The Gingerbread Boy (6 page)

Oddly enough, Beth smiled. That sly, devious little grin of hers usually meant trouble.

“Not even if a tall, handsome man came to the door earlier today, wanting you to meet him there tonight?” she asked.

Catherine bolted upright. “What?”

“You had a visitor here around three o’clock, while you were still in class. Quite an interesting fella, Sealey. Since you weren’t home, he asked me to convince you to meet him at the nightclub tonight.”

Catherine’s mouth went dry.
Could
it be? Could it possibly be Daniel? Finally? “What was his name?” she asked in a flat voice, praying her roommates wouldn’t sense her excitement.

“He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. But he certainly didn’t look like a veterinary student,” Beth said, arching an eyebrow. “He was hot. I was amazed, actually.”

Catherine remained quiet, forcing herself to breathe slowly. That way, the pounding of her heart might calm enough not to be heard throughout the house.
It had to be Daniel
. He’d walked her home, he knew where she lived.
But why meet her in a bar?

“Well?” Penny asked, grinning innocently over Beth’s shoulder.

Catherine liked Penny. She seemed genuinely excited about Catherine’s mystery visitor. It was too bad the girl was such a follower. When Penny met Beth, she’d latched on to the platinum blonde like the proverbial air-headed sidekick.

“Did Joanne have a chance to talk to this guy before she left?” Catherine asked.

Beth shook her head. “No, she’d already gone home for the weekend. Why?”

“Nothing,” Catherine replied, “I just thought she might know him.” O
r recognize Daniel’s description,
she thought
.

“Joanne? Don’t be nuts. Joanne could never meet a guy like that. I’m still amazed you did.”

Catherine tightened her lips. One day she might lose control and punch Beth right in those fat red lips of hers. It was ridiculous that Beth painted her face so much. She honestly was a beautiful girl, even without the make-up. Catherine’s eyebrows drew together in thought: Maybe Beth’s make-up was a disguise for her insecurity. She smiled to herself at her diagnosis. If she hadn’t had her heart set on becoming a veterinarian for so many years, she might have been a decent psychologist.

“Will you please come?” Penny asked, casually flipping her hair, “It’s Friday night, so you don’t have to worry about classes tomorrow. Besides, it might be fun. You can listen to the band, meet people ”

“How can you talk to people over the noise of a band?” Catherine asked. “It doesn’t sound fun to me.”

Beth threw her arms into the air. “Then meet that guy and leave. This is my last offer. Either say yes, and come with us, or say no, and miss out.”

There was a period of silence as the three girls looked back and forth from one to another. Catherine wished Joanne was around to offer support. Walking into a nightclub sounded paralyzing. Yet apparently Daniel wanted to meet her there.
Why there?

At last Catherine pulled herself to her feet. “Okay, I’ll go. I hope the place isn’t too bad.”

“Daniel LaMont and The Front wouldn’t play in a dive,” said Penny. They’re a classy band, and the lead singer is getting famous. I saw him on television doing an interview promoting their album. If you go tonight, you won’t only be meeting some hot guy, you’ll also be witnessing history in the making. That group is going to be big.”

But Catherine’s mind had already wandered off. She was once again waltzing with Daniel in that abandoned ballroom, enjoying the warmth of her hands in his and his breath brushing across her neck.

****

Daniel had left his red scarf with Catherine the night they’d met, and Catherine hoped he’d forgotten it as an excuse to see her again to get it. She hadn’t told Joanne about the scarf, because the idea was so romantically idiotic that Catherine was embarrassed to hope it was true. But she had brought the scarf with her tonight, and, as she, Beth and Penny stepped out of the car at the nightclub, Catherine realized she had wound it into knots around her hands.

She’d never been so nervous. And it wasn’t merely because of Beth’s lunatic driving. It was the thought of seeing Daniel again. Catherine’s anxiety deepened as they hurried across the slushy parking lot toward the enormous brick building with huge arched windows and a deck surrounding it. She was glad Beth and Penny were caught up in their own conversation and didn’t speak to her, for Catherine was sure her voice would give away her terror. By the time they walked up the steep concrete stairway of the nightclub a man asked for her ID and cover charge, and she was embarrassed to find she’d twisted the scarf around her hands again. Beth turned her way and rolled her eyes as Catherine wormed her way out of the scratchy red wool.

