferences, and when they divorced their respective partners, Tony came to me with a plea to help make him the man she deserved.

I didn’t need to acquaint myself with Ramona to make that love connection happen. All I had to do was work with Tony to peel back the layers and uncover the man he was always meant to be.

Tony’s phone chimes in the front pocket of his pants. He tugs it out, his gaze skimming over the screen. “My love needs me. I gotta run.”

“I’ll be in touch,” I promise. “Soon.”

“You better.” He gives me a parting hug before he turns his attention to Opal. “It was nice meeting you, Opal. You take care.”

60

Opal

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