He rubbed his palm over her stacked hands, gave her a pat, and pulled away. Rainey opened her eyes. If she’d doubted his ability to simply be her friend, the foundation of that doubt had just sustained a mighty crack. In the span of two days, he’d proven himself to be the best friend she’d had in years.
“Here you go.” Sonya materialized beside their table and set down identical plates of golden waffles, snowed under heaps of powdered sugar — just the way Rainey liked them.
“Oh, man,” Jacques chuckled appreciatively. His face lit up, and Rainey felt the last measure of distress leave her at his widened eyes.
Sonya topped off their coffee mugs before turning on her heel and disappearing again, and Jacques picked up his knife and fork.
“What do you say to decimating this breakfast and then sending Gloria Lopez-Craine a message request?”
A thrill of nerves shot through her, but Rainey nodded. Jacques must have noticed her apprehension because his smile softened again.
“I’ll help you,” he promised before cutting an enormous bite of waffle and devouring it with a grin.
Chapter 17
“She doesn’t want to talk to me!” Rainey’s voice pealed through the phone, and Jacques heard panic and her struggle to keep it in check.
A whole twenty-four hours had elapsed since Jacques had helped her compose the message, making introductions and urging Gloria Lopez-Craine to call Rainey. In the short missive, they had only mentioned Rainey’s father briefly, wanting Gloria Lopez-Craine to understand that his daughters sought her because of a matter of life and death.
Maybe the life and death part had scared her off.
Jacques had been having coffee at the kitchen table with Pal when she’d called, but he moved through the back of the house and out to the back porch for privacy. The sunlight stung his eyes. Heroine had played at Jefferson Street Pub the night before to a packed house, and he’d still been wired when he tried to climb into bed after three.
“What did she say?” he asked, rubbing his eyes against the glare.
“She said, ‘I want absolutely nothing to do with Dylan Reeves or any of his family. MY FAMILY’ — and she wrote that in all caps—” Rainey said, her voice trembling. “‘—consists of my husband and OUR son’ — all caps. ‘Please do not contact me again.’”
Jacques blew out a breath. “Wow,” he muttered, wondering what Doc Dylan Reeves had done to the woman to leave her like that.
“I mean,” Rainey said, her voice leveling out and coming off stronger, “what the hell did my dad do to her?”
He chuckled. “I swear, I was just thinking the same thing, but I didn’t want to say it out loud.”
“Pfft. You can say whatever you want about my dad. I won’t be offended,” she said flatly. “But what am I going to do?”
“Did you respond to her reply?” Jacques asked, cringing even as he did.
A pause fell over the line. “I couldn’t.” Her voice sounded hollow.
“That’s probably a good thing.”
“But why? I need to tell her about Holi. If she knew the whole story, she might feel more inclined to help.”
The urgency in her words was so intense Jacques could almost taste it. The need to help her became nearly as imperative as his breath. And wrapped up in this mission with so much at stake, Rainey needed help. His sense was that if she reached out to Gloria Lopez-Craine again, the woman would pull back. Hard.
They had to find another way to reach her.
“What about sending her a letter?”
Rainey’s sigh broke over the phone. “Where would I send it?”
Jacques didn’t hesitate. “You could send it to the salon,” he said, the idea growing. “You could even send it registered mail, so she’d have to sign for it. You’d know that she got it.”
Even as the words left his mouth, Jacques started to question the wisdom of that call. Couldn’t she just chuck the certified letter in the trash and go about finishing a highlight or trimming someone’s bangs? It didn’t mean she’d have to respond. She wouldn’t even have to read it.
“What do you think about calling the salon?” Rainey posed.
Jacques pictured Gloria Lopez-Craine hanging up and then forever refusing to answer any call from a 337 area code.
And then a plan came to him fully formed, and he shared it without hesitation.
“What if we showed up at the salon?”
The silence that stretched over the line felt eternal, but it probably only lasted two or three seconds.
“What?” Shock echoed around her word.
