A Life Less Ordinary (24 page)

He
suspected it was because of that memory of how comfortable and safe he’d felt
with her that he’d told her about his disastrous first love affair.

“Zeke?”
TJ asked.  “You fall asleep on me, man?”

Zeke
started.  “No – sorry.  You’re right, I wouldn’t say I got a lot of sleep last
night.”

But
he would say he was seriously confused by both his reaction to sleeping next to
Manny and by his willingness to share his past with her.

“Listen,
TJ – is Leah there?”

“Should
I be jealous?” TJ teased.

“Why
should you be any different than any other man?”

TJ
groaned then laughed.  “Sorry, she’s not here.  She’s off bonding with her
friends.”

“Drinking,
you mean.”

“You
say potato...”

Zeke
laughed.  “Well, if you could leave a message for her.  Just tell her that I
won’t be able to complete her latest assignment.  There’s no story.”

“Will
do.  Can you share?”

“She
wanted me to get more details about Manny’s past, particularly her love life. 
I know my readers are really curious, so I took the opportunity this morning to
dig for more information.”

“Yeah? 
And there’s no story?  What?  She wouldn’t tell you anything?”

Zeke
hesitated, feeling oddly protective.  He shook his head, then remembered TJ
couldn’t see him.

“No,”
he told TJ slowly, “no, she didn’t tell me anything.”

They
chatted for a few more minutes then disconnected the call.  Zeke deliberately
ignored the fact that that was the first time he’d ever lied to TJ. 

~~~~~

That
night, Zeke and Manny sat at a booth in the dim bar, cold beer in their hands
as they waited for their meals to arrive.  They looked around as the room
slowly but steadily filled up.  They received a lot of curious looks and more
than one local walked over to strike up a conversation to get their story.

“They
don’t get a lot of strangers around here, huh?” Zeke observed drily, watching
the latest curious local wander back to his cronies. 

That
particular local was a middle-aged farmer, the sleeves of his plaid shirt
rolled up to his elbows.  His eyes had been sharp and shrewdly curious, but
kind.  He’d been the third local to inform them that the only mechanic in town
had gone to the city for the day, but would be back sometime in the evening.  In
the meantime, the van had been towed into town by another local and was now
sitting at the garage, ready whenever the mechanic returned.

“Probably
not,” Manny agreed, taking a sip of her beer.  She’d had a nap and was feeling
comfortably mellow even if a little stiff and sore from the morning’s long
walk.  She watched as the door to the bar opened again and another group of
people wandered in and were met with loud greetings from the people at a table
in the far corner of the bar.

“Looks
like it’s going to be a full house tonight,” Zeke observed.

“It’s
Friday night in a small town,” Manny shrugged.  “Unless you go into the city,
there’s not much else to do but go to the bar.”

Zeke
shook his head and continued to observe the occupants of the bar while Manny frowned
thoughtfully at her beer and began to pick at the label.

“You
look like you have something on your mind,” Zeke said casually, his eyes
resting on a group of young women in snug blue jeans and tank tops sitting near
the pool tables.

Manny
shrugged glumly.  “I was just thinking about life and the choices we make even
when we don’t realize we’re making a choice at the time.”

Zeke
gave her his full attention.

She
returned his stare with a puzzled frown.  He raised his eyebrow in question.

“Do
you ever second guess yourself?” she asked plaintively.  “Do you ever have
regrets?”

Zeke
lounged back in his seat and took a quick swallow of his beer as he considered
her question.  He set the beer back on the table and shook his head. 

“No.”

“Never?”
she asked skeptically, her gaze direct and unwavering.

“Never.”

“You
don’t ever think about what you could have done differently with Dixie?  You
don’t ever think about leaving your dad behind?  You don’t ever think about –
others?  You don’t have any regrets?”

Zeke
slowly shook his head.  “What’s done is done,” he said simply.  “I move on.”

Manny
puffed out her breath and dropped her gaze to her hands.  She continued peeling
the label from the bottle in front of her.

“Well,
if you’re not lying, then I envy you.  Sometimes I think I’ve done nothing
but
second guess myself.  I’ve spent the last fifteen years toeing the line,
working hard, and doing my best.  Giving everything I had to the job – so much
so, I couldn’t tell where the job ended and I began.

“But
somewhere along the line, I lost my – my humanity.  I lost my passion, my joy
in life, my connection to other people.  The colour had been leached out of my
world and I...felt nothing.  Which is why I’m on this trip.

“But
I hadn’t realized just how badly I’d lost that human touch until this
afternoon, when I was talking to Daisy about Hub and the fact that their
relationship is basically finished after twenty-four years.  Oh, I said all the
right things, but all I could think was
thank God he’s finally gone
.”

Manny
shook her head and took a long swallow of her beer.  She set it carefully down
on the table with a tiny clink and met Zeke’s eyes with a self-deprecating
smile.

“What
a sister, huh?”

Zeke
met her eyes steadily, his face expressionless, his dark, hazel eyes unreadable.

“You
didn’t say that to her, though, did you.”  It wasn’t a question.

She
shook her head.

“You
let her talk and made comforting noises, didn’t you.”

She
nodded.

“Then
I think...you were exactly the sister she needed at that moment.”

She
stared, surprise in her blue eyes.  Then she flushed as a smile tugged at the
corners of her mouth.

“Thank
you,” she said softly.

They
glanced up as the waitress arrived with their food.  They smiled and thanked
her as they leaned back to let her put the plates down in front of them.

Zeke
shrugged as he unfolded the paper napkin and put it on his lap.

“I’m
just speaking the truth,” he said, picking up the ketchup bottle.  “I don’t
think there’s any law that says you have to actually like the guy your sister
married.  Not that I really know, of course.  I’ve never met my sister.” 

He
offered her the ketchup with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.  He dipped one fry
into the ketchup and lifted it to his mouth, then paused. 

“Come
to think of it,” he mused, a thoughtful frown on his face, “I’m not sure my
sister’s even old enough to be married.”

He
popped the fry into his mouth and chewed rapidly.

“And
don’t look at me like that, Auntie Em,” he said, his mouth full.  “You said it
yourself – you don’t miss what you’ve never had.”

Manny
nodded awkwardly and dropped her gaze to her own food.  She blinked rapidly,
her lips pressed tightly together, and silently busied herself with the
ketchup, salt and pepper.

