The Gingerbread Boy (7 page)

It didn’t matter.
Daniel hasn’t time for a nobody like you,
said Beth’s familiar voice in her head.
He’s flashy and popular and charisma oozes out of him. You’re dull and ordinary. The only thing good about you are your eyebrows and thick lips.

Gulping for air, Catherine stared toward the ground. This wasn’t right, wasn’t fair! She shrugged her coat over her shoulders and began to hurry toward the rail, willing to scurry over it, trying not to cry. Then from behind her, the door squealed open. A blast of music gushed out, then was silenced as the door thudded shut.

“Eastie, come back.” called a familiar voice.

Eastie. Who had recently called her that? Slowly, Catherine turned around.

A tall, gangly man was staring after her.

“Joey?” she whispered.

He bowed. “Joey Thayer the Third, at your service.”

Catherine stared wordlessly at him, wiping the wetness from her cheeks.

“Why are you leaving?” he asked.

Catherine gazed up at the black sky. She took a shuddering breath, and tried to regain her composure. When she finally spoke, her voice trembled.

“Daniel is a singer,” she said. “In a ridiculous rock band.”

“No.” Joey said calmly. “Daniel is an excellent singer in a
wonderful
rock band.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“Can’t you accept anything besides waltzes?” Joey asked.

Catherine gazed steadily at him. “He didn’t tell me, Joey. He never told me he was… was…”

“Famous?”

Catherine lowered her eyes.

“He’s not exactly famous. Not yet, anyway. But he certainly is a genius.” Joey dug his hands into his pockets for warmth. He looked uneasy as he continued. “Don’t you think he might have been afraid to tell you? You’re not exactly the nightclub type. I nearly fell over when I saw you standing on that chair a few minutes ago.”

“If he was afraid just to let me know he was in a band, then why did he come to my house today and invite me here?” Catherine asked.

Joey looked confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. We’ve been in Chicago for two weeks, and we didn’t get back until a few hours ago. We barely had time to do a sound check before the bar opened.”

It was Catherine’s turn to look confused. Her face burned with embarrassment. Obviously it hadn’t been Daniel at the house today.

Stupid kid
, said the voice
. Of course it wasn’t Daniel at your house! Why would a man like that come to see you? It was probably some guy from horse dissection lab.

Catherine shook her head. “I guess I made a mistake. My roommates said a guy came to the door today, asking for me, and I thought it was…” her voice dropped off. “Never mind, I have to go.” With that, she lowered her head to hide watering eyes and began to scurry away. How stupid she’d been! What an idiot.

Joey’s voice called across the crisp air. “Catherine! Don’t go. Daniel talked about you the whole time we were away. I got so tired of it, I felt like clobbering him!”

Catherine turned.
What did he say?

Joey raised his arms, frustrated. “Come back inside. Trust me, Daniel will be thrilled to see you here. I’ve got to get back in before someone messes up the sound board, but I’ll tell Daniel you’re here when the group takes a break.”

She unabashedly gaped. Daniel would be
thrilled
she was there?

“Come back inside. Please.”

“You’re sure he’ll want to see me?”

J
oey made an X across his chest with his hand. “Cross my big, southern heart, Eastie. Come on,” he added, turning toward the door, motioning her inside. “Let’s warm up.”

Catherine’s feet moved beneath her as if on their own accord. She gazed wordlessly at Joey as he opened the door into the welcome heat. It was calm inside now, Daniel was singing a soft tune and most people had taken their seats. Despite herself, Catherine felt a mounting excitement. As the door shut behind them, Joey leaned to whisper in her ear, “Listen closely to the songs before you judge Daniel and the band. It might not be classical music, but it might not be what you’re thinking it is, either.” Then he blended into the crowd.

She rubbed her arms and stared at the stage. It was easy to see Daniel now. He seemed so relaxed. Soft shadows moved across his face, and she could see his eyes shining with that strange coppery glow she remembered from the ballroom. His dark curls draped across his shoulders as he sang, holding the microphone as though he were kissing a woman’s hand. Her heart swelled
.
She listened to the music as Joey had asked.

