by LoRee Peery
Maybe love is blind after all, as blind as some women are to their own wrinkles.
Mia needs him more than I do. And she can’t take care of herself. Enough.
A minute later, Geneva couldn’t believe the scrape under her fingertips. “What in the world?” The first thirsty shin was smooth, but when she began to spread lotion on the other one, she burst out laughing. Preoccupied with thinking about what Mia and Rainn, she’d shaved one leg, washed the conditioner out of her hair, and forgotten to shave the other. “Woman, you do have it bad.”
Geneva swiped off the lavender lotion, slapped it on the vanity, trying to save as much as she could. She grabbed the soggy washcloth, ran water over it to moisten the leg, then hefted the cactus-stubbed appendage onto the closed toilet lid. She wet the shaver and made history of the few spindly but noticeable hairs. Geneva tried to concentrate on the act of re-moisturizing, but the spacy moment made her laugh so hard she cried.
Now how would Rainn react to this scene?
And at the thought of him, she heard his voice.
****
“Well, and what do we have here?”
“It’s a pillow, Uncle Rainn. Mia is too short to move the glider. Geneva sewed me a ladybug pillow to put behind my back. Now my feet can touch the floor and Mia can swing. Geneva is the best sewer in the whole world.”
“How about you sit on my lap and I’ll have a look at this pillow?”
She dragged her feet so the glider swayed to a stop before wiggling aside to give him a full view.
The pillow was something all right. Red patchwork body with black spots, buttons, black feelers and all, the huge ladybug was accented by colorful leaf and ladybug trim.
Rainn’s heart expanded in his chest. He pulled Mia onto his lap, kissed the top of her head, and drew in her little-girl smell. Along with a hint of Geneva’s lavender.
What had he ever done in life to deserve the blessing of this child, as well as the generosity and spirit of the woman he held so dear? Geneva had a right to resent his intrusion. But he couldn’t shake the gut rightness they were meant to be in one another’s lives.
The porch door scratched open. “Hey, look who is back,” Lanae said.
Geneva followed. “Want some iced coffee?”
He blinked away the bothersome moisture. “Iced coffee would be terrific.”
Rainn smoothed a hand over the appliquéd pillow. “Thank you for this.”
“Oh, Mia was in on it. She picked out the fabric for the back. Did you check it out?”
With a flip, he looked at the reverse side, and burst out laughing. He opened his mouth to speak to Geneva, but the doorway was once again empty.
“Purple ponies. This looks just like you, Mia, girl. I can tell with one glance what you like. Ponies and ladybugs.”
“What’s a glance, Uncle Rainn?”
He let his smile slide to match her serious tone. “A glance is a tiny look. A glance is the way you don’t look long into someone’s face.”
“Oh, Mia knows what a glance is.”
“You bet you do, Button. You are an expert at sliding glances.”
“Uncle Rainn, you talk funny.” And she burst into giggles when he touched her ticklish spots.
Geneva chose that moment to return with drinks.
“Here, let me get that,” he said, when he saw Geneva trying to hold the door open with a hip.
“Thanks.”
Rainn pecked Geneva on the cheek and took the purple iris serving tray from her hands. He offered the tray to Mia so she could grab her three-quarters-filled glass of lemonade. Then he held the tray for Geneva’s choice. She reached for a tall glass of what appeared to be fruit tea.
“My two favorite girls.” He nodded for Geneva to sit next to Mia while he set the tray on a small, wrought-iron table. He reached for his own tall green glass, then planted his hip on the top rail, one foot on the floor, and leaned against the wooden support of the porch.
Before he tasted his drink, he soaked in the sight before him, enjoying the careful sips Geneva and Mia took. Every move Geneva made, Mia copied.
Geneva raised her gaze and caught him watching. She blushed, and frowned at the pillow she fluffed behind her back. Geneva’s pillow was done up in purple, green and yellow, naturally. He choked back a laugh when Mia wiggled, snuggling into the corner, copying Geneva’s actions.
Rainn tasted his iced coffee and let it sit on his tongue before swallowing. “I’ll bite, what flavor?”
