CHAPTER 8 - DREAM

I was a zombie at work again, and even though I’d told myself to stop letting Chance Owens get the best of me, he hadn’t left my mind.

As I went from table to table, balancing trays, serving plates and coffee, and trying hard to focus, I couldn’t help but think about what had gone down the other night. Chance had acted so strangely, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d gone up to shower to take care of the hard-on he’d had during dinner.

The look on his face was so cold after; I wondered if he felt insecure and embarrassed. There was also the other obvious elephant in the room, which he’d never made any mention about.

Chance had lost a leg, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was from his military days. I’d been around his house long enough to see the patriotic themes in his décor and the pictures of him in uniform, toting guns and looking like one tough SOB.

Whatever happened had to have happened in battle, and it was even clearer as to why he wanted to help Star. I’d spotted another picture in the stairwell on the way up to his room, one of him and his brother, who had also been in uniform. I hadn’t asked him, but I wondered if the brother had been lost in battle as well, and I suddenly felt a pang of guilt for thinking my own problems were bigger.

I’d cut Star’s tutoring session short when I’d gotten a strange call, and whoever it was, they had me peeking over my shoulder all day and keeping a close eye on the parking lot. Surely, Nick couldn’t find me there in the small town. I’d taken every precaution, and didn’t see any way he could find me, but then again, he was a police officer, who was training to be a detective and had connection all the way up the FBI. He was dangerous and capable of lots of things.

“Excuse me, miss. This isn’t what I ordered. I wanted three pancakes, and this is waffles.” The man was trying to be polite, but the man with him didn’t seem too impressed.

“We’ve got places to be. I suggest you pull your head out of your ass and make it right. This coffee isn’t fresh either.” The man had a big space where his front tooth should be, and he whistled about every other syllable.

“Danny, you know that coffee’s fresh. I just made it myself.” Liza gave the man a harsh look and then passed me the waffles. “Now, you two behave, and we’ll get your pancakes in two shakes of a lamb’s tale.” Liza followed me to the back and hurried over to the griddle to pour up a couple of pancakes. Mack was too busy with other things to correct my mistakes.

I let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I had too much on my mind, and all of it started or ended with Chance.

“You need to focus, girl. We’ll get behind, and Harold will be pissed if we have to throw out any food. She placed the waffles in a to-go box and placed them aside. “I’ll pick those up for Brady on the way home. He loves waffles.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and then flipped the pancakes over. “Don’t worry about it. He and Danny come in here all the time on their break, and I can’t tell you how many times Danny tries to get free coffee.” She rolled her eyes, and after a moment, she placed the pancakes on a platter and pushed them toward me.

I hurried them out, and when I returned, my phone vibrated in my blouse. I reached inside my bra and turned it on. It was the same number as the night before, so I slipped around the counter to the back door and stepped out to take it.

“Hello?” I disguised my voice as best I could by adding a bit of grit. I waited for someone to tell me they had the wrong number, but then there was a strange sound, and I hung it up quickly.

When I walked back inside, Liza smiled. “Was that lover boy?”

“I’m not sure who it was. I got another strange call just like it last night.”

“You need to be careful answering that. There could be a trace on the phone.”

“I got rid of the number, though.”

Mack turned around, and the old man leaned in close. “There’s a GPS on your phone, you know. I’d bet anything that sorry ex of yours is using the pings to locate you.” He turned around and went back to his burgers, and Liza and I exchanged a surprised look. I wasn’t sure why we were so surprised. He was bound to have heard all of our problems since we constantly whispered in his presence.

“How do you know anything about that?” Liza was bold enough to ask; bolder than me.

Mack tapped his ear, and I noticed a small hearing aid. “I hear way too much, Ms. Liza. Way too much.” Me and my roommate exchanged a wide-eyed look, and I was sure my face was as red as hers.

“If that’s true, do you think he’ll show up here?” Liza asked once we’d walked back out front.

I shrugged. “Nothing he does would surprise me. I guess I have to get another one of these.” I tossed the cell phone down on the counter, and it rang as soon as it hit.

Liza and I exchanged a look. But then I glanced down at the screen and saw Chance’s number. I turned the phone on and hurried out the back door again. “Hey there!” I was excited to hear from him, despite how awkward our last goodbye had been. I was sure he’d been embarrassed by being turned on, but I hoped my enthusiasm was enough to let him know I was okay with what had happened.

