by Kacey Shea
“OH, AND JUST TO WARN you, he’s a tiny man.”
We had just arrived in front of Jolene’s Intimate Apparel. I jumped down from Jon’s truck and met him at the sidewalk, stealing a glance at Sunny’s storefront. I was surprised to see her through the glass window, studying us with that same hard glare. She was intimidating, that was for sure, but I had a feeling she merely put up a rough exterior. The way she spoke about Elena showed a kindhearted woman existed somewhere under that armor.
“So, he’s a little man? Like how? He’s short or he’s a bigot?”
Jon hooted. “He’s short, just very short. I wanted to prepare you. It was surprising to me at first, that’s all.”
“Not everyone gets blessed with obnoxiously good genetics.”
“Yeah, that’s one thing I can thank my parents for, right?”
Jon opened the door and I entered first. The shop was sexy, flirty, and classy. It was someplace Kate would drag me to. In fact, I would have to tell her about it since I was surprised we hadn’t visited before. Jon waved to the woman folding panties at the cash register and headed towards the back. I followed and we reached an open door marked for staff only.
“Hello, Mr. Blackman?” Jon called out. We entered the room and looked around.
“Hello again, Mr. Beltran.” A deep baritone voice spoke and a man appeared before us. I was taken aback by his height, or lack thereof, and was thankful for Jon’s warning. Otherwise I was sure my face would have shown my shock. He smiled a twisted smile and offered his hand to me.
“And you must be Miss Harper. Delighted to meet you, my dear.” I extended my hand to his, but instead of shaking it as I expected, Harold Blackman took it in his fingertips, leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on its back. “The pleasure, I assure you, is all mine.”
Okay then. Now I got it, what Jon was unsuccessfully trying to explain earlier. There was something unmistakably off about Mr. Blackman, and I had spent less than a minute in his presence. Jon cleared his throat. I could tell he was trying to hold back laughter.
“May we sit down, Mr. Blackman? We have a few things we’d like to ask you about.”
“Yes, certainly. Please, let’s have a seat and chat, shall we?”
We walked over to a large worktable and Jon and I pulled up two chairs, Harold sat opposite us. Harold’s strange behavior from before turned to that of concentrated concern as he focused on Jon. “You said you found information on my concerns with Violet?”
Jon nodded. “I’ve been following your eldest daughter each day after school, and I have to say I’m surprised at what I found. Both Evelyn and I are a little puzzled at how this has affected her change in behavior, but we hope you can shed some light on the matter.”
Harold’s posture turned rigid and his face turned to a scowl. He seemed to be bracing himself. “Violet has been taking dance lessons every afternoon and evening.”
His eyes narrowed under a furrowed brow. “I don’t understand? That’s it? She’s been dancing?”
“We wondered if you might have any idea why she would hide that from you?” I asked as pleasantly as I could. Harold paused, seemingly searching for an answer.
“Well, I guess she assumed I would tell her no. The way everything worked out with her mother, she might have thought dancing would be a bad subject for me, but that’s only a guess.”
“Why would dancing be a bad subject? I’m afraid we’re missing something here.”
“I guess I left that part out the other day. Before we separated my ex-wife constantly hounded me to keep things interesting and suggested we take dancing lessons. She thought that might rekindle our romance and bring a little spice into our love life. Silly, I know. I hate dancing, you see, but she had this crazy idea that she just had to learn to tango. I never went with her, and we argued about it for weeks.
A few months later I found her in bed with her lover, who also happened to be her salsa instructor. That was that. I guess maybe that’s why Violet is afraid to tell me she wants to dance? But doesn’t that seem unlikely to cause her change in attitude and lack of interest in friends? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being an overprotective father.”
I listened to everything he said. He was obviously a concerned parent, and I had to agree the dance lessons didn’t seem to be reason enough to explain the change in Violet’s behavior. Maybe we were still missing a crucial piece.
“I read your ex moved to Mexico to live with her boyfriend there? Do the girls have contact with their mother? Maybe Violet has talked with her about her dancing, if that was the case?”
