by Stacey Ritz
“Clever.” Rainie laughed. “And no. No cousins.”
Milo let out a long breath.
“Since we’re asking questions,” Rainie’s lip curled slowly, “What about you? Do you have kids of your own?”
Shaking his head, Milo turned to face her again, “No.”
This time, it was Rainie’s turn to release a quiet sigh. A sigh that didn’t go unnoticed by Milo. “Married?” Rainie winced as she asked the question.
Milo shook his head again. “And you?”
“I’m not.” She answered. Her mind drifted to Cooper and his I love you text. She wasn’t sure what she was, but she knew with certainty she wasn’t married.
“Do you…live with someone?” Her words were charged with nerves, but she was dying to know everything about Milo. She thought it appeared that he was equally curious about her.
“My dog, Buddy.” Milo’s dimples deepened. He threw out his arm, throwing the question back at her, without words. They’d communicated that way for years; asking questions without asking them, reading each other’s moods and thoughts by watching their gestures.
“Me too. I mean…my animals. I live in a house at my farm sanctuary.” Rainie went on to explain the non-profit organization to Milo as he listened, intrigued. He was drawn to her enthusiasm and her obvious passion for her work. Rainie didn’t make any mention of Cooper. She didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t called or texted since the infamous text. She supposed their next conversation might be best completed in person. She’d think about that later.
After Rainie finished sharing tales of the farm sanctuary, Milo talked about his veterinary practice. “It’s mostly cats and dogs. There’s an occasional bird that comes to see me. I do a lot of spay and neuter surgeries. There’s a real need for affordable sterilization and I try to do my part to help the community. Statistics show it’s working. The animal shelter intake numbers are being reduced and therefore their euthanasia numbers are thankfully reducing themselves. My goal is to get it to zero. Morehead could really use someone with your knowledge and expertise to help on this issue.”
Rainie thought about it. “I’d love to help. Maybe we can work something out.” Her mind was already churning with ideas.
“We always made a great team.” Milo said quietly. Rainie reached for his hand and squeezed. As her hand landed in his, her body jolted with a burst of electricity. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. They held hands for a few minutes before either dared to make a move. It was Rainie who stood, slipping her hand from his. She walked toward the edge of the pool, wading her feet on the second step, feeling the coolness of the water run through her skin.
“Rainie, will you have dinner with me tonight?” Milo’s voice echoed from behind her.
Rainie moved her foot back and forth through the clear water. A moment later she turned around, facing him. “It’s a date.” She smiled broadly.
“I’d cook something, but my brothers will be at the house…let’s go out.”
“Perfect.” Rainie agreed. “You name the time and place and I’ll be there.”
“How about I pick you up…like a proper date?”
Her eyes twinkled beneath her sunglasses. “Milo Rivers.” She swooned. “I’d love that.”
Milo stood from his chair and walked toward her. He reached out his hand to shake hers, wanting to touch her, but unsure of the right move.
Rainie reached her hand toward his, but instead of shaking hands, she leaned toward him, finding his lips. It felt as if no time had passed. The fourteen years apart were forgotten in that moment. As they pulled away, Rainie readjusted her feet on the pool steps, losing her footing and falling backwards. Intuitively, Milo wrapped his arms around her waist, but it was too late. Rainie grabbed onto Milo’s shoulders and slipped backwards, feeling the pool water reach her neck and head. Milo came next, toppling on her, laughing. Rainie’s hair, drenched from the fall, fell around her face. Her eyes stayed trained on Milo, her arms still holding onto his shoulders. Milo kept his arms around her slender waist, neither of them wanting to move, both wishing to stay in this moment forever. Instead of speaking, they stared into each other’s eyes before kissing again. This time, it was Milo who made the move. Running his fingers alongside Rainie’s cheek, she melted in his embrace.
“I’ve been waiting fourteen years for this moment.” He told her, pulling her closer.
Rainie smiled, biting her lower lip.