“…searching for answers left long behind, answers elusive to questioning minds…”

The more she listened, the more her heart opened. “…When I’ve learned all you will allow me to know, I’ll slip into your loving arms and go…”

Maybe this wasn’t just some shallow rock band. This was not trash. How could she have pre-judged Daniel so?

She swallowed against the lump in her throat and threaded through the people to get a bit closer to the stage. Thankfully, people were still moving around enough that she could slip in closer without being conspicuous. She sidled up to a rail near the dance floor and rested there. She didn’t care that men were ogling her, or that her feet were sticking to the floor where someone had spilled a drink. She didn’t care if Beth and Penny wondered what happened to her. It didn’t even matter that Daniel was the guy Beth was hopelessly entranced by, and that Beth
always
got what she wanted.

She was mesmerized by Daniel’s voice.

The song ended. There was a roar of cheering and the noise didn’t stop until Daniel gestured for silence. As he looked out over the crowd, Catherine lowered her face, suddenly afraid to be seen.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Daniel said, flashing the mischievous grin Catherine remembered. “My name is Daniel LaMont ” A resurgence of clapping and whistling made it hard for him to continue. He lowered his eyes, humbled, and Catherine smiled at that. When the applause died down, he introduced the rest of the group. The lead guitarist, bass, keyboard and drum players were introduced by name, allowing time for applause after each. Catherine studied the other band members. They all looked somewhat scruffier than Daniel. They smiled easily though, and each had an intelligent face
.
Catherine wondered how long they’d been together, and how popular they really were. Joey had called Daniel a genius; apparently he masterminded the band. And whether he intended to or not, Daniel stole the show. She wondered if that was why he took so long to introduce the rest of the band, to give them the recognition he unintentionally stole from them.

After introductions were complete, Daniel continued. “We’ve been playing a lot of gigs out of state in the past weeks, but it’s always best to come back here to where we started. Here. East Lansing. Our hometown. Our home
.
”

With that, the crowd was on its feet and the band plunged into another song. It wasn’t as loud as the first or as soft as the second, but a pleasant, easy listening tune. People began to flood the dance floor. Catherine nervously ran her fingers through her hair, stirring with too many emotions to sort out what they were just yet. She took the coat off her shoulders and hung it on the rail, then lovingly tucked Daniel’s scarf all the way into her purse and closed it. Then a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She sighed. It was probably Beth, or Penny, wondering why she’d left earlier. She turned.

And gasped.

The tall man’s eyes sparkled like a cat’s. He raised his eyebrows. “Surprised, Cathy?”

“Calvin!” she sputtered.
How had he gotten here?

“I came to see you at ol’ Moo-U. Drove hundreds of miles.”

Catherine’s heart sank, not only from the derogatory nick-name of the college, but the disgusting man himself. “Were you the one who came to my house earlier today?”

“Yes. Since you weren’t home, I thought it might be fun to meet in a place like this so we could dance, have a few drinks, get to know each other again.”

Catherine spun around in disgust to lean on the rail. Fun? Here? How obvious he never really knew her at all! She couldn’t believe it. Unbelievable. Cave-Pig was here!

He moved in closer to speak to her, his breath hot in her ear. “I broke up with Debra. We parted for good. I never should have let her get her hooks into me in the first place.”

Catherine clenched her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands. She didn’t need to hear this…

Calvin pulled her hands away from her ears. Her arms stiffened, wanting to spring back into place. Calvin’s grip became rougher. A knot of fear grew inside of her. He had never been this rough before. Then she noticed the alcohol on his breath.

“I should never have left you,” he was saying. “It was the biggest mistake of my life. Everything went bad after we parted, I lost my job, the apartment, Debra, all because I missed you so much!”

Catherine opened her eyes. “What do you mean
you
left
me?
Didn’t that love letter from Debra, that I found and folded up in your ham sandwich, part any clouds in your brain?”

Calvin loosened the grip on Catherine’s arms. He chuckled slightly, recalling the incident. “That was a great trick. You and old lady Vanhoofstryver are quite a pair to cook that one up. My friends and I laughed over that stunt for days.”

She spun to face him. “You
laughed
over it?”

“Well, it
was
funny. You didn’t mean to embarrass me, did you? You wouldn’t do a thing like that deliberately. You’re too sweet. Unlike that witch, Debra.”

