Date with a Sheesha (37 page)

I positioned Ethan just where Anthony and Jared had suggested during rehearsal: near the fireplace, but not too near that either of us would start to sweat. And close enough to the champagne, so we could easily move into celebratory mode once the deed was done.

I stood facing Ethan, taking each of his hands into mine. I looked up.

And, stop.

There was something in his eyes. What was about to happen began to dawn on him. He looked at the fire, the flowers, the strawberries and champagne. He recognized my uncharacteristic nervousness. He noticed the ring-box-shaped lump in my cardigan pocket. He knew.

A movie screen of emotions began to play across his face.

257

F639BE36-0B80-4264-BA79-F0E13F235E3A

D a t e w i t h a S h e e s h a

Uncertainty went to surprise. Surprise led to shock. And then, as my heart plummeted to the ground, shock became sadness. A sadness so heavy, so dark, it could only survive in the deepest of wells. And I knew Ethan was about to pull me right down in there with him.

For almost a full minute we stared at each other, wordless, our throats constricting as we fought a killing dryness, and searched for words that would not come.

In time, Ethan’s mouth opened. Out came the words that I should have wanted to hear. But I knew they were wolves in sheep’s clothing. “I love you too, Russell.

“I know we’ve talked about this,” he kept on. “About sharing our lives. Finding a way to put our worlds together. This is my fault. I know it. I was pushing.”

“Of course you pushed,” I replied with a pleading enthusiasm. “I needed pushing. You were right to push. Ethan, I love you. I want to—”

“Russell, don’t!” he cried out. “Don’t say it.”

“But why?” I whispered in a tortured voice. I didn’t understand what was happening.

“It’s too much for me to ask. I
won’t
ask it of you.”

I shook my head with so much force, it might have fallen off.

“It’s not. I know our current living arrangement can’t work anymore. I’ve thought a lot about this. I’m ready. I am
so
ready, Ethan.

I’m going to put my house up for sale. On Monday. It’s not too much to ask. I want to do it. I want to move in with you, and begin making a real life together, and—”

“No. No, Russell. That’s not it.”

I was dumb. What was he saying?

“For us to ever be together…I would have to ask even more…it’s not just the house…it’s…Russell, I would have to ask you to give up your career. And I can’t do it. I won’t do it. It’s not right.”

I was stunned. My career? Give up my career? Give up being a private detective? Where did that come from? We’d never talked about that. Sure, I knew Ethan worried about me when I was on a case. But really, most days the most danger I got into was running 258

F639BE36-0B80-4264-BA79-F0E13F235E3A

A n t h o ny B i d u l k a

out of gas in the middle of winter, during a midnight surveillance of some deadbeat husband.

“Russell, a murderer—someone I didn’t even know, or know about—threatened my daughter…”

Oh.

“Someone was killed, only yards from our home. You ran by Simon during her birthday party having just come from nearly being killed yourself. Russell, I just…I just can’t have that.”

Oh no.

“It didn’t happen this time. But what about next time, Russell?

What about the next time someone wants to threaten you, or get back at you, or who knows what? The best way to hurt you is to hurt your family. To hurt those you love. To hurt Simon. Oh God, Russell! They could have killed Simon, just to get at you! It could have been her at the bottom of the pond!

“And I know what you’re going to say. I’ve been saying all the same things to myself ever since that poor woman was drowned in our pond. But none of it matters. There is nothing you can say that will change the facts. You cannot guarantee the safety of my child. I know, I know, neither can I. But as a father, there are things I can do to minimize the opportunity for danger to come her way.” He stopped there. We were now several feet apart, but still eye to eye. I was trembling. I was scared. Scared that he was right.

Every excuse, every promise, every thing I could think of to say to counter what he was telling me was no good. I
was
a threat to Simon’s safety. As long as I was a private detective, I put that little girl in jeopardy. It might never happen. Probably wouldn’t.

But just the sliver of the chance…

“And to do that,” Ethan started again, his voice tormented, “I have to let you go.”

It was the worst day of my life so far.

I am an optimist. I am generally a person of good spirit. I also believe in karma. And karma had come to give me a swift kick in the ass.

On a Hawaiian beach, eighteen months ago, I’d made the dif-259

F639BE36-0B80-4264-BA79-F0E13F235E3A

D a t e w i t h a S h e e s h a

ficult decision to rescind my agreement to marry a good man.*

And now, another good man had decided he could not marry me.

Karma.

I was thankful to Ethan Ash. Thankful he stopped me before I actually got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked for his hand in marriage, as I’d fully intended to do. He saw it coming and did his best to soften the impact of the car crash.

February in Saskatoon is the bleakest month. There is cold.

There is bitter wind. There is snow and ice. Spring is still many weeks away. The sun doesn’t rise until eight-thirty and sets just after six. They were dark days. Especially for me. On my worst days, I ate Doritos and ice-cream sandwiches and declared myself utterly unlovable. On my best days…well, there simply weren’t very many of those.

As I zipped into the vacant slot in the long-term parking lot, I smiled. One of my first in days. I stepped out of my brand new, Envious green Solstice with the curvaceous body, powerful front-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive, fully independent suspension, big wheels and tires, close-to-perfect weight balance, and 177-horsepower inline-4 that took me from zero to sixty in eight seconds. The Babamobile had turned out to be good for one thing: a decent trade-in value.

