Oh, shit. What if Ted got it wrong? “Um,” I say and point to the date on my watch. “Is there something …”
“GOTCHA!” she belts out and starts to scream with laughter. Now everybody’s laughing and my face is burning. I thought I’d really messed up!
“Did you have any clue?” Brian asks as he laughs.
Rayanna shakes her head. “Not one! This brother of yours is sneaky,” she says, then reaches over and pinches my nipple―hard.
“Owww! Is that how you say thank you?” I bark out before I start laughing too.
“You don’t get any cake, buster,” she announces and points at me, still laughing.
I jack up my eyebrows and give her my biggest grin. “You’re welcome.”
That gets me a big, sloppy kiss. The women are all chattering and telling everybody to get plates to fill as she pulls back and looks up into my face. “I love you, Lucien. Nobody’s ever done this for me before.”
“I just figured it’s your last year to be in your thirties and we should celebrate in style.”
“I think you’ve succeeded in making that happen.” Her fingers stroke down my cheek and she smiles. “Every day I think I can’t be any happier, and the next day proves me wrong.”
“Good. That’s my job, so apparently I’m doing it well.” I give her a little peck on the lips and smile. “Now let’s eat!”
When the food’s finished, she gets another big surprise. The kids go through the gifts and hand them to her. From Brian and Cirilla she gets a personalized travel mug. Boone and Melina give her a nice trunk organizer. A gift card to a large car wash chain here in town is Clint and Trish’s gift to her, and Steffen and Sheila give her a set with a matching umbrella and poly fleece blanket, both with little red cars on them. Dave and Olivia’s gift is a universal cell phone holder that attaches to the windshield. Bless her heart, she thanks all of them effusively, but I know she’s beyond confused. “Isn’t this nice?” she asks me, her lips smiling but her eyes a little bewildered.
“Yes! It is.” I wait a few seconds and ask, “Don’t you want your gift from me?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Yes! Please!”
“I’ve got it here somewhere,” I say, patting around on my body while she rolls her eyes. “Ah! Here it is!” From my pocket I pull a piece of paper, and I watch as she unfolds it and reads it. The look on her face makes my heart skip a few beats.
My darling girl,
I gave this gift a lot of thought. It’s something you can use and something I hope you’ll love. Most of all, I hope it makes you happy and when you look at it, you think of me and remember how much I love you. Because I do, Rayanna. I love you more than anything in this world.
Eternally yours,
Lucien
As soon as she finishes it and looks up with a smile, I pull a set of keys out of my pocket and hold them up. “Happy birthday, Precious.”
She just sits there and I watch her jaw slowly drop as she realizes what I’m trying to tell her. “You didn’t … That’s not … Oh. My. God. Oh. My. GOD! OHMYGOD! A CAR! Oh, god, Lucien! Are you kidding me?” I just point toward the front door. “OHMYGOD!” She takes off at a dead run and we all follow. The front door opens, I hear a horn beep, and I know she hit the key fob to figure out which one it is. As soon as she does, she screams, “OHMYGOD!” We’re all pouring out of the house as she runs to the MINI, throws the door open, and pushes the button on the key fob. The little engine starts soundlessly and then drops into a low purr. “LUCIEN! YOU GOT ME A CAR!”
I just nod and smile. “I did.”
“Oh my god! I don’t believe it! But I can’t drive it! Oh no!” she play-wails.
“You’ve got an appointment tomorrow to take your written test,” I announce.
“YOU’RE SHITTING ME! Oh my god. I’m going to learn to drive!” Without even shutting the car off, she leaps out, runs straight to me, and jumps into my arms. “I love you, I love you, I love you!” she cries out, peppering my face with kisses. I don’t think there’s a square inch of it that doesn’t get a kiss.
“You’re welcome,” I answer, laughing.
“Oh! I’m sorry!” she says and throws her hand up over her mouth. “Thank you!”
“Like it?” In my peripheral vision I can see Brian, Boone, and the rest of the guys looking it over as we stand there.
