<< Go Back

From Chaos

By Karen Randau

Order Now!

Overjoyed. That’s how Gregorio Moreno — Greg for short — felt with the blonde of his dreams sitting beside him while he drove toward a popular Tulsa seafood restaurant. He stopped his blue Corvette in the parking lot and put a gentle hand on Kelsey’s arm when she reached for her door handle. “Let me get it for you.”

“Oh.” She stared at her lap, her silky waves cascading around her shoulders.

Rushing around the back of the car, he wondered what “oh” meant. Movement at the opposite end of the lot brought his attention to see a green van that was parking. The same van he’d seen on the freeway? He shook off the thought. He needed to impress Kelsey tonight, not get all paranoid. It had been a long time since he’d cared what kind of impression he made on a date.

Most of his recent hookups were putty in his hands after he opened their door for them, complimented their looks, and paid for a nice dinner. Everything about Kelsey was different. A mystery. Tense at times, but never chaotic or shallow like the others. Someone he wanted around for more than a one-night stand. This was unfamiliar territory, forcing him to forget his usual seduce-the-date script.

He wiped the toe of his ostrich leather boots against his jeans, first one and then the other, and smoothed his pressed western shirt before grabbing the door handle, telling himself to stop overthinking. When Kelsey placed her fingers into his outstretched hand, he wondered if she felt the energy that coursed through him.

She let one slim, sandal-clad foot fall to the asphalt, then the other. Another tingle spread across his skin as he watched her walk toward the entrance in the split-neck floral top that made her eyes look like emeralds. Her tunic ended below her narrow hips, emphasizing long, athletic legs clad in black dress yoga pants.

She might be too good for him. Her influence during their eight months of platonic friendship had convinced him to straighten up his act. Now that she’d finally agreed to an official date, he aspired to deepen the relationship.
He told himself again not to blow it by trying to go too fast with this skittish beauty. She was not a conquest like the others he’d dated since his divorce five years earlier. She was still emotionally fragile from her abduction last year, and he’d tried to help her through the aftermath. The more he got to know her, the more he realized she was the most amazing person he’d ever met. He wanted to help her see her inner strength, something that the others had lacked. It was one of his favorite things about her, and he didn’t think she recognized it.
Holding the restaurant door for her, he placed his hand on the small of her back and inhaled the mixture of her fruity fragrance with the savory smells of the restaurant lobby.

Her muscles tensed when he touched her, so he pulled his hand away. He’d fantasized about her feeling the same attraction that had captured him from the second he’d met her last year at a birthday party. Before tonight, she’d only agreed to see him in groups, but they’d talked plenty on the phone.

As had become their habit in public places, he waited while she scoured the room for a spot she’d consider safe. Safe from what, she hadn’t shared. Didn’t she know after their months of friendship that she was safe with him? He longed for the day she’d realize he was nothing like the guy who abducted her last year.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You okay?”

“Yes.” She glanced at him with a smile that came nowhere close to lighting up her eyes. “Just staying aware.”

Same answer as always.

A hostess, wearing a black dress and spiked heels, approached. “Two for dinner?”
Kelsey zeroed in on the darkest corner of the room. “Can we have that table?”
“Sure.” The hostess flashed a smile at Greg, but he kept his focus on Kelsey.
In keeping with her habit, Kelsey sat with her back to the wall and insisted Greg sit to her side so he wouldn’t block her view of the door. He’d never seen her relax in public.

She finished reading the menu, closed it, and tapped it with her palm as a server in a calf-length black apron arrived with a basket of bread. The server went through the specials for the night and asked if they were ready to order.
Kelsey smiled up at him. “I think I’ll have the smoked salmon.”

“Excellent choice.” The server turned to Greg. “And you, sir?”

“Halibut, please. Also, please tell the chef not to let a single mushroom touch my plate.”

Kelsey’s smile was tender but concerned. “I’ve never seen anyone as careful about mushrooms as you. Are you allergic?”

“Had an awful experience with them once.” He’d never shared that story with anyone and didn’t plan to. Ever.

He stuffed the memory of his darkest moment into the lockbox of his mind so he could enjoy perfectly cooked fish and pleasant conversation.

When Kelsey finished her meal, she dabbed the sides of her lips with the napkin, folded it, and set it beside her plate. “Thanks, Greg. You’ve been such a good friend, and that meal was a great treat.”

“We can’t get anything this good in Peach Blossom, that’s for sure.” Without thinking, he reached for her fingers.

She pulled back. “We need to talk.”

His chest tightened with regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be pushy. We’ve talked about how you’re not ready for serious dating.”

She sucked in a deep breath through those full lips. Clearing her throat, she asked, “Do you know of a quiet place we can go? Nothing … you know … romantic. Secluded enough that I can relax. Not so public.”

A native of the small farming community of Peach Blossom, Oklahoma, he wasn’t familiar with Tulsa. His turf was more than an hour northwest, but a memory tickled the back of his mind.

“There’s an old racetrack nearby where my dad took Josh and me once when we were teenagers. I’d love to see it again. It’s out of the way and secluded, so no one will disturb us, but it’s definitely not romantic.”

With a measured laugh, she gave a tentative “Okay.” Her soft smile told him he’d handled that one right.

Back at the Corvette, he opened the car door for her, again captivated by her beauty and grace as she sank down and pulled her legs inside. Get it together, man. It had taken eight months to convince her to agree to see him without their friends. He didn’t want to blow it.

As always, cranking the ignition set off a roar that made him grin. He glanced at her. “I love that sound.”

She nodded, but she didn’t seem too impressed. “Powerful.” Her intense stare out the windshield gave him the feeling she was lost in thought. “Today’s sermon at church was about not being unequally yoked. It really spoke to me.”