Geneva gave a slight shrug that Mia mimicked.
Rainn concentrated on his ice drink so he wouldn’t laugh and have to explain the reason to Mia. She often thought laughter was aimed at her.
He tasted again, rolling it around on his tongue. “Almond?”
“Ooh, I’m impressed.”
Does she have any idea how much I want to taste, and savor, her own sweetness?
Rainn wanted to kiss her for a long time. Feel her touch him in return. Ease her worry. Wrap her up close and make the world go away. She’d get done what she was meant to get done. He inhaled and felt his chest tighten. He wanted to wipe away whatever had caused Geneva’s unprecedented outburst that night in the loft. “I’ve had decisions to make.”
At Geneva’s gasp, he knew his serious thoughts had tracked across his face.
Decisions to benefit Mia, but that might take him away from Platteville. Away from Geneva. He didn’t want to go there, but it was past time. The church windows were almost complete, only the dedication and his paycheck to look forward to. He needed to plan his next step. “You might as well ask what I’m thinking.”
Her laugh was as soft as the gentle rain that had begun to fall. He wasn’t surprised to see the sky. Heavy air had accompanied his heavy thoughts all the way from Kansas City.
“You look so serious. And far away,” Geneva said to him.
“Mia doesn’t want the pillow to get wet. I’ll take it inside. Can I eat, Geneva?”’
Geneva kept her gaze on Rainn’s face when she answered. “Sure. The other half of your breakfast bagel and honey are on the table.”
Rainn tousled Mia’s curls as she walked by. “I suppose suddenly finding myself with a daughter—and I am getting used to thinking of her that way—is cause for a little seriousness.”
“Speaking of serious…” She smoothed a hand over her slacks, then looked him in the eye. “Rainn, I am so sorry for the way I spoke when you came to the loft the other night with Mia.”
“Forget an apology. I trust you so much with Mia. I know I have been taking advantage. You’re entitled to your feelings, but not in front of Mia.”
“Thank you for understanding.” She swiped away a tear. “Life is changing so fast. Sometimes I don’t quite know how to keep up. And I wouldn’t hurt Mia for the world.”
“Love and forgiveness go hand in hand. You’re doing just fine. Now, let’s forget it.”
She screwed up her face in a little-girl kind of way. “If you say so.”
She wiggled her head as though jiggling that part of their conversation off to the side. “Now, tell me about your trip. Were you able to sort out your next step? Are you a goal setter?”
The glider squeaked when she pushed off and Rainn followed the movement of her feet on the worn porch planking. What would it be like to be around long enough to replace those old boards for her some day?
He checked out her feet, ankle to toe. This was the first time he’d seen her toes hidden inside shoes. He was kind of jealous of the soft olive and tan suede that hid her feet from his view. He missed the curious peekaboo of her toes. He’d become used to noticing the color of nail polish she wore.
“I have never been one to set long-range goals. But when I work, I can be compulsive with my plans.” He gave her a long, methodical look. Starting with ankle socks, over the piney green slacks, crazy dark-colored sleeves of her shirt, up to the blushing cheeks and hazel eyes he could never get enough of.
She swallowed. “Work is proba
bly one of the things you need to iron out. Do you know where you are going after Platteville?”
“There’s a church at a Veterans Hospital in South Dakota that needs some windows redone, but they don’t have the funds yet. So, probably Wyoming.” He kept direct eye contact.
“Traveling will put a glitch in Mia’s school, won’t it?”
And take me away from you.
The rain started falling harder; he scanned the yard. Leaves rustled in the wind, and acorns dropped from the oak tree.
Mia slammed the door. Rainn scooped her up and then set her between himself and Geneva. When Geneva rubbed her own chilled arms, he settled Mia on his lap, then wrapped his arm around Geneva’s shoulder. She cuddled in next to his side.
“I want to keep you both in my life, for the duration.”
At her sudden intake of breath, he knew he’d spoken his thoughts out loud. They were silent for a long, drawn-out moment.
“I don’t know how to be any way but honest, Rainn. Whatever the future holds, wherever we are, I will forever think of you when it rains.”
