by Karen Cimms
She made a show of fanning herself. “Oh. My. God. What a hottie! Tall, built like he was carved out of stone. Dirty blond hair he wears pulled back into a ponytail. He’s quiet, serious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile, to be honest, but I gotta tell you, one look and he could incinerate your panties.”
“Diane!”
She laughed. “Hey, I’m married, not dead. Wally told me to stop bringing drinks and snacks up to the barn when they’re working. I figure he’s on to me.”
“Since when do you schlep drinks and snacks up to the barn?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m trying to picture this smoldering hottie you’re describing, and I’m pretty sure Wally hasn’t brought anyone like that into Blondie’s. In fact, he doesn’t sound like anyone from around here.”
“That’s because he just moved here. Wally knows him from the track and they hit it off. He was a pretty highly ranked driver, but he wrecked last year. Wally said it was so bad, they couldn’t believe it when he climbed out of the car on his own. Nothing but cuts and bruises, although that was it for him. He gave up racing.”
“Who could blame him?”
She shook her head. “Not me. I’d kill Wally myself before I’d let him kill himself behind the wheel.”
I snorted. “That makes no sense, but I get it.” I stared into the remnants of my glass. How was it already half empty? “I think I might be drunk.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“So this guy went from a track rock star to mechanic?”
“Pretty much. You know Dylan Holgate?”
I grimaced. “Lorraine’s husband? I didn’t know he raced.”
“Not him. It’s his brother, Chase. Wally says he bought half of Dylan’s Sunoco station.”
Given my intense dislike for Lorraine Moynihan, which went all the way back to tenth grade, I didn’t frequent her husband’s gas station. Likewise, neither she nor Dylan ever came into Blondie’s or my mother’s restaurant. Lorraine probably wouldn’t let her husband within ten feet of me, especially after what had happened back in high school.
“I still hate that bitch,” Diane muttered, as if she were suddenly the one with psychic powers and could read my mind. “And Skanky Stankevich.”
Callie Stankevich, or Skanky as we used to call her, had been Lorraine’s best friend in high school. They were seniors when Diane and I were sophomores. Callie hadn’t taken it very well when Jeff, her boyfriend of three years, had dumped her for me.
“I still can’t believe those two besmirched my high school record.” Diane said, slurring her words.
I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. “Besmirched? I think both our records were besmirched long before Lorraine and Skanky got us suspended.”
“Maybe yours was, but I’d never been caught before. I thought my mother was going to kill me. Although even now, the feel of my fist connecting with Lorraine’s cheek . . .” She curled her hand and held it up as if it were a prize. “Those were the good old days.”
“You are drunk. That was only six years ago. But I’ll never forget how you came to my aid,” I said. “For barely clearing five feet, you’re pretty scrappy.”
“Damn straight. Lorraine called you a whore. She had it coming.”
We’d been in the girls room after school, where I was checking the piercing I’d just gotten on my tongue—I still can’t believe I’d done that. Diane was sitting on the sink watching when Lorraine, Callie, and two of their friends had come in.
I don’t remember who said what to who, but it got ugly fast. Unfortunately, since I’d already been in trouble several times that year, the principal believed them and not us, and Diane and I got suspended for fighting. Turned out my high school record was pretty much toast, anyway. By the end of the summer, I was knocked up, and Jeff and I were through.
I leaned back and took in the night sky. Venus was shining brightly. Either the conversation or the alcohol was making me melancholy.
“You ever regret some of the things we did back then?”
“Nah. You?”
“Nope. I wouldn’t trade Izzy for anything. And yanking out a handful of Skanky’s frizzy brown hair was worth the three-day suspension.”
Diane’s chuckle was pure evil. “Totally worth it.”
She raised her plastic glass in a drunken toast, clumsily hitting the rim of mine, and sloshing much of what was left of my margarita onto my hand.
“Here’s to my partner in crime. May we keep kicking ass and taking no prisoners.”
I giggled. “Damn straight.”