“Rainie and Milo sitting in a tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G…first comes love, then comes marriage…” Ronnie and Sarah-Jayne were standing above the pool on the beach house deck. Ronnie sang the same song all four years Rainie and Milo dated in high school. Rainie swore she’d traveled in a time machine. She was Ronnie’s big sister again. And she was kissing Milo Rivers again, only this time as adults and in a pool on the beach. Some things had changed, of course. Her mother was in her life and making a real effort. Her dad was gone, his remains sitting in an urn in the beach house. Rainie ran a farm sanctuary. And Ronnie was pregnant.
Ronnie smiled down at them and made a face. Sarah-Jayne ran inside the sliding glass doors and reappeared a moment later, holding Rainie’s phone. “I hope you don’t mind…I answered it. It’s Cooper.”
Milo’s hand slipped from Rainie’s waist and the two emerged from the pool, water dripping from their bodies. Rainie tossed Milo her towel. “You can use it first.” She looked up at her mom. “Can you tell him I’ll call him back?”
Sarah-Jayne nodded and disappeared inside.
Milo dried himself and handed the towel back to Rainie, meeting her eyes. He didn’t have to ask. She knew what he wanted to know. She’d want to know the same if their situations had been reversed.
“Cooper is…well,” She thought about it before continuing. “I’m not sure what he is, to be honest.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Yes. No. I mean…I’m not sure, actually.” Rainie crinkled her face. “It’s complicated.”
Milo nodded. “Relationships often are.”
“Ours wasn’t.” She replied without thinking.
Milo smiled. “I should get going. We’re renting jet ski’s in an hour.” He turned to walk away.
“Are we still on for dinner tonight?” Rainie called after him. She wasn’t upset with her mom for answering her phone, she was upset Cooper had called. She was upset she’d left Milo all those years ago. She wanted to rewind and go back to high school. Everything had been so simple then. As much as she didn’t want to, she supposed they had to face reality. And reality was, they hadn’t seen each other in over a decade. They were both living separate lives. They’d dated other people. There were lots of things they didn’t know about each other anymore. As familiar as being near Milo felt, they had a lot of catching up to do. As much as she longed to slip back into what they’d once had, especially after the kiss in the pool, she knew, despite what Ronnie might have thought, that her life wasn’t that simple.
Milo turned, a small smile pursed his lips. “Sun Fish Grill?”
Rainie nodded, trying not to exude too much excitement.
“Pick you up at seven?”
“Perfect.” Rainie wanted to run and kiss him again. She wanted to feel his arms around her waist, pulling her close. But, given the altered mood of the moment, she opted to stand where she was, next to the pool with her damp towel wrapped around her waist. “See you tonight.” She smiled.
Milo retreated through the fence as she watched him go. Ronnie tilted her head to the side as her sisters eyes landed on hers. Her look said what her words didn’t. Look at your easy life. Rainie rolled her eyes at her sister.
“Someone has a date.” She winked.
“Someone is nosey!” Rainie replied.
“It’s the pregnancy.” Ronnie rubbed her belly.
“Get down here and join me in the pool.”
“Be right there.”
Rainie was sitting on the edge of the pool when Ronnie finally joined her. Sitting next to
her, she placed her legs in the water and kicked, splashing Rainie.
“Seriously? I’m much stronger than you.” Rainie laughed in response to the splash.
“I’m pregnant.” Ronnie placed her hand on her stomach again. “You wouldn’t throw a pregnant woman in the pool…” She batted her thick eye lashes.
“You’re going to use this pregnancy thing to your advantage, aren’t you?” They both laughed.
“I might.” Ronnie teased. “Mama’s so excited about the baby.”
Rainie paused for a minute. “Are you?”
Leaning forward and running her fingers through the water, Ronnie waited before replying. “I think I’ll get there.”
“Because of Andrew?” Rainie asked.
Ronnie nodded, hiding the tears in her eyes behind her sunglasses.
“Andrew or no Andrew…you’ll be a wonderful mom.”
“Thanks.” Ronnie answered weakly. “I hope.”
“I know.”
“Do you want children one day?”
