Raine really wanted to protest but she was feeling too wet and uncomfortable to even try. She was happy that she didn't when they got to Noah's place. She started an embarrassing sneezing jag that wouldn't let up.
After she was introduced to Dotty she showed her to a blue guest room and handed her a pretty summer dress that still had on its tag.
Raine headed for the bathroom and took a shower; it was the second one she was having for the day and then blow-dried her hair.
She only begun to appreciate how nice the place was after her hair was dried and she was standing in the bathroom. The dress fit a bit loosely but it was okay. Really rich material. She smoothed it along her legs. It came to her knees.
A knock on the door startled her.
She cleared her throat. "Come in."
The housekeeper came in with a wash basket. "I can pop the clothes in the dryer for you," She said quite friendly. "Noah is asking you to join him for breakfast."
Raine nodded. "Thank you. I had no idea that the weather would be so terrible when I left out this morning."
Dotty gave her a smile. "Well, at least you are out of it now. How are you feeling?"
"A bit off." Raine was surprised to hear herself confessing. Dotty seemed to inspire confidences. She exuded a warm, caring air. "My throat feels scratchy."
"I might have something for that," Dotty said, "hasn't failed me yet—virgin coconut oil and lime juice…stops viruses in their tracks. It works fairly quickly, come on down and I'll give you some."
Raine dutifully followed her, walking through the luxuriously appointed house thinking that she was still in a dream somehow.
She followed Dotty to a kitchen that looked like it came right out of the leaves of Chef Digest.
Noah was sitting at the nook, reading the paper.
"Hi Raine," he put down the paper when she approached.
"I am going to treat her with my pre flu treatment," Dotty said behind her. "She'll be as right as rain by tomorrow."
Noah chuckled. "Nice play on words Dotty."
He indicated the chair across from him. He gave Raine a once over. "You look dry again."
"Yes, I am. Thanks." Raine sat in the comfy chair and looked around the kitchen, her eyes wide.
"What do you do on rainy days like this?" Noah asked after watching her for a while.
"Sleep, watch TV, read," Raine said hoarsely, "but that is if I don't have work or school. I have both today. I ditched them yesterday so I can't do so again today."
"I'll speak to your boss," Noah said smugly. "As for school, you'd better call to find out if it is going to be opened today. At any rate, you are stuck here with me until the rain lets up.
Raine looked at the playful glint in his eyes and shook her head. "You look too pleased about this."
Noah smiled widened. "I can think of worst things to do than spending a day with you."
"We seem to be doing a lot of that lately." Raine frowned. "I was thinking about it last night and I...I think I should quit."
Noah didn't show any emotion to her ill thought out plan. She didn't even know she was going to say it.
"You found another job?" He asked calmly.
"No," Raine sighed, "but..."
"The other day, you begged me to keep you on," Noah said contemplatively. "You needed this job, were your words."
Raine shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Yes, but..."
"But... I am getting too close," Noah said, a pleased look on his face. "I am this close to busting wide open all your tightly held secrets and you need to escape me."
How on earth had he come up with such an accurate conclusion? Raine looked at him unable to say anything.
Noah stared back at her knowingly. "Don't quit. Whatever you are hiding from me, I promise that I will find them out on my own because I now know where to look."
Dotty walked into the kitchen soon after.
And the question froze on Raine's tongue. What did he know? Was it Dean's book that gave something away?
She thought about it all through the breakfast and especially when Noah looked at her with a smug little smile on his face.
****
It rained all day and Raine found that after the initial misgivings about what Noah might know, she got quite comfortable with him. Dotty made it easier with her sharp wit and her friendly conversation.
Besides, she reasoned that if Noah knew anything he wouldn't be calmly sitting with her and smiling. She got to know him a good deal better too, being in his home environment. She now knew so many things about him, even those things that he probably wouldn't want her to know, courtesy of Dotty, who knew him from he was a little boy. Dotty had no problems telling her stories about Noah.
She knew that he was a quiet boy who was not very talkative.
"We had to look for Noah in a room," Dotty said. "He would just sit and observe us and because we knew he had the heart problem we had to check ever so often that he was alive!"
Raine had glanced at him when Dotty said that, but Noah just shrugged. He was doing the same thing now, observing the two of them as they interacted, only pitching in to correct Dotty about an exaggeration or two.
And then Dotty left them.
Noah got up and stretched. "Want a house tour?"
"Sure." Raine nodded eagerly.
And there she learned about Noah's stepfather and his obsession with making his home look like five star hotels. When they found themselves in the casual living room, where Noah said he spent most of his time, he indicated to the bookshelf and the television. "You can hang here all day," he offered, "The room you were in earlier, you can sleep there whenever you feel like it. If you ever get hungry, Dotty will show where snacks are." He smiled at her, "mi casa es su casa."
Raine sat in one of the plush settees. "What are you going to do?"
Noah sat beside her and sprawled out his legs. "I don't know, watch you do whatever you are doing."
"That would be creepy." Raine smirked.
Noah chuckled. "It would be."
He turned on the stereo to instrumental jazz and clasped his hands above his head and looked at her. "I started writing again."
"Cool. That's great." Raine clapped her hands excitedly. "What's the new book about?"
"Books not book," Noah said in anticipation. "A series of historical novels. Those well preserved houses in Paddington with the old designs got me thinking about days gone by.
And I saw this family tree at the back of Dean's diary and an essay about his grandparents who were freedom fighters and I thought I should do a generational series. A fictional family but base it on the Long's.
Start with the family in the early days, maybe three generations ago and then trace their family tree, their love, losses and triumphs. Give Dean's family a happy ending. I think they deserve one."
Raine nodded. "That would be cool."
"Yes." Noah nodded. "I think I will use the house as an anchor. You know, start from it's building and the first time the family lived there and all of that."
"Great." Raine nodded. "I am sure it will be good."
Noah reached across the settee and laced his hand in hers.
She didn't dare move after he did that. She sat stiffly and waited for him to say something but he didn't. She wondered if he could feel her pulse trying to tear through her skin.
She was forgetting to breathe.
He looked at her solemnly. "I hope one day I'll gain your trust, Raine."
Raine swallowed.
He released her hand and got up, "I need to show you the pictures from Dean's diary."
She cleared her throat and nodded. Noah left the room and was back quickly. He showed her the pictures and she confirmed that the young married couple with the retro hair style were Dean's parents.
The family picture was of Dean, his big brother who drowned in a tank on the farm, and his parents. She lingered over the picture of her and Dean.
"That's us." She grimaced. "I looked so you
ng."
Noah nodded. "And innocent. You have always had that beautiful smile with those dimples?"
Raine flushed. She tucked her feet under her on the couch. Suddenly the air around them was tense. Noah put the pictures in his shirt pocket and then leaned back in the settee.
"What else did you read in the diary? Was there anything about me?"
Noah nodded. "Yes, just some ramblings…he would love you forever et cetera. He was really into his Raine. From the moment I saw you I knew that you were special to him."
"And what about that other girl..." Raine fiddled with the edge of a cushion, "was there anything about her?"
Noah squinted at her contemplatively. "I am not sure...he mentioned a Cassie. You know any Cassie's, Raine?"
"Yep." Raine sighed in relief. "Of course, there was Cassie Cole, she lived in the hills in a Rastafarian compound. She cut her hair one Wednesday in the school bathroom, she said she was tired of the lifestyle. Her father and uncles came to the school thinking that the teachers were the ones who asked her to do it. That was an exciting day.
Then there was Cassie Forest, she was in a grade above us. We still talk, she lives in Mobay now."
Noah smiled. "Well then..."
"You still have feelings... about her?" Raine asked, she really wished that hint of jealousy would not be in her voice.
Noah frowned. "Not really, it's fading." He absently rubbed his chest. "Imagine that? I had this driving feeling now it is almost gone."
Raine nodded. "That's great and you are writing again. Your life is going back to normal."
Noah laughed out loud. "There is nothing normal about my life now, Raine."
He moved closer to her and cupped her chin, "I am still curious. I have always hated suspense. Especially when it has to do with my life."
He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her briefly. Her lips tingled at their contact. She almost whimpered when he drew away from her and looked at her through half masked eyes.
"That's one mystery solved." He brushed his fingers against her lips. "What on earth are we going to do about this?"
"We could stop seeing each other." Raine suggested weakly, because that was the last thing that she wanted. She liked Noah.
"Not possible," Noah murmured. "I think we should see each other more. Maybe constant exposure will cure us."
Chapter Fourteen
It wasn't happening. Noah realized three weeks later, he parked under a light in the parking lot at Raine's school at eight in the night; it was near the time her class would normally end.
He sat in the car and waited. He always tried to be a bit earlier than her class ending time so that she wouldn't have to wait on him.
He had turned into her chauffeur and he was happy to do it. Her car engine needed to be overhauled and he had told Carson to go slow with the repairs. She had to grudgingly accept his offer of taking her wherever she wanted to go.
He dropped her to work in the mornings, stayed at the bookstore and worked until it was time for lunch and then he dropped her to school and came back to pick her up. The constant exposure thing was not creating the desired effect. He was thrust deeper into her world and he was almost sure now that his heart, which was already predisposed to loving her, had picked up right where it left off.
He wondered idly if Dean's heart was given to a happily married man if he would still seek out Cassandra Green.
Would he still have recognized Raine when he found her? Would he leave his wife and children in a quest to find the elusive Cassandra Green or would he struggle to love the people already in his life?
It sounded like an idea for a book. Noah tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He saw book ideas even in the mundane. Raine was right, he was almost back to normal.
However, the Cassandra conundrum was still foremost in his mind. He was half satisfied that Raine had no idea who Cassandra Green was and he had the distinct feeling that talking about Cassandra Green ticked her off somehow, so he had stopped mentioning her.
But he still thought about her.
He still felt at odd times a weakened jab, a small tightening of his heart and he knew it was the 'Cassandra' feeling.
He turned on the radio and closed his eyes. He had started his research into the Long's family history. Dean's detailed family tree had given him loads of information. There wasn't anything interesting so far. He would have to create something, which was the fun part.
He opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the dashboard, it was two minutes to Raine's class ending, the visitors section of the parking lot was slowly being filled with people who were coming to do pick ups.
He recognized the white SUV parked beside his, it belonged to Nicole's boyfriend. Nicole was bubbly and extremely hyper he had never met anybody quite like her before.
She was Raine's only friend at school.
He looked to his left and froze. There was Bradley's heavily tinted Mercedes Benz S Class vehicle. What on earth?
Was he here for Raine? Why didn't he consider that the two of them would still be in touch?
He watched with a sickening feeling of shock as Bradley got out of the vehicle and came to the passenger side. He was arguing with someone.
Noah couldn't see clearly what was going on from his vantage point but he wasn't going to sit around and find out, what if that was Raine who had not been in class as he had thought but was out with her ex lover?
He got out of the vehicle and slammed the door unnecessarily hard. He had no right to be this angry. He and Raine had not declared that they were officially together or anything. He was taking his time with her but this was worthy of a blow up.
He didn't step far toward the car before Bradley spotted him. He slammed the passenger side of his car door and spun around.
"Hey, Noah." He called to Noah as if they were long lost friends who hadn't seen each other for ages. And it was completely normal for them to meet in the parking lot of the local community college.
Phony. "What are you doing here?" Noah asked a tad bit too aggressively. His whole body was twitching with anger.
"I came to drop off a friend," Bradley said, "but she is telling me that her class is at the other side of the campus. I will just have to drop her around that end."
Noah narrowed his eyes and looked at him. "Really? You didn't come here to see Raine?"
Bradley acted surprised. "Raine comes to this school?"
Noah pushed his hand in his pockets and regarded Bradley; the guy was a good actor. He was extremely good. He seemed genuinely surprise.
Noah backed away to his car and leaned on it as he watched Bradley get back into his. The interior was dark and he couldn't get to see the profile of the person in the front properly. She had her head turned away from view anyway.
"Bye Noah," Bradley blew his horn and backed out of the parking lot as if he was being pursued.
Shortly after that students flooded the corridors of the Tourist Industry building. Classes were over.
He quickly spotted Raine and Nicole as they headed toward the parking lot. Tall Raine with her long sure strides and short Nicole almost skipping to catch up. She was dressed in a suit today because she had to do a presentation that she had been fussing over for the past week. She looked more like a young executive than a student. He could imagine seeing her like this in a couple of years. Raine was that focused on her future. He was confident she would get there.
"Hi Noah." Nicole grinned at him and waved. "How are you?"
"Good." Noah nodded, "and you?"
"Great! We slayed it!" Nicole said punching Raine. "We killed it. Mashed it up. Got an A for our presentation. Thanks to Raine here who the teacher called a perfect example of an up and coming marketing executive."
Raine rolled her eyes. "It was okay."
"She is so humble," Nicole said adoringly. "Bye Noah." She headed to her friend's car and Noah opened the door for Raine.
When he went around to his side of the car, he looked at her.
"Congratulations on slaying it."
Raine chuckled. "I was nervous. Nicole is just being Nicole, very enthusiastic."
Noah looked at her contemplatively. "And Raine is being Raine, not wanting to celebrate her achievements."
"I do celebrate my achievements!" Raine protested. "I plan to go home have a long hot bath—I never turn on the water heater for anything, but this calls for a celebration."
Noah chuckled. "I hear you."
"Do you have any idea when my car is going to be ready?" Raine asked.
"I don't mind being your chauffeur."
"I know and I am grateful," Raine said, "but I like the autonomy of doing my own thing."
Noah nodded. "Does doing your own thing involve Bradley?"
"Huh?" Raine looked at him. "Where'd that come from?"
"Saw him in the parking lot tonight. He claims he didn't know you go to school here but that's kind of impossible seen that you were his lover for years."
Noah looked at her as he said it. He noticed that she flinched when he said lover.
He started the car.
Raine turned to him twisting against the seat belt. "I don't know why he was here."
"Okay," Noah said tiredly. "Montego Bay is a small town, you are bound to meet up on past lovers at any given time."
Raine didn't take the bait; she shifted and faced the front of the vehicle holding herself stiffly as if she wanted to protest.
He smiled. That pose was Raine's way of telling him that she was not going to answer any more questions about her relationship with Bradley.
It was kind of predictable how she clammed up when he mentioned Bradley. It was as if an iron armor descended over her body and she was afraid to move. It was quite melodramatic and a bit prudish.
It wasn't the first time that he had the thought that Raine was not a typical gold digging ex mistress type.
As a matter of fact, she was so far from that stereotype he found himself thinking that she was in a category all her own.
The word virginal came to mind, but that wouldn't be accurate. She had Dean in her past and Bradley in her near present.
Scarlett Heart (The Scarletts Page 11