“Like it? I love it. It’s amazing! What kind of car is that?” It takes me a couple of minutes to explain it to her. “It’s so cute! No wonder they all gave me car stuff!”
I hear Melina and Trish laughing. “Yeah, we knew you’d wonder what that was about!” Trish calls out.
“I was really confused! I was like, what the heck am I supposed to do with this stuff?” She’s laughing so hard she’s gasping for breath.
I reach over and slap her ass. “Having a good birthday?”
“The best ever!”
I drive my car home. Clint drives the MINI and Rayanna rides with him. I’m sure she’s peppering him with questions, and I know Clint well enough to know that he’s patiently and quietly answering them all and showing her how things work as he’s driving. Trish and the kids are following him in the van so she can pick him up.
The MINI has a parking spot right beside my car, and they pull in just about the time I’ve gotten out of my Acura and rounded the back bumper. “Oh, sir! It’s so fun! It rides great, and it’s got all this stuff on it, and it’s the best present ever!” All of that is spilling out as she launches herself at me again.
I hear the alarm chirp and turn as Clint holds out the keys. Rayanna snatches them in a nanosecond and he laughs. “Okay! They’re yours! No question! But I have to say, Lucien, that’s a cute little car. It’s got a lot of nice features. Since she’s just learning to drive, I think you made the perfect choice.”
“Thanks. It is cute. Comfortable?”
He nods. “Yep. As comfortable as my car. Just a little smaller. Rayanna, honey, happy birthday,” he says as Trish pulls up. “Hope it was a good one.”
She runs straight to him and throws her arms around his neck. There’s a split second of surprise on his face and then he grins. “Oh, thank you, Clint! Thank you for driving me! Thank you for coming to my party!” She wheels and waves at Trish, who’s laughing hysterically. “Thank you for coming to my party! Thank you for the great presents!”
“You’re welcome. Glad we could make it special. Catch up with you guys later.” He trots around the front of the van, climbs in, and Trish waves as they pull away.
“Sir?” Our gazes lock and I see the tears sparkling in her eyes. “Thank you so much. You just can’t know … Nobody’s ever done anything like this for me, Lucien. Nobody. I actually felt kinda special for a little while today.”
She’s had so much sadness and pain in her lifetime, and she’s so grateful for anything anybody does for her. How could I not love this woman? “Sweetheart, you are special. Very special. I know it. Our friends know it. I hope someday you begin to know it too.” She leans up against me and I wrap my arms around her, then lay a kiss on the part in her hair. “Come on. Let’s go upstairs. Grab a bag and we’ll carry your gifts up.”
“Okay.” I watch as she starts pulling things out of the back end of the little car, and she gives me a tiny, shy smile as we head toward the elevator.
We’ve been home for about an hour when she asks, “Can I go on in the bedroom? I want to study for my permit exam for a little while.”
“Oh! Sorry! Is the TV bothering you?” I ask, forgetting that she needed some study time.
“No. I just feel the need to sit down and really, really look it all over one more time.”
“Go on then. I’ll be in as soon as this movie’s finished.”
“Okay.” With that, she disappears down the hallway, study manual in hand.
By the time the movie’s over, I shuffle off to the bedroom to find her sound asleep, the manual lying on the bed beside her. I pick it up and turn off her light, then go
in to take care of the usual bedtime stuff. Sliding carefully under the sheet so as not to wake her, I settle in and then snap my light off too. But when I slip my hand under the pillow, I feel something cool that crinkles ever so slightly, so I pull it out. It’s a folded piece of paper. My phone has a flashlight app, so I drop my hands below the side of the bed to keep it dark in the room and turn on the light to read.
Dear Lucien,
I didn’t even know you knew when my birthday was. Nobody’s ever cared. Well, that’s not true―Reagan always sent me a card, but no present because Connor would just take it. So I’ve never gotten presents. And I’ve never had friends before. This is all new to me. But I want you to know that no matter what, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Thank you for taking care of me and for loving me. I love you more than anything in this world except Carly, and that’s about the same. And thank you for helping me learn to drive. I’m so excited!
