by LoRee Peery
“You back with us, my sister-turned-teenager?”
“Mom, for a second there, I thought you were going to faint.”
Lanae spouted off in a sing-song voice. “See Rainn come in the store. See Rainn fluster my sister.”
Geneva didn’t respond to the reference to their grade-school primer regarding Dick and Jane and the stories they learned to read. She stared out the window. “The thing is, I’m beginning to think I’ll buy in to what Rainn sees in me.”
And what we could have together.
Geneva’s apron felt askew, and she remembered his fingers at her waist. She busied her hands tidying her appearance, and continued to express her thoughts out loud. “Well, at times, anyway. I’m not beautiful by any means, but Rainn must see something appealing in me.” She felt herself blush, hated it. “He compared me to Marilyn Monroe.”
Could she risk her business, her reputation, for a second chance at love? Did she have it in her to invest in the life of a special needs child when she’d already raised a daughter? Maybe it was time for her own needs, but why couldn’t it involve an older man who had already raised his family?
Get back on task, woman.
Lanae picked up a framed picture of Moselle and fanned her face.
Moselle grinned from ear to ear. “You go, Mom.”
Geneva looked from one to the other. “We’re Christians, so we are different from most of the world’s population.”
Moselle screwed up her face. “Meaning?”
“People watch us. People like Kate Rawlins, as well as those at church. The whole town, for that matter. They’ll talk.”
Geneva focused on Lanae. “You know the cliché about how the woman wants a younger man for one thing, and the guy wants an older woman for her money?”
Lanae didn’t answer, but Moselle did. “Mom, we both know you aren’t rolling in dough.”
“The three of us know that, but the whole town would assume Rainn and I are rolling in the hay if they see us going out together.”
“Mother!” Moselle spouted.
“Go get ‘em, tiger.” Lanae piped up.
Lanae was all show, but Geneva found it very hard not to let her imagination run wild, to places she’d never let it go before. Places where Rainn was at the forefront.
Come to think of it, based on hair color, Rainn appeared older than Geneva.
She stood taller. Hmm. Maybe they didn’t appear so mismatched after all.
And then she got a picture of them standing together before a mirror. The image created a warm sensation that rose from her calves all the way up to the top of her head.
Lord, is this possible? Rainn and me as a couple? Unless You show me a roadblock, am I to believe it’s Your will for us to have a relationship?
As the day passed, Geneva caught herself focusing on the oldies that played in the background. She either bopped around with rock ’n roll, or drooled over the memory of Rainn, daring to dream she was the “me” who sang the words to him. She could stand by him, lean on him, and at one point she was so into him as the object of the lyrics, that she splotched hot coffee all over the counter while overfilling a client’s mug.
Customers came and went, fewer than she cared to have go through Frivolities in eight hours. Shortly before closing time, three women huddled together near a shelving unit distressed to look antique. Frivolities Memory Boxes rested among faux antique photo albums and other decorative reproductions. Their conversation prevented Geneva’s offer to assist.
“I haven’t seen Lanae working in quite a while. What do you know about hepatitis C? Isn’t it from drug use? Used needles, or exchange of body fluids, right?” Kate Rawlins spat the query, disguised to express concern, lowering her voice for effect.
“That is what I understand. It’s highly contagious. Do you think we could get it if we eat a slice of her cheesecake?” This query came from a mysterious woman whose face Geneva had yet to see.
Red splotches splattered her vision, and she wanted to spit fire. Talking this way about my sister, in our place of business. Geneva took a giant step, close enough to run into Mary Jorgenson’s oversized plastic tote. They’d played together in kindergarten.
“What do you think, gals?” She meant to drip honey, but Geneva’s words poured out like the taste of pure vanilla on an unsuspecting tongue. “Lanae pricks her finger on the cheesecake and lets the blood drip onto the cherry sauce?”
She looked the three in the eye, one at a time. Kate Rawlins had spread this seed, Geneva was sure. The older woman could create more gossip than corduroy fabric had lines. Kate finally turned away from Geneva’s stare, feigning sudden interest in an arrangement of varied silk mums.