The car was completely impractical, especially in winter. It had no back seat. Trunk space was only a dream. Barbra and Brutus would have to hunch over to fit. But Annabelle was a beauty. Sporty. Fast. Mine. Molly, my dear, departed Mazda RX-7

would have liked her. So impractical was she, in fact, that Anthony had to follow me to the airport in his much roomier Mercedes, ferrying my luggage. I needed a lot of it. The best Annabelle could manage was my carry-on.

Sereena was waiting for me. Someplace hot. Someplace with bright sun, warm sand, refreshing waters, and strong drinks.

Exactly what I needed.

As we scurried out of the cold and into the airport terminal to check in, we talked of mundane matters. There was no need to go

*
Aloha, Candy Hearts

260

F639BE36-0B80-4264-BA79-F0E13F235E3A

A n t h o ny B i d u l k a

over what had happened. We’d already done it, ad nauseam, in the obliging company of too many red apple martinis and too much gin and tonic.

Duly checked in with Air Canada, my luggage on its way, we headed for the security lineup. I turned to say goodbye. Anthony grabbed me into a long, hard hug. He stepped back, his aging, matinee idol features strained.

“I don’t regret it, you know,” he announced, as if expecting a disagreement.

I gave him a what-do-you-mean look.

“Being part of the brigade. All of us encouraging you, for years, to take a chance on love. Which, of course, Puppy, might seem to you now as having been decidedly bad advice. You think love has let you down.”

“Anthony,” I said. “You don’t have to say another thing.

Actually, I wish you wouldn’t. I know.”

He fixed me with a doubting gaze.

I repeated with sincerity: “I know.”

I pulled him into one last quick hug, then turned to go.

“Russell…”

I stopped and glanced back at my friend.

“Don’t be so sad, Puppy. Please don’t be sad.”

I nodded, although it was a promise I could not make.

“He was wrong, you know.”

I furrowed my brow, uncertain.

“Ethan. He was wrong.”

I couldn’t stay any longer. I did my best to smile, tipped my head in farewell, and walked away.

After being wanded and searched, temporarily relieved of my shoes, and queried about what I was carrying with me, I was finally through to the other side. Only as I was on my way up the escalator to find my gate did what I’d just done truly begin to sink in. I’d turned in the Babamobile for a sports car. I’d wrapped up all my current files and told Lilly to tell any potential new clients that I’d be away indefinitely. I’d set up Mom to look after the 261

F639BE36-0B80-4264-BA79-F0E13F235E3A

D a t e w i t h a S h e e s h a

house and dogs. I’d bought a one-way ticket to paradise. I was leaving.

I stepped off the escalator and saw a small crowd, other passengers, gathered by the glass windows that looked down onto the first level of the terminal. What now? Was there another mourning family like the Guptas, waiting for the arrival of a loved one in a casket? Didn’t matter to me. I was out of there. I was not getting involved.

I selected a seat near my gate and let out a sigh.

By this point, some of the people at the window were giggling.

That did it. I decided, of anyone, I could use a good laugh right about then.

I walked over and peered down with the rest of the crowd.

And there they were. Anthony. Jared. Errall. Beverly. Alberta.

Lilly. Several other friends. Even my mother was there. They were holding up a big sign, the letters handwritten in bold, bright, happy colours. They were waving like a bunch of silly idiots. The sign read: We love you, Russell!

My heart swelled.

It was still not nearly the size it had once been.

But one day, I knew, it would be.

262

F639BE36-0B80-4264-BA79-F0E13F235E3A

Praise for anthony bidulka’s previous books

“Quant makes for a riveting hero…the kind of friend you want to have—unless you’re a killer.”

–
Mystery Scene Magazine
(New York)

“…an entertaining read, fast and funny and with lots of tender moments.”

–
NOW Magazine
(Toronto)

"Saskatoon’s master of suspense ratchets up the tension...”

–
Planet S
(Saskatoon)

“Bidulka’s skill makes the story so vivid that we feel as if we are the friend holding the flashlight while Quant explores the tunnel ahead.”

–
Wayves
(Halifax)

Neil Gupta went to the Middle East looking for antique carpets. He found something equally timeless: murder.

When Neil is found stabbed to death in Dubai's spice souk, his distraught father wants revenge. He hires private investigator Russell Quant to catch the killer. In his greatest case to date, Quant goes undercover to match wits with a wily museum curator, shifty souk merchants, corrupt carpet experts, and the denizens of an underground club for "fabulous" men. From the flamboyant glitz of Dubai to the scorching sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, Quant risks his life as he wades further and further into the shadows cast by the desert sun.

As Russell’s spicy international adventure heats up, he learns a valuable lesson about love, life, and learning to seize the moment…before it’s gone.

On the verge of making the biggest personal decision of his life, Russell discovers that endings sometimes come before beginnings.

Anthony Bidulka is an award-winning writer who, like his protagonist, lives a big life in a small city on the Canadian prairies. Please visit his website at
www.anthonybidulka.com
.