“Honestly, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it. But, I wouldn’t mind a few of my own.”
“This little one will want some cousins.”
Rainie laughed.
“Mama already asked if she could be called gammy instead of grandma. She said it doesn’t make her sound as old.” Ronnie kicked her feet in the water once again. “I’d like my little one to know their gammy.”
“I think that would be nice.”
Ronnie nodded. “What’s going on with Cooper?”
Sighing, Rainie shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“And Milo?”
“Same answer.”
“How do I know if Andrew’s cheating on me?”
Rainie leaned back on her arms, soaking in the warmth of the cement. “I’m not sure, Ronnie. I wish I had an answer for you. All I can say is that you have to listen to that little voice inside of you…it will tell you what to do.”
“Like a sign?”
“You and your signs.” Rainie chuckled. “I don’t know about signs, but I know about intuition. Listen to that and you’ll be steered in the right direction.”
“Cryptic.” Ronnie stated flatly, referring to her older sisters advice.
“No. Practical.”
“Well, thanks.”
“Anytime little sis.”
“Really?” Ronnie asked, surprised.
“Of course.”
They sat in silence before Ronnie asked, “Why didn’t you contact me?”
Rainie turned to face her, pulling her sunglasses from her face. “Why didn’t you contact me?”
Both sisters shrugged simultaneously. The answer was both too simple and too complicated. Their father. Their childhood. Their struggle to breathe and to find a less tumultuous life.
“Life.” Ronnie responded as they both looked above them to the deck, watching Sarah-Jayne sit beneath the sun, legs up and crossed on the porch swing, her book in front of her nose.
“Are you hungry?” Rainie asked.
“Starving.”
“Let’s go see what Mama has made.” Since they’d arrived, Sarah-Jayne had showcased her skills in the kitchen each day. Cooking for her daughters filled her with joy. The refrigerator and freezer were bursting with food. Ice cream, sandwiches, freshly squeezed lemonade, fruit and vegetable trays, and casseroles.
Ronnie agreed and as they stood on dry land and began walking toward the beach house, she turned to Rainie and said, “You’re a good big sister.”
Raising her eyebrows Rainie asked, “What was that for?”
“What? Can’t a little sister pay her big sister a compliment?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t mean just today…I don’t know if I ever thanked you for all of those years at the house. You raised me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there. Dad was…well, Dad. And mama was too frazzled tending to his needs and putting out his fires. So anyway…I want you to know that I appreciate everything you did for me growing up. And now.”
Rainie wrapped her arm around her sister’s waist as they walked. “I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.” And she meant it. As much as the past carried its demons, it carried plenty of good memories too. “Now, let’s see what Mama has made for us to eat.”
〜
“The secret to arm knitting is not to let go of the yarn.” Sarah-Jayne told her daughters. She’d purchased yarn at the Knitting Addiction shop that morning and had been learning to arm knit using YouTube videos. “You make a slip knot, making sure the loop is big enough to slide over your hand and onto your arm and you keep moving the yarn from one arm to the other.”
“You’ve never knitted before?” Rainie asked, walking toward her inquisitively.
“Never. Have you?”
Rainie shook her head.
“How about you, Ronnie?”
“No. Never.”
“I went to the yarn shop this morning and the lady told me about arm knitting and I thought, that’s what I’m going to learn. I may be nearly sixty, but this old dog can still learn new tricks!” Sarah-Jayne said proudly as she continued knitting her chunky cream blanket.
“You’re not old.” Ronnie rolled her eyes.
“Oh, really? I’m going to be a gammy. That doesn’t mean I’m young.” She furrowed her brow.
“It’s all a state of mind.” Rainie said.
“Says the girl who is beautiful and thirty-two. Nearly half my age!”
“Ha ha.” Rainie answered. “Who are you making the blanket for, Mama?”
“This one is practice…it’s going to take me a while to get the hang of this.” Sarah-Jayne held up her arms, covered in chunky yarn.
Rainie and Ronnie nodded.
