They shopped in the department store for another half hour, Raine splurging on several pairs of stretch slacks and a couple of loose-fitting blouses.
Outside, as they walked down the sidewalk, Raine’s purchases folded in a distinctive Gates Department Store shopping bag, her mother once again brought up the idea of a thirtieth birthday party for Gabe. “It would be nice,” she said. “It would make him feel appreciated.”
The muscles in Raine’s stomach tightened.
“It wouldn’t have to be big,” Marge continued, “just a few friends.” She glanced at her daughter.
The pressure mounted. How could she refuse? “Sure,” Raine said. “I think he’s off duty on Saturday. I’ll have to check.”
“Marge!” someone called from across the street. “Marge, Raine...wait!”
Raine and her mother stopped walking as Elise Fairmont, smiling and waving, made her way across the street from the square.
Raine looked away for a second, ashamed of the way she’d run from the other woman outside the grocery store. But she’d just had her confrontation with Ann Tully and hadn’t felt comfortable facing anyone else, not even the gentle librarian.
Little about Elise’s outward appearance had changed over the years. She must be in her late fifties by now, Raine thought, but she was one of those tall, naturally thin women who look very much the same all their lives. Her pale blond hair, worn short and lightly curled, was streaked with silver, but the colors blended so perfectly that it was hard to tell. She had nice skin and soft blue eyes. Yet it was inside that the change had occurred. Where before she’d been a little too quiet and serious, she now smiled freely and moved with confidence.
“Marge! Raine!” she cried, clasping their hands. “I just couldn’t let this moment slip by. I looked up and there you were...and I had to stop you. Raine,” she said, “I’m so pleased you’re back in Tyler. You always did brighten up the place. Especially the library, when you used to stop by in your dance costumes on the way to practice or a recital.”
Raine smiled. “I was usually late with a book report or a paper at school and had been threatened with a trip to Miss Mackie’s office if I didn’t get it in the next day.”
“Josephine ran a tight ship,” Elise said. “Have you heard that she’s off on a cruise to the Greek islands? She tried to talk Robert and me into going with her, but Robert couldn’t get away. He’s still teaching at the university.”
Raine had never met Robert Fairmont, but when Elise had married him four years previously, her mother had written an unusually long letter, telling Raine all about it. Raine knew that he was an architect and that because of him both Elise and her older sister, Bea, had broken out of the years-long inertia surrounding them.
Bea had never been one of Raine’s favorite people. While Raine was growing up, Bea had been grouchy and mean to any child who made noise outside the house she then shared with Elise. And she’d call their parents to complain.
Almost as if Elise had read Raine’s mind, she said, “So we talked Bea into going instead! Which wasn’t all that difficult, it turned out, since she’s always had a secret desire to go there!”
Raine was trying to formulate an appropriate response when a commotion started a little farther down the sidewalk. A woman with her hair set partially in curlers came running out of Tisha Olsen’s beauty salon, yelling for help. Another woman—this one with a clear plastic bag tied over her wet, purple-tinted hair—came hurrying onto the sidewalk after her. “Hurry!” she cried, ringing her hands. “Please help us! Please!”
Everyone in the vicinity froze. Then the first woman came running back, with a man hard on her heels—Gabe! He disappeared into the shop after her.
A crowd began to gather outside the Hair Affair, and Raine, her mother and Elise Fairmont were close to the front. Raine watched through the large plate-glass window as several women, including the two who had run outside, hovered in the background while Gabe bent over a redheaded woman collapsed on the floor. Another woman, obviously a beautician because she wore a bright pink operator’s smock with several combs sticking out of a pocket, stood off to the other side.
“What’s the matter? What’s happened?” newcomers to the crowd asked excitedly.
“It’s Tisha,” Elise breathed.
“What’s wrong with her? Did anyone say?”
“Is that her on the floor?” a man demanded, craning his neck to see.
Gabe was working on Tisha, running through a medical procedure he’d obviously been trained to employ. The operator, upon his instruction, hurried to the telephone. But someone else must have already placed a call for help because the wail of a siren could be heard in the distance.
As it drew nearer, everyone held their breath.
“Is she dead?” someone asked in a hushed tone.
“Gabe’s in there,” a woman stated, seeming confident that his presence could chase away any evil. His name reverberated through the crowd.
The siren screamed as the ambulance made a quick turn onto Main Street. When Raine looked around she saw the technicians hop out and start to clear a path to the beauty salon’s entrance. She, her mother and Elise, among others, pressed together to make way.
The technicians hurried past. One spoke to Gabe, while the other bent over Tisha, whom Raine saw move her arm.
“She moved her arm,” she said to her mother. Other people heard, and there was a tentative sigh of relief.
“Someone should call Judson,” Elise said.
“Maybe Jeff first,” Marge suggested, “so he can break the news gently to his grandfather. Judson and Tisha just came back from Arizona for the summer, didn’t they?”
“A few days ago,” Elise confirmed.
“I’ll make the call,” Marge volunteered.
“I’ll come with you,” Elise murmured, and the two women hurried away.