Harold considered my questions. “I don’t think the girls have been in contact with her, at least not to my knowledge. I sure as hell haven’t talked to the bitch since she left to live at the beach house.”
Wow. Harold was holding on to some residual anger towards his wife. The way he said bitch with a giant grin on his face was not normal. Maybe this guy was completely off his rocker and we were on some wild goose chase. I was relieved when Jon took over the conversation.
“I agree with Evelyn. There might be something Violet has shared with her mother that would help lead us in the right direction. I plan on following her again today, but would it be okay with you if we contacted your ex-wife? I’d like to rule out as many leads as possible.”
“I have no problem with that. I can get you the cell phone number I have for her, although I don’t even know if she uses it anymore. Since she granted me full custody I have no need to speak with her.”
Harold strode to his work desk and pulled a sticky pad from the mess surrounding his computer keyboard. He jotted down Jolene’s number and returned to the table, handing the colorful note to Jon.
“Thank you. Also, I wanted to update you on the status of Miss Lee, your neighbor.” Harold’s gaze grew avid with interest and he leaned forward, captivated by Jon’s words.
“We spoke with her yesterday, under false pretenses of course, and found that she shares your extreme distaste for infidelity. She also appears to hold marriage as a serious commitment that should not be broken. I hope that answers your questions about her?”
Harold nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that is just perfect. Fantastic work, thank you for that.”
“If that’s all then, we’ll just focus on Violet at this time?” Jon asked hopefully. Harold continued to nod in agreement. “Yes, just please find out what is causing my Violet to act so strangely. I won’t say anything about the dancing until you find out more. I don’t want her to know I hired you. I want her to trust me. It’s just very difficult, and I’m afraid I’m doing a poor job at this whole single father role.”
I actually felt a little sorry for the eccentric man. It couldn’t be easy to be a single parent to two teenage daughters.
“Don’t worry Mr. Blackman, we will continue the investigation and keep you briefed on our progress. We’ll check in sometime next week, possibly sooner depending on what we discover.”
Jon and I stood, and I placed my hands protectively behind my back. Sure, I felt sorry for Harold but I was not voluntarily being subjected to another smarmy kiss on the hand. “We’ll be in touch.” Jon nodded and I followed him out of the store and back to the truck.
As we buckled up Jon pinned me with the most serious of expressions.
“So, Blackman’s a real ladies man.”
We burst into laughter. Jon started the truck, driving me back to the apartment so I could get to my PT session.
“I still can’t believe he kissed my hand! I mean, who the hell does that?”
“You really should get the hand sanitizer out. That man is strange; I wouldn’t know what other hands he’s been kissing. You could get hepatitis from that.”
“I know you’re joking, but that’s a really good idea.” I pulled my travel sized bottle from my purse and applied generously. Jon just laughed harder.
“I was joking, QT. You can’t get hepatitis that way.”
“I know. I just feel the n
eed to be clean; that guy gives me the creeps. Let’s finish up this case so I don’t have to see him again.”
Jon reached into his pocket and handed me the sticky note, driving with one hand while he did so.
“Sounds good. Call Jolene now. Let’s see what she has to say.”
I dialed the number using my cell phone and put it on speaker. After one ring it went straight to an automated voicemail box.
“Hello, Jolene, this is Evelyn Harper. I was hoping to speak with you about your daughter. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience and I can go into further detail.” I rattled off my cell number and hit end. “Does that work okay?” I asked Jon.
“Perfect. Now hopefully she calls back soon. I’ll tail the girls after school today, but I would guess I’ll be sitting outside the dance studio once again.”
“I’m sorry, I’d go with you but I promised Kate we’d hang out tonight, and I haven’t heard from her much this week. Which is really strange, actually. Usually we text each other like crazy; I guess she must be busy too.”