“Why not?” He nuzzled her hair with his chin, and drank in her womanly, unique smell. “It’s my name.”
“And I’m still waiting to hear how you got it.” She continued as though Mia wasn’t sitting with them. “During a soft rain,” she added with a goofy face that turned contemplative, “I will think of you touching my face that first time in Frivolities. You took me by surprise. I’ve never been the same.”
He remembered well, and he wanted to touch more of her right now, but Mia’s presence held him back.
Geneva watched the rain drip off the roof, lost in her own reverie. “And if it’s pouring rain by the bucketfuls, that’s the rush of love that washes over me at times. When it thunders and flashes lightning, I’ll remember what you do to my senses.”
She reached for his hand and caressed his fingers where they rested on her upper arm. Oh boy, he really wished Mia was elsewhere. But maybe Geneva had used Mia as a sort of buffer to boost her admission.
She did care for him.
Would she consider a future with him?
Possibly away from Platteville?
Rainn on My Parade
12
Geneva figured the memorial fellowship for Rainn’s family would provide closure regarding Lindsay’s death. She couldn’t fathom herself in the place of Rainn’s mother, suffering through life without Moselle.
Rainn had called two days earlier. “My parents have been located. They dropped everything, even left their fifth-wheel camper. They booked the first flight out of Alaska.”
“How can I help, Rainn?” she asked.
“Thanks, but we have it all covered. You’ll be there, won’t you?”
“You know I will. You’re all in my prayers.”
Eric, Chief Kory, and other firefighters put together the details for a fellowship gathering at the church. Lanae and Geneva had just come from the basement and weren’t seated yet.
Geneva felt his presence the second Rainn entered the church from the side entrance. In the midst of so many others, neighbors and friends, Geneva wanted nothing more than to rush to Rainn’s side.
But she recognized his vulnerability and the willpower it took to hold himself together. She felt his gaze as a touch. That tingly awareness brought an involuntary gasp. The resulting warmth spread through Geneva’s neck and face.
Mia, and the couple in their mid-sixties who had to be his parents, accompanied Rainn. No more time to calm the heat in her face, the Harris family approached.
“Mom, Dad, this is Geneva.”
The warmth of his hand at the small of her back calmed her jitters. She hardly recognized her own body lately. Her physical and emotional reactions to Rainn were as foreign as if they belonged to someone else.
“Geneva, I’d like you to meet my parents, Jay and Adeana.”
“Ah, Mia’s best friend. I’m Jay.” Rainn’s dad had dimples and a cleft in the center of his chin, the handsomest bald man Geneva had ever seen. She caught a glimpse of Rainn in twenty-five years, with all of the character lines deepened and defined by his full smile.
“And I’m Adeana.” Rainn’s mother extended her hand. “Mia talks about you incessantly. Thank you for your friendship toward my son and granddaughter.”
Rainn’s mother had striking dark eyes that appeared black. Her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled into a low tail at her nape.
“You’re so welcome. Mia might consider me her best friend right now. I’m sure her attachment could be transferred if we catch that elusive kitten she’s on a mission to make her own.”
“We heard something about a kitten,” Jay said.
“But the story of you and my son in a tree,” Adeana added, with a searching look and raised brows, “I’d like to hear more about.” Curiosity spiked her tone, sprinkling it with censure. No doubt she wanted to get to the bottom of her son’s involvement with an older woman.
Geneva tried to set the thought aside, along with her crazy romantic radar when it came to Rainn. This day of memory was all about Rainn and his family, not about herself and her relationship with a man who had her all churned up inside.
Get over yourself.
Moselle and Eric approached, arm in arm. “I sure would like to meet this kitten that brought two of my favorite people together,” Eric said.
Geneva fought the renewed heat that flooded her neck. Leave it to Eric to further embarrass me in front of Rainn’s parents.
Eric knew the effect of his teasing. He bobbed his eyebrows at Geneva before punching Rainn in the upper arm.
Amidst more introductions, Moselle asked Rainn for some of Lindsay’s things. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to put together a memory book for Mia.”