Raine couldn’t make herself go with them. She watched as Gabe stood aside as the two technicians worked. Then she saw him help transfer Tisha onto a rolling stretcher and assist as they took her out the front door to the street.
Once again the crowd parted, silently witnessing the event.
Within seconds Tisha was placed inside the rescue vehicle, one technician jumping into the back with her, while the other—the driver—secured the rear doors. Before getting behind the wheel, though, he thanked Gabe and clapped him on the shoulder.
Gabe stood back with the crowd as the ambulance pulled away, its siren once again screaming.
“What was wrong with her, Gabe?” someone asked. “Was it serious?”
Gabe shook his head. “Can’t tell. She’ll have to have some tests.”
“Was it her heart?” another person asked.
“Oh, I was so frightened!” The woman with the wet purple hair dissolved into tears. “I thought—I thought she was dead!”
“Me, too!” the first woman said. “She was so pale, and then she just collapsed. She was doing my hair...like she always does when she’s in town. We were talking, then she stopped, looked kind of funny, made a little noise and fell. Oh, it was horrible! Horrible!”
Gabe made his way unerringly to Raine. He grasped her hand and pulled her away from the crowd, ducking into the drugstore nearby.
Raine’s throat was so tight she couldn’t speak. Thoughts and emotions overwhelmed her. The way Gabe had rushed into the shop, the way he had ministered to Tisha, the faith of the people outside that he could take care of the problem...it all mingled with her own confused feelings for him. He was the Gabe she had always known and yet he wasn’t. He was much more.
“Tisha?” she croaked.
“It could be her heart.”
“Is it bad?” she asked tightly.
“I’ve seen worse. But there’s no way to know until the doctors check her out.”
“What were you... How...?”
“I was on my way to the hardware store. One of the ladies saw me and called me over.”
Raine knew that her reaction was all out of proportion to the past moments. It wasn’t as if the sudden affliction had struck someone she loved. She knew Tisha Olsen and had always admired her for her sometimes outrageous personality and sense of humor. But that was as far as it went. They weren’t particularly close.
Gabe frowned and touched her arm. His hand was warm and strong. She trembled.
“This isn’t doing you any good,” he said.
Raine looked around, suddenly realizing that when her mother returned she would have no idea what had happened to her. “Mom was here. She’ll be looking for me....”
The crowd had dispersed by the time Raine and Gabe went back outside. Only a few people remained to discuss the event.
“Raine! There you are!” Marge cried, breaking away from a small group. “I wondered where you went. But I thought if Gabe didn’t have to go to the hospital, you’d be with him. Hello, Gabe.” Marge’s features were strained, as if the experience had been difficult for her as well. But then she and Tisha were closer in age and in friendship. “I called Jeff Baron,” she said to Gabe, “so he could alert his grandfather. It took forever! He was in some kind of meeting, but I finally got through.”
“I think Raine should go home now, Marge,” Gabe said.
As Marge turned to examine her closely, Raine could see the worry start to grow in her mother’s eyes. Now that her mother was used to the idea of her being pregnant, she didn’t want anything to cause Raine to lose the baby.
“I’m all right, really,” Raine said, trying to reassure her. Trying to reassure Gabe.
“My car’s right here,” Marge said, motioning to the late-model Lincoln parked in an angled slot. “We were going home anyway. We’d just finished our shopping for the day.”
Gabe hesitated.
“It’s all right,” Marge assured him. “If you’re in the middle of something, I’ll look after her. This is my grandbaby we’re talking about, remember?”
Raine would have sworn she saw Gabe wince. He covered it quickly if he had, though, and replied, “I was on my way to pick up something for someone.”
“I’ll see to her then,” Marge said, and within a second she had hustled Raine into the car and was on her way around to the driver’s side.
Gabe stood motionless on the sidewalk, his gaze fixed on Raine, as the Lincoln backed quickly out of the parking slot.
When it pulled away Raine felt as if a part of herself had been left behind.
* * *
RAINE HADN’T PLANNED on going to sleep. Her mother had insisted that she lie down, and after a heated protest, she had. A couple of hours later she awakened to find that her mother had gone and Gabe was in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove.
“I didn’t mean to go to sleep,” she said, running a hand over her tousled hair.
“You needed it.”
She slumped into a chair. “Have you heard how Tisha is?”
“I called the hospital about a half hour ago. They said she’s resting comfortably.”
“Is that all they can say?”
“That’s a lot. At least she’s stabilized.” He glanced at her. “The stew’s going to be a while. Do you want something to tide you over?”
Raine shook her head.
There was a moment of silence.
“Did you find what you wanted on your shopping trip?” he asked.
Raine stirred. The shopping trip seemed to have happened a very long time ago. “More than I meant to, actually. Gabe, I put some clothes on your account at Nora’s store. She said you had one.”
Gabe looked pained. “I should have given you my card. Sorry.”
“No, it’s not that. I only wanted you to know about the charges, so when the bill comes in you’ll be expecting it.”
“Not a problem,” he said.
