by LoRee Peery
He proceeded to prepare Mia for bed. When they tucked her in, Geneva gave Mia the present. She clutched the sparkly lavender pony in her fist. Geneva held Mia’s sweet gaze until she clenched her eyes shut, wondering if the pony’s silvery mane and tail tickled Mia’s cheek.
“Guess you and I better settle down as well. The drive home will no doubt take more energy.” He hesitated, then rested a hand on her shoulder and pecked her on the cheek. “Thanks for being here, Geneva.”
Flustered, she mumbled a goodnight and rustled down the stairs.
Geneva tried to get comfortable on the sofa bed in Penny’s downstairs sitting room. Sleep didn’t come easily.
She wondered about the day, pictured Frivolities. Geneva smiled in the darkness at some of the words she’d heard to describe their business: a dizzy daze, a little girl’s crayon drawing, a montage, feminine froufrou. The memory of Rainn’s reference to “doodads” elicited a chuckle.
She finally gave up on sleep and, when she heard Penny in the kitchen, sat up.
“Would you like some tea, Geneva?” Penny spoke from the doorway.
“I’d love some, since I can’t shut off my mind, wondering how things are at home. My sister has been ill. I wonder if she was up to going into the shop today, or if she had spent most of her time on the sofa.”
They got comfortable at the table. Penny’s kitchen movements comforted Geneva.
Penny filled their mugs and sat. “Tell me about your shop.”
“The Lord has been so good, providing this time in my life. I spend days and nights with my sister Lanae and my daughter Moselle. Frivolities became reality after Lanae and I saw an ad for an old building in downtown Platteville. She crochets and does handwork and bakes cheesecakes to die for. I design the nine-patch quilted aprons we wear, and missed donning one this morning. Moselle is a creative artist who messes with old things until they are new products. She came up with Frivolities Memory Boxes.”
“It all sounds interesting. I’m happy for you. What are the boxes exactly?”
“Collages in shadow boxes, some made to order and others Moselle puts together on her own.” She finished her tea.
The women went on visiting about Penny’s sister, and the men in Penny’s life. “You and Rainn seem comfortable with one another. I never had a male friend, and pretty much only talk business with them now. My husband kept me around because of who-knows-why. After he left, I decided I liked life better on my own.” She drew in a breath. “Lindsay never mentioned a woman in Rainn’s life. How close are the two of you?”
“Oh, we’re just friends. Actually, he’s a friend of Moselle’s fiancé.”
“Looks to me like he would like to have a deeper relationship with you. Tell me about Moselle’s father.”
Penny was easy to talk to and Geneva needed someone to listen to her heart, someone who didn’t live in gossipy Platteville. She motioned for Penny to sit still while Geneva rinsed out her cup and filled it with water at the sink. It sounded to her as though Penny’s ex and Bret had been cut from the same cloth.
“Actually, since he’s been gone,” she began as she sat, “I doubt I really loved my late husband. I deal with guilt over that. Bret seemed to consider my role in his life as someone meant to fulfill his needs.”
“Sounds to me like we need more comfortable seats. I’ll grab some water and let’s go in the other room.”
Geneva tried to position the couch cushions so she couldn’t feel their separation. The gap widened instead, reminding her of the division that had grown between her and her husband when she pursued her own interests. Moselle hadn’t needed her so much as she grew older and Geneva found things outside her home to do. Finally settling in, Geneva continued. “He even resented my desire to quilt, and saw no reason for me to seek a hobby to fill my time.”
In all honesty, she’d never missed her husband after he died. The house was quieter and less crowded. Familiar guilt flooded her.
“Over the years, for Moselle’s sake, I’ve pretended to miss Bret. But not for my sake.” Lord, forgive me if I wasn’t supposed to get this off my mind. And, please, keep Penny from saying a word to Rainn.
Other thoughts she kept to herself. The way he’d never made her feel beautiful. Bret had left her wanting, and longing for something more after they shared intimate moments. She’d tossed that one around and around like an old worn-out carousel.
