Erik sighed deeply. The reason he had made Belana face her feelings for Nicolas Reed was because if she had dropped him because she feared commitment, and the misunderstanding that broke them up was not as monumental as Belana had described it, then she was allowing her mother to win. Allowing Mari to have an adverse affect on her life, when Mari never wanted to be a part of her life made no sense to Erik. By no means should Mari have that much influence. He would do everything in his power to prevent it.
The waiter arrived. He cleared his throat because Erik was still deep in his own thoughts. “Good evening, sir. Would you like to hear the specials?”
“No,” said Erik. “Just bring me two cheeseburgers, fries and vanilla milk shakes.”
Belana liked comfort food after a show closed. Something in her was in mourning whenever a show ran its course. Carbohydrates gave her an emotional boost. Plus, she only splurged a few times a year; every other day of the year she stuck to a healthy diet.
“Right away, sir,” said the waiter, a thin, middle-aged black man with a thin, graying mustache and absolutely no hair on his head. He wore the customary uniform consisting of a white shirt, black slacks and black comfortable shoes.
When Belana returned, looking refreshed, she sat down to a meal that had just been brought to their table. She smiled at her brother. “You’re an angel.”
Erik smiled knowingly. “Running an extra five miles is worth it.” He, too, liked to stay in shape.
They both said silent prayers before beginning to eat. Erik watched Belana attack her burger and smiled. “So what did you decide in the bathroom? To continue our conversation or ignore it altogether?”
Belana swallowed. She wiped some burger juices away from the corner of her mouth with the cloth napkin. “I’m not going to ignore it. But what can I do? It’s been eight months, he’s probably moved on. He was dating someone else when I ran into them, remember?”
“That doesn’t mean he’s dating her now,” Erik said around a mouthful of burger. Belana frowned at his poor table manners. When they were kids he used to gross her out by showing her the food in his mouth while he was eating. At least he’d stopped doing that.
Seeing her expression, Erik swallowed and took a sip of his milk shake while he awaited her response. When she still didn’t say anything, he said, “Chicken?”
“I would be humiliated if I phoned him to try to get back together with him and he’s involved with someone else,” she admitted. She took a big bite of burger and chewed slowly, very slowly, letting her brother know that she would not be replying to any antagonistic questions any time soon.
Erik knew her, though, and decided to eat in silence. When her plate was clean, she would have no excuse not to answer his questions.
Halfway through their meal, Julie sauntered over to their table. “Is everything to your satisfaction?” she asked, smiling at Erik.
Erik was pleased to be interrupted. His sister wasn’t making an effort to be a pleasant dinner companion. “Hi, Julie,” he said, giving her the benefit of his sexiest smile. “Yes, thank you, everything’s great.”
Julie sighed and tossed her long, wavy red tresses over her shoulder. “Okay,” she said, drawing out the word as if she were reluctant to have to go. “Let me know if you need anything, and I mean anything.”
Belana noticed the stress she’d put on the word “anything” and had nearly choked on a fry. Her brother, charming devil, smiled suggestively at Julie, and said, “I surely will.”
Belana kicked him underneath the table.
When Julie had gone, Erik frowned at his sister. “That hurt.”
“I meant it to hurt,” Belana told him. Finished eating, she pushed her plate aside and pulled her milk shake forward to concentrate on it. “If you’re serious about Ana, you can’t go around flirting with waitresses. You see? That’s what I mean about men. I thought you loved Ana, and yet you can’t resist toying with the affections of an innocent bystander.”
Erik laughed shortly. “Who said I was in love with Ana? I am in fantasy-love with Ana. There’s a difference. And there’s no harm in a little flirting.”
“Until you take it to the next step, and believe me, Julie wants to take it to the next step. If you’re serious about Ana, I’ll help you. But I’m not going to help you get a date with Ana if you insist on behaving like a hound. She’s been hurt enough by men who didn’t know how to be faithful to one woman.”
“She has?” Erik asked.
“Don’t you know it’s the bane of the beautiful woman’s existence? Men want to be with beautiful women because they look good on their arms and make them the envy of other men. But beautiful women have a very hard time finding that one special guy who’ll love them for what’s inside, not for how they look.”
“Ana told you she’d been hurt before pretty-boy actor broke her heart?”
“A couple of times,” Belana told him. “So if you’re going to win Ana’s heart, you need to be unimpressed by her looks and get to know who she is on the inside.”
There was a contemplative expression on Erik’s face. He twirled his straw around in his milk shake, thinking. Then he looked across the table and met his sister’s eyes. “I’d never do anything to hurt her.”
Belana smiled, satisfied. “I’m glad to hear it. She’s going to be back in town in about three weeks. I’ll invite you both to dinner.”
“No,” said Erik.
“No?” cried Belana, surprised he would object to her fixing him up with the woman of his dreams.
“No,” her brother repeated. “A dinner designed for us to be in the same room at the same time, and it’s just the two of us invited, will look contrived. I’ll wait until one of the family dinners during the holidays when there will be lots of people around. I don’t want her guard up before I can even begin to plead my case.”
“It’s your call,” Belana said, resigned. “But it’s August. There are three months before Thanksgiving. What if she meets someone else?”
“She won’t,” Erik said confidently. “We’re meant to be together, I feel it.”
“I felt that way about Nick,” Belana reminded him. “But he apparently didn’t.”
“That you know of,” countered Erik. “You’re too chicken to ask him.”
“Yes, I am,” said Belana.
“Then you’ll never know,” said Erik with a sad note to his voice. “Look, Belana, I can’t force you to do anything, but I have to say this. If you can’t get over your cowardice and go after Nicolas Reed if you really want him, then Mari wins. Even though she has managed to stay out of your life all these years, she will have ruined it.”
The arrival of their waiter saved Belana from having to reply to that. “Can I get you anything else?” he politely asked.
“No,” Erik told him. “Thank you.”
The waiter promptly placed the check on the table. “Thank you for your patronage. Please come again.” He smiled faintly and walked away.
Erik picked up the check, put