Tangled Fury (18 page)

“Okay. To be honest, I’m not sure at this point, I’m not sure when I’ll be back in town. Might be a few more days.”

“Understandable,” said Thane. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on things at home for you.”

“Thanks, Thane,” he replied. “I appreciate it. I’m going to call Arlene back. She was baking with Emma earlier. Heard you two were going out for dinner?”

“Yeah,” replied Thane. “Thought it would be a good way to take our mind off of things for a while.”

“I don’t blame you. You two have fun and I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Goodbye,” we both replied as
he hung up.

Thane pulled his keys out of the ignition. “You ready?”

I nodded.

We both got out and walked side-by-side to
wards the front entrance of the elegant restaurant, which was ocean-side and definitely looked expensive. As we drew closer, I had the distinct feeling that Thane wanted to hold my hand again, but was having an inner argument about it.

He opened the door for me and I stepped inside.

“Can I help you?” asked Peter, who was apparently the
Maître d, from his name-tag. He was a stuffy looking man with a narrow nose and thin lips.

Thane gave him his last name. “We have a six-thirty appointment,”
he said. “We’re a couple minutes early, I hope that’s okay?”

The man smiled and grabbed some menus. “It’s quite alright. You
r table is ready. Please, come with me.”

We followed him to a table next to a large glass window, overlooking the ocean and Thane pulled out a chair for me.

“Your server is Timothy and he should here any second,” said Peter, handing us our menus. “I hope you enjoy your meals. Thank you for dining with us, this evening.”

W
e thanked him and then found ourselves alone.

“Well, this place is lovely,” I said, looking around at
all of the other white table-cloths and candles. I wondered about the prices and decided that I’d order a salad or something less expensive. The place had to be outrageously expensive.

Thane nodded. “I’ve only been here once, with my father. The food is delicious, so I hope you’re hungry.

Even though I hadn’t been hungry earlier, I now found myself ravenous and couldn’t wait to eat.

“Good evening,” said our waiter, Timothy, as he set two glasses of water in front of us. He was in his early twenties and was so tan and good-looking, that he reminded me of a movie-star. “My name is Timothy, and I’ll be your server this evening.”

“Hello, Timothy,” said Thane, opening up his menu. “Just so you know, we’re kind of in a hurry, so maybe you could start us out with a bottle of wine.” Thane looked over his menu at me. “Is that okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, I would love a glass.”

“Good. What would you suggest that goes great with seafood?” asked Thane.

Timothy pointed out a couple of the bottles and I stared at Thane in shock when he ordered one that was over seventy dollars.

“Very good choice, sir,” said Timothy. “I’ll get that right away for you.” He then told us about the specials and my mouth began to water.

“Thank you, Timothy,” said Thane. “Those sound fabulous.”

After he stepped away, Thane looked at me again. “Is that alright? The wine is supposed to be fruity and not too dry. I personally don’t know too much about wine, but Timothy seemed pretty excited about it.”

“It
sounds great. A little on the expensive side….”

“Everything here is expensive, but don’t worry about it. I figured that you could use a little pampering, after everything you’ve been through.”

I smiled at him. “You know, you really are a very sweet man.”

He cringed. “Don’t let anyone at work find out.
I’ve got them thinking I’m this ogre, so they don’t try wrapping me around their little fingers.”

I laughed. “Your secret is safe with me.”

He suddenly looked serious. “Actually, we probably shouldn’t tell anyone about this dinner.”

“I know. Rumors, right?”

He nodded. “Exactly. Let’s just keep it between us.”

“Okay.”

I looked at the menu and tried not to flinch at the prices, but it wasn’t easy. As if Thane could read my mind, he told me not to worry about them and to order whatever I wanted.

“
Well, if you really insist,” I replied, smiling.

“Oh, I really
do.”

Timothy returned a few seconds later, with our wine. He poured each of us a glass and then Thane ordered a couple of appetizers
that we’d both agreed upon.

“I’ll get those orders in
right away for you,” he said. “Do you need more time to pick out your entrees?”

“I’m ready,” said Thane. “Are you
?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Yes, I’ll have the salmon special
that you mentioned, earlier.” 

“You’re going to lo
ve the salmon,” he gushed. “It’s so fresh and melts in your mouth. We usually run out, it’s just that popular. Now, that comes with a side-salad. What kind of dressing would you like?”

I told him and
he nodded again. Then Thane ordered some kind of lobster and steak combination.

“Wonderful choices,” said Timothy, taking our menus. “
I’ll get your orders in quickly and bring out your salads.”

When he left, I took a sip of wine and nodded. “He’s right, it’s very good.”

Thane tried it and agreed. “It’s smooth. To be honest, I’m usually a beer drinker, but I thought this would be nice.”

“I’m not much of a drinker at all,” I answered. “In fact, I haven’t had a drink for the last few years.”

“Why is that?”

I sighed. “Because of Ray. With him being an alcoholic, I knew that one of us needed to stay sober. To tell you the truth, he really turned me off to drinking.”

He nodded towards my glass. “I’m sorry, if you don’t want to finish that, we can order you something else to drink.”

I smiled. “No. This is good. I’m not turned off by it anymore. Now that Ray is out of my life. I mean, I’m not going to make a habit out of it, but I’m also not going to be afraid to drink it, either.”