“Hey, Dream. Do you have a minute? I didn’t want to bother you at work.” He sounded like he was out of breath and I wondered if he’d been working out. Those strong muscles didn’t come from being idle all day.

“Yeah, I have just a minute. Did you need something? I’m going to the library again today.”

“Don’t bother. Look, I won’t need you for the next session. I forgot that school’s out Thursday and Friday and the following week for winter break, and I had a call for a pretty tall order. I’m going to work on that, and Star’s staying with the neighbor.”

“Oh, okay. I’m really sorry about what happened the other night. I mean, I was trying to avoid a mess by sharing the spoon trick, not make a bigger one.” I knew that probably wasn’t the problem, but if it were something else he could share, perhaps he would.

“That’s okay. It was just a little soda. Besides, I heard you got a phone call, and I assume it’s why you ducked out early on her.”

Shit. I wanted to explain, but I didn’t want him to fire me or think I was a danger to Star. Besides, it was kind of the truth. The phone call had sparked me leaving in such a hurry.

“It’s not what you think. The call was actually a wrong number.” It was the best I could do without giving away too much.

“As I said, it’s cool. Your personal life is really not our business.”

In the awkward silence that followed, I suddenly felt as if we’d taken three giant steps back in the progress of our friendship and trust.

“So are we still on for the week after next?” I hoped this wasn’t his polite way of letting me go.

“Sure. Ok, well, I have to get back to work here, so I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”

The phone clicked in my ear before I could answer and I looked down at the screen, a frown on my face. What the hell had happened?

I tucked the phone back close to my heart and headed inside. Liza was milling around in the kitchen area and was clearly waiting on a report.

“That was Chance. He’s cancelled for the next week and a half. Apparently, Star has a winter break and he’s going to be really busy with work.”

“Well, at least, it’ll make him miss you a little bit.” She winked at me and walked toward her tables.

I brushed it off and tried to get back to work and focus, but during our slow hour, a strange black car pulled up outside again. “That’s a different black car, and there’s nothing written on the door.” I walked over and elbowed Liza as she filled the salt shakers.

“Let’s wait and see if they get out of the car. It’s probably one of the undercover units from the county. I’m sure whoever is inside, is wearing a uniform.”

But the man got out and went around to his trunk. He wasn’t in uniform, and he had on a black jacket and dark glasses that made him even more intimidating.

“Okay, so maybe I was wrong. He looks like a tough character. I think you better go to the back just to be safe.”

I felt my heart begin to race as the man headed for the door, and I hurried to the back with Mack and the new girl who had just gotten off the clock.

“Are you okay?” she asked when she saw me ducking down behind the stack of cups.

“Yes, I’m good.” I covered my face and kept my head down.

“Okay, I was just wondering, because it looks like you’re hiding from my dad.” She gestured out front, and I wanted to crawl under the table with embarrassment.

“That’s your father? Does he drive a black car?”

“Yeah, he’s kind of obsessed with the color black. He thinks he’d Johnny Cash with a midlife crisis.”

“Oh well, I’m sure he’s very nice. I had mistaken him for someone else.”

Kaitlin gave me a strange look and then untied her apron. “Right.” She hurried out, and when she got to the front, the older man gave her a fatherly smile and then bought a slice of pie for the road.

Liza came into the kitchen where I was watching out the order window. “Well, I guess that mystery was solved. It was Kaitlin’s father.” She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Oh well, better safe than sorry, right?”

“Right, and I feel like such an idiot. I think this paranoia is going to make me crazy.”

“You’ll be all right. You’re just shaken from the phone calls. I tell you what, when we get home tonight, we’ll stay up and watch a movie and have a little wine to calm our nerves.”

“I think I’m going to need something stronger than wine.” I let out a long breath and grabbed the ketchup refill. I made my way around filling the bottles and thinking of all the horrible things Nick had done to me.

Aside from throwing me down the stairs, and making me lose our baby, he’d once slapped me so hard he made my nose bleed, and that was for cooking his dinner too early. It had gotten cold, and he said it was unfit to feed a dog. I’d learned to time things just right, to make sure I put things in to warm, and never served him a cold meal again. There were countless other times; many other bruises and nosebleeds; many other stupid reasons.

It was no wonder I was paranoid.