She continued more to herself than to Penny. “Did the Lord just bring us together to give Moselle life? Or so I could have financial security?”
Penny talked of Lindsay and Mia, and her own sister’s health. They grew silent, listening to muffled city sounds.
Geneva sipped the last of her tea, and yawned.
“That’s my cue to say good night,” Penny said. “What’s left of it.”
Geneva lay back down, the blanket warm from where they’d been sitting. She pulled the cover up to her chin, no longer dreading the return drive to Nebraska. It would take longer, and be more difficult traveling with a child. At least she would have Mia to dwell on and not the treacherous wonder at how she reacted to Rainn. He made her feel like a non-stop hot flash. Nope, a power surge of heated emotion. Such warped, whirling thoughts turned to prayer.
Forgive me, Lord, please calm my anxious thoughts. And thank You for the blessing of Frivolities. Please help me know how to handle Mia tomorrow. Get us back to Platteville fast, so I can get back to work.
Rainn on My Parade
4
“Have you come to take me home with you?”
Geneva’s eyes shot open on full alert. “Good morning, Mia.”
“Uncle Rainn says my mother is away. We don’t know where. Uncle Rainn says you are my friend.”
Geneva sat up faster than she should have, and fought the wave of lightheadedness.
Mia’s pajamas were bright as sunlight, covered with canary yellow cartoon birds flying through a light blue sky.
“I’m sorry your mother isn’t here right now, Mia. But wherever she is, I’m sure she misses you.”
“Uncle Rainn says it’s time to hit the road.”
“Your Uncle Rainn is a smart man. But we have a problem.” Geneva pulled a goofy face and burrowed the tip of her finger into Mia’s tummy. “You and I are both in our pajamas.”
Mia giggled and looked down at her chest, wrinkling her chin. “Penny put out my clothes last night.” Quick as a wink, she raised her twinkling eyes to Geneva’s face. “I think I can beat you getting dressed.”
Mia pounded away on bare feet.
In the bathroom, Geneva heard Penny making quiet kitchen noises while she made short work of washing and moisturizing. Sunlight flooded the mirror and brought gratefulness for her latest trip to Purple Palace Beauty Spa, where Geneva had had her upper lip waxed.
Laughter gurgled forth. Don’t have to shave my legs much anymore, because the hair’s all gone to my face.
“What are you laughing about in there?”
Rainn?
Geneva opened the door a crack, peering out with the one eye that was made up. “The changes of growing older.”
“Stop putting yourself down. You look great to me.”
She opened the door wider.
His direct look roamed to Geneva’s feet. “Better than great. I’d add, mighty fine.”
She blushed and wondered if she’d ever stop. Her skin felt warm where Rainn’s gaze had touched.
“I borrowed the jeans from Lanae. They’re too loose now that she doesn’t have much of an appetite.” Too much information. What did it matter what he thought, anyway?
Rainn jiggled his eyebrows up and down before meeting her gaze. She couldn’t look away. What childhood accident was to blame for the scar above his left eye?
Fixated, the killer smile about did her in. It hit her deep inside, warming all the empty corners. She wanted to do whatever it took to keep that smile on his face.
His expression was hard to put into words, but she could tell he
liked what he saw. He searched deep beyond her glasses. She couldn’t guess what he sought.
No doubt about it. I’m in trouble here.
He must see her as someone special. With that one look, he made her feel more like a woman than Bret had in all the years they’d been together.
Mia wrapped her arms around one of Rainn’s legs, causing Geneva to go all slobbery in the heart again. His love and concern for his niece would make any woman soft toward him.
She peeked from around his thigh and looked Geneva up and down. Mia’s searching gaze strayed to Geneva’s bare feet, before she let loose of Rainn.
“Mia doesn’t have shoes on yet, either. I want my toenails painted dark purple, too. I have shoes that stick together. They work better than tying shoestrings.” She grinned and Geneva caught a glimpse of Rainn in her face. “Tying shoestrings would be too hard for Mia.”
“Well girls, we need to get the shoes on the feet so we can shake this city. I’m a man on the move.” He pointed over his shoulder. “Better finish the other eye.”