He sensed she was leading up to something. “All I know about yokes is that they’re wooden beams used in developing countries to keep two work animals together.”

“Yes, exactly. When those two animals are similar in height, weight, and temperament, and when the yoke fits them, they’re able to work efficiently as they plow a farmer’s field. The yoke helps the animals work together and rely on one another to make even the hardest tasks easier.”

“Yeah.” He spread the word out to three syllables as he parked around the block from the racetrack so they wouldn’t alert anyone of their presence.

They strolled down the sidewalk toward the fence surrounding the racetrack, while she continued her rambling about yokes. “It’s the same with human relationships. When two people are meant to be together, whether they’re friends or a married couple, they have the same values, compatible interests and beliefs.”

Religion again. Not that he wasn’t a spiritual person. Well, sometimes. When he was a kid, before the mushroom tragedy. But did all conversations have to end up there? He would play along, as he always had when she brought up the topic.
“Sounds reasonable.” He guided her around a gigantic crack in the sidewalk.

“That’s what being equally yoked means. It describes my aunt and uncle, but not my parents. I knew even as a kid that our family wasn’t happy because they didn’t fit together.

He nodded. “Makes sense. Being equally yoked is like us.” He felt energized as he pointed to her and then to himself. “We enjoy each other’s company, we can talk all night without realizing the time, neither of us wastes money, we love to get our hands dirty when we garden, and we both love to eat fish. We’re equally yoked — like my parents and your aunt and uncle.”

This was going great. Maybe she was about to say she wanted a longer-term commitment to him as much as he craved it with her.

She tilted her head to the right and then to the left as if to say that wasn’t the end of the story. “Kind of. The pastor helped me understand deep down that there’s more to it. When that guy left me for dead last year, I made a promise to God that if I lived, I would never again be with a man who wasn’t a Christian.”

His insides contracted. Was she about to end their friendship rather than deepen it? He told himself not to go there, to keep pointing out how perfect they were together. Equally yoked.

“And I’m proud of the way you’re recovering from that trauma. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with this yoked conversation. Not only do we have the same interests and values, but we’re both spiritual people. That makes us a perfect couple.”

Her crinkled forehead, knit-together brows, and heavy sigh weren’t a good sign.
They approached a stretch of foot-high weeds edging the chain-link fence, and he realized he hadn’t thought through this adventure. “When I was here before, this fence and those weeds weren’t here. We can talk in the car. Or we could drive back to Peach Blossom and go to the park there.”

“No. I’m good.” She tiptoed through the grasses, holding onto his shoulder. “This is like what I had to climb to get out of the city dump that night.” She leaned against it with her hands on her thighs, taking deep breaths.

“We should go back to the car. I’ll carry you through the weeds this time.” He loved that her five-foot-ten-inch height meant not leaning down to look into her eyes.

“My therapist says I should face my fears. I plan to sleep without the light tonight. This gives me another thing to conquer, along with all the stuff MJ has taught me.” She turned and stuck the toe of her right sandal into an opening. “I can do this.”

MJ was Kelsey’s friend and employer, fiancé to Greg’s best friend, Josh. MJ and Josh were former Army Rangers who’d served in Afghanistan. Josh had mentioned that MJ was helping Kelsey learn self-defense moves to boost her confidence.

He helped Kelsey to the top of the fence, and she slid to the ground on the other side. Then he climbed up, sprang over, and jumped down. There was nothing wrong with showing a little athleticism to impress a beautiful woman.

Nostalgia filled him as he led her to the grandstand where he’d enjoyed a glorious evening with his father and Josh. The place wasn’t as grand as he remembered it, though.

Bushes had overtaken the seating area, poking up between the benches and leaving little room for them as they climbed to the top. He crammed himself between two branches and swept debris from a spot for Kelsey to sit.

A splinter punctured his middle finger, eliciting a grimace. He caught the tiny sliver between his teeth while turning to take in the eerie sights of the abandoned raceway.

With the splinter removed, he swatted at the branches of bushes that poked his arms and back. He stretched his neck and shoulders before pulling in a cleansing breath. The scent from the bush over his head reminded him of new mown hay. Releasing a slow breath, he recalled how much joy this speedway had given him decades ago.

“People packed this place back when my dad brought Josh and me here.” He could almost hear the thunderous crowd cheer while a man yelled into the public address system. In the last minute, the second-place car surged forward to win the race by inches. “I loved the smell of the exhaust fumes that filled the air that night. I still love to hear the roar of a souped-up engine.”

Her laugh seemed reserved. To keep that from worrying him again, he scanned to his right, stopping at the dilapidated snack shack. His mouth watered at the memory of eating hot dogs piled high with mustard and sweet-tasting relish. A movement at the far end of the track changed his sentiments from nostalgic to curious.

A green van — similar to the one he thought had followed them during the hour drive from Peach Blossom to the Tulsa restaurant — passed the weather worn garages, rumbling to a stop at the center of the oval track.
Kelsey pulled him down, so the bushes hid them. “I saw that van at the restaurant.”

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been paranoid. “Yeah, me too.” He placed a hand on her back as they peeked around the bush and watched the van’s passenger side rear door slide open.

When a booted foot kicked out a heap of something, Greg and Kelsey recoiled into each other’s grasp. A man in a dark suit rolled several times before pushing to his knees. The man’s hands were tied in front of him.

A tall guy — wearing jeans, a muscle-hugging T-shirt, and the boots that had kicked the man from the vehicle — jumped out. The guy’s posture resembled that of a soldier or a law-enforcement officer. He held a gun to the back of the tied-up man’s head. Mercenary? Assassin?

Kelsey gasped, and Greg pushed her farther down behind the bushes.

Order Now!

<< Go Back