She lifted her chin. “I plan to pay for everything myself. You’ve already done enough. I don’t want you paying my debts as well. I may have to borrow a bit at first, but I’ll pay you back. You know that.”
“I’m not interested in the money, Raine.”
“I have to do this, Gabe. For me. Mom gave me an idea. I’m not sure if it’ll work, but she said Mrs. Kellaway moved to California and there’s no one here to take her place teaching dance to little kids. I could do that.”
“You could,” Gabe agreed.
She frowned. “I’m not sure how to start.”
“Talk to Angela Murphy. She opened TylerTots a few years ago. It started small and grew, and now it’s quite a successful business.”
His automatic assumption that she was ready to make such long-term plans rattled Raine. She moved restlessly to the kitchen window. Once again the day was sunny and warm. More and more plants were bursting into leaf and bloom.
She swung around, turning her back on the springtime frivolities. Would it be fair for her to start something with the children that she might not be around to finish? To expose them to the initial joys of dance, only to take it away when it was no longer convenient to her plans?
“Then again,” she said tightly, reacting to the conflict inside her, “maybe I won’t.”
Gabe didn’t move.
“It wouldn’t be fair, Gabe,” she continued, speaking her thoughts aloud. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, or if I’ll want to teach after the baby’s born.” She sighed, frustrated. “There are just too many things to consider. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Thinking’s good,” Gabe said evenly.
Raine shot him an irritated look. “Don’t agree with everything I say, please!”
Gabe held her gaze for a long moment. Then, lips tightening, he adjusted his grasp on the stirring spoon, walked over to her, folded it into her hand and went out the door.
A flash of anger erupted in Raine as she stood there with the unwanted spoon. How dared he just leave like that! His normally amiable face had been set in stone, his blue eyes, always so warm with care and humor, frosty. He was angry with her. Why? What had she...? Raine took a series of short breaths and tried to see it from his perspective. Maybe she was lucky that he was a man of such control. Another man might have yelled and made her feel much worse than she already did.
Raine slumped back into the chair. She had to face it. Her uncalled-for outburst had not been about her need for money or the frustration involved in finding a way to get it. She had railed at Gabe because he was the source of so much of her trouble. Even if he didn’t know it!
* * *
GABE STORMED OUTSIDE, taking his anger and frustration out by tossing a few lay-up shots into the basket hanging from the backboard at the front of the garage. When he made those, he switched to longer shots, dribbling the ball in between, pounding it on the pavement. The twanging ka-thump as the ball hit the rim, whether it went in or not, was satisfying.
He didn’t know whether he was angry at her or at himself. She was being wholly unreasonable, but he didn’t seem to have very much patience anymore, either. Why not?
When he’d entered into this arrangement he’d known that it was going to be difficult living in the same house with Raine, dealing with her day after day. Wanting her and yet not being able to show it.
Then he’d slipped up and kissed her.
Idiot! he swore, pounding the ball on the pavement all the harder.
He wanted everything between them to be as it had been before, but that didn’t look as if it was going to happen.
Which meant that their possible future together was even more at risk.
He pounded the ball a few more times, before sending it rolling into the garage. Then he hopped
in the Explorer and backed out of the drive. Once again he had to get away.
* * *
THE RHYTHMIC THUMP of the basketball ceased. Raine noted the absence of sound and looked out the window. She was just in time to see Gabe drive away.
She wanted to run after him and apologize. But he was out of sight before she could even move. In all probability he was going off somewhere to help someone in his precious town, she thought acidly. Maybe Ann Tully.
She groaned out loud at the thought. And if it wasn’t Ann Tully, it could be someone else. He had a full life here. And a full life meant that it was full. A man as nice looking and reputable as Gabe probably had to beat women off with a stick! He was a fire fighter, for glory’s sake! He wore a uniform! He had a sweet, shy smile that many women must find irresistible.
Raine started to pace, then she stopped. She’d bought some nice things today. She was going to go try them on. And she wasn’t going to think about Gabe!
Raine was trying on a second dress when she smelled something burning. The stew! She raced out of the bedroom and down the hall. Smoke rose in soft billows from the pot, collecting in the higher corners of the kitchen. She’d forgotten it was cooking!
Screeching, she carried the pot outside and abandoned it on top of a metal garbage can, then she hurried back inside to open all the windows and doors. She remembered the other poor soul Gabe had told her about who had forgotten his snack on the burner. A fire engine had rolled up, embarrassing him greatly. She didn’t want the same thing to happen to her. Or for Gabe to hear about it later—which he would, without doubt.
She ran through the house flapping her arms, trying to make the smoke dissipate as quickly as possible. It amazed her that the alarm in the hall hadn’t gone off yet. But as bad as the situation seemed at first, the smoke quickly faded, and a liberal spraying of her best perfume helped cover the smell.
She changed out of her new dress and back into the clothes she had worn all day. When Gabe returned a half hour later, she saw him pause and sniff the air. He had to have known what had happened, but he said nothing—not even when the meal they ate for dinner that evening came straight out of a can.
Daddy Next Door (Hometown Reunion) Page 15
