Free Wraith by Edie Claire Page B

long silence followed. I had no idea what to say.
The sounds of the background seemed suddenly magnified: clinking glasses,
rattling plates, toddlers babbling, people laughing, the drone of the TV
monitors in the bar. There were several shadows around, both inside the
restaurant and beside the canal… I hadn’t realized they were there before.
    Zane sat up suddenly, removed his glasses, and
leaned toward me. "Look, Kali, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything
while you’re in the middle of a date. I wasn’t planning to, it just sort of—"
he broke off. "Let’s forget it for now, okay?"
    "I’m the one who’s sorry," I said, finding
my voice at last. "It must be awful to remember something like that. Does
it… I mean, does remembering your childhood seem to have helped…
anything?"
    He stood up—a feat he could accomplish without
bothering to push back his chair. "Not that I can tell," he answered,
his tone lighter. "But seriously—don’t worry about it. Superjock won’t be
happy if he comes back to find I’ve ruined your mood. It will screw up his next
move."
    "He’s not—"
    "Yeah, he is," Zane interrupted, managing
a grin. "See you."
    He dissolved into a blur, leaving me staring into an
empty chair. I looked around, but knew I wouldn’t find him. When Zane didn’t
want to be seen, he wasn’t. I pulled my phone away from my ear with a sigh,
absently checking the screen.
    I had four waiting texts. I scrolled down to open
Kylee’s first.
     
    So… which 1s hotter? surfer or officers son?
     
    Followed ten minutes later by:
     
    Answer MEEEEE!!!!!  L
     
    Tara was not a whole lot subtler.
     
    How is the tour? Are you getting to see the whole
island, or just Honolulu?
     
    Followed a whole half hour later with:
     
    You do realize that I have no life, that half of
Cheyenne is out of town, and that living vicariously through you is my only
source of entertainment? No pressure or anything. TEXT ME!!!
     
    Before I could answer either, Matt returned to the
table and slid into his chair. "Justin’s taking care of us," he
announced with a smile. Then, with a glance at my phone, "Oh, yeah. This
thing’s been buzzing all afternoon." He pulled his own phone out of a back
pocket and glanced at the screen. "Ten texts! Sheesh." To my
surprise, he quickly repocketed it. "They can wait."
    He turned his full attention to me, along with a
winning smile. I smiled back and put my own phone away. Kylee and Tara would
understand. Eventually.
    "So," he began with enthusiasm. "What
else would you like to see around Honolulu?"
    The meal passed pleasantly, with Matt at no loss for
words when it came to talking about things within his—admittedly limited—sphere
of knowledge of the island. He couldn’t tell me a whole lot about tourist
destinations or local history, but he was a fount of information when it came
to the high school scene. I learned that Hickham had a pretty good social group
going, which was nice, because the base kids were spread over a lot of
different schools, both public and private. Matt had a lot of opinions on which
schools were better than others and why, and I studied him as he talked, musing
over what my friends in Cheyenne would make of him. He was no intellectual
giant, perhaps, but few of the girls would even notice that, preferring brawn
over brains anyway. Tara wouldn’t, but she would also be fair enough to admit
that, for a jock, he was sweet and uncharacteristically humble. Kylee would
swoon, period.
    Oahu was treating me well.
    We finished dinner by sharing a rather excellent
slice of chocolate cake, then headed back to the car for our drive over the
mountains to Honolulu. Zane was waiting for us in the parking lot, unaware that
he was standing immediately next to a particularly vivid set of shadows—a young
airman in uniform running to, and embracing, an elderly man. It was a poignant
scene, but with long-practiced will I forced my attention back to the living
and got in the