“You make me sick.” Catherine groaned. “To think, I was once afraid of you. The only reason you’re here now is because Debra wised up and left you. She wasn’t stupid enough to coddle you like I used to. You drove a long way for nothing, Mr. Prigg. Now get out of my way,” she added, clutching her coat and purse, “I’m leaving!”

“Cathy. Cathy!” He shouted, clutching her by the shoulders. The sudden pleading look on the face she once thought so handsome was sickening. “Please talk to me,” he blubbered, “that’s all I’m asking. I’ve changed.”

Catherine turned her head, nauseated by his alcohol-drenched breath as well as the actual words. Did he believe she was as naïve as she used to be?

“Leave me alone,” she said.

“I can’t, I need you. I really do! I’ve rented an apartment in town today, just so I can be close to you. We can make it together, we…”

“You rented an apartment,
here
?”

“Yes!” he said, once again gripping her shoulders hard enough to make her squirm. People around them began to watch the confrontation, but Catherine was too flabbergasted to notice.

“I can’t make it without you, I see that now. Don’t you understand how far I’ve come, not only the drive, but personally?”

His grip tightened. Burned her skin. His eyes held such a wild look that Catherine wrenched out of his grip, took a step backward, and slammed her purse against his arm. “I said leave me alone!”

Slowly, Calvin stood back. And straightened. He towered over her. His eyes went strange, cold, like a shark’s.

Catherine saw him take a deep breath, watched the stripes on this shirt widen as he inhaled. Before she could move, before she could process what was about to happen, Calvin pulled back his arm and slapped her across the face. Gasping, she raised a hand to her cheek, her eyes watering.

He’d actually hit her!

A hush fell over the crowd. She was too shocked to notice the music had stopped, and that someone was pushing through the crowd. That someone lunged at Calvin with a fist that caught him in the jaw and sent him reeling backward against a rail near the beer vats. He fell, then the two men were thrashing on the floor. One was Calvin, the other, horrifically was Daniel.

She put her hands over her mouth. “Daniel!” she wailed, “Stop it, he’s crazy, he’s drunk!” But before she could stand her ground, people pushed in toward the two men and she was shoved out of the circle of spectators. From the shouts of the crowd, it soon appeared Daniel was getting the worst of it. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Daniel was an artist, not a fighter! Especially not with a jerk who wasn’t even worthy of Daniel’s elegant fist in his face.

With a mighty groan, Catherine managed to barrel her way into the crowd until she had a front line view of the fight. Calvin had Daniel pushed to the floor, his knees pressed into his chest, pounding Daniel’s face with his fists. Screaming, Catherine sprung on Calvin’s back and drove her fingernails into his eyes. He wailed in pain and straightened, reaching back to grapple for her. Before he could grab hold, Daniel squirmed out from beneath him, twisted, and drove a boot-heel into his mouth. Catherine lost her grip and was shaken off, but just as she readied to plunge in again someone was clutching her shoulders, pinning her back. She turned to see who it was.

“Joey!” she wailed. “Help us!”

Although Joey was gangly, he was powerful. He released her, and stepped calmly into the fight. With an enormous hand he snatched Calvin by the shirt collar and lifted him to his feet. Calvin trembled in fury, his face mottled in streams of red. He swore and shouted as Joey and a bouncer shoved him though the crowd toward the exit.

“This isn’t the end of this!” Calvin called back as Joey pushed him outside and slammed the door shut.

Catherine put her hands over her face and collapsed next to Daniel. He drew himself into a sitting position and stared at her. Just stared. At last Catherine flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his hair. Then he wrapped his arms around her. Catherine looked up once to find Beth standing there, her eyes glimmering in shock and fury then she forgot about her roommate the rest of the evening.

****

Dear Catherine,

I apologize for not writing sooner, but it seems I’ve sprained my wrist. Nothing to worry about, just a household accident, but if this letter seems messy, then that is why.

It thrills me to see you doing well in your studies. I have believed in you since I first saw you. Let no one stand in your way. This Daniel character may seem wonderful at first, but keep a close eye on him. Men can be vipers! They can sink their fangs in and leave you to die.