I would have forgotten. Geneva pictured herself going through the whole day with one eye made up and the other naked.
“What does shake this city mean, Uncle Rainn?”
“It’s just a silly expression, sweetheart. We are going to tell Penny thank you, and goodbye, and make sure your room is picked up.”
Geneva closed the door on Mia’s reply. She wondered again if she was up to traveling with the girl.
What if Mia loses it in a restaurant on the way home?
She’d seen enough programs on TV to know that special kids can really get wound up.
On the road later, Mia was so quiet and docile that Geneva wondered at her earlier anxiety.
They stopped for their first break outside Norman, Oklahoma. Geneva eased out and opened Mia’s door. When she unlatched Mia’s seat belt, the action knocked a row of ponies off their perch on the backpack beside her.
“My ponies are all messed up!” Mia let loose.
“The peace didn’t last long,” Rainn said, shutting off the engine.
Mia didn’t exactly throw a tantrum, but she made a lot of noise. Her high-pitched screeching grated on Geneva’s ears. Tears of frustration, helplessness, tension, and a flood of emotions knocked all her self-control back to Texas.
Keening, Mia tried to flap her hands against her hips while caught in the safety restraint.
“We can fix them.” Geneva attempted to gather the ponies into their original order, but she felt way out of her element.
Mia’s wailing intensified a decibel, or maybe ten.
Rainn reached through the opposite door to place a hand on Mia’s knee. “Mia. Hold still.” With a low voice, firm and controlled, he tried to calm her. “The ponies are all right. When we return from the bathroom, you can put them all in order again. We’ll wait for you.”
That’s all it took.
Geneva mouthed a thank-you over Mia’s head.
Mia cared for herself in the restroom, and they were on their way.
When they stopped for lunch, Mia found a pickle on her hamburger. She wailed, again. The burger slipped out of the bun before Rainn had a chance to inspect it, splattered down Mia’s front, and plopped onto her lap.
She screamed this time, in between the familiar screeching. It went on for what seemed like forever, and Geneva became frustrated all over again. She especially did not like the attention Mia’s noise brought to their table. But she put aside her own emotions and sensitive ears. “It’s all right, Mia. We can fix this. Uncle Rainn will get another burger with no pickle. ”
By following Rainn’s earlier in-control example, Geneva was able to calm Mia’s screaming. But it took too long. Every stare in the place looked on them with censure.
“Mia, please calm down so I can give you a hug.” Geneva tried hard to keep tears from her throat, and to talk with love and firmness.
“OK.” The little girl raised tear-washed eyes along with her arms, but remained stiff at Geneva’s touch.
“Once you’re quiet, we’ll go tidy up.”
All the while, Mia whimpered. Geneva pulled Mia next to her side.
Geneva smoothed Mia’s silky hair and murmured nonsense words, the coddling a comfort to them both. Geneva wobbled a bit, trying to keep her balance as she crouched next to the booth, trying to keep her knees from touching the floor.
“I’ve got the other burger. We can eat on the road,” Rainn said.
Geneva yelped when she felt a hand on her own head, stroking. Rainn. Unsettling her again, but he kept his hand in place, smoothing her hair.
Mia quieted. Geneva shot a relieved glance at Rainn. His hand went from her head to reach out and help her stand. She knew she was weak in the knees from him, rather than from the taxing position.
Soon, they were outside.
“Let’s get your bag open.” Standing at the back of the SUV, Rainn then offered Mia a choice of clothing. She agreed or shook her head over the proffered articles, and finally chose a purple butterfly shirt and jeans with embroidered flowers.
Rainn met Geneva’s gaze, exhaled, and tossed her a salute.
Mia had selected an outfit similar to Geneva’s. Mia changed in the backseat while Geneva kept watch for prying eyes.
Back on the road, they angled toward Nebraska via the Kansas Turnpike.
“We’ll be home before you know it. Penny for your thoughts?” Rainn said.
“Penny lives in Texas,” Mia piped up before Geneva could answer.
