Time for Raine

by C. Barry Denham

  “Who was that, sweetheart?”

  “I don’t know.” She twirled a strand of her hair. “Some professor. I forgot his name, but he was from some school in Massachusetts.”

  “A school in Massachusetts?”

  “MIT or something like that,” she replied.

  Aware of his daughter’s sensitivity level, Sean feigned disinterest. “Oh, really?” he asked. He grabbed a book and sat across from where she sat with her laptop. “And what did he want?”

  “He first asked for you, but I told him you were in the shower. Then he asked if he could talk to me for a minute.”

  “And you said—”

  “I said sure.”

  “Of course,” he said. “And what did the two of you talk about?”

  “Cosmological Pendulum and other stuff like that,” she said so matter-of-factly it shocked Sean.

  “Which is?”

  “Oh, it has to do with the theories of the origin of the universe. Stuff like that.”

  “I see,” he said, but in reality was aware of how little he did know about the subject. “And what was the outcome of this conversation?”

  “I think he understands now.” She continued searching for characters. She typed slowly but deliberately on the keyboard. He found it strange that as smart as she was, she still had age-appropriate dexterity, and struggled to find letters, numbers, and other characters on the keyboard.

  “Understands it now, does he?”

  “Yeah. I think he understands where he was getting confused about that kind of stuff.”

  He stood, put the book on the table. and knelt by his daughter. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed your little chat with the professor from MIT. I am so proud of you, my little angel. Daddy loves you very much.”

  She smiled and hugged him. “I love you, too.”

  “Okay, well, if there isn’t any other professor, scientist, theologian, or world leader you need to chat with tonight, what say we head for bed? I’m sure we can find an astrophysics textbook to read before you go to sleep if you want?”

  “You’re teasing me, aren’t you, Daddy?” She giggled. He lifted her from the chair and spun her high in the air on the way to her bedroom.

  Her giggle turned into a guffaw.

  In no time, she was asleep. Dealing with such high level scientific and philosophical subjects had worn her out.

  It certainly had for Sean.

  Sean lay in the bed, the television volume low. On the screen was a suit jabbering on concerning the stock market, a newly discovered disease that hit a cruise ship, the fluctuating price of oil, and tension in the Middle East.

  His mind drifted to the conversation he had with Raine before bed, and her pontification of science and technology. He tried not to overthink it. Her range of knowledge on many subjects and the intuition she displayed was simply beyond his comprehension. As he allowed the events of the day to soak in and he became drowsy, his daughter’s picture flashed on the screen before him. He turned up the volume.

  “Get this, Sheila,” the suit said, and looked at the co-anchor. A chart flashed up on the screen. “This graphic was released today by the American Foundation—a renowned think-tank. Dr. Robert Seldwin, director for the institution, explains the graphic you are looking at on your screen.”

  A gray-bearded man appeared on the screen. The doctor’s name flashed across the bottom of the screen.

  “The American Foundation was able to secure the tests taken recently by the adopted Chinese three-year-old girl from south Alabama. From our intelligence models and based on research by several learned colleagues, we were able to postulate and compare the estimate of the three-year-old child’s intelligence quotient with many scientists and scholars, both living and deceased.”

  A narrated short film of various scientists and suits followed, ending with the same graphic. Raine’s estimated IQ was at the top of a list of several names, some of which were familiar to Sean. Notably, Einstein and Socrates were somewhere mid-list of the dozen or so names. A numerical IQ was listed to the right of each name. The numbers ranged from 140 up, bottom to top, with Raine at the top. But instead of a numeric value to the right of her name, the chart displayed a range of 185 to 200+.

  Sean swallowed hard and shook his head as the camera panned back to the anchors.

  “How would you like to figure out what grade this one should be in when she starts school, Bob?” Sheila chuckled as the background music faded in, and she straightened a stack of papers.

  “Not me, Sheila,” Bob said, checking the knot of his tie and feigning discomfort. “I have enough problems helping my ten-year-old with geometry homework. How could you possibly keep this child from becoming bored?”

  The credits rolled up the screen, and the music cued louder as the anchors chatted silently back and forth.

  “You have no idea,” Sean said to the television screen. “Not one clue.”

  ****

  The calls began early the next morning.

  “Thank you for your interest…Yes, I have your number and will consider your request.” This was the fourth call in the last ten minutes. If there was anything positive about all the offers, it was that some were offering quite sizable fees for an appearance by Raine. Sean continued to prepare breakfast as Raine sat at the kitchen table with a coloring book. Before he could make any progress on the food, the phone rang again.

  “Hello?” Sean’s patience thinned. Worse, this was the third time someone from this particular tabloid had called. “Look, I told your other colleagues I’m not interested. Please don’t call again.” He hung up harder than he intended. Raine’s eyes grew big as she looked up from the table.

  “Daddy, why are so many people calling?”

  “Well, sweetie, it looks like a lot of people found out how well you did on the tests, and they’re curious.” He glanced at her. She simply shrugged and continued coloring.

  Earlier he had invited Noelle over for an informal cookout. It would be the first time she had returned to Ono since the party. They had spoken a few times, but the conversations continued to be icy. Her comments and answers were short and to the point, as if she couldn’t wait to end the call. He hadn’t pushed to find out the reason for her aloofness, figuring when she was ready, if ever, to talk, he would be more than willing to listen. He feared her change of heart might have something to do with a man or something else going on in her personal life. Try as he may he couldn’t stop thinking about her. First chance he got, