Drive

by Stephanie Fournet

  Gray Blakewood gave her a friendly smile before turning back to the clerk who was placing a small velvet display case of — she could now clearly see — engagement rings.

  Rainey kept her distance. Even though she was more than a little star-struck, she knew what it was like to have a stranger barge in on a personal moment. Years from now, Mr. Blakewood and the little boy would look back on the day they’d chosen an engagement ring together — obviously for someone they both loved very much — and that memory didn’t need to include her.

  She stood back and waited until an older gentleman stepped into the showroom from the back offices and addressed her.

  “May I help you, miss?”

  Rainey strode forward to greet him, keeping her voice low so that she wouldn’t intrude on the ring-selection process the little boy had overtaken. “Yes, I was hoping you could engrave a wedding band — preferably today,” she hedged. “The wedding is Saturday.”

  The man fished a pair of glasses out of his front pocket. “That shouldn’t be a problem,” he told her with a grin. “Anything in the name of love, right?”

  “Right,” she said, grinning back.

  Chapter 30

  Ten days of Los Angeles was more than enough.

  This thought occurred to Jacques as he and the rest of Heroine were crawling through traffic on their way to Santa Monica to film their third — and last — video of the trip. Yes, the weather in Southern California was perfection. And it had been cool to see Hollywood. They’d gone to the Hollywood Bowl one night after filming and seen Belle and Sebastian and Spoon. JAG had arranged for the four of them to have a box in the Pool Circle just off the stage, which had been pretty amazing.

  They’d stayed at The Grafton on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, and Jacques had to admit that the concert-themed wall mural in his room probably did give him the ego stroke the record company had intended.

  But the pace of the last week-and-a-half had been brutal. And the director JAG was using was the worst kind of douche.

  And Jacques missed Rainey.

  He’d felt a twinge of homesickness as they’d merged onto the interstate headed to the Santa Monica Pier, and he’d spotted the marker for I-10. It was strange to think that if he got on the road in the opposite direction and just drove straight, he’d be home in about twenty-four hours.

  Jacques was lost in this fantasy when his cell rang. Hoping it was Rainey, he fished the device out of his pocket as he rode with the rest of the band in the back of a hired car. To his disappointment, the caller wasn’t Rainey, just a number he didn’t know, and he was about to decline the call when he saw the words Bowling Green, KY under the digits.

  His body suddenly rigid, Jacques swiped the screen and put the phone to his ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, sir,” said a squeaky voice. “My name is Ray Lopez-Craine, and I’m calling for Rainey Reeves.”

  Holy crap.

  If Jacques hadn’t been trapped in the back a Chevy Tahoe, he would have shot to his feet.

  “H-hi, Ray,” Jacques stammered. “My name’s Jacques. We met at your mom’s salon… I’m really glad to hear from you.”

  “Hi, Jacques. I remember you. Is Rainey there?”

  Jacques let out a measured breath. Was Ray calling with or without his mother’s knowledge? Did it matter? He’d reached out. That was the most important thing.

  “She’s not, Ray. I’m actually in California right now, and she’s back home in Louisiana.”

  “You’re in California?” the boy asked, sounding impressed. “Where? Like up in the Redwoods? Or in the southern part of the state? Have you seen the La Brea Tar Pits?”

  Jacques stifled a laugh at his avid curiosity. “Actually, I’m in L.A. We drove by the La Brea Museum a few days ago.” He let his voice drip with regret. “But we didn’t have time to stop for a tour.”

  At his words, all three female members of Heroine turned curious eyes on him. He sat in the third row of the Tahoe next to Kara, which meant that Kate and Des had to crane around in their middle row to eye him.

  “Oh, that’s too bad,” Ray said, clearly disappointed on his behalf. “One of my favorite Mary Pope Osborne books is Sunset of the Sabertooth. That’s book number seven in the Magic Tree House Series. In that series, Jack and Annie have a magic tree house — obviously — and it allows them to travel through time. In Sunset of the Sabertooth, they go back to the Ice Age and see all kinds of extinct animals.”