“I think that would be marvelous. I understand you are a trio of enterprising, creative women,” Adeana said to Geneva’s family before Rainn could respond or introduce Lanae.
“We are being seated, so let’s go.” Lanae patted Rainn’s forearm in passing.
They finally entered the sanctuary and proceeded up the aisle. A couple pews ahead, Camille Marolf, Eric’s best friend Marty’s wife, showed off their three-month-old son. He was a handsome mix of her Island heritage and his daddy’s features. Geneva started to move forward to admire the little guy, until she heard a familiar voice whisper her name.
“…Geneva’s involvement. It’s understandable why Rainn came to Mia’s aid. But he can surely find someone more appropriate to spend time with. I mean, she could be the girl’s grandmother!”
Such craziness whizzed through her mind that Geneva actually swiveled, ready to retaliate.
“Ignore Kate Rawlins, Geneva. Sometimes I wish Jesus would chase her away from Faith Bible like He did the moneychangers in the temple,” Beth Phillips said.
An unladylike snort erupted from Geneva’s throat. A half beat later, the same sound of agreement rasped past Lanae’s lips. Geneva patted the hand that touched her arm, and nodded a thank-you to Beth.
Beth and Moselle had been best friends in high school. When Eric and Moselle broke up over an argument, Beth’s own circumstances had overcome Eric’s sense of obligation and he’d married her. Divorced shortly thereafter, it had taken Moselle a little while to forgive both of them. But with God’s help Moselle, Eric, and Beth were friends again. And Moselle and Eric were soon to be married.
Beth’s touch brought confirmation of a life changed. She was a new creature, thanks to her belief in Christ. Geneva had to put the past behind her, just as Moselle and Eric had.
“I’ll sit next to Kate so she can plan on spreading stories about me rather than you,” Beth offered.
The blonde woman before her looked a thousand times better than the last time Geneva had seen Beth. She appeared healthy, like she had purpose in life. Rest, or something, had erased some of the ravages on her features.
Geneva gave Beth a wordless hug and resumed her steps to take a seat next to Lanae.
>
****
Faith, family, friends—that’s what the Christian life was all about. Rainn scanned the people gathered in the fellowship hall at Faith Bible Church. Friends from the volunteer fire department included Eric’s best buddy Marty Marolf, his wife Camille, and their baby boy.
What a rush that must have been for Eric, delivering that baby before Camille made it to the hospital. Rainn itched to get back at firefighting and the spokes of adventure involved with volunteering in community.
“We’re gathered together today to offer hope and love toward Rainn and Mia Harris in the loss of their sister and mother. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Lindsay Harris, but Rainn assures me Lindsay had the hope of salvation. On that note, let’s stand and offer our voices and hearts in worship.” Pastor Rick gave a nod to Rainn’s parents, and the congregation came to their feet.
The short service was just what Rainn needed. No matter the outcome of solving her homicide, he was secure in the Lord’s plans for his future, whatever they may be. Now he scanned the crowd of townspeople as they headed for food and fellowship. Moselle and Eric, Chief Kory Schaffer, Eric’s ex-wife Beth. At the sight of Karin Stevens from Purple Palace, he was reminded that he could turn to her for professional guidance when Mia needed a haircut. Even Kate Rawlins and her circle of gossiping friends had come out.
He headed to where his parents sat with Mia. He read her agitation, wrists scrubbing across her hips, gaze locked in space, turned away from her grandparents.
“I’d give anything to get my hands on the guy who hooked Lindsay on drugs…and the resulting life she had to live to feed her habit,” his father commented to his mother.
Rainn’s hackles rose at the sound of his dad’s voice. They didn’t have a clue how their words could affect the little girl. Jay Harris spoke in that superior I-know-it-all voice that had always grated on Rainn’s nerves.
Too late, Dad. You didn’t care when Lindsay got hooked. Her choice, so don’t blame the dude who sold her the goods.
His parents, and their lack of empathy for the poor relationships Lindsay got caught in, rubbed him wrong. He’d never really felt neglected, but they sure lacked parenting skills.