“Why on earth did you bring that old rag, anyway?” Beth asked as Penny looked on, blinking innocently.

“The guy I’m meeting loaned it to me and I want to give it back,” Catherine muttered, shoving it into her purse. “He’s had it for years. His sister gave it to him when he was twelve.”

“Odd, he didn’t look at least a hundred years old, like that scarf does.” Beth said.

Catherine eyed her coolly, but remained silent. She handed the doorman his cover charge and showed her driver’s license. A dull feeling of regret settled in her chest as they ambled past a display of the gigantic, ceiling-tall vats of homemade beer the bar was famous for brewing. Perhaps she should have driven her own car tonight and come alone. Her scrappy old car wasn’t much compared to Beth’s luxurious German beast, but at least then she could have left if Beth became too annoying.

Too late now.

The next thing Catherine knew, Beth was herding her and Penny through a dim but bustling room filled with the remarkably pleasant smell of cedar. White Christmas lights twinkled above the circular bar. Figures jostled around them as Beth lunged for a table by the stage near the back of the room. Catherine took off her coat, hung it on the back of her chair and sat down, ignoring another couple of huge beer vats behind her, blocking her view of the patrons in the rear of the bar. She desperately hoped Daniel would see her before she got the courage to look around more obviously. She was too stiff with fear to do much more than sit and stare down at the tabletop. It was still early. There was at least an hour left until the band started, and Catherine felt doubtful Daniel was there already. Beth and Penny’s crazy infatuation with this singer was making her miserable. She wished they would talk about something else, anything else, but that seemed an impossible task that night.

“Wow. Just look at the people lining up,” Penny said, craning her neck to see out a window. “They are all the way down the steps and winding down the sidewalk. We got here just in time. It’ll be standing room only in a little while.”

“No kidding,” said Beth, glancing dreamily up toward the stage. “This place will pack them in with The Front playing.” She looked at Catherine. “Quit sulking. Even miss straight-laced Catherine might like this band.”

“I’ll try not to let my gloominess disturb your delicate constitution,” Catherine replied.

“Good.” Beth said, not picking up on the sarcasm. Catherine wondered how anyone could be so dense, yet she felt relieved her fear had been mistaken for moodiness.

If only she had the courage to look around.
Her eyeballs seemed to be stuck in one position staring at the table. It was a strain just to glance at the people around her.

Penny’s head, however, bobbed and turned like a cork in water. “I don’t see that guy who came over today, Catherine,” she said. “But don’t worry, we’ll save a seat for him. He was pretty good looking didn’t you think, Beth?”

“He was okay.” Beth replied, resting her chin in her hand.

Just
okay?
Catherine wanted to ask.

A few minutes later a waitress came over to take their order. Beth and Penny looked at Catherine with bulgi
ng eyes when she asked for orange juice. Catherine ignored the silent stares. Her own father, what little she remembered of him,
had been an alcoholic. There was no way she wanted to become like him. She liked to think that the only thing she’d inherited from the man was her coarse dark hair, hair her mother use to tease her endlessly about, saying she practically needed wire-cutters to trim.

Catherine tried to ignore the fact that a lot of men around them were eyeing their table like vultures. Daniel wasn’t like those guys. He couldn’t be. He was soft-spoken and kind. She remembered how gentle he had been when he’d wrapped the scarf around her neck in the ballroom. Any thought of him being anything less than an old-fashioned gentleman was intolerable.

Time passed, and the nightclub grew noisier. Much noisier. Beth had already brushed off several men; apparently she was only interested in the mysterious singer. Penny toyed with her fingernails and downed drink after drink, which made her behave like a kid. Meanwhile, Catherine sat quietly, twisting Daniel’s scarf on her lap, waiting for a tap on her shoulder. But all she got were obnoxious looks from strangers.

More time passed. The waiting became excruciating, almost more than Catherine could bear. Her stomach churned and her skin prickled with anxiety. She felt so out of place in this place. There were a lot of places she just didn’t fit in, and this had to be the worst. How in the world did Beth convince her to come here? If she didn’t do something soon, like leave, she was afraid she’d get sick.