  Ray paused in his speech to heave a heartfelt sigh. “I’ve wanted to go to see the La Brea Tar Pits Museum since I read that book. Did you know that in addition to the Smilodon fatalis, which is the scientific name for the saber-tooth cat, the museum houses fossils of more than six hundred species?”

  This time, Jacques found it harder to smother his laugh. “N-no, Ray, but that’s fascinating.”

  “If you’re still in the Los Angeles area, you should seriously consider visiting,” the ten-year-old advised.

  “Ray, I have to say, you’ve made a very good case for a visit to La Brea. I’ll try to get there before we head home.”

  And Jacques found that he wasn’t just giving the kid lip service. This was Rainey’s long-lost brother. Jacques would at least go to the gift shop to buy a souvenir for him.

  “You won’t regret it,” he promised. Jacques heard some muffled words in the background. “Hold on, please, Jacques. My mom is trying to talk to me…”

  As Jacques heard the sound of the phone being covered, his heartbeat sped up. This had to mean that Gloria knew about the call. Didn’t it? Which meant that she’d given it her blessing?

  Which might mean that she was ready to help Rainey and Holi…

  “Jacques, she wants to talk to you. Can I hand the phone over?”

  He leaned forward, his body tense with excitement. “Y-yes, yes, Ray, of course.”

  The discordant commotion of a phone being handed off by a ten-year-old filled Jacques’s ear.

  “His name really is Jacques,” he heard Ray say.

  A long moment passed, and Jacques wondered if Gloria would hang up on him. But she spoke at last. “Hello? Jacques, is it?” she asked, her voice tight and uncertain.

  “Yes, yes. I’m Jacques Gilchrist,” he offered, wanting with all of his being to keep her talking. “And you’re Gloria Lopez-Craine.”

  Three female sets of eyes widened on Jacques. Kate, Kara, and Des all knew enough of the story of his and Rainey’s cross-country trek to be able to piece together the significance of his phone conversation.

  “Yes,” Gloria said flatly. “Thank you for taking our call.” Jacques wasn’t so sure how thankful she was, but every muscle in his body was taut with gratitude. And hope.

  “I’m very glad to hear from you.” He tried to keep his eagerness in check. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off.

  “Mr. Gilchrist, the reason Ray called was to get in touch with Miss Reeves, but sometimes…” She drew out the word. “…Ray gets a bit distracted.”

  “He seemed excited to hear that I’m in Los Angeles,” Jacques offered.

  “Yes, the La Brea Tar Pits,” she said, an amused but rueful tone claiming her voice. “I know all about them.”

  Jacques’s body relaxed a fraction, and he allowed himself a smile. The woman definitely didn’t sound angry the way she had two weeks ago.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering why I let him call,” she said softly.

  “Honestly, ma’am, why is not as important to me as the fact that you did.”

  She might have huffed a laugh. Jacques couldn’t be sure. “Since your… uh… visit, he’s asked me every day about calling, and up until yesterday, every day I’ve said no.”

  “What happened yesterday?” he asked, unable to help himself.

  She let go a weary sigh. “Yesterday, for the first time in ten years, I heard from Dylan Reeves.” She sighed again. “Not his assistant. Not his attorney. But the man himself.”

  “
You did?” Jacques could not disguise his surprise.

  “Mmm-hmm. He was calling, of all things, to apologize for the way he’d done me and Ray ten years ago,” she said, sounding like she still didn’t believe it had happened. “He told me that the day after you made your visit to Bowling Green his daughter Rainey paid him a visit, asked about me and Ray, and when he finally copped to what had gone on between us, your Rainey told him what she thought of him and where he could go.”

  “Yep,” he muttered. Of course, Jacques knew all of this — except the part about Dylan Reeves calling Gloria. That was news, and from what he knew of the man, wholly uncharacteristic.

  “He said he’d been trying to reach out to her since the two of you left Memphis, but she won’t take his calls.”