“Mmm hmm.” Jon focused on the road and I wondered if he was pissed I was leaving him to shadow Violet alone again. I felt bad, but not bad enough to cancel my plans with Kate. Besides, he would have to wrap up early to get to his weekend security job, anyway. We drove the rest of the way in silence, listening to music. Once back home I changed quickly into a pair of leggings, sports bra, and a big T-shirt before heading back out. My appointment was at eleven and I didn’t want to be late. I was also eager to see Tate again.
I walked through the doors of Lift Me Up to find Carrie working behind the front desk. She looked up and smiled with recognition. “Hi, Evie! How are you today?”
“I’m doing better now that I’m here. How are you, Carrie?”
“Oh, just living the glamorous life. You know how it is.” She laughed before adding, “Tate said to meet him by the treadmills. He’s just finishing up with a client now.”
I nodded and headed to the locker rooms, storing my gym bag and straightening my ponytail before heading to the weight room. I looked around and found Tate right away. He was working with a woman who also looked to be in her mid-twenties. I tried to not be nosy, but I was curious how he interacted with other clients, so I selected a treadmill where I could watch them closely without being too conspicuous.
I was early for our appointment, so I had a solid ten minutes of stalking while I jogged at a good pace. Tate smiled often. The woman talked between sets and let out an annoying giggle that I heard all the way over here. They were working arms, yet she seemed more interested in flirting than working out. I mean, she was wearing full makeup and hadn’t even broken a sweat. She was either in really great shape or she wasn’t too serious about her fitness goals. She giggled again and placed a hand on Tate’s bicep, squeezing lightly. Jealously flared inside me, but I was relieved to notice Tate’s face showed no enjoyment from her move. In fact, he looked a little pissed off.
He looked over at that moment, catching my eyes and smiling broadly, offering me a wave. He spoke to his client and gave her a pat on the shoulder before striding over to meet me. Her face showed disappointment and dejection. I had to feel a little sorry for her. He was, in fact, a great trainer, nice to look at, and a great guy. I was certain most of his clients harbored crushes on the man.
“Getting a head start, I like it!” He jumped onto the front of the treadmill, leaning over the display and cranking the incline.
“Oh, yay, more hills. I thought maybe you would be good with me just warming myself up today?” I asked hopefully. He just laughed his booming laugh.
“Nice try, Evie. I appreciate the effort but let’s see if I can’t break you today, eh?”
“Ha! I knew it! You’ve been trying to kill me all along. Death by incline, such a sad way to go.”
“You’re talking too much. Must not be hard enough.” He reached down again to turn up both the incline and speed.
“That’s. What. She. Said.” I pathetically huffed out between deep breaths, causing Tate to laugh once more. My lungs were on fire and my legs were once again begging for the madness to stop. Yeah. I officially hated PT sessions. After a few more minutes of pure hell, Tate reached over to hit the stop button.
“Good job, Evie. Now, because you’re my second favorite client I’m going to let you pick today. Legs or arms?”
I stepped off the treadmill, grabbed my water and followed him to the free weights. Thinking back to how much fun it had been a few days ago just attempting to walk, I quickly elected for arms. We didn’t talk much throughout my session; I was too out of breath to even form an intelligent sounding sentence. It also took much of my effort to concentrate on the form of each exercise.
We were nearing the end of my hour when a man walked through the weight section, setting up at a bench next to ours. Tate looked at him with a big grin.
“Jerry! How’s it going, man? You look frickin’ shredded!” Tate walked over and gave him one of those half hug, back pat things that guys always seem to do.
Jerry smiled shyly. “Yeah, my eating’s been on point and I’ve gotten in a lift most days.”
“You’re killing it, bro, seriously. I almost didn’t recognize you! I saw you walk through and I was like, who’s that sexy beast?”
They both laughed and Tate nodded towards me. “I’ll catch you later, bro.”
“No problem. I’ll be here my entire lunch. If you want to join me when you’re done that’d be cool.”
