Mixed Signals

by Ivy Raine

  Chapter 11

  “I just don’t think you should’ve been out that long. Especially after what happened the other night. Besides, you’re still on the clock, you know.”

  Rachel just stared at Junior. “I’m not on the clock twenty-four hours a day. If I am, I want some major back pay.”

  “Where are you going now?”

  “Out for a quick run before the rain comes in. Do you mind?”

  “With Susan?”

  “You know, Ryan. This is getting extremely annoying. Susan’s not even here right now. She went into town with Ty to buy a dress for Elizabeth’s wedding.”

  “That’s not-.” He stopped himself. “Do you mind if I come with you?”

  “To run?” She looked down at his feet. “Like that?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Rachel wasn’t so sure. “Why don’t you just change into your running shoes?”

  “I didn’t bring them.”

  It was useless to argue with him. “Don’t blame me if you get blisters.”

  The air hung heavy with morning mist, and the growing clouds overhead threatened to douse them with a cool shower. Maine was exhilarating and Rachel loved every inch of it. Until Junior started to complain.

  “My feet hurt. Can we stop?”

  “Not stopping,” Rachel panted, pointing to the dark sky above them. “You go back.”

  “Not before we talk. Ouch!” Ryan hopped on one foot while emptying his left shoe of a pebble.

  Rachel slowed down. “So talk.”

  “I just wanted to tell you that you have a raise. If you decide to stay,” he added quickly. “Dad told me what happened with Molly last night.”

  “You can thank Susan for that.”

  “Yeah. I want to talk to you about that, too.”

  Oh, the irony. His final bitch session. She couldn’t wait until he found out her bags were packed, the taxi scheduled, and her flight booked to Pennsylvania.

  “I think I seriously need to stop.” Ryan hobbled in a fast walk. “I’m bleeding, I tell you. Can you please stop?”

  Rachel groaned. “I told you not to wear those. You would’ve been better off bare foot. Sit down!” She shoved him back into the soft grass along the trail and carefully pulled off his leather dress shoes. “They’re definitely bleeding.” The blood soaked through the toes of his socks. “Why did you do such a dumb thing?”

  He winced when she peeled off his socks. “It didn’t seem like such a dumb thing at the time.”

  “In hindsight, it was a really dumb thing, and I’m sure you’ll protect yourself and never let it happen again. Right?”

  Ryan looked up at her and saw something else written on her face. “That was the plan.”

  “You should’ve known better. All the signs were there.” Rachel tried to be angry and vowed she wouldn’t miss him, but the tears started to come. “But, I blame the shoes most of all. If they’d been the right ones for your feet, that never would have happened.”

  Ryan reached up and touched her cheek. “Are we still talking about the shoes, or are we heading off in another direction?”

  Rachel pulled away and drew her knees up to her chest. “Don’t do this to me, Ryan. I’ve worn the wrong pair of shoes before, too, and I have no intention of putting them back on.”

  He caught her wrist. “Someone left something on my pillow last night. A scrapbook. It’s filled with pictures of two little girls. One with red and one with raven hair. I watched them grow up over a hundred pages or so, and they turned out pretty wonderful.” A deep crimson rose up Ryan’s neck. “There was also the redhead’s diary. I didn’t read it all.” Shame filled his words. “I didn’t need to. And this.” Ryan reached into his pocket and pulled out Susan’s copy of their blood contract.

  “That rat! She told me she had it framed on her wall.” She laughed through the tears. “Those spots of blood seemed so much bigger when we were little.”

  “I can’t tell you how guilty I feel for having invaded somewhere I had no right to be. I should’ve trusted you – believed in you.” He folded the contract up and put it back in his pocket. “Susan must really love you. She trusted me with her diary, for God’s sake!” Ryan’s voice faltered and a quake rocked through him. This strong, stoic man crumbled into a thousand little pieces right there in front of her.

  Rachel reached up and brushed his messy hair back from his face. Her heart stung with emotion. Susan had bared her soul, every deep desire, want, and need, good thoughts and bad, with no regard for herself. Rachel knew the types of things Susan wrote in her diary, and knowing this made it even more bittersweet. She’d allowed a complete stranger into the very core of her essence – all for Rachel. The love it must have taken for her to do that made Susan much more than a friend in Rachel’s eyes. “I love her. She’s my sister.”

  “I love her, too…and I love you.” When Ryan looked into her eyes, Rachel knew she’d finally broken into that sacred place in his heart – a place that she promised to occupy and nurture for the rest of her life.

  Ryan pulled her back into the grass and kissed her like she’d been gone for a very long time. The smell of the grass and of the dirt were like sweet perfume, and she engrained it into her mind so she wouldn’t forget a single detail of the moment. The soft patter of rain drops fell down around them, but it didn’t matter. Nothing could break the spell they were under – except a good dose of thunder.

  “Up! Back to the house! Lightning’s nothing to play with.” Ever the prudent one, Ryan dragged himself to his feet and grabbed Rachel’s hand. Though his feet were bare and bleeding, he pulled her along through the tall grass until they were safe under the side veranda.

  The cool, clean of the rain washed down all around them taking away the dust and the heat and the pain. Rachel watched it trickle through the pebbles and pour into the grate near her feet. That was her pain – and his – washing away, cleansing them and making them new for each other. This is the way they should have started –  with everything to give and nothing to regret. Rachel finally felt the trust and the warmth that she’d been longing for, and by the tender way he kissed away her tears, she knew he felt it, too. His bubble was finally broken – shattered into a million little particles by the warm sun peeking through the rain drops.

  “Look, Ryan! A rainbow!”

  Ryan looked up, but only for a moment. He wanted to burn the look on her face deep into his memory, where he would carry it with him every second of every day. He wanted it to be as clear in his mind when he was eighty as it was then.

  She caught him staring at her with those gorgeous gray eyes of his. “What are you thinking?”

  His arms tightened around her, and he whispered in her ear, “You know exactly what I’m thinking. I’m thinking, to hell with the long engagement, Miss Peters.”

  Ivy Raine loves writing, cappuccinos, and anything soft and fluffy. When she’s not writing, Ivy can be found doing one of two things: communing with nature or examining the backs of her eyelids – both extremely satisfying ways to spend a few hours of each day.

  Look for the sequel to Mixed Signals in Summer 2013! Rachel and Ryan find that planning their wedding isn’t as romantic and fun as they thought it would be. From the venue to the menu, nothing seems to go as planned. Throw in a few strange relatives, an unexpected guest, and a last minute disaster, and watch the tempers flare!