  This Jacques did not know. It surprised him a little that Rainey had never mentioned her father’s efforts to reach her, but the two of them had had limited time to talk over the last ten days, and with the way Rainey had left things in Memphis, Jacques wasn’t surprised that her father no longer rated high on her list of discussion topics. Besides, Jacques knew all too well how successful Rainey could be when she wanted to avoid someone. His guess was that she’d blocked his number completely and didn’t even know how often he’d tried to reach her.

  “He told me, too…” Her tone grew somber. “…about the son he lost and about his other daughter. The one who’s sick.”

  “Holi,” Jacques offered, his heartbeat speeding up. “Yeah, she’s the reason we reached out—”

  “I know the reason,” she said, her voice going stiff. “That doesn’t mean I appreciated the way you went about it.”

  “That was my idea,” Jacques admitted quickly. “And I apologize. We should have been upfront.”

  “I can hear you’re eager to make amends, Mr. Gilchrist. And you’ve probably already figured this out for yourself, but I’m not the type to forgive and forget lightly.” Her tone was hard as flint. But then it softened. “And then there’s Ray.”

  Jacques held his breath and silently cheered for Ray. Gloria seemed to be waiting this time for a response, so he gave her an honest one.

  “You don’t have to know Ray for very long to recognize that he’s a special kid,” Jacques said. “Rainey fell under his spell in just five minutes.”

  He heard her reluctant chuckle on the other side of the line. “Yeah, he does have that effect,” she mused. “For two months, all I heard about was how much he wanted a lab puppy for his tenth birthday. Then the two of you show up, and then all I hear about is him wanting to meet his sisters. Cliff and I gave in and got him the puppy, hoping he’d let up about the two of them, but that didn’t work.”

  Jacques had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He was definitely going to the La Brea Museum to get something for that kid.

  “Mrs. Lopez-Craine, if I may say so, meeting Rainey is one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

  Still facing him, Kate rolled her eyes, but Des gave him a warm smile, and Kara placed a hand over her heart. “That’s so sweet,” she whispered.

  Kate glared at her sister and gave her the universal signal to shut up.

  Gloria heaved a beleaguered sigh. “Well, if she won’t speak to Dylan because of how he treated us, I’m guessing you’re probably right. And…” She paused, and Jacques could hear her mouth working over the phone. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible. “…if the other one… doesn’t make it, and we did nothing to help, Ray would never forgive me.”

  This statement knocked the words right out of him. “Does Ray understand her situation?”

  “Not the particulars. The last thing I need for him to do is start researching diseases on the internet,” she said wryly. “But he does know that running a test on his blood might show a way of helping her, and he’s all in.”

  Jacques could have cheered. Instead, he silently punched the air, making all three of his bandmates jump. Rainey was going to be ecstatic when she heard the news. Could he wait to tell her in person on Thursday so she could throw her arms around him and kiss him senseless?

  Would it be selfish to wait in order to surprise her?

  What if he could do better than surprising her with the news?

  “Mrs. Lopez-Craine, has Ray’s summer holiday started yet?” Jacques asked, an idea taking shape.

  “Yes, his last day of school was Friday, so you can about imagine the effect free time has had on his pleas,” she said sourly.

  This time, Jacques couldn’t stem his chuckle, and to his surprise, Gloria Lopez-Craine chuckled with him. He looked at his bandmates who were all still watching him with silent, rapt attention. They were on their way to shoot their third music video in ten days. And in eight weeks, they’d be on tour. What he was about to do might be foolish, but in the moment, it felt like the universe was smiling on him. If there was ever a time to try his luck, it was now.

  “What are you and your family doing this weekend?”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, as we start our descent into Lafayette, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you.”

  “Is that a swamp?” Ray asked, pressing his finger against the oval-shaped window. In the last two hours — the first in George Bush International Airport and the second on the flight from Houston to Lafayette, Ray had pelted Jacques with about eight thousand questions. The first thousand of them had been about the model fossil set Jacques had bought for the kid at the La Brea Museum, which, to Ray’s credit, had been extremely interesting.