It was Sunday. Heroine didn’t have a show the following weekend because Kara was — finally — graduating from high school. He’d miss a few rehearsals, and he didn’t care. He also knew that Kate might grumble aloud, but secretly she’d understand.
“Let’s drive to Bowling Green and show up at the salon.”
Rainey made a choking sound. “W-wait, are you serious?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it,” Jacques said, grinning because he could picture the look of disbelief on Rainey’s face. And then he was smiling wide because he knew she’d say yes, and after she said yes, he would get to spend whole days by her side. “We could leave today.”
“I-I-I…” she stammered. “…I don’t know what to say. What… what would we do?”
She was nervous, that much he could hear. But he also picked up on an excitement in her voice that proved him right.
“We’d take a couple of hours to pack a bag and buy some provision. I mean, it’d be a road trip after all—”
“But I can’t just leave Holi. She needs my help,” Rainey argued.
Jacques thought about the couple he’d met the night before. Holi’s boyfriend seemed one-hundred-percent committed to her wellbeing. “Do you think Ash could hold down the fort for a few days?”
The line went silent for a moment. “Well… I… guess so. Yeah…” She didn’t sound completely convinced.
“Do you think he’d want you to find your brother? Maybe find a match for Holi?”
“Of course.” This time, she sounded certain.
Jacques felt a surge of triumph. “Then call him. We’ll leave as soon as we—“
“I’d have to pay you,” she blurted, bursting his bubble.
“You aren’t going to pay me,” he leveled. “We’re friends.”
“Jacques, if we drove to Kentucky and back, it would take two days at minimum,” she argued. “I can’t ask you to do that—”
“You’re not asking me. I’m offering,” he said. Then he shook his head. “No, I’m insisting.”
But he should have known she’d put up a fight. “I can’t let you do that. If you’re driving me for two days, it means you’re not driving anyone else. I can’t keep you from earning money.”
“It’s a road trip. It’ll be like a vacation.” The words sounded lame even to his ears. Who vacationed to Bowling Green, Kentucky?
“Bullshit,” she muttered. “I’m paying.”
“You, Rainey Reeves, are not paying me a dime. You’re going to hang up, pack your bags, and be ready to go in two hours.”
“I’m paying for gas.”
“Fine. You’re paying for gas.”
At her sharp inhale, Jacques figured she had expected him to fight a little harder. She didn’t speak for a full ten seconds, and though it nearly killed him, Jacques waited.
“Can we really do this?” Her hushed voice scarcely carried the words.
Jacques stifled a chuckle. “Why not? We’ve got time and means.”
“I just—” Her words halted and, again, he waited. “—don’t… go anywhere.”
His mirth dried up in the face of her apprehension. “Well,” he spoke softly. “If we go, you won’t be able to say that anymore.”
In the silence that followed, Jacques was pretty sure he could hear her breathing, and it wasn’t a calm, measured breath. She was afraid, and he guessed that her fears were too many to num
ber. Some black and menacing.
“You’ll be okay,” he vowed. “I’ll make sure of it.”
He waited to see if that would sink in before trying again. Now that the idea was taking form and had become a real and tangible future, Jacques wanted it with a kind of fierceness that was new to him. So fierce, he dared not let her glimpse it for fear of spooking her.
But she said nothing, so he started weighing the next words in his mind. Anything he’d say about routes, when they’d arrive, where they’d stay would only add to her anxiety. Jacques knew this implicitly. He looked up at the sky, the day a bright blue that seemed to spread on in a cloudless forever.
“We couldn’t ask for better weather for a road trip,” he murmured.
Rainey blew out a breath. “Okay,” she said, conviction clear and strong in her voice. “When should I be ready?”
A reckless smile broke over Jacques face. “I’ll pack a bag, hit the store, and be there in two hours,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound as ridiculously euphoric as he felt. “What’s your favorite car snack?”