“Lanae is my sister. She is my daughter’s aunt. We are family, and we have lived together. Do you think we would eat with her, share a bathroom with her, if there was a chance we’d get the disease?”
Tracing the Frivolities logo on the apron above her heart, Geneva pictured Lanae’s fingers working the embroidery thread.
“To set the record straight, and all three of us would appreciate the correction if you should hear the subject come up elsewhere in town, my sister has never done drugs. She has been a Christian since childhood and has not been in a relationship with a man since her husband died.” Geneva rested her fists on her hips, elbows wide. “If you must know, we believe she contracted the illness while she was hospitalized for surgery.”
Geneva felt tears balance on the lower lashes of each eye. She let them dangle. The women turned, shamefaced. Only one mumbled an apology under her breath.
But to the good of Frivolities, two purchases soon hit the counter in front of Moselle at the register. Moselle was sickeningly sweet to the buyers, but Geneva glared holes in their backsides until they stalked out the front door.
“I’d like to hang a sign that says ‘Kate Rawlins, kindly keep out,’” Moselle grumbled.
“Of everyone else’s life,” Geneva finished. She swept the lingering tears away with a shaky hand, and felt like crying in Rainn’s strong arms.
****
Geneva hadn’t seen him for five days. Then Rainn jangled that bell above the door to announce his presence. The door banged shut behind him. Men just plain made more noise, made their presence known more aggressively than women.
She got a kick out of customers’ reactions to the whimsy of Frivolities. For some reason when women came in, they handled the door almost in quiet reverence, like a breath between bright sunlight and twilight.
A shopping woman kind of sighed inside, as though inhaling a calm ocean breeze. When the waves come in, she was ready for the ritual of feeling, smelling, ogling, listening, and buying. Geneva especially liked the spending money part, when clients paid serious attention to the profusion of colors and textures.
Once Rainn’s gaze landed on her, he seemed relieved of the bombardment of colors slamming into him. His tilted smile spread in welcome, and Geneva responded with every fiber of her being. Deep down, she wondered if he was real, or if everything he evoked was some weird fantasy.
“Hi.” Rainn’s low-voiced greeting accessed that place deep inside, a sense of belonging which had never been reached before.
“Hi, yourself.” She imagined a brainless smile stretched across her face.
He drew near. Everything around her receded and grew fuzzy, like a camera gone out of focus.
Moselle grazed Geneva’s arm while passing Rainn a large black coffee. His glance skittered a thanks and came right back to rest on Geneva, who finally managed to speak. “You’ve been busy?”
“Oh, yeah. Seems it takes me twenty times longer to get anything done when there’s a little someone constantly asking questions like why do I do this or that, or she needs a hand for an object she can’t get for herself.”
All wrapped up in the vision of Rainn, Geneva hadn’t missed Mia. She searched around and behind him. When her focus rested on his face again, he jerked his head toward the street.
Mi
a sat on the sidewalk bench with Eric and his pup, named Dear, a St. Bernard/German shepherd mix. Dear acted all puppy, but that was a misnomer when it came to size. She equaled a full-blown, large adult dog, except when she moved. She often stumbled over her own cartoonish feet.
Moselle’s face lit up when she spied her fiancé through the window. On her way out, she paused. “May I help you?”
The lone customer engrossed in cookbook titles glanced up. “I’m just looking, thank you.”
Moselle bustled out the door. She and Eric slid their hands together and kissed right there on the main street sidewalk.
Rainn made a gruff sound. Geneva read the banked fire. The look in his eye revealed he’d prefer to greet her in the same way.
Geneva’s lips parted, but her mind went blank.
Air rushed out of Rainn’s lungs before he gulped his coffee. He raised a brow, and she nodded in response to his unvoiced question.
“White chocolate raspberry is our flavor of the day. How did it taste?”
