Redhead Meets Redneck: First Date (8 page)

“To 911?”

“Mmm.”

“But you didn’t serve any time for bashing in his brains?”

“Hey, I didn’t bash in his brains. I just broke a few of his bones.”

“How many?”

William leaned back in the booth and took a long deep breath. “Twenty-six.”

Laura’s eyes widened. You broke twenty-six bones on that jerk, and
you didn’t have to serve any time?”

“It’s a small town
. The judge suspected she was being abused. No, I didn’t serve any time.”

“Okay, so mister nice guy saves the
helpless dame, then he begins a serious relationship with her.”

“Laura, p
lease understand. She moved out of his house, got a divorce, and looked for a job. I needed a secretary and so I helped her out. It was a good relationship, at first.”

“Good, until
you two got serious?”

“Mmm,” William gazed out the window. “
Things got complicated. Her divorce was finalized, and so there was nothing holding us apart.”

They sat silently, Laura looking at William, and William looking out the window.

“Please don’t refer to yourself as the ‘second string’ again.”

“That’s the way I feel. After she dumped you, you rebounded and found me.”

“Hold on, she didn’t dump me. I was the one who called off the engagement.”

“You were engaged!”

“I broke it off six months before the wedding.”

“So, if you hadn’t broken the engagement, you
’d be married now, and we would have never met?”

“Mmm.”

La
ura wanted to scream, but why? After all, anyone could fall into a wrong relationship and then have to backpedal to neutral territory.

“So maybe it’s a good thing you broke up with . . . what was her name?”

“Abbey.”

“Right, Abbey. But, just one more question. Why did you break up with her?”

“Abbey wanted to be at home, have kids, and a husband who spent all his spare time making her life wonderful.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s our own responsibility to make our lives wonderful, not somebody else. We should have wonderful lives whether we’re married or single. If we aren’t happy as singles, then we probably won’t be happy when married.”

“But what
’s wrong with being happily married?”

“Nothing. But marriage doesn’t fix everything. It brings two happy people together so they can have a happy relationship. It can’t bring two unhappy people together and make them happy. I’ve seen lots of people
who thought marriage would solve all their problems, but their problems were caused by themselves. They needed to change their lives, mostly attitudes. Then they would be happy, married or single.”

“So you dumped Abbey because she was unhappy?”

“Please don’t use the word dumped. I did my best to ease myself out of her life with as little shock as possible. It was difficult for both of us, but in the end it was the best for both of us.”

Laura thought about William’s situation. He had been involved, but he tried to ease his way out of the relationship as gracefully as possible. And he did try to help Abb
ey by giving her a job. If they hadn’t been working so closely together, they probably wouldn’t have gotten involved in a serious relationship.

“Do you ever talk to Abbey?”

“She called about six months ago.”

“On the date you would have
married?”

“Yes.”

“What did she want?”

“She was sad, but she admitted that she depend
ed on other people for happiness, and she realized that her life would be better when she focused on giving to others rather than taking. She’s been trying to do this with her two children. I sense that she’s made a lot of progress, but she doesn’t realize how far she’s come. I tried to be encouraging to her. People change slowly, and she’s expecting results too quickly. A little improvement should be considered big deal.”

“Did she seem like she wanted to get back together
with you?”

“She didn’t say anything directly, but I sensed an undertone that she held hope for a reconci
liation. I didn’t encourage her, made it very clear that our time together had come and gone. I haven’t heard from her since.”

“So, if her fault was seeking happiness in a relationship, how am I any different?”

“Laura, first, there’s no comparison between the two of you. You are clearly different. But in the end, it’s up to both of us to decide how compatible we are. The online introduction was just that, an introduction. As we spend time together, we both will have to evaluate if we are compatible, and if we have a friendship worthy of a long-term relationship.”

Jo walked to their booth with their food. Placing it on the table
, she asked if they needed anything else. They shook their heads and Jo returned to the kitchen.

“Bon appetite.”

“Bon appetite.”

“So Abbey was the only serious relationship you ever had?”

“Mmm.”

“William, I just do
n’t understand why you’re interested in me. From all the girls that you could date, what makes me so different that you’d want to go on a first date with me?”

“First, I’m different. I don’t fit the norm. I don’t
just
want a job, I want an adventure. I could never be an accountant or doctor or engineer, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Those professions are good for the average intelligent person. But I could never do those things because I’d go crazy with boredom. I need to ‘go where no man has gone before’.”

“You’re a Star Trek fan?”

“I used to be. Anyhow, I need a life partner who has passions also. Someone who can empathize with my plight in life and let me be me. I’ll never fit the mold of another person. Years ago the military was my passion. Now my business is my passion. Helping my friends was, is, and always will be, my passion.”

“So you’re looking for a person to share your passions. Someone
who will be passionate about the same things that you are passionate about?”

“No. I’m not looking for a person to follow in my footsteps and be passionate
about the same things. That would be asking too much from someone. I’m looking for someone who has her own passions, someone who can empathize with my plight and let me be me. Someone who I can come home to and share our challenges, successes, and failures with. Someone involved in her own passionate situation. If we spent all day working on the same passionate interests, then we’d have little to talk about at the dinner table.”

