“So like I said, your mother brought you in here to beg for me to represent you in what was looking like an ugly, ugly case.” He emphasized ugly like the preachers he saw on television. The more time Zak spent around Stark the less he thought of him. The word “beg” stuck in his craw.
“Well, that truly is good news, then.” Zak put his hand on his mother’s shoulder and squeezed, silently asking her to look back at him. He was rewarded with a tired gaze followed up with a smile. The big elephant in the room was that there was still no cause for celebration.
“We even have a good Samaritan who came forward and said she witnessed everything, said the melon truck driver hit you. She’s a security guard at the Junior College so she’s a credible witness.”
Stark leaned back in an arch, hands clasped behind his head, elbows out to the sides, looking as pleased as if he’d just told them they’d won the lottery and were millionaires.
Zak nodded. “Okay, then. All I have to do now is go see Dad. Might as well get this over with.” Zak stood up and his mother popped up right beside him. Stark came to his feet and leaned over the desk to present a card.
“You make sure your father calls me in case he has any trouble with the insurance company. I have all the information about the woman who was the eye witness, and I’d be happy to share it with him, if he likes.”
“Thank you,” his mom said as she turned. Zak could tell she was trying to be polite, but when she took his arm, her fingers clutching his forearm, he could tell she wanted to get out of Dodge quick.
Zak held up Stark’s card and waved goodbye. “Thanks for your time, sir,” he said as he ushered his mother safely out of the office.
He helped her down the brick steps nearing the parked car. Zak finally found his voice. He was always careful with his mother’s feelings. She was the only one in the family who supported and believed in him, but she was in a lonely crowd of one. “Geez, Mom, a friend from college? The guy’s a shark.”
“Was then too,” she answered. “Don’t ask.”
“I just can’t see—”
She stopped him before he could finish. “I said, don’t ask. He’s good at what he does and let’s just leave it at that.” She grabbed his arm and they continued to the car.
Zak started to chuckle. “Mom, you got a little bit of the bad boys in your blood, I see.”
“I said, shut up.”
But Zak could see the little quirk upward on her lips. She was about to smile and really didn’t want to.
They drove to the Chambers’ residence in silence. Just before they pulled up, Zak dialed Ginger’s cell and got her voicemail.
“Hey there, Ginger. This is Zak. Just callin’ to see if you’re okay and all. I’m so sorry about last night. They told me you were released today, and I just wanted to check in. Give me a call, if you could.”
He ignored the several other messages left by his friends. There would be time for that later on. He’d probably need their company soon, after his visit with his dad.
Zak saw a car door open across the street and noticed Amy Dobson walking toward him. He got out quickly, hearing his mother mumble something. She exited the car and proceeded up the walkway to their house ahead of him. Amy waved to her and got a brief return gesture as his mom continued to the house without even pausing.
His ex-girlfriend was looking attractive in a short black and white polka-dot dress with a neckline he usually liked, showing off her cleavage. He braced himself for an insult, but despite his internal alarm, his unit was reacting, just like every time he saw her. He sighed, but that didn’t ease the tension in his body. He’d just dodged a bullet with the accident, and now Amy’s presence threatened to drag him back into trouble. All his past poor decisions loomed. He didn’t need another one.
She looked up at his bandaged forehead and briefly scanned below to the rest of his body.
“Hey Amy. Today’s not a good day.” He heard the front door slam shut, which distracted him until he looked back into Amy’s eyes.
“I can see that, Zak. Glad to see you’re not too hurt.” She peered around him to examine the car. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Amy nodded and stared at her red toes peeking out from high heeled sandals. When her head rose, their eyes connected like they always did, flaming something in his gut that wasn’t healthy, like an itch he could never scratch. He gave up trying to analyze it. It was just chemistry.
He had the strength to step back. Zak knew it also wasn’t fair to her. Why start something he couldn’t finish? Besides, didn’t she deserve more respect than that? He just needed to keep that up a little longer, and she’d be gone forever. “I’m just here for the day, headed back down to San Diego before I finish my training, Amy. I’m not back in town.”
Her lip curled, and her left eye squinted. Zak looked away down the street trying to find something else to focus on.
“You have time to stop by my place later? I got a couple of things I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Nothing to discuss, Amy.” He was surprised his resolve was holding.
She rolled her head back, raising her eyebrows. “You never did like to talk much, Zak, but I kinda like it now.”
“Well, that’s a good thing then. Look, I’ve got to go. My folks are waiting. If I do anything tonight, it will be with Stan and Roger and the guys.”
“And the little girl you brought up from San Diego?”
“I doubt that very much.” He wasn’t going to tell her she was Roger’s little sister and had flown up to attend a family function.
“Love to see you in that uniform.” She stepped closer to him but didn’t touch. “Even better out of—”
He grabbed her wrists before she could lay her hands against his chest. “Amy, you got me all wrong. Those days are gone. I’m not that man anymore. I have a whole new life I’m going after, and I’m not interested in anything here. Anyone, either.”
He released her wrists and watched as she stood before him with her mouth open, those red kissable lips gaping like she’d just seen a ghost. Her hands went down to her sides. He walked past her and up the steps to the front porch of his parents’ house, never looking back.