“You know I like it black, strong and full flavored rather than fancy flavored.” He took another cautious sip. “Moselle probably forgot and gave me her kind.”
“I’ll remind her you prefer black.” Geneva glanced out the window. Her daughter was still engrossed in Eric. “I imagine she’s trying to convince him to wear a cowboy hat for their wedding.”
“That’ll never happen,” they said at the same time.
The door opened with a tinkle and they both beamed at the sound of Mia’s giggles. Rainn waved at Mia before turning back to Geneva. “She’s the reason I’m here. I have another favor to ask.”
“Anything.” Oops. Not the right word.
“I wish…” he began in a teasing tone, and left it at that.
Just to raise a blush, no doubt.
“For Mia. I mean, anything for Mia.”
He snapped his fingers in aw-shucks regret.
Geneva tried to look stern until he pulled a frowny face. Then she punched him in the arm.
Rainn grew serious. “Mia has been extra agitated at night. Since we don’t have a rocking chair, and you offered, could she go to your place and spend some time on the porch glider?”
“Rainn Harris, you could have called me at midnight with that one. Of course, bring her by any time. And you don’t need to ask.”
He looked down and shuffled his feet. When their gazes next locked, his eyes were filled with moisture.
Geneva’s throat swelled in response.
“I’ll only need your help until Lindsay turns up.”
Rainn on My Parade
8
Daily stops at Frivolities for Geneva’s coffee had become more or less habitual for Rainn.
“Any word on Lindsay?” Geneva greeted Rainn before the bell on the Frivolities door finished its tinkle.
“Nope. If she doesn’t turn up soon, I’ll have to get Mia into school, which shouldn’t be a big ordeal since I have legal custody.” A few more days, and the two-week timeline he’d given himself would be up.
A sappy sixties love ballad crooned over the speakers. His mood lightened with the sounds and smells. Kind of like cookies. Cinnamon and vanilla, the coffee aroma, no overpowering perfume smells like some places he’d walked into with Lindsay when she was clean.
“Remember, Mia, look straight ahead and not on the things for sale around you.” He silently thanked Geneva and Moselle for coming up with that idea. Mia needed to focus on where she was going so she would not be distracted by all the retail items.
No problem today, Mia ran ahead on her way to the back office. She found the light green couch as much to her liking as Moselle’s loft. She was more comfortable in either of those two places, so the women were right. He imagined the colors and volume of over-the-top merchandise assaulted her senses.
“It sure makes life easier, knowing I can leave Mia with you or Moselle,” he said, accepting the proffered to-go cup. “I needed that last stretch of time to concentrate on the church window renovation. I rubbed paper over the existing lead joints for the remaining windows, and I even managed something creative.”
“Like what?” Geneva stepped closer. Her lavender scent mingled with others surrounding them.
He decided to take a seat at an ice cream table for two. “I drew cartoons for two lampshade designs.”
“Sounds good.” Geneva caught his eye, then fiddled with her apron. “Do you remember our first conversation?”
“Other than thinking you could be Moselle’s sister? Sure, I ventured in, feeling like the frilly things draped from the ceiling were attacking me. Way too feminine for my taste.”
He set his coffee aside and took her hands in his. He’d found a safe haven in her presence. “Talking to you that day calmed me down. You helped me select a hand-quilted Bible cover for Lindsay’s birthday.”
“You dangled the yellow ribbon ties over your hand, and said with certainty that the hunter green and orangey brown fabric was the perfect gift for your sister.”
“I came to Frivolities that day for Lindsay. Now I walk in because of you and Mia.”
Mia chose that moment to run up and hug Geneva around the waist. “Do you need me to help make things to sell in the store today?”
Geneva hugged her back and added a squeeze. “We can always use your help.”
All three Frivolities women had adjusted their business and creative activities to include Mia.
He owed Geneva big time. Thank You as well, Father God.
At the moment, he sipped coffee and felt content. The pair now twirling toward the bottom of the loft stairs, assured him he was in the right place at the right time. He sipped again and felt a clenching in his chest. He couldn’t imagine life without either of them.