“And then one day…maybe in oh, I don’t know, nine months, I’ll have made a baby blanket.” She winked at Ronnie. Sarah-Jayne’s hands were tangled in yarn. Additional skeins of yarn sat on the floor around Sarah-Jayne’s feet. She played the YouTube video over and over again on her phone, trying to understand the next step in arm knitting. After a few more minutes of attempting her blanket project, Sarah-Jayne pushed the yarn from her arms and let it fall into a messy pile on the ground. She grunted, watching it leave her arms and shaking her head. “Who wants chocolate cake?”
“With chocolate icing?” Ronnie asked.
“Of course.” Sarah-Jayne hopped up from her chair and headed to the kitchen. “Ronnie, I know it’s early…but do you have any ideas on baby names?” She pulled down three plates from the cabinet, followed by forks and glasses.
Ronnie sat cross-legged on the couch, fiddling with the settings on her Nikon D750. She’d been out at sunrise to capture photographs on the beach. She planned to head out this evening for more during the golden hour; that magical hour right before sunset when the light was perfectly diffused and soft. Rainie sat beside her, sending a text to Rebecca, her thoughts bouncing from the sanctuary to Milo. She didn’t want to talk about the Cooper situation at dinner tonight with Milo. She wanted things to be how they were when they’d kissed in the pool. But she’d seen the way he’d walked away. And, she thought, if he’d mentioned another girl, it would have stung. No, it would have crushed her.
“I’ve always been fond of the name Claudia. Claudia Joy. Or maybe Kyle Allen for a boy. But I haven’t given it much thought, honestly. It’s all so new. And…” Ronnie’s voice trailed. She stopped herself before mentioning Andrew.
“Both lovely names, Ronnie.” Sarah-Jayne called from the kitchen as she sliced the cake.
“I name animals all of the time at the sanctuary. Mostly, they come to us without names, sometimes they’re known as a number. But, when they do come in with names, they are beyond horrible. We once rescued a cow who had been called Sweetmeat. Obviously, we immediately changed that. Another time we saved a donkey who’d been named Disappointment.” Rainie tossed her phone on the coffee table and looked at Rainie. “People can be cruel.” She sigh
ed. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll choose a good name. You have lots of time.” She reached out and touched her sister’s arm.
Ronnie looked up from her camera, resting it on her lap. “Why won’t he return my calls?”
Rainie tilted her head, looking her sister in the eyes. “I can’t answer that.” She shook her head. “I wish I could Ronnie.”
“If he’d at least return my calls…I want to hear from him. I want to be told the truth.”
Sarah-Jayne handed each of them a plate with a heaping slice of moist chocolate cake.
“I can’t make it on my own…not with a newborn. What will I do? What am I going to do?” With each word, Ronnie grew increasingly frantic.
Sitting back in her rocking chair, facing the couch, Sarah-Jayne pushed the pile of yarn away from the ground using her feet. “Life isn’t easy, Ronnie. I know that doesn’t help much now, but we’re all dealt challenges in life and it’s up to us to find a way through each obstacle.” She took a bite of her cake. “Truthfully? Sometimes the situations that we think are the worst, turn into something we realize is the best thing to have happened to us.”
Ronnie shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to hold back tears. “Andrew cheating on me can’t possibly be for the best. I had my life figured out. We have a house together…we were happy, or at least I’d thought we were.”
“It will take some time.” Her mama’s voice was soothing and calm. “Usually, it isn’t until you have some distance from the situation that you gain perspective.” She looked at her messy pile of yarn on the floor. “Sometimes things work out the way you’d hoped and sometimes they don’t. What you have to remember is that no matter what situation comes your way, you’re strong. We Amburger women are as tough as nails.”
The three women ate their cake in silence, until Sarah-Jayne tried again. She knew she couldn’t mend her daughters worried heart. But she wanted to try. She wanted to let both of her girls know that she was there. “Life is going to demand you show it what you’re made of. Both of you. If you stand up for yourself, it’s going to help you out. If you stand still, it will railroad you. But we all have a choice.”
