“Well it wasn’t my first option so I’m glad Derrick was okay with meeting earlier,” Thomas said quietly and with a far off look.
“You’re worried about the meeting aren’t you? About what Derrick needed to talk to you so quickly for?” she asked.
“Yeah a little bit, it’s just weird timing is all. I hope it’s nothing too serious. When we were having lunch he didn’t even hint about what it was,” Thomas said, then adding, “Oh and by the way, I’m supposed to tell you that Erin is going to call you tonight. Apparently she has some things to discuss with you.”
“Really? About what?” Tracie asked.
“Well, I wasn’t too sure what it was originally. Then after lunch Daniel spilled the beans about you staying over last night. I tried to play it off as nothing, but I think she has suspicions. You know how she can get sometimes. She’s very intuitive,” Thomas answered.
Tracie laughed hard and said, “Oh yeah, I’m fully aware of how nosey she can be. At least I can be a little prepared now. But what should I tell her when she asks about anything concerning me and you?”
Thomas thought for a minute and answered, “That’s up to you but I was planning on just telling Derrick about us, and tell him we’re gunna slowly give it shot…but still sort of wait and see where this is going. Besides, I think he already has an idea anyway. So tell her whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“Sounds good, I’ll figure out something to tell her. So you think you really want to try dating me and see what can happen here?” she asked nervously
“I do, beautiful. I’ve been thinking about it all day and all last night. I’m not gunna lie…I’m scared as hell. But you and I seem to have something interesting Tracie, and I suppose, for me at least, it’s worth giving it a shot,” Thomas said, then adding, “So what about you? Are you okay with trying to date an older man, who’s a single father and also happens to be your boss?”
Tracie looked at Thomas for a minute and stared into his steely blue eyes then said, “Thomas, I may be younger than you, but I know you and I know what kind of man you are. You're one of my best friends. I know there aren’t many men out there like you. And even though I’m young, I’m also smart enough to know a great guy when I see one. I’m smart enough not to walk away from a good thing when I feel it. I made my decision when I came and kissed you on the couch last night, Tommy.”
Thomas was feeling and thinking many things at that moment. He felt nervous, awkward and scared but somehow in a good way. Tracie was amazing and had had a way of calming him down with just the sound of her voice; the way she said things. He smiled at her and pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
“But hey Stud, you should get going or you’re going to be late. We can talk more later, okay?” Tracie said.
“You’re right, I probably should get going,” he said as he looked at his phone.
“Okay, well you boys have fun and be safe. Don’t kill anybody,” Tracie said jokingly.
“Oh, we won’t, trust me…well at least not too many,” he answered and laughed.
Thomas gently put his fingers on the side of her face, leaned in and kissed her one last time. He got into his pickup trucks and watched her as she went inside the house and waved goodbye before driving away. Tracie only lived a little ways away from The Whaleback and it took him less than ten minutes to get there.
As he pulled into the parking lot of The Whaleback, he was surprised at how busy it was for a Sunday night. The parking lot was not full but it was close and there seemed to be many cars parked on the street. Since Thomas was part owner of the bar he would usually go through the employee’s entrance at the back of the building. Nevertheless, tonight he went in the main entrance, since it was busy Derrick was probably behind the bar helping. Another reason was since Thomas was part owner and very well known around town it was always a nice thing for him say hello to the locals and spend some time chitchatting.
He walked through the heavy wooden door and into the bar, it was not wall to wall packed but the girls that were serving appeared busy. There was a Karaoke DJ at far end of the bar on a small stage and a handful of people were slow dancing. A woman who looked to be in her mid-40’s was singing her heart out to some old country song. There were baseball games and a hockey game on the various TV’s placed around the room. As he walked in Thomas waved at the one bouncer that worked there named Jerry, who was standing against a wall scanning the room. He was a large older man who was near 50 years old and could handle himself very well. Jackson was one of the first people him and Derrick had hired when they opened The Whaleback. Jerry was a former professional fisherman who was in an accident years ago and needed a part time job. He had a history and most people wouldn’t take chance on him. Jerry had become a good friend to both Thomas and Derrick and they would occasionally ride their motorcycles together on day trips.
Since Thomas was quite tall and a large framed man, when he walked into rooms people tended to notice, he was very hard to miss. And he was barely in the room for twenty seconds when a few people turned and looked at him nervously; most people though looked and gave a quick wave. He heard someone call his name from a table towards the right side of the room. After looking, he realized that it was Pete and Aimee Denning they were friends of his. Both of them were in their early seventies and very spirited and active for people their age. The Denning’s lived here on the Oregon Coast in the summers just a little bit north of where Thomas’ home was, the rest of time they were in Arizona.