“Pringles.” No deliberation. No hesitation. Pringles. How was it that everything about her was adorable? Even her favorite snack? Jacques feared he wouldn’t be able to speak through his smile.
“Pringles. Got it. What about drinks?”
“Water… and maybe…” she trailed off, now hesitating.
“Maybe what?” If she asked for bottled elixir of the gods, he’d find it for her.
“Maybe… um… Capri Sun?”
Jacques lost it. Laughter ricocheted out of him with unstoppable force. “Oh, that is so awesome,” he said, trying to recover.
“You’re laughing at me,” Rainey said, but, thankfully, he could hear the grin in her voice.
“No, I swear I’m not,” he said, still laughing. “Pringles and Capri Sun. Got it.”
“Original Pringles and Tropical Punch Capri Sun. But I’ll take Berry if they don’t have that.”
Jacques attempted to catch his breath. “You got it. Anything else.”
“No, that’s good. I’ll make sandwiches,” she said, apparently forgiving him for his fit of laughter. “We have cold cuts. You like roast beef?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned at the thought of her making him a sandwich.
“How do you dress it?”
If Jacques were making himself a roast beef sandwich, he’d probably spend fifteen minutes engineering sandwich perfection that consisted of thin-sliced onion and tomato, mayo, brown mustard, and horseradish on bread toasted medium brown, but he’d be happy with whatever she made.
“However you take yours is fine.”
“You sure?” she asked with skepticism. “Because I really like horseradish on roast beef.”
He laughed again. Rainey was the perfect woman.
“Why are you laughing?” She sounded mystified.
“Sorry…” Jacques cleared his throat and tried to get himself under control. “I love horseradish. Go crazy.”
“O…kay…”
“Okay,” he said with finality. “I’ll see you in two hours.”
She paused. “We’re really going to do this.”
“Yeah. And it’ll be good.” He didn’t really know where the trip would take them, and he hoped like hell they’d succeed in talking to Gloria Lopez-Craine and at least meeting Rainey’s brother. It might not lead to a match for Holi, but he’d have whole days in the car with Rainey, and Jacques could only look at that as a gift.
And as hard as it would be, Jacques vowed to himself that he would do this as her friend. He wouldn’t take advantage or try to manipulate the situation to make them more than friends. If this brought them closer and helped her to trust him more, great. But he wouldn’t even allow himself to imagine more than that.
“Okay,” she said, echoing him. “See you in two hours.”
They hung up, and Jacques made it two steps inside on his way to tell Pal when his phone rang again.
“Hey,” he greeted.
“I can’t go,” Rainey said, distress pinching her voice.
Jacques froze. “Why not?”
“Because Holi can’t take care of Archie, and I can’t board him for two or three days. He hates going to the kennel. He won’t eat. It stresses him out completely,” she said, sounding pretty stressed out herself.
“So, we’ll bring Archie,” he said simply.
A gulping noise came over the line. “You’d… you’d do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I do that? Archie’s great. We used to take my dog Ace with us on trips all the time.”
“And you don’t mind having him in the car?” she asked.
“Nah. It’s cool.”
“Or having to stop to walk him every few hours?”
Jacques chuckled. “Nope.”
He heard her give a long exhale. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” she said, her voice going soft with awe.
“It’ll be fun.”
“Okay.”
“See you soon.”
“Okay.”
They hung up again. Jacques stepped through the living room and into the kitchen to find Floyd at the table with Pal. Floyd looked up at him and gave a jolt of surprise.
“Give it to me,” Jacques said, ready to hear Floyd’s three words.
Floyd’s stunned eyes blinked at him. “Berry, Birmingham, and Best Western.”
Pal frowned, but Jacques could only grin. Apparently, he and Rainey would be staying in a Best Western for the night. One less thing to worry about.
“You goin’ somewhere, T-boy?”
“Yeah, I am. I’ll be gone two or three days.”
Pal tucked his chin in surprise. “With da band?”
“No,” Jacques shook his head. “With a girl.”