She drained her glass and tossed it off the deck.
“A-fucking-men.”
Chapter Fifteen
The first time I saw Rain Storm in the pit at the race track, it was love at first sight.
Okay. That’s a lie. It was lust—pure, unadulterated lust. Rain is the kind of woman a guy looks at and thinks, Yeah, I want to hit that. Not that I’m some kind of pervert or anything. I just know how men think. And any guy who says he doesn’t think like that when he looks at a woman like Rain is either lying or gay.
Case closed.
But if I’m being honest, it was her laugh that hooked me. She has a great laugh. Musical. Like notes ascending the scale. It’s just so damn sexy.
It was early in the season, and I was going over the engine of the Jackson brothers’ number 57 when I heard her laugh. At first, I thought somebody had brought their kid into the pit. When I looked up, my heart did one of those things like at the carnival—you know, the strongman’s game? You hit the base with a mallet, and the little puck flies up the tower and hits a bell at the top, then drops back down again. That’s exactly what it felt like.
She was tall, with these tight jean cut-offs, a low-cut top, and a pair of black cowboy boots. She was soft in all the right places and hard and firm where it mattered. Her hair was that white blond you know has to be bleached, and it was scraped back into a ponytail and looped through the back of a baseball cap. I couldn’t see her eyes—she was wearing huge, dark sunglasses—but she was beautiful, and she had this wide, pouty mouth that just about made me want to cry.
If I were enough of a Neanderthal to believe in such a thing as a woman who was asking for it, I would’ve said there she was, standing right in front of me.
Truth was, all she would’ve had to do was crook her little finger, and I’d have dropped my torque wrench right there to follow her wherever she wanted me to go—on my hands and knees, if she’d asked.
Too bad she was hanging off the arm of some other guy.
No one bothered to introduce us, so after she and her friend left, I asked Wally about her. He smiled, and I was pretty sure I could read his mind too.
“That’s Rain,” he said. “Rain Storm.”
I laughed. “What is she? A stripper?”
He shook his head. “No, but she could be.”
“I’ll say.” I was having a hard time watching the sway of her hips as she walked away.
“I think her parents were either trying to be cute, or they were hippies. Can’t really remember. Her mom owns a luncheonette near the industrial park. She works there during the day and then at Blondie’s a couple nights a week.”
“Is that a strip club?”
He clapped me on the shoulder and laughed. “I think somebody needs to get laid. Naw, it’s just a neighborhood bar. Used to be more of a shot and beer joint, but since Rain started working there, it kept getting busier, as you can imagine. Now it’s quite a popular little hot spot. She tends bar.”
Familiarity tugged at me, and if she was the girl I remembered from the sandwich place—the one who’d made those awesome cupcakes—this clown was all wrong for her.
Rain and her friend disappeared into the crowd. Heads turned as she passed.
“What’s his story? He doesn’t look like the kind of guy you usually see in the pits.”
“Who, Preston?”
I snorted. “Preston?” He even had a
clown name.
“Hey, don’t diss my man. That’s his name painted across the side panel.”
I’d been working on the car since the beginning of the season, but I’d never paid any attention to whose name was painted where. I leaned back to read the side of the car: Jamison Architectural Associates Inc.
“He’s an architect?”
“I guess,” he shrugged. “All I know is that he’s loaded. I just thanked him for the check and told Moose where to paint his name and how big to make the letters. I don’t know that anyone who sees it around here will ever need an architect, but if he wants to put up some green for the show, who am I to judge? Personally, I think Rain put him up to it.” His smile slipped a little. “She’s a good girl, a real sweetheart—a heart as big as those tits. I’ve known her for a long time. She and my wife have been best friends since they were in diapers. Let’s just say she hasn’t had it easy. And with Preston, I think she’s just looking to get hurt again.”
“Why’s that?”
“Diane says he’s got a longtime on-again, off-again girlfriend. It’s supposed to be over, but Diane thinks he’s just shining Rain on.”