“Good for you.”

My eyes narrowed. “What about you?”

“What do you mean? Am I a drunk?” he laughed. “Is that what you’re asking?”

My cheeks turned red. “No. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“It’s okay,” he said, still smiling. “I like an occasional beer, but, nothing too serious.”

I nodded and took another sip of wine.

“So, tell me more about this psychic ability that you have.”

My eyebrows raised. “You mean psychic mumbo jumbo?”

He sighed. “Okay, maybe I was a little too closed-minded, earlier.”

“You were. So… what made you change your mind?”

“Earlier in my office, you actually did take the words right out of my head. It was… unsettling.”

“Welcome to my world,” I
replied softly.

“Also,” he paused. “You mentioned something the other day… about it not being my fault…”

A rush of images flashed into my mind. The same ones from the other day – of Thane and another man, fighting in the ring. Then later, the man lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to numerous machines.

I stared out the window, towards the ocean. “His death wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t intentional.”

“Did Fred tell you about this?” he asked quietly.

I looked at him. “No. He doesn’t even know. Your father didn’t mention it to him.
It’s just a feeling I have… a very strong feeling.”

Thane was quiet for some time, staring at his hands.
“I wish I felt the same way.”

I reached over and put my hand over his wrist. “I know how you feel, Thane. My leaving Ray caused a chain of events that ended up being the death of at least one other person,” I whispered. “And, probably two.”

He stiffened up. “But, you didn’t kill another human being. You didn’t pound his face into one big bloody mess. Didn’t take a man away from his wife and child. All of them were my victims, Sera. I did that… and could have prevented it…” He looked away and I could see a hint of tears in his eyes. “I can’t even imagine the pain I caused his family.”

I squeezed his arm. “Let me ask you something – you knew there was a
lways a risk of dying yourself… every time that you stepped into that ring, you knew that one fatal shot could end more than just a fight. You knew it when you signed up for that kind of career. He did, too.”

“Still…”

“You have to let it go, Thane,” I said, staring past him as more images popped into my head. This time of a man smiling at me. The man from the ring. The one that Thane had killed…

“I wish
I could,” he replied.

“He doesn’t blame you,”
I whispered, the man nodding in agreement. He made some kind of hand gesture, one that I understood. I smiled. “He wants you to know this. It’s very important that you do.”

Thane blinked and brushed at his eyelids. “What are you talking about?

  “Zack,” I said, looking at Thane again. “He doesn’t blame you and wants you to stop blaming yourself.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you were just communicating with him?” he asked, his voice almost harsh.

“
He
communicated with
me
,” I said, getting excited. “This has never happened to me before. He must really want you to know this.”

The look on Thane’
s face was a mixture of disbelief and sorrow.  He just stared at me, unable to respond.

“I know
that you’re having a hard time believing it,” I said. “But I am really getting a message from him. He also mentions a woman named… Carrie…”

Thane’s face
seemed to turn even paler, if it was at all possible. “Carrie?”

It was as if I could read Zack’s thoughts.
“He doesn’t want you to blame her, either. He said… he said to let it go. All of it…”

“What else?”

Zack faded and then there was silence. I looked at Thane. “He’s gone.”

Thane lifted the wine glass, his hand trembling slightly.

“What does Carrie have to do with Zack’s death?” I asked. “Or, why do you blame her, too?”

He took a sip of wine and then set it down on the table. “She was my fiancé. She made me believe that they were having an affair.”

My eyes widened. “But, why?”

“She thought I was the one screwing around. I wasn’t.”

I took a deep breath. “So, she made you believe this and you basically, took out your aggression on him in the ring?”

Thane smiled humorlessly. “What do you know,
folks… we have a winner…”

I let out a ragged sigh. “No wonder you feel the way that you do.”

He looked away.

“
I think Zack is right and you need to let it go. He holds no harsh feelings towards you.”

Thane grunted and took another sip of wine. “This is… really an odd conversation.
Odd, but, even I have to admit, it’s somewhat, comforting.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

He actually believed me.

“Thane,
I’m with you. Like I said before, this has
never
happened to me.”

The waiter brought out our appetizers and salads. “I hope you d
on’t mind that I’m bringing all of this together. I figured… since you were in a hurry…”

“No, this is perfect,” replied Thane, smiling up at him.

“Good. I was a little worried,” replied Timothy, beaming a grateful smile down at him. Something told me he was a little smitten with Thane, and I certainly couldn’t blame him. He
was
a very handsome man. I bit back a smile and decided to tease him about it later.

“Would either of you like some cracked pepper on your salads?”
asked Timothy.

“I’ll have some on my Caesar,” replied Thane.

“Not me, I’m fine,” I said.

After Timothy walked away, Thane looked at me. “Do you think he’s gay?” he whispered.

“I think you may have converted him if he isn’t gay.”

Thane laughed. “Yeah, I thought he may have been
a little into me.”

“Too bad you’re not into him,” I replied, putting a fork into my salad. “He
is
very good looking.”

“You think so?”

I nodded.

“Well, I’m into strictly beautiful women. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be into me much.”

My eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? I’m sure there are plenty of beautiful women that would die to go out with you.”

“Maybe, but not the one I’m interested in.”