After realizing they must have just gotten back into town he walked over and talked with them for a few minutes after shaking Pete’s hand and giving Aimee a big hug. As he stood next to their table and caught up with the couple one of the waitresses came over and brought Thomas a gin and tonic. It was his usual drink and Thomas realized Derrick must have seen him walk in. He thanked the young woman who happily said “no problem boss” and walked away after Thomas gave her a five dollar tip. He looked towards the bar and saw that Derrick was looking directly at him. Derrick nodded towards the backroom and held up five fingers, letting Thomas know too meet him in the office in five minutes. Thomas lightly nodded in response and continued his conversation with the Denning’s. A few minutes later after promising to bring Daniel over to visit them soon Thomas said his goodbyes and walked away. He moved intently across the bar and though a group of people that separated as he walked towards them. He walked past the end of the bar and through a door that led to the kitchen and soon was sitting on the leather couch in Derrick’s office after taking off his black pea coat. He flipped on the television and turned it to a hockey game and watched it while he waited for his best friend.
A few minutes later Derrick walked into the office carrying his notepad and two drinks, one for him and one for Thomas. He sat down in a leather chair next to the couch Thomas was sitting on and handed Thomas his drink after shaking his friend’s hand. Thomas, who seemed to be focused on the television and the hockey game, could see Derrick staring at him out of the corner of his eye. He had been waiting for his friend to start the conversation and was curious why his old friend was being so reserved with whatever it was he had to say and Thomas was feeling impatient at the moment.
“So buddy, what’s going, why are you holding back?” Thomas asked.
“Oh, I’m not holding back, just thinking about what I want to talk to you about first. Just relaxing a little bit also, tonight has been busy as hell,” Derrick replied
“I see that, looks like the karaoke thing is paying off. Its gunna be a good thing if you can keep this up,” Thomas said.
“Yeah, I hope so, apparently it’s been a while since a bar had it in this town,” Derrick said and then adding, “So I have something to show you and then ask about.”
“Sure, what’s up?” Thomas said as he watched Derrick stand up and grab a box out of his desk and then sitting back down. Derrick handed Thomas the small box and he opened it. Inside was a white gold ring with a sizable diamon
d on the top.
“Derrick? I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you, Bro,” Thomas said laughing.
“Shut the hell up, you old dumb ass, you know it’s not for you. What do you think of the ring Tom? I’m gunna ask Erin to marry me,” Derrick said looking his friend in the eye, obviously nervous.
Thomas took a sip of his drink and leaned back on the couch and returned the stare from his friend and said, “Are you sure you’re ready for this, man?”
“I’m more than sure, Bro. I have known I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. You know me and how I am; you know I take this stuff seriously. I love her and I don’t want to take a chance on going one more day without her,” Derrick said with a hopeful look in his eye.
Thomas was quiet for a minute, still holding the ring in his hand. Then handing it back to Derrick with a very serious look on his face said with a grin, “Well it’s about damn time you fool. I can’t believe you made her wait this long…if it was me I would have dumped you a LONG time ago.” He then stuck out his hand to shake his best friend’s hand.
“Congratulations, man. I’m seriously happy for you; when are you gunna do it?” Thomas asked.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure what you would say. I was going to do it today on the bike ride but I got too nervous.”
Thomas waved his large hand in the air at his friend and chuckled, “Man you don’t need my permission; with all that we’ve been through you should know I’m behind you no matter what.”
“Of course I know that, but it never hurts to get the Don’s blessing if you know what I mean,” Derrick said jokingly, referencing Thomas’s old nickname from back in Michigan, making Thomas laugh mildly.
“Yeah, that’s what they say,” Thomas replied as he slowly took sip of his drink and then added, “So when do you think you’re going to ask her?”
“Hell, I don’t know…thinking about tomorrow. I don’t want to put it off any longer than I already have. I’ve had the ring for over a month now,” Derrick said.
“Seriously? You’ve had it for a month and you haven’t told me about it yet? You’re breaking my heart man…we used to be so close,” Thomas said, trying to pretend to be put off but laughing.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I think I’m going to take her out for a ride and then dinner tomorrow; ask her then,” Derrick said.
“Right on, man, sounds good. Do you think she has any idea?” Thomas asked.
“I don’t think so. I mean, we have talked about it before, but I don’t think she knows I’m this close to actually asking her,” Derrick said.
“Well I won’t say anything,” Thomas said.
“But since we are on the subject of relationships, Mr. Man…what the hell is up with you and Tracie?” Derrick asked making no attempt at being subtle.
Thomas looked at Derrick and shook his head, grumbling, “I was wondering when that was going to come up.”
“Well now that it has, spill it. What’s going on there?” Derrick asked again.
“Well the attraction and connection is there, I think anybody can see that if they spend some time around us. It may have just been something I was mentally shutting myself down to; maybe I was just wasn’t ready. I don’t know. Next to you, she’s my best friend here in Oregon and we talk about everything…we know how one another ticks. I don’t know if it’s one of those weird timing things or what, but I’m pretty crazy about her. We’re gunna take it slow – or at least as slow as we can. I think the last thing either of us wants is to mess up our friendship. But she says she knows a good thing when she sees it and would regret not giving a ‘us’ a try, so we’re going to date and see how it goes,” Thomas said slowly and carefully.
“Uh-huh…well how does your boy feel about all of this?” Derrick asked.