Yours truly forever,
Rayanna (Precious)
I look at the signature. Yes, baby. You are. You really, really are.
* * *
Dear god, we’ll be eating cake for the next three years. We had it as a bedtime snack last night, and now we’ve had it for breakfast. I hope that sugar drop doesn’t happen while she’s in the middle of the test.
And as soon as it’s over, I know there’s no reason to have worried at all. She comes out of the exam room with a smile that could light up the entire courthouse and waves her test results at me. “I did it!”
“Good! Let’s go upstairs and get it.” Did I mention she’s still a little mad at me? She could’ve opted for the knowledge and skills tests and could’ve gotten her license immediately if she’d passed, but I insisted on the learner’s permit. She’s never driven. I think this is just safer. She wanted to try for it, but I said no. The learning time is important.
When we step out the door, she says, “So can I drive home?”
“No.” Now there are sparks flying from her eyes. “But we’re going right over to that abandoned store’s parking lot so you can practice a little.”
“That’s it? That’s all I get to do?”
“Yes. For now. A couple of days of that.”
“But I―”
“Rayanna, you’ve never driven. You need to get a feel for the accelerator, the brakes, figure out how to turn on things like the windshield wipers without taking both hands from the wheel.”
“Fine. Just fine. Whatever.”
I feel this flare of fury in my chest. “What. Did. You. Say. To. Me?”
“I said fine.”
“After that.”
“Um, whatever?” I can tell from the look on her face that she’s clueless as to what she’s just done.
“Yeah. That’s the one. Do you know what that means?”
She stands there for a minute and glances around. “Um, no.”
“It means you don’t give a shit what I just said and you’re not really listening to me and taking me seriously.”
Her face almost explodes. “No! That’s not what I meant at all!”
“Yes. It is.”
“No! I didn’t, sir, I promise!” She’s looking a little panicked now. Good. I won’t take that shit off her.
Without even realizing it, I’ve widened my stance, straightened my back, folded my arms across my chest, and leaned into it. “I would never talk to you like that. Never. I take everything you say seriously and into consideration. I would never just dismiss you that way.”
“I’m so sorry, sir. I wasn’t trying to dismiss what you were saying, honest, I wasn’t. I’m sorry, really. I’m just upset, sir.” Now she’s trembling.
That wasn’t what I was trying to push her to at all. “Hey. Stop. It’s okay, babe. I get that you’re upset. I also know you’ve seen characters say that on TV, but I don’t think you stopped and thought about what it means before you said it.” When I reach out to grip her shoulders, she flinches. “Rayanna, you know I’m never going to hurt you.”
Her eyes drop and her voice is little more than a whisper. “I know.”
Well, congratulations, Lucien. You’ve overreacted and turned a joyous moment into a sad, scary one. You’re an asshole. “I’m sorry. I was too harsh. But let me ask you something: Did I or did I not tell you in the beginning that any decision I made would be in your best interest?” She nods. “I don’t want you to get in a car I gave you and get yourself killed or kill somebody else. Can we agree on that being a very bad thing?” She nods again. “Okay. Good. Let’s go down here to the parking lot and practice.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispers and heads to the car.
Ten minutes later, all that is forgotten as she wheels around the asphalt. There are no medians in this parking lot, so she’s got the whole thing wide open. Fortunately, the stripes are still visible, so she can practice turning between the lanes and parking in the spots. A police officer pulls into the lot and up beside us. I almost laugh when she puts the window down and holds up the piece of paper. “Look! I got my learner’s permit!”
He doesn’t laugh, but I can see the mirth in his eyes. “Why yes, you did! Congratulations! Be safe out there, okay?”
“Yes, sir! I will. Thanks!” Before he drives away, I mouth thank you and he gives me a tiny salute before putting up the window on the cruiser. “Wasn’t that nice?” she says, her foot on the brake.
“I think he was checking to make sure we weren’t drunk or something,” I say with a chuckle.
