A Ghost of a Chance (13 page)

“
I see,” he expressed with an expression that said he did not approve. “Well I’ll be back amigos to take your order in a few.” She had the sinking feeling that her masterful control of this situation had definitely slipped a few notches.

“
Take your time,” Jack interjected. “In fact take a long time.”

Hallie couldn’t suppress a giggle. She giggled when she was nervous and right now she was way off the scale, well on her nervousness scale. Jack, well, seemed certainly determined. And she liked that, she thought. She definitely liked a determined man, just wasn’t sure if she could handle a determined man. “Well, what do you say Hallie, do you want to get married tonight?”

His eyes were sparkling again in that mischievous way. “Excuse me. Perhaps we could get past the first date first.” Did she say first date? Did this bizarre circumstance really constitute a date?

“
I’m serious.”

“
You’re crazy. I don’t know you, and you’re probably not even real,” she rambled unconvincingly.

He smiled; did he have a bit of a dimple? Gosh, she really liked that. “That’s the beauty of it. We can do anything we want to tonight.”

“
No, no I need at least six months to plan, plus picking out flowers, caterers. Maybe the Mexican band over there might be available for the reception. But on second thought they’re probably booked solid,” she noted with purely frivolous sarcasm.

“
You want me to check?” She was laughing with him. Now how did that happen? “Well then if not tonight, how about spending the next six months with me in this dream?”

“
Don’t they have a word for that, like coma?”

“
Is there anything that you really want to get back to?” She felt a measure of heaviness creep into her. It felt a little like reality. Maybe he was right. It wasn’t much of a life. She frowned, “I have a dog and. . .,” she paused.

“
Two sick plants.” He nodded, looking a tad less enthusiastic, “I know.”

Her eyes widened suspiciously, “You know? And how is that Jack, that you know? And what else do you know? And why?”

“
More questions.” He shrugged, “I know you like peppermint tea, spicy buffalo wings, and writing late at night.”

Her head was whirling. This was just too weird. Of course, all of this was just too weird. “I guess you must know this because I made you up, but then how did Monica know about you?”

The smile left, “I know this is strange Hallie, but you have to believe that you didn’t make me up.”

“
Of course I did. There is no other explanation.”

His voice lowered and sounded just a tad irritated to her. “There are other explanations.”

She grimaced digging in a little with her own obstinacy. “Oh really. Well I haven’t heard any yet that make any sense.”

He patted her hand and said with solemnness, “Hallie, you have to believe me.”

“
Oh,” she paused, “ and why exactly is that?” challenging calmly.

He sat back looking a little frustrated but then his face seemed to set with a kind of inward resolve. He reached over and pulled her more closely to him. “Does this feel real Hallie?”

And then in the next second, he was kissing her – softly at first, tentatively, and then not. It became passionate, more intense, until everything around her blurred away, everything except him. By the time the kiss ended, she didn’t know what was real or much less care.

“
Who are you?” she whispered, then adding with a degree of desperation, “And where the hell have you been all my life?’

He answered with another kiss – this one almost desperate and savagely passionate. She didn’t care one bit that they were in the middle of a restaurant; she didn’t care that he would probably disappear when this dream ended. All she cared about was that his arms were around her, and everything and everyone else could go to hell.

“
Sir, sir! Do you realize that you are kissing my wife?”

She literally froze in Jack’s arms. And then shakily looked up to see the figure that matched the voice towering over them.

“
Oh God,” she whimpered. “It’s Edward.”

Hallie could tangibly feel the frustration in Jack’s body as he delicately ended their embrace and then stood up beside her ex-husband. He was glaring at him with what could only be described as seething anger. “So this is Edward?”

Hallie nodded, straightening out her mussed-up red dress. “Great! I’ve been wanting to meet this lousy son of a bitch.”

Jack knew he was moving a little quick, but his instincts told him deep down that his time alone with Hallie would be minuscule. So instead of romancing her, he’d decided to put some fast moves on her. And actually all was going exceptionally well, that was until the ex-husband showed up.

“
Who is this man Hallie?”

She was absolutely confused and befuddled. After all wasn’t this her dream? What the hell was Edward doing in her dream? “ I. . .”

“
You don’t have to answer him Hallie.” Jack jumped in with evident irritation. “Eddy is your ex now.”

The tall lanky, blonde man whose features were bland enough to blend in with his pale complexion looked angry. At least as angry-looking as Jack imagined he could ever manage to get. Sizing him up with little objectivity, there was no doubt in his mind that this was one cold fish. He couldn’t fathom what Hallie had seen in him. Of course, in all fairness, he couldn’t fathom some of his own choices. “Sir, I don’t know what delusion you are operating under or worse perhaps what fabrication my wife has conveyed to you, but the truth is we are very much still married.”

Hallie stood up. Her head was beginning to hurt. “Edward, what are you talking about? We’re divorced?”

He put his long thin hands on her shoulders and squeezed them in a manner that was nearly painful. “No Hallie. Don’t you remember? We decided to give the marriage another chance?”

Jack was highly perturbed. In fact beyond perturbed, he was downright incensed. He wanted someone to pay for this interference. Of course, he realized that this manifestation was in all probability not Edward but that didn’t stop him from wanting to punch his block off. He grabbed Edward’s hands and forcibly, trying to deliberately inflict a little pain, removed them from Hallie’s shoulders. “I have a bulletin for you pal. It’s not going to work out.”