I was stunned. “Seriously? Gotta wonder what she must look like.”
“I saw her once. She couldn’t hold a candle to Rain. Actually kind of mousy-looking.”
“Next to her, I imagine most women would look kind of mousy.”
“Maybe—but then again, I’m married to a redheaded spitfire, so I’m good.”
Right. Wally’s wedding. I’d taken Jennifer. Trying not to look as if I’d just been kicked in the nuts, I flipped my wrench in the air and caught it.
“Yeah, you’re a lucky man.”
I could no longer see Rain, but still I stared off in the direction she had headed.
“So, Blondie’s, huh?”
Wally nodded. “Why? You suddenly a little thirsty?”
“Man. You have no idea.”
Chapter Sixteen
I got into the habit of stopping at Blondie’s for a beer on my way home. It was a small neighborhood bar located next to the municipal airport. The blue collar clientele was about a sixty-forty mix of men to women, and the owner looked nothing like you might expect. She had short gray hair, and wore squeaky, rubber-soled shoes, and thick-lensed glasses. When she wasn’t simply abrupt, she could be downright rude.
No wonder she hired attractive bartenders.
Rain wasn’t working the first few times I was in. The first night she was, I ended up sitting at the wrong end of the bar, and the old lady waited on me. Still, it gave me a chance to check out Rain without appearing obvious. She was definitely the girl from the sandwich shop and the same one I’d run into outside the bathroom at Wally’s wedding.
She was even more beautiful than I remembered, as well as a bona fide flirt. She smiled and fawned all over her customers, and they practically drooled whenever she walked past.
They probably went through a lot of napkins in this place.
On Wednesday, I went straight to Wally’s after work to tune up the car for Saturday. It was almost eight thirty by the time we finished. When Wally suggested we grab a beer, I told him I was going to pass since I hadn’t had a chance to grab dinner.
“C’mon. I’ll buy you a beer. If we get there before nine, the kitchen should still be open.”
“Is the food any good?”
“What do you care?” He gripped me by the shoulder and gave me a friendly shake and a wink. “I think your favorite bartender’s working tonight.”
When Wally and Bobby and I walked into Blondie’s fifteen minutes later, it was like an episode of Cheers. Cries of “Walter!” and “Wally!” went up around the room, and Wally waved like royalty greeting the masses. I trailed behind him and Bobby to a seat on the far end of the bar.
“Evening, gentlemen.” Rain flashed a smile that I could feel all the way down into my boots. “Bud, Bud—and you?” Her perfectly shaped eyebrows formed a question.
“Heineken.”
“Oh, a big spender.” She winked, then grabbed a bottle from the cooler and opened it before filling two glasses from the tap for Wally and Bobby.
Wally wrapped his big mitt around his glass. “Rain, sweetheart, this is my friend Chase. He’s on the pit crew now.”
She held out her hand, showing long, slender fingers and bright pink nails. She clasped my hand a bit longer than I expected. When she did, I could have sworn she not only looked into my eyes but deep inside of me.
She narrowed her gaze a bit, then shook it off and released my hand slowly.
“Nice to meet you, Chase. So you’re new around here.”
It sounded like she was telling me instead of asking me. I nodded. “A couple months.”
“You know Dylan Holgate?” Wally asked her. “Owns the Sunoco? Chase is his brother. They’re partners now.”
“Right.” She nodded. “I don’t really know Dylan, but I remember Lorraine from high school.”
The way her smile faltered, I got the distinct impression she wasn’t a fan of Lorraine’s. My brother’s wife was an acquired taste, one I had to admit I hadn’t developed yet—but hey, if my brother was happy, that was all that mattered. I hadn’t been too lucky in that department, so I wasn’t one to talk.
“Sweetheart,” Wally said. “Chase hasn’t had dinner yet. Is the kitchen still open?”
The clock hanging on the wall near the restroom must’ve been on bar time and showed it was a little past nine. According to my watch, it was ten till.