“Am I driving that bad?”
I can’t help but laugh. “No! Actually, you’re doing very well. A couple more practice sessions and I’ll let you get out on the road.”
“Yay! Thank you!” She leans over to kiss me and apparently she takes her foot off the brake because the car starts to roll. “Oh shit!” That makes me laugh harder. “Oops! Maybe I do need a little more practice!” she says, and then she starts to laugh too.
This is a good day. A very, very good day.
We’re sitting quietly in the living room, me reading some documents on a lease we’re getting ready to pass to a real estate firm, her studying her GED stuff, when I decide I need a bathroom break. Finished, I reach to wash my hands and find a small envelope taped to the bathroom mirror, so I pull it down and open it.
Dear Lucien,
Thank you for believing in me. You’re the only one who ever has.
Eternally yours,
Rayanna (Precious)
When I step back into the living room, her head rises slowly and a shy smile pulls up the corners of her mouth. I just stop in front of her, press a finger under her chin, tip her head back, and kiss her forehead. Then I simply press my forehead to hers and whisper, “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Eleven
“Guess what? I got a learner’s permit! I’m learning to drive! Yeah, we could! Won’t that be awesome?” There’s silence and then I hear her say, “Yeah! Or the water park, or the ice cream shop, or the mall. We could go anywhere!”
She’s been talking to Carly for about fifteen minutes, and she’s beyond excited. God, it does my heart good to hear her sounding so positive! We finished one of the workbooks last night, and we’re starting on another one this afternoon. Working on this has taken up time we could be doing other things, but we’re seeing progress and she’ll be able to schedule the test a lot faster this way.
“Okay. I understand. Let me talk to Aunt Reagan, okay? I love you too, baby. I hope so. Okay, bye. Hey, Reagan, did you hear what I was telling her?” That starts a whole new conversation. After about five minutes, she says, “Lucien? Reagan wants to talk to you.”
I take the phone from her hand and say, “Hello?”
“Lucien! Hi. How are you?”
“I’m good! And you?”
“We’re all good. Listen, I just wanted to say thank you. She sounds better than I’ve heard her sound in years. I have to believe that’s totally because of you.”
“I can’t take all the credit,
but I do know that I’m extremely proud of her. She’s doing great.”
“So I was wondering―do you think she might be able to see Carly in a couple of weeks?”
My heart is thumping in my chest. “We’ll talk to her therapist about it. Sure you want to do that?”
“Terry and I would like to take a trip for our anniversary. Just a few days. I didn’t know if that would be okay with you or not, but―”
“That would be absolutely okay with me. We’ll talk to Dr. Lawrence, and you need to talk to the social worker. If everybody’s a go, it’s fine with me, and I know she’ll love it.”
“Good! Thanks so much! So I’ll take care of my end. Talk to you soon.”
“Indeed. Thanks, Reagan. Bye.”
Rayanna’s eyes are wide. “Does she want Carly to come here?”
“She does.”
I thought she’d start screaming and jumping up and down, but instead, she gets up and starts doing this crazy little dance. It’s kind of like a weird combination of the wop, the whip, the naenae, and just when I think it can’t get any worse, she ends with a dab. “Shit, girl, that’s the whitest little white girl dance I’ve ever seen,” I say in my most sarcastic tone.
“Sorry. Us white girls gotta dance too,” she says and starts doing something else. Damn if I can figure out what it is.
“You should probably stop that. Decidedly not sexy,” I announce and start laughing.
“You wouldn’t say that if I was doing this too.” She just keeps doing whatever that is, but she starts peeling off clothes.
“Oh, lawd, girl, you’re about to get in trouble,” I say and start dancing right along with her.
“I think that’s about the whitest little black guy dance I’ve ever seen,” she mocks and I laugh even harder.
“Oh, you think so?” She’s down to nothing but her underwear, those tits bouncing all over the place, and I’m having trouble concentrating on my dance moves.
Fuck the dance moves.
Eternally Yours: Bliss Series, Book Six Page 21