Hallie smiled. She couldn’t help it. This was chaos, crazy chaos, but she admired the way Jack was sticking up for her. It did feel good to have someone in her corner for a change. From where she stood, she could see that the tips of Edward’s ears were red, in fact beet red. That delighted her. It had always been the signal that Edward was really angry.

“
Hallie, I insist you stop this now and come home so we can discuss this.”

“
Discuss it with yourself Edward.” She spat out with newfound and exhilarating courage. Why, she was convinced that she could rumble with the best of them. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“
This is just like you, so irresponsible . . .”

Jack whirled Edward around and grabbed him by the collar of his highly starched shirt. “Do you really want to continue this? Because I really and mean really would like to mess up your face. Although in your case, it might cause some improvement.”

“
Yes officer, that’s the man. I’m sure of it.” The Mexican waiter had suddenly returned flanked by two, highly, overweight, police officers.

Without ceremony, one unsheathed a gun and pointed it directly at Jack. “Sir please, unhand the hostage.”

Jack sighed deeply. “It” was truly pulling out all the stops tonight. “The what?”

Edward squiggled nervously in his hands.

The officer repeated, “You heard me sir, unhand the hostage.”

“
He’s not a hostage. He’s an idiot.”

Edward chimed in pitifully, “It’s true. He’ll kill me. I know it.”

Hallie couldn’t believe the mess that was ensuing in front of her. “Shut up Edward. Don’t be ridiculous. Officer, this is a big misunderstanding.”

“
No Ma’am, you don’t understand. Mr. Sanchez called us once he recognized this man from his copy of the ten most wanted list.”

Jack frowned, still maintaining his grip on the squirming Edward. “And that’s something you keep with you?”

“
Oh yes sir, right up in the kitchen. So I don’t hire any bad people.”

Jack nodded, “Ah.”

The police officer continued, “Yes Ma’am, there’s a reward out for this one. He’s a killer, a swindler, and a flesh peddler.”

“
A what?” Hallie exploded incredulously. Jack rolled his eyes.

“
Yes Ma’am. I have a witness here with us to identify him as the mastermind of one of the biggest brothels in Mississippi.”

Jack turned, highly irritated and mildly curious. “You have a witness here! Now? From Mississippi?”

“
Yes, that’s right. She’s been sitting around for months waiting for you to be apprehended. May I introduce Ms. Monica Leray?”

“
Monica who?” Hallie exploded again with even more incredulity.

Monica, as if on cue, approached sauntering up from the back of the restaurant dressed in an impossibly tight-fitting, black, leather mini-dress.

The officer continued, “Ms. Leray was one of Mr. Brennan’s most successful call girls.”

Monica stopped in front of Jack, smiling seductively and blowing him a kiss. “Sorry Jack, but I had to make a deal to save my own skin.”

Hallie stood there stupefied at the impossible scenario in front of her, and to think just a few moments earlier things had been going so well. “Jack,” she began softly. “Is this true?”

His eyes widened, and then he fired back at her. “No it’s not true. It’s ludicrous!”

Hallie paused for a moment’s reflection. For her, these seconds between were the eye of the storm. Here indeed was a pivotal moment. There was a choice at hand, either to try to wake up and end this fiasco, or take control of her own destiny.

In an instant, it was decided. With deliberation, she took a careful step backward until she was beside the second pudgy, police officer who had yet to contribute a word to this mess. His pistol was hanging openly in its holster somewhere in the vicinity of his sagging middle.

For a brief second she met Jack’s eyes, enough to draw courage from them although she felt certain he didn’t have a clue what she was contemplating. Springing into action, she grabbed the gun and pointed it at the armed policeman. “Freeze fat boy,” she yelled. “Drop it or I’ll blow you into your next life.”

The policeman looked at her with confusion, “Ma’am?”

“
I said drop it.” And to Hallie’s intense pleasure, he did.

Jack looked at her with a mixture of admiration, disbelief, and of course intense desire. What a woman! She sent him a dazzling smile, “Come on Jack. I’m rescuing you.”

He released the trembling Edward, and took her hand.

“
You’ve already done that.” The two ran out of the restaurant into a night of possibility.

Monica watched them leave, smiling with a touch of envy. “Must be real love,” she commented to no one in particular.

CHAPTER NINE

She didn’t know where he led her, and for the most part, she didn’t care. She just felt alive and free for the first time in, well probably for the first time. Hallie had dropped the gun somewhere along the way. It didn’t seem to matter much as they flew through the cool night in a convertible. She’d never been in one before but secretly had wanted to. The car they escaped in seemed to be the last of her influence. After that, the power had shifted or rather the control of the dream. She knew that. Things had gone crazy inside the restaurant, and then she had relinquished it all to Jack. Somewhere outside of Monica’s Mexican dive he had grabbed both her hands and said, “Trust me.”

And she did, without words. She had placed herself in his hands wholeheartedly without reservation – just content to enjoy the heck out of the wild ride they were on.

For a moment, as they drove through the night Hallie had closed her eyes, and felt an incredible pull. Something was trying to pull her back to her house in Virginia, but she resisted it. She wasn’t ready to return. Going back would mean leaving the man beside her. And for some reason, that she didn’t want to verbalize, she was enormously reluctant to do that just now.