“Not really, but I can make you something. What would you like?”
“I don’t want you to go to any trouble,” I said, even though I was starving.
“It’s no trouble. Irena’s probably closed the grill down already, but I can probably whip you up a cheeseburger real quick in the frying pan. That okay?”
“If it’s no trouble.”
She touched my hand. Again, she lingered—not that I minded. “No trouble at all.”
As I waited, the owner stuck her head out of the kitchen and glared at me. I hoped she paid Rain well, because without her, I couldn’t imagine the place would still be in business.
“How’s your hamburger?” Wally asked a little later. Rain was on the other side of the bar, waiting on customers who’d just walked in.
“Delicious.” I was actually a little surprised. She’d added sautéed mushrooms and onions, melted some Swiss cheese on top, and then hit it with a little barbecue sauce.
“See anything else you like?” he asked.
I smiled as I chewed, pushing the food to one side of my mouth so I could speak. “Definitely.”
“Listen, Diane’s having a surprise birthday party for Rain on Friday at the house. You should come.”
“What about her boyfriend?”
He shook his head. “Not coming. Although it killed Diane to invite him, he said he couldn’t make it. Come. What’ve you got to lose?”
“I don’t know. I’m not much for parties these days.”
“C’mon . . . If nothing else, you get a free meal. Diane, her mom, and Rain’s mom have been cooking like crazy all week.”
“Yeah, but a birthday party? That’s kind of weird. I don’t really know her to go out and get her a present, and I’ll look like a jerk if I don’t get something.”
Wally shook his head. “That’s not my area of expertise. How about I ask Diane and see what she says? If she says you should get her a present, I’ll just tell her to pick something up she thinks Rain will like. Okay?”
I wanted to see her again, so this was a no-brainer. I nodded.
“How much would you want to spend?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. A hundred?”
“Jesus. You’ll scare the shit out of her! She’ll think you’re some kind of psycho. A hundred! How about twenty?”
“Yeah, whatever. I don’t know. Whatever Diane thinks is best.”
“Then you’ll come?”
For another chanc
e to spend time with Rain? I smiled as I reached for my beer. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Chapter Seventeen
I swore up and down that I was surprised, but I wasn’t. If there were ever a time I was certain I was psychic, it was times like this. I felt bad, especially knowing all the trouble Diane went through, but I’d known for two weeks that something was up.
After I arrived and everyone jumped out and shouted “Surprise!” at me, I scanned the room for Preston. My disappointment was probably obvious to everyone, but I tried hard to keep smiling through the gifts and the cake. The party was a special gesture, and I was disappointed in myself for not being more enthusiastic.
Diane would’ve invited him, although she wouldn’t have wanted to. I wasn’t going to ask, though, because it would’ve hurt too much to hear her tell me he couldn’t make it.
He’d finally finished the project in South Carolina and was home now—at least until his father found another project for him to manage. I had a feeling things were back on with Suzanne again, but I refused to bring it up. He had taken me to dinner last night to some French restaurant just over the state line in Pennsylvania. I had to let him order for me, since I only had a year of high school French, and none of that included what one might order in a fancy restaurant. At least he didn’t try to get me to eat octopus or snails this time.
I’d assumed dinner was my gift, but when we got back to my apartment, he gave me a heart-shaped diamond pendant. He said he’d wanted to give it to me when I was naked so it would be the only thing I was wearing.
I’m sure it was expensive, but I felt cheap when he fastened it around my neck and it fell between my bare breasts. Despite no evidence even suggesting it, I couldn’t help feeling like the other woman. Call it intuition or my hit-or-miss sixth sense, something nagged at me.
Worried I was about to be swallowed up by some sort of melancholy, I slipped outside the first chance I got. It had rained earlier, but now the moon was playing hide-and-seek with the clouds as they passed. The sky was an inky black, and a handful of stars winked down at me. I fingered my necklace, raised my face, and closed my eyes, thinking about my dad. A smattering of raindrops from the tree above me kissed my face.