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She sipped. Her eyebrows soared. “This is great. What kind is it?”
“Apple vanilla chamomile. Should soothe your stomach.”
“Do you give this to your teammates?”
He laughed as his imagination conjured up the probable responses from Bravo if he suggested that remedy. “Not a chance. They’d revoke my man card. If I’m out of anti-nausea patches, my teammates would prefer to puke their guts out to drinking herbal tea.”
“They don’t know what they’re missing.”
Matt captured one of her hands and contented himself watching pedestrian and vehicular traffic pass the shop as she finished her drink. When she drained the cup, he squeezed her hand. “Tell me what upset you when you walked into the bakery.”
“I need to tell you more about my past so you understand my reaction.” Something she was reluctant to do based on her body language.
“Do you want to do that here or at my place?”
“Here is fine. No one is paying attention to our conversation.” A smile curved her lips. “They are noticing you holding my hand.”
“I want them to notice. I know your family was unkind when you were growing up.”
She gave a wry laugh. “They still are. That’s why I haven’t been home in years. My father was diagnosed with bone cancer when I was ten. Dad fought hard. He lost his battle the day I turned fourteen.”
“I’m sorry. That must have devastated you and your family.”
“We were close until Dad passed away. After that, Mom turned to alcohol to help her dull the pain of losing her husband. My brother got into trouble at school. He barely finished high school and started gambling.”
“Is he any good?”
“Loses more than he wins.”
“That’s usually how it works.” He studied her a moment. “What about you? How did you cope with the loss?”
Her gaze dropped to their clasped hands. “I turned to food for comfort.”
His heart literally hurt when he realized what that meant. No one had been there for her. Delilah’s mother and brother had been wrapped in their own problems and hadn’t bothered to help her. “I guess your cousins weren’t there for you, either.”
A subtle flinch. “Not even close.”
Some of the puzzle pieces fell into place. Oh, man. Although he knew where this story was headed, Matt opted to stay silent and let Delilah tell the tale at her own pace.
“When I was lonely, sad, hurting, happy, any emotion you can name, I ate. The problem became so bad, I was stealing food from the kitchen and hoarding a stash in my room. I can’t tell you how much junk food I consumed every day along with soft drinks and juice.”
She locked her gaze with his. “I gained weight, Matt. A lot of it. By the time I graduated from high school, I weighed over 300 pounds. I’m only five feet four. Every pound shows.”
Holy cow. Though Matt controlled his reaction, he was astonished that she’d managed to carry that much weight on her small frame. Her weight was nowhere near that now. How had she lost all the extra pounds?
“The more I gained, the more my classmates and family made fun of me. I ate more. No surprise to you, I’m sure, that my knees and feet hurt all the time. My blood pressure was through the roof and I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs without feeling like I was having a heart attack. I hated myself and my body.”
“What made you realize you needed to take control of your body and appetite?”
“I went to college. On my first day in classes, I realized I couldn’t fit in the classroom desks or walk across campus without sitting down to catch my breath two or three times. I knew if I didn’t take control, I would die young.”
“How did you lose the weight?”
“I’m a good researcher. I researched diet and exercise programs. When I narrowed it down to the combination I thought would be safest for me, I made an appointment with a doctor and asked her advice. She approved my choices and helped me implement the program.”
“What were your choices?”
“My diet was protein, vegetables, and fruit, berries mostly. No dairy, no sugar, nothing processed. I drank water and herbal tea with no sweetener.”