“Well you know he’s completely nuts about Tracie. And she loves him and would do anything for the kid. I think he would be okay with it, but I don’t know for sure. I mean, I’m not going to hide it from him by any means but it’s a fairly recent development so I haven’t thought of just how I’m going to tell him exactly…but I will. Truth be told Derrick I’m nervous as hell about it. I’m sure it’s obvious why,” Thomas answered as he quietly thought to himself how and where he would bring up this subject to his son.
“Abundantly aware of them, man; all of them,” Derrick said as he leaned back in his chair and looked long and hard at his old friend.
Sometimes Derrick could read Thomas like a book and he could tell what his friend was thinking just by the look on his face. On some occasions, however – like now – Thomas’ face gave nothing away and it was like staring at a brick wall. For as long as Derrick had known him, Thomas had been very private with his thoughts and emotions and only occasional would he let them show; and he only did so after carefully thinking them through. He agreed with what Thomas had said about Tracie and him having an intense connection. Nevertheless, Derrick was quietly concerned for both of his friends.
After a minute or so Derrick spoke up and said, “Thomas just be careful with Tracie, okay man? You’re both good friends to me and I don’t want either one of you to get hurt. And by the way – if you hurt her, I will at least make an attempt at kicking your ass…before you put me on the ground like a fallen tree, of course,” he laughed.
“Derrick, I would expect nothing less from you my friend – even the attempt. But I’m going to do my best not to mess this up or hurt her,” Thomas said smoothly.
“That’s all I ask,” Derrick said, adding, “So is she a good kisser?”
“Impeccable,” Thomas said very quickly and giving his friend a cheesy smile.
“Nice!” Derrick said and let out a small quick laugh
“Yes indeed, so what else do you two have to talk about? Or did you call me here just to talk about girls and dating?” Thomas said.
“Umm, no. There’s more, Tom,” Derrick said, his tone becoming more serious than it had been.
Thomas leaned forward and said, “Okay, then what else you got?”
“I heard that earlier in the week there was a guy in town asking around about us. He seemed to be especially interested in you. It’s a good thing we have friends here, man, otherwise we may not have found out,” Derrick said.
Thomas’ eyes went from calm to furious in an instant and Derrick could see it. Thomas took a sip of his drink then reached into his coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one out and lit it and inhaled deeply. Derrick did the same even though it was against the law. It was their office, their business and they would do what they wanted. And right now Thomas was seething and Derrick would let him do whatever he needed to do to calm down.
“So tell me what you know Derrick. Who did you hear this from? What kind of questions was he asking? Who let you know about it? Tell me it all…” Thomas said as calmly as he possible could.
“Well I got a call from Stan Baker; he and his wife own that little diner over on the south end Main Street. Apparently this guy stopped in for lunch on Wednesday and was chatting up the waitress. It made her nervous so she went and got Mrs. Baker. She talked to him for a little bit but told him a whole lot of nothing but a bunch of runaround. She said he was dressed all fancy; had a suit coat on and didn’t really fit in,” Derrick said.
“Yeah, I know them; they’re good people. They help with a lot of stuff at Daniel’s school – fundraisers and all that. They raise their two grandkids if I remember right,” Thomas said as he stared blankly in the direction of the TV.
“The very same ones, and yeah, they are great people. Apparently they called a few other people around town and to spread the word as soon as they could after he left the diner,” Derrick said.
“He was asking questions about me and where I live and work, and then started with questions about you along those same lines. But Thomas, you should know – he also he started asking questions about Daniel,” Derrick added, saying the last part slowly and cautiously.
Thomas came off the couch like an angry grizzly
bear and threw his drink against the wall shattering the glass in a rage, then shouted, “How come this if the first I heard about this Derrick? Some strange person that nobody knows comes into town and starts asking about my son? What the hell? Who is this son of a bitch? He’s a dead man!” Thomas said furiously
“Tom, I didn’t find out until yesterday and I didn’t want to say anything until I knew something more; something worth telling you about. I had to make a lot of calls. I know you and I know you would have torn this town and probably half of the state apart over it, and that could have been bad. Really bad, and you know that,” Derrick said calmly in an attempt to calm his friend down as well.
Thomas paced the small room yelling and swearing at nothing for a few minutes, then eventually calming down enough that Derrick could deal with him.
“Okay, I get it. I’m sorry; what else did you find out?” Thomas asked after taking a deep breath and easing his emotions down a bit.
“Well I know that in the morning he went to the library and also the newspaper and looked at some old copies or files or something. I’m not sure what he looked at exactly, but I know he was there. He stopped here at the bar around noon but it was closed; I watched the security tapes from the cameras outside. I heard that he went to the hardware store, a gas station and also over to Sandy’s Bar on the other side of town in the afternoon. I guess he had a few drinks and played some pool there. He asked a lot of questions at the bar, but I think by then word had gotten around from the sound of it. He rubbed a few people the wrong way around town. Jerry’s brother and a few of his fisherman friends were there and basically told the guy to get hell out of the bar, AND the town. I guess he left in a big hurry after that. I haven’t heard anything more than that as far as where he went in town, if anywhere. I’m also not sure what he did in between those places; probably just poked around,” Derrick said
“So do we have any idea who this guy is or who he works for? Did he happen to give anyone a business card or tell them his name?” Thomas asked.
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