Chapter 4
Amy raced back to work, arriving a full half hour late from lunch. Her boss wasn’t back yet herself, so she was a bit relieved, but she’d stay the extra thirty minutes just in case anyone else was keeping score.
She knew where they would in all likelihood go tonight. Something told her that if she didn’t see him one more time before he went off to the Navy, she’d never see him again. Amy wasn’t sure why that was important. But it was.
In the two years since they’d graduated high school she had been restless. She should have gone away to college like so many of her friends had done. But she stayed behind and attended the Junior College, waiting.
For what?
With her mother gone, her father had wanted her to stay in the big house just so he wasn’t alone, and at first she agreed. He was lonely after the long battle with cancer her mother had gone through all during Amy’s high school, and she secretly hoped he’d start dating again. But his work seemed to occupy all of his time. He seemed to lose all interest in women, and began working such long hours she didn’t know when to expect him home anymore.
Being picked up and dropped off at the Chief of Police’s house was creating a major damper on her love life. But she didn’t want to confront him about it, especially to tell him that. The new recruits on the force were safe for her, because they dared not act out of turn for fear of their jobs. But she wondered how much of their attention was just brownnosing and how much was serious.
She had a stack of brochures from some technical schools on the peninsula in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. That was more to her liking rather than being stuck in Santa Rosa. She was in the process of applying to them when she found out about Zak.
Were they just too y
oung to get together? Was that the problem? God, how she wished she had something like a fantastic new job or some huge opportunity. But she had nothing except a healthy sex drive and a whole lot of history working that angle. Her reputation was legendary. For the first time in her life, she regretted not taking advantage of other choices some of her friends had made. She was being left behind.
She decided perhaps what she needed was just one more goodbye, and then she’d be done with Zak. Done with Sonoma County. She’d follow where her heart took her, move out of the house and start her new adventure. All she needed was a nice sendoff, and she knew Zak could do that. No strings. Just like the old days. Just a night of sex. And then forget about it until maybe some little high school reunion he probably wouldn’t attend. He’d stand there, look at her, and she’d realize—whatever. All this stuff was foolish. She needed to get away from her father’s circle of protection and out into the real world.
When she looked back at her life, there were lots of exciting days. But being with Zak made her feel like a woman. Had made her feel like a woman from the first time she’d kissed him. It was something she’d never allowed herself to admit until today.
So, this time, she’d just walk right into his arms with intention, and make the most of her last, carefree fling.
And then she’d grow up.
Chapter 5
Zak’s father was waiting at the kitchen table as his mother worked over the stove. He halfway expected his dad to come yelling out the front door, punching and fisting him, making a scene for all the neighbors. But the man he saw sitting there before him was calm, with murderous red eyes. Zak was more scared of him today than he ever had been.
He sat down and his mom handed him a beer, which he waved away. He noted his dad was drinking water.
“I’ll take some ice water, Mom.”
“So I got a call from my insurance agent this morning. That’s when I heard you wrecked the Camaro. You wanna tell me, son, what you were fuckin’ thinking borrowing a car I didn’t even want to drive around last night?”
“I’m sorry, Pop. It was stupid. I should have asked you first. I wasn’t gonna drink—”
“Drinkin’s got nothing to do with it, Zak. I chose not to drive the car, because I was going to go out with friends. Some friends make you stupid. Especially your lowlife friends.”
Zak bristled. His dad’s assortment of friends weren’t even allowed in his mother’s house. Zak had known Roger and Stan for nearly ten years. But they still weren’t saints.
“I’m going to pay you back, Dad. Every penny. I don’t care how long it takes.”
“That’s not the point! The car was never yours to borrow.” His father stood, his face bright red, and his ruby-colored eyes looked like they were about to burst. Veins at the sides of his neck pumped venom. Zak was concerned he’d have a heart attack. Even his mother came over and stood between him and his father.
“Jack. Stop it right now. This won’t bring the car back, and you could do some serious damage to your health. Sit down. We need to talk about this.”
His father piled his arms up over his head, sucked in air and screamed. “Goddammit, Zak. Why? How could you be so stupid?” When he lowered his arms, Zak could see he’d been crying.
Zak jumped up and hugged his father. The car had meant more to him than anything else he owned. How he wished he could bring back the last twenty-four hours and have a do-over. “By everything inside me, I’ll get you another car. I’ll help fix it up with you again, Dad. I’ll pay you back every penny for all the parts, all the work done to it.”
“You don’t have that kind of money, son, and you never will.” His father’s arms pushed him away, shoulders lowered, face resigned. Zak’s heart broke for the man.
“I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll pay you back. That’s a promise.” He said from the space between them.
His mother added, “Jack, at least Zak wasn’t hurt, or we’d be sitting by a hospital bed. Don’t forget that. The girl is okay as well. And from what I understand, this had nothing to do with drinking, either.” Her stern gaze to her husband’s eyes told him she meant business. “We have to keep things in perspective. Zak goes off to the Navy. We find out what happens with the insurance. We just hope they don’t come back and find him at fault or charged with anything. That would restrict him from joining his SEAL training, right?”