Suddenly she knew it. She had to go. If Daniel wanted to see her, then he’d have to come back to the house someday. But just as she began to rise the lights dimmed, and silence fell over the room. She glanced around, perplexed.

“What’s going on?” she whispered to Penny.

“Just watch!” came the excited reply.

Someone began a slow, rhythmic clapping. More people joined in. Soon the place was shaking in the thunderous drone. Catherine felt the vibrations come right up through her chair.

All at once beams of light swirled in dizzying circles around the room. Catherine let go of the scarf and clutched the edge of the table, fighting vertigo as cheering and clapping assaulted her ears. Sensing movement, she looked at the stage, grasping the tabletop so hard her knuckles turned white. The crowd went wild as several figures came into focus behind the lights and took their places at their instruments, then suddenly a final figure dashed to the front of the stage from someplace behind it, and the whole nightclub was on its feet.

The cheering roared and music exploded. Catherine raised herself in her chair to watch the show, but could see nothing with so many people standing or moving to the music. Even Beth and Penny had long since forgotten her and joined the mob.

Curious, Catherine pulled herself to her feet, but was too short to see anything except brief flashes of the singer’s white shirt and dark hair. She was surprised to find she liked the singer’s voice. Although the music was loud, his voice was silky and strong. It raised and lowered elastically to the unfamiliar beat. For the first time in years, Catherine resented her height, or the lack of it. Was this suffocating feeling the reason she had begun hating crowds at such a young age? She shook her head, readying to sit back down, when she glimpsed the singer’s face. Her heart went into her mouth.

It couldn’t be
.

Catherine got out of her chair and climbed on it to get a clearer view of what she hadn’t really seen, of course she hadn’t seen. Then her face went ashen.

The handsome young man gallivanting on that little corner stage, crooning into the microphone with that wonderful voice… was Daniel.

Catherine gulped for breath. She had to be hallucinating. Either someone had put something nasty in her drink, or the singer had to be some flamboyant look-alike!

She pressed her eyes shut and recalled what she knew about Daniel. He was gentle and mysterious. He liked classical music. He caught snowflakes on his tongue. He liked to joke around. At one time he had been in a bowling alley when he saw a pair of lady’s pantyhose fall out of a someone’s pants.
A bowler wasn’t some egomaniac that made people cheer and shout!

She re-opened her eyes, and there he was. Again! Whirling, smiling, dancing. Having the time of his life. Catherine glanced down to see his scarf trailing from her hand onto the floor. This couldn’t be the same Daniel who owned an old scarf that his sister gave him! Tears pricked her eyes as she scrambled off the chair, snatched her coat and stuffed the scarf halfway into her purse. Then she frantically pushed toward a side door, her head spinning so wildly she could barely keep a thought in it.

This was unacceptable! If Daniel was the guy who’d come to see her today, why hadn’t Beth and Penny told her? Why hadn’t they warned her instead of slobbering all over themselves just at the thought of him? Catherine glanced back. She could no longer see the stage clearly but she did see Beth. She was entranced, staring at Daniel and licking her lips. Disgusting! Catherine fought her way to the door, heaved it open, and lunged into the freezing night air. The door shut in a muffled thud behind her, and the music and clapping reduced to a dull hum. There! It’d only been her imagination. Had to be! Maybe her mind was rotting from all the toxic chemicals in horse lab.

Catherine stood alone in the dark, shivering. She pulled her coat over her shoulders as she glanced around, dismayed to find herself caged in a large patio area the bar probably used in the summer. She stared solemnly at the beat-up scarf hanging out of her purse like a tongue. A tear slipped down her cheek. A few weeks ago, Daniel LaMont had been someone who might possibly like
her.

Now it seemed the whole world liked him.

Why had he wanted her to come here tonight? To impress her? That didn’t make any sense, he knew this wasn’t her type of entertainment.

Still
, she thought, straining to hear his voice behind the heavy door, he was enormously talented. She tried to pick out the lyrics, something about truth on the other side. What did that mean?