“De same one you been neckin’ wit coupla weeks ago?” Floyd asked, the drapery of his wrinkles lifting up into a smile.
“Or was it de same one you skipped breakfast fa yestaday?” Pal asked, narrowing his eyes at Jacques.
“There’s just one girl,” he said eyeing both men so they knew further questions — especially about neckin’ — weren’t welcome. “And I have to pack.”
Jacques stood in the candy aisle at Albertsons, weighing the merits of Starburst verses KitKat. Rainey seemed to like snacks that Jacques hadn’t consumed since childhood, and he wanted to surprise her with something sweet. As he stood deliberating, his phone buzzed.
Rainey: Are you getting ice?
Jacques: Yep. Need anything else?
Rainey: Don’t think so.
He studied the candy shelves in front of him.
Jacques: Tangy or chocolaty?
Rainey: In what context?
Her response forced his grin.
Jacques: Just answer the question.
Rainey: Chocolate. Unless it’s something to drink.
Jacques: Tangy drinks. Chocolate sweets. Got it.
Rainey: :)
He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and pushed the cart full of junk food around the corner. Of course, it wasn’t all junk food. He’d snagged a small bunch of bananas and a bag of trail mix that was just nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, and there was the bottled water. But with the two cans of Pringles, the bag of Sun Chips, the KitKats, and his six-pack of Satsuma Fizz Swamp Pop, his shopping run wasn’t going to win any nutrition awards.
Now he just had to find the Capri Sun. It hadn’t been on the same aisle as his soda or with the water, so he’d been cruising up and down the aisles until the candy caught his eye. But now he was in the canned foods, and the two-hour mark was steadily approaching.
At the end of the aisle, an Albertsons’ employee was stocking a flat of sweet corn, so he approached her.
“‘Scuse me, ma’am. Could you tell me where to find the Capri Sun?”
The woman straightened up, and while she didn’t face him, her shoulders turned in his direction, her head angling down to the left.
“Aisle seven. Third shelf,” she sai
d, speaking to the direction of his knees.
Jacques realized at once that she was autistic or challenged, so he stepped back to give her enough space.
“Thank you…” He found the nametag on her uniform. “Thank you, Lila.”
She nodded, still not meeting his eye. As he moved away, she spoke again.
“Zero cases of Capri Sun Tropical Punch.”
Jacques turned back. “What?” he asked, his spine tingling.
“Zero cases of Capri Sun Tropical Punch. Four cases of Capri Sun Berry 100% Juice.”
“Oh.” He swallowed, trying to process the moment. “Thanks.”
He’d just turned away a second time when he heard her again. “PEZ Dave (Despicable Me) Dispensers are on nine.”
Jacques was about to ignore her and head for aisle seven, but he found himself turning back instead. “Excuse me?”
Her body faced him now, but she still averted her eyes and spoke with her face tilted down and away. “PEZ Dave (Despicable Me) Dispensers are on nine. On aisle nine for nine-year-old boys.”
The hairs on the back of Jacques’s neck lifted off his skin and stood arrow-straight.
“Nine-year-old boys like Despicable Me PEZ dispensers?” He heard himself ask the question, but he couldn’t quite believe he had.
Lila the stocker didn’t respond, but the twitch in her shoulders could have been interpreted as a nod.
“Should I get some of those?” he asked, wondering now just how far this would go.
Again, the twitch.
Holy shit.
“Do I need anything else?” he asked, feeling like he’d slipped down a rabbit hole somewhere between candy and canned goods.
She twitched again. “First-aid kits are on three.”
He’d need a first-aid kit?
Rendered mute, at first Jacques could only nod. “Thanks. I’ll get that,” he finally managed. And he made stops at aisle three, seven, and nine before checking out. Growing up around Floyd had taught him not to dismiss what he couldn’t understand, but that didn’t mean that his encounter with Lila the Albertsons’ stocker didn’t give him the frissons. The trip was going to be an interesting one.
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