Jack Chambers was still red. He listened, nodded his head. “I have to get away from here, or I’ll say things to both of you I’ll regret.” His lined face looked painfully up to Zak. “This is way more beyond insurance, or the fuckin’ money. It has to do with trust. I can’t trust you anymore, Zak. I don’t think I ever could!” His father turned on his heel and left the house.
His mother waited until her husband started the motor to their Toyota and sped down the street.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. I wish I’d thought about all this last night. I just didn’t use my head. I’m going to work very hard to make sure those days are gone forever. Forever, Mom. I want to be the kind of son you can depend on.”
“You already are. You have your whole life ahead of you. Jack will learn to get over it in time. I guess helping him is my job now. You go be with your friends, say your final goodbyes, and then you get out of this town and don’t look back.”
Stan and Roger met him at the brewpub. First thing he asked Roger was how his sister was. Zak ordered mineral water.
“Ginger’s fine. She didn’t even want to go to the hospital. But they thought she’d had a concussion. I guess she just got the wind knocked out of her, and yeah, she was pretty scared.”
“I tried to leave her a message,” said Zak.
“Yeah, she got it. She’s going home tomorrow. Taking it easy at my folks today before she flies home. She’s not mad. My mom is, though.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Zak, it could have happened to anyone.” Stan’s upbeat voice didn’t cheer Zak.
Zak thought about it for a minute. “I kissed her, Roger. Took my eyes off the road for one second, and that’s when the truck hit her side. I’m so sorry, man.”
“Yeah. She told me. Nice to hear it from you, though.” Roger wasn’t smiling.
“God, I’ve really fucked up, guys. I’ve got to change my ways. This is a wake-up call.”
“We feel kind of responsible for inviting you up for the party. Some send-off this is. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you’d done something to mess up your Navy gig, Zak,” said Stan. “You were talking last night about Joel, and how you wanted to go do something like he did, be a hero, make something of your life, and look what happened. It would kill me if you messed up that chance.”
“I think I’m more determined than before,” said Zak.
“You know Joel very well?” Roger asked.
“Not since we were teens. Helluva soccer player. I don’t know, he was a born leader. It’s like we’d be down, he’d stand up straight, look into the sunlight almost, he’d say something inspirational and the guys on our team would just come together. We’d win against teams we had no right to win against. Never seen anyone like that before, or since.”
“He liked you, too,” said Stan.
“Yeah, he did. Tried to keep up with him through high school, though he was a year ahead of me. After he joined the Navy, I never heard from him again. Wish I had.”
“He had a big influence on you. Never realized that until last night, the way you talked about him,” said Roger.
“He’s the reason I joined. No this, this thing I’m doing. It’s exactly the right thing for me. I’m ready for this. I may not make it, but I could be a Navy guy. I just wanted to test my limits, you know, see how far I could go.”
“You’ve got a lot more balls than I do. Gotta respect you for trying, Zak,” said Roger.
“So you going back tomorrow?” Stan asked.
“Wish I could take off right now. But no, I think I gotta say goodbye to my folks one last tim
e, maybe say goodbye to Ginger?” Zak looked up at Roger who looked like he’d chewed a sour lemon.
“Whoa! I wouldn’t do that. She’s fine. Besides, you can always look her up in San Diego later. She’s okay. I’ll give her your goodbye wishes. Just stay away from my folks.”
Zak agreed. He stood. “Look, I’m going to head back home. Been a long couple of days, and I want to be rested for the drive back. Thanks, guys, for everything. Maybe the next celebration will be under better circumstances.”
Zak took a last look at 4th Street, a street his father had driven up and down on Friday and Saturday nights in muscle cars back in the days when they’d go “tooling 4th” as they called it. He smiled when he thought about how happy his father must have been during those days. The way he talked about it made Zak feel like he was right there beside him the whole way. The destruction of the Camaro was more than about the car. He’d managed to eliminate the thin threads his father had to a cherished life now lost forever. He’d hold the heaviness, feel the weight of his guilt all throughout his training and maybe, just maybe, the hard physical work would pound it out of him. Maybe.
He heard a noise behind him. Turning, he saw Amy Dobson.
“Hello, Zak.”
“Amy—I’m not in the mood—”
“Come on, Zak, it’s been, what—nearly three years since we last spoke?”
“We spoke this afternoon, Amy.”
“I mean, since we really talked. Can’t you give me just five minutes of your time?” She held her fingers out, measuring, showing him how small five minutes would look, as if it was something she could hold. Her charm bracelet jingled and glinted in the night air. He’d made a lot of good decisions this afternoon and realizations about his future. He wasn’t going to drink, he was going to go to bed early. He was going to head back to face his future and the biggest challenge he’d ever faced.
“Five minutes, Amy,” he said as he held up his splayed fingers. Walking to his truck, he unlocked the passenger door, let Amy climb up inside, then walked around the front and sat behind the wheel. Night dew had formed droplets of water on the windshield, blurring car lights as they passed by.
SEALed At The Altar_Bone Frog Brotherhood Novel Page 17