Page 53 of Comeback
“Alright, Dane,” Jack muttered. “Let’s not get into it in front of the girls.”
“Why the hell not? Shouldn’t they know the truth—that themomentthey need you the most, you’ll disappear into thin air and leave them hanging?” Dane growled.
Yikes.I wasn’t surewhatI’d walked into, but now I knew it wasn’t good. And I realized the reason Dane seemed so surly was because he’d been holding his anger back—but now it was all spilling out.
“Funny, hearingyoutalk about leaving a guy hanging,” Jack snarled, standing tall. The two men stared each other down, chest to chest, their fists clenched.
“The hell is that supposed to mean? How did I leaveyouhanging?” Dane fired back. “We’ve needed you for two years,Hath.Two years, we’ve been wondering where the hell you went. Finally find you, and whatareyou doing, anyway?” Dane gestured dismissively at Mackenzie and me. “Out here playing house in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere. That’s just great, man. I really hope you’re having a blast while the rest of us suffer,Captain.”
Reavo wrapped his arms around Dane and hauled him away. “Whoa,buddy. Take it easy. Hath’s right; not in front of the girls.”
An awkward and tense silence followed.
“Well, I think we should get going,” I stammered, scooping Mackenzie into my arms. “I’ve got work tomorrow.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” Jack said to me, without breaking his staring contest with Dane. “You guys wait here. We can finish this when I get back.”
“Um, nice to meet you guys,” I said as we headed for the door.
“You too,” Reavo said.
***
I buckled Mackenzie into her car seat and climbed in. Silently, I stewed with doubts and questions while Jack started the car and got us rolling. Dane obviously had a bone to pick with Jack—and his burst of outrage left me wondering,once again,if I knew anything about Jack at all. Dane’s words—that Jack will disappear the moment you need him most—echoed in my head, haunting me.
I didn’t say a word until Jack’s house disappeared from my side view mirror.
“Okay,” I said, “what the hell was that about?”
Jack shook his head. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Justonce,Jack, I’d like to get a straight answer from you.”
“But you already know everything,” he said.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s obviouslynot true. Stop BS’ing me right now and tell me what those guys are doing at your house.”
He shrugged. “They just wanted to visit.”
“Visit? It looked like they wanted tofight!”
“Fight? Nah.” He chuckled. “Well, maybe Dane wants to throw down …”
“Okay, why is Dane so mad at you? What was that about you disappearing into thin air?”
Jack took his time and chose his words carefully. “Dane’s pissed because he looked up to me.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Like I told you earlier. I retired after Soupy died.”
“Really? Retired?” I asked. “Because Danelaughedwhen I asked if he was retired like you. He made it sound like you left the team hanging. Did you really not tell them you were retiring?”
“I did what I had to do,” Jack said.
“Oh my God,” I whimpered, rubbing my temples. “It’s like talking to a brick wall.”
“What do you want me to say?”