~~~~~

An
hour and a half later, Manny was at the bar watching Zeke play pool with the
three young women who’d been sitting by the tables for most of the evening.

The
bartender watched her with a sympathetic air, and Manny shook her head and
said, “It’s okay.  We’re just travelling together.”

The
bartender gave her a skeptical nod but said nothing.

She
shook her head and turned back to watch the pool game.

Zeke’s
pool partner was leaning comfortably against him as one of their opponents took
their shot.  His partner was tall, slender but curvy, with long chestnut hair. 
Manny had to admit she was quite stunningly beautiful, easily the most
beautiful woman in the room.  She certainly didn’t look like a woman one would
expect to find in such a small town.

Then
again, Manny thought ruefully, she’d grown up with Rebecca who had also been
quite stunningly beautiful and tucked away in a town even smaller than this
one.

Good
God -
again
?

Manny
snorted into her beer.  She turned a ruefully amused grin to Harvey, who was
standing with a stunned expression beside her.

I
guess he’s just one of those guys who can’t be alone on a Saturday night.

It’s
Friday.

Whatever.

She’s
quite something, I have to admit.

I
was just thinking that.

He
shot her an amused glance from dark eyes, his eyebrows raised.  She groaned.

Forget
I said that.

Done.

Harvey
glanced around the bar. 
Not much eye candy for you, though.

Oh,
I don’t know.  There are a few rather nice looking boys over there.

Harvey
glanced at the table she’d indicated and studied the four rather stolid looking
farm boys sitting there.

I
think they’re younger than Zeke
, he mused.

I
think you’re right.  They’re definitely working boys, though.  Look at those
arms.

Harvey
looked at their arms, then glanced down at himself.

I
like you just the way you are,
Manny assured him, then frowned a small, puzzled
frown.

He
grinned at her then asked,
What?

Nothing. 
It just seems like it’s not as easy to change you anymore.

Don’t
worry about it
,
Harvey urged. 
You’re sitting alone at the bar while Zeke is over there and
probably about to get laid -
again
, damn it.  I also see there’s going
to be a band tonight,
he nodded towards the dance floor,
and when was
the last time you watched a live band in a bar?

Maybe
once or twice since my groupie days,
she replied thoughtfully, watching the
bar staff and band members setting up.

Wonder
what circuit this bar would be on?  This town barely shows up on the map –
how’d they manage to book a band?

Manny
motioned the bartender over. 

“Where’s
the band from?” she asked.

“They’re
local boys.  They play every Friday night, mainly for beer on Saturday.  But
they’re actually pretty good, and can play pretty much anything you can think
to ask them to play.”

“Beethoven’s
Fifth?” she asked.

The
bartender grinned and he suddenly looked ten years younger than what Manny
guessed to be his fifty-something.  “If you’ll dance to that, I’ll buy you a
beer.”

She
slowly smiled back.  “Well, if they play it, I’ll try it,” she promised.

“All
right,” he said.  “Let me talk to them.”

He
made to walk out from behind the bar and she stopped him, laughing, “Don’t you
dare!  I was kidding!”

He
winked and moved to serve a group of people further down the bar.

“Making
another conquest I see.”

Manny
yelped and turned to face Zeke, a hand pressed to her chest. 

She
gasped for breath, then said, “I could say the same for you.”

She
glanced significantly at the pool tables where the young woman was talking to
her friends as she picked up her purse and beer.  Manny raised an eyebrow as
the woman swayed towards them.

I
thought people only walked like that in the movies.

Hush.

Zeke
leaned closer and murmured in her ear, “Come on, Auntie Em – look at her!  Who
would have thought a girl like her would be hiding in this little hole of a
town?  And her name is Babe – how appropriate is that?”

Manny
shook her head ruefully, her eyes on the stage as the band members began to
take their places and complete the sound check.  She turned her attention to
Zeke’s pleading eyes and grimaced. 

“Please,”
she groaned, “you’re drooling in my beer.  Go – have fun – play safe.”

That
sounds familiar.

Hush,
I said.

Zeke
grinned.

“Oh,
I will,” he said softly, his hazel eyes burning as Babe walked up beside him
and slid an arm around his waist.

Manny
briefly introduced herself to the other woman then watched them leave with
their arms around each other.

She
turned back to the bar when the door closed behind them and met the bartender’s
raised eyebrows and sympathetic eyes.