“I’m starting to see the picture, but I still don’t see how I fit into
this life of yours. I don’t have anything that I’m passionate about.”

“Ha. Look at yourself. You
’re educated, a Harvard valedictorian, have a high position in the U.S. government that protects us from loose nukes that could destroy thousands, if not millions of lives. You love your databases and treat them like they were your own children. You are teeming with passion.”

Laura sat a bit straighter. “I never thought of myself like that. You really do understand people, don’t you?”

“People are an important part of my life. Whether I’m in the Navy, running a business, or just having fun, I’m always around people, and I need to understand how they work.”

“How did a redneck like you learn all th
ese interesting tidbits about people?”

“It started in high school sports
. Then it was in the second Gulf war.”

“You picked all this up on your own, just by observation
?”

“Everyone is different, but for me, life is the best classroom.”

Laura looked at the redneck sitting across from her. He was caring, intelligent, and wanted to make a difference in the lives of the people around him. Yes, he was different. She wanted to know him better. She was attracted to him. She would want to spend more time with him, even if he didn’t have those bulging muscles under that sexy white T-shirt.

***

Tariq saw the blip moving again on the computer screen. “Good, it looks like they are going back to their hideout. Follow them closely, but not too closely. I don’t want them to see our truck.

A cell phone rang. Tariq reached into his pocket, flipped his phone open, and pressed the speakerphone button. “
Hamid, tell me you have good news.”

“I have good news, and bad news.”

“What’s the good news?”

“I have the name of the person who owns the truck
. He is William Robert Helmsley. He is just a businessman, and very successful. He seems harmless, and I don’t think he will be a problem.”

“Good, what’s the bad news?”

“I went to his home to check him out, and I had a little problem—”

“I don’t want to hear about your problems. Did you fix the problem?”

“Yes. The problem has been resolved.”

“Good, and don’t ever t
ell me about any problems again! Do you understand?”

“Yes
, Tariq, I understand.” Hamid’s voice was almost a whisper.

“Get in your car and drive up here
, immediately. We will need your special skills when we kill Mr. Helmsley and torture the girl.”

***

On the way back to the cabin, Laura kept glancing down at her new cowboy boots. She thought,
what will Keisha say when she sees me in my new outfit?

William parked the truck, and looked at Laura. “
I’ve been thinking. It might help us clear our minds if we took a little walk. We could use a break.”

“Sure, let me put my street clothes in the cabin and then I
’ll be ready.”

William grabbed a couple of jackets
and a fanny pack, and they began hiking the same trail they had used the night before.

“Where are we headed?” Laura said.

“We’ll go back to the bench that’s up the trail from the cabin.”

They walked hand in hand on the trail. Laura breathed in the fresh air while her eyes took in the ducks flying overhead and the trees swayin
g in the gentle breeze. When they arrived at the wooden bench she felt energized.

Her eyes followed the trail past the bench and into the woods.
“William, where does the trail go from here?”

“It goes further up the mountain. The view gets even better. Would you like to go a little further?”

Laura squeezed his arm and smiled as she nodded.

The trail took a slight, but noticeable, steeper angle after the bench. Laura was glad she
kept in shape. She wasn’t going to let William think she was a helpless female who was incapable of taking a simple hike up a mountain path. She might be a database manager, but she liked to think she was a tough one.

Laura wondered if this hike was a good idea. She liked
exercise; she had a daily routine at the gym that kept her slim, toned, and flexible. But looking up at the mountain ahead, she had doubts.

“Will we
be back in time for dinner?”

“I brought a few snacks, a
nd yes, we’ll have a nice dinner afterwards.”

William reached out and took
her hand. Laura felt the warmth of his calloused hand and noticed how gently he held hers. William pushed back the occasional tree limb that crossed the path so she could continue. The sun’s rays warmed her skin as it flickered through the treetops that swayed in the gentle breeze. With each step, her new boots crunched on the thin layer of pine needles covering the forest path. She heard birds chirping, and other animal sounds that she couldn’t identify. The blood flow was already increasing, and with that her mind was beginning to race.

“Are there any frogs in the woods?”

“Sure, down by the pond, but not up here. Why?”

Laura wished she hadn’t asked
. What would William think if he knew she had a phobia about those little slimy jumpy creatures. “Just wondering.”

Laura tried to think about more pleasant things. Her new boots were comfortable. The fit was perfect, and they
looked great tucked under her new jeans.

“How high is that mountain top?”

“It’s about three thousand feet.”

Laura thought, three thousand feet? That’s over a half mile, straight up. The trail twists and turns. It’s probably a five-mile walk, a ten-mile round trip.

“The cabin is at twenty-five-hundred
feet,” William said. “So it’s only another five hundred feet to the mountain top, about a one-mile walk.”

Laura felt the wind shift so that it was now coming straight down the mountain. The cooler air sent a brief chill through her and she squeezed William’s warm hand a bit tighter.