“You’re so right, big girl. I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around what to do first when I’m back at Frivolities.” She didn’t say how her thoughts were continually distracted by Rainn’s proximity. And his effect on her.
Something deep inside had shifted in the last day and a half.
Rainn was the cause. Sure, he needed her feminine guidance for Mia. Geneva could face that. But he also treated her as though he appreciated her as a person, not just for her capabilities, as far as Mia was concerned.
An unvoiced longing within was waking up. A yearning that had been squelched many years ago trembled to life. And it frightened Geneva more than investing her time and talents in Frivolities.
****
Rainn shot glances at Geneva. Watching her with Mia melted his heart. She was filled with the mothering instinct. His mom had never cared for him and his sister that way. It was obvious that Lindsay hadn’t had a lot to do with how Mia behaved. It was as though the Harris women had lacked a mother gene.
I thank You, Father, just for who You are. I thank You for Penny Shake and the way she has cared for my niece. I’ve never thanked You for Mia’s autism before, but maybe it’s a blessing, since she’s had such good care in her learning process. But my sister was negligent, he added as a distracted afterthought.
Rainn wanted to be off the road so he could pray properly. He didn’t dare consider Lindsay’s whereabouts while he had to concentrate on driving.
Or, think of Mia’s future if Lindsay was gone forever.
They arrived in Platteville with some daylight left. The days were getting shorter already. Rainn turned up the main drag. “I know Lilac Street is closer, and you probably want to check in with Moselle at the store, but could we get Mia settled first?”
“Whatever you think best, Rainn.”
He gave her close scrutiny. She looked tired. The lines were a little more defined around her eyes.
What was he talking about? A mirror revealed crevices in his face compared to character lines in hers.
“What? Is my eye makeup smeared?”
He wished she could view herself as he saw her. “Not a thing is wrong.” You’re beautiful.
Geneva drew in a breath as though he had spoken out loud. So much for hiding his feelings.
“We’re both road weary.” He took his hand off the wheel. “But no doubt you look better than I do.”
Mia mumbled, woke up.
He glanced in the rearview mir
ror. “We’re almost to my house, Mia, so could you gather up your ponies and put them in your bag, please?”
“Sure, Uncle Rainn. It was a long ride for Mia and all her ponies.”
“You’re right about that, sweet thing.”
Rainn drew Geneva’s hand into his.
“What—”
“Hush. Listen, please. I owe you big time for these two days.” At least she had let her hand go slack and wasn’t fidgeting to pull away.
He squeezed her thumb and memorized the shape. A woman’s hands were so much softer than a man’s. Geneva’s had a few extra bumps, though, representative of a life’s work with her hands.
When she started to jerk away again, he spoke. “I want no argument. I’m taking you to dinner.” He gave her time to form a protest, but she remained quiet. “I don’t know how soon we can pull it off, but I want it to be just the two of us. So let’s introduce Mia to Moselle and Eric right away. I have a feeling she’ll take to Moselle because, well, like mother like daughter.”
“Don’t let Moselle hear you say that.”
This time he let her pull her hand free.
“Rainn, I don’t know if I’d be comfortable going out to dinner. If we took Mia it wouldn’t look like a date.”
“Well, it is a date. What’s so wrong with dinner? We all have to eat.”
Her mouth opened in the shape of an oval. She gasped.
He chuckled, enjoying his effect on her.
“A date?” she squawked, then swallowed.
Geneva exhaled what sounded like a storm cloud of built-up tension. “But people will talk.”
“People talk, anyway. It’s human nature. As long as we don’t shack up we’ll be just fine.”
She snorted. Her neck and cheeks rosied up in the most attractive way. She fanned her hand in the air before facing him.
A rush of unspoken expressions passed between them.
He shot Mia a look, but she didn’t have a clue as to any undercurrents between the adults. Rainn imagined another child would be curious at their exchange.
“We’re here. I think you’ll like my house, Mia.”
Rainn pulled his SUV onto the drive. If it could be called a driveway. There was a slab of cement just past the sidewalk, room for his vehicle and maybe a three-wheeled bike.