Little girl giggles drew attention to his niece’s freckled face. She now stood with her hand on Geneva’s shoulder, one foot on Geneva’s thigh. Geneva sat on a low step while she adjusted the strap of Mia’s hot pink shoe.
“Shoes that stick together are better than tying. Tying would be too hard for Mia.”
“That’s right, sugar. Let’s check the other one. I bet you tried to wear socks the last time you wore these shoes. That’s why they are loose today.”
“Uncle Rainn needs to know that.”
“Well, I think Uncle Rainn does a super job helping with your clothes.”
She looked up, and gave him a feminine smile that made him feel as though he was the only man in the world. Her expression shot straight to the middle of his chest.
For his benefit as much as Mia’s, he was sure, Geneva spoke in an exaggerated whisper, all the while keeping eye contact with Rainn. “There aren’t very many uncles, or men for that matter, who can even put ladybug barrettes in a girl’s hair and make her look so pretty.”
He mouthed a “thank-you” before gulping the last of his brew.
“My mommy hurted my hair sometimes. Uncle Rainn combs my hair soft,” Mia said with a seriousness that shot the tightness in his chest straight up in his throat.
Moselle came from the back and extended her hand. “Mia, join me in the loft and let’s make something pretty.”
The cell phone trilled on his hip, to the tune of seeing a lover’s face for the first time. He caught the astonishment on Geneva’s face and shot her a ‘surprised-ya-didn’t-I’ wink.
Caller ID showed the Fort Worth, Texas, area code. On the move, he said hello at the same time he dropped his Styrofoam cup in a waste basket designed to look like a flower. He headed out the back door for privacy.
“Mr. Harris, this is Detective Benjamin Massey of the Fort Worth Police Department. We’ve found some identification that belongs to your sister, and I hate to break this news over the phone, but the ID was next to a body. We need you to come down for identification purposes, please.”
Stunned, yet not really surprised since he’d spent countless moments in the middle of countless nights over the years anticipating such a call, his stomach turned.
> He slumped against the brick wall, ending the call with no remembrance of how he had responded.
Rainn tried to pray, but the words wouldn’t form. His spirit only cried out to the Lord for strength. Peace soon encircled him, and on sturdier legs, he returned indoors to search out the one person he needed most at the moment.
When he saw her, Geneva was leaning over the antique desk in her office, moving the mouse and frowning at the computer monitor. To Rainn, Geneva represented solace. He wanted to hide in her presence.
Thank You again, Lord, for providing this wonderful woman.
Rainn could almost count the seconds passing. The oldies station that Geneva insisted was the only music to fill Frivolities, played in the background. The lyrics expressed the feelings of his heart. No, he wouldn’t be afraid as long as Geneva stood by him. He read the Lord’s reassurance into the song as well. He wasn’t alone. He had no reason to fear.
He should be thinking about the seriousness of the news the phone call brought. Instead, he was filled with the fragrance of Geneva. She was the reality in his life at the moment, and he wanted to drown in her presence. He studied her face while she searched his. Unspoken emotions thrummed through the air.
“Lindsay?” she spoke, as though hearing his mind calling out for his sister.
He gave one nod and by the time he closed his eyes, tears were falling.
“I’m so sorry. What’s happened?” She glided toward him.
“They’ve found a woman’s body in an alley. Along with Lindsay’s purse. I have to go to Fort Worth.”
“But Rainn, you don’t know for sure it’s her, right?”
“I’ve just had this gut feeling since we went for Mia that I’d never see my sister again.”
Geneva’s warmth, her softness, her scent, wrapped around him and captured his brokenness.
How long had it been since he’d cried so hard? He didn’t know. But whenever it was, no one had comforted him like this woman. She surrounded him, filled all the lonely corners. Her arms represented those of friend, mother, sister, lover; all the females he’d needed in his life.
“Don’t be ashamed of your tears, Rainn. They make you a real man.”