  Even Kate had enjoyed it.

  It had taken a fair amount of convincing to get Gloria and her husband Cliff to agree to accept Jacques’s offer to fly them in. And then it took more than a little finagling to actually coordinate their schedules so that the Lopez-Craine family and the band Heroine could connect in Houston and take the same flight to Lafayette.

  Where Rainey would be waiting at the airport.

  Jacques leaned over Ray’s seat. “Yes, it’s a swamp.” It had probably been Gloria’s idea of retribution to give into Ray’s pleas to have Jacques switch seats with his mother on the fifty-five-minute flight.

  “Are there alligators in it?”

  “Almost certainly.”

  “You said we’re going to take a swamp tour on Saturday in Lake Martin,” Ray said, nudging his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. “I looked it up on the internet, and I saw that it’s a bird sanctuary that’s home to more than two hundred species of native and migratory fowl.”

  Jacques grinned. Although he was insatiable for information, no one could say talking with Rainey’s little brother was boring. “Yep. That’s true. We might not see as many large groups of birds because it’s June, but we’ll see plenty of alligators.”

  Behind his glasses, Ray’s eyes grew wide. “We will?”

  “Guaranteed.”

  Ray blinked. “Alligators are rare in Kentucky, and I’ve never seen one.”

  Jacques quirked a brow at him. “Does that mean you’re excited?”

  Ray nodded fiercely.

  Jacques gave him a look of mock suspicion. “Maybe even more excited to see an alligator than to meet your sisters?”

  The ten-year-old scowled. “Of course not!”

  His genuine affront had Jacques laughing and shaking his head in apology. “I’m just teasing, buddy. I know you’re excited to see them.”

  The plane dipped a little in its descent, and Ray gave Jacques a sly smile. “We’re almost there.”

  “Yep.”

  Then the boy narrowed his eyes at Jacques. “You’ve kept it a secret? You haven’t given Rainey even one little hint?” he asked.

  Jacques tamped down on his grin. “I just told her that I have a surprise for her.” He held up his hand as though taking an oath. “I swear, she thinks it’s something from Cali
fornia.”

  Seemingly satisfied, Ray sat back in his seat and was remarkably quiet as the plane made its approach and finally touched down.

  Jacques dug out his phone to text Rainey. As soon as he turned off airplane-mode, a text from her came through.

  Rainey: I’m here! Can’t wait to see you!

  He grinned. In the days since Jacques had called and found Rainey behind the wheel of her sister’s car, she’d driven daily, going farther each time. The three-mile trip to the airport was nothing to her now, but Jacques still marveled at her progress. He texted back.

  Jacques: Just landed. Can’t wait to hold you.

  He felt a thrill as he typed the words. Not at their admission, but at their promise. Before boarding, he’d asked Gloria and Cliff to hang back with Ray for a minute or two so he could reach Rainey first. He wanted to be with her when she saw them, he’d explained, but more than that, he wanted a minute to have her to himself. To hold her and kiss her and reconnect with her before he gave her this surprise.

  It had been a long two weeks.

  The line of passengers stretching to the front of the plane, each jostling to grab carry-ons and laptop bags, seemed interminable. Jacques finally stood, retrieving his own bag and let his eyes meet Ray’s.

  “Two minutes, dude, remember?”

  Ray held up his wristwatch. “One hundred twenty seconds starting… now!” He pressed a button, and his watched beeped.

  Shit.

  The kid didn’t mess around. Ever. Jacques hurried out of the plane and up and onto the skybridge. People in front of him, dragging roller cases and pushing strollers, moved at a snail’s pace. He bit back the urge to push past them or growl in impatience.

  But then he was in the terminal, and Rainey beamed at him from not thirty feet away. Of course, a glass partition and a security checkpoint separated them, but she was there, and Jacques’s own smile could not be contained.