Tate nodded and came back to direct my form and count my reps on the incline bench. As I pushed the dumbbells repeatedly over my head, I wondered to myself if maybe Jon was right. Sexy beast? Could Tate be gay? I mean, we talked about that when we first met but maybe he didn’t feel he could trust me with that information at the time. Oh, God. I totally was falling for a guy who wasn’t even interested in women. Of course, that would be my luck.
“Okay, I think that’s it today. Good work, Evie. I mean it, you kicked some ass.” Tate smiled at me and helped me up from the bench with a hand. I stood, reached down and retrieved my water bottle from the floor. “Thanks.”
“Why don’t we stretch real quick and then I’ll walk you out. I want to ask you something.”
I nodded, following him over to the mats where he led me through a series of good arm stretches with a giant rubber band. “You ready? Why don’t I meet you in the lobby in two minutes?”
I answered with a nervous yes and walked into the locker room to grab my bag. I was anxious to hear what he wanted to ask and quickly made my way to the lobby where he waited.
We moved together towards the door and he held it open, following me out and to my car. I tossed my bag inside and turned to face him. Tate also looked nervous; he had his hands together and was kneading his knuckles while rocking back and forth on his heels. We stood awkwardly a few moments. I couldn’t stand the uncomfortable silence. It was something I hadn’t experienced with Tate until now.
“So, you wanted to ask me something?”
“Uh, yeah, I, uh, I wanted to make sure you had a good time the other day when we hung out.”
I smiled and my heart quit hammering. That was it? “Yes. Actually, I had a great time.” He seemed to relax at my answer and stopped the nervous ticking.
“Okay, good. Actually, Eli and Ezra can’t stop talking about you! You won them over big time.” He grinned.
“Yeah, well, the feeling’s mutual; they won me over too. I can’t wait until my niece is old enough to talk. They’re just a riot.”
He chuckled. “For sure. The things that come out of their mouths are entertaining, to say the least. The most difficult thing is to keep a straight face most of the time.”
I nodded, and moved to get in my car.
“Evie, wait. That’s not all I wanted to ask. I was sort of wondering if you maybe wanted to go out sometime? On a real date, not just as friends?” His face was so hopeful and I was totally confused.
“A
ren’t you gay?” I blurted out without thinking and Tate erupted in laughter.
“Gay? Evie, where would you get that idea?”
“I don’t know. The way you were talking to that Jerry guy inside. You seemed awfully excited about him looking ripped. And then my friend Jon said that if you hadn’t hit on me by now you were probably gay.” He just laughed again.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” He winked and moved in a little closer so that there was maybe one foot of space between us.
“I can’t believe you remember that conversation.” I squinted my eyes a little in embarrassment.
“I remember everything about you.” He reached out and brushed a few wayward hairs from my face, tucking them gently behind my ear before dropping his hand.
“I wasn’t hitting on you because you made it clear you wanted to be friends. But after the other day, I don’t know, I thought I’d take the chance of you rejecting me again. So what’ll it be? Can I take you out on a real date? I promise no more food trucks or hole in the wall diners.”
“But I like food trucks and diners.”
“I know. It’s one of the many reasons we have so much fun together. You like food as much as I do, maybe more even. So, can I take you out? This is me, assuring you that I’m totally into women. One particular woman, in fact, whom I’m hitting on right now.” He leaned forward with a teasing grin on his face and laced one of his hands through mine. It felt so good to hold his hand and I wanted to say yes badly, but my conscience reared its head. I wasn’t sure if dating was the best idea.
At my hesitation he frowned and his shoulders drooped. He squeezed my hand softly and released me. “If you don’t want to go out with me that’s okay too, Evie. I still want to be friends with you. I promise I’ll be a good sport about it.”
“No, it’s not that. I do want to go out with you. It’s just complicated, that’s all.” I tried to explain.
“What’s so complicated about it?”
Here was my opportunity to come clean. I wanted to say the words, but they got stuck in my throat. It just didn’t seem right, trying to explain everything in the parking lot of the gym. I should come clean to Jon first anyway, before I did anything that jeopardized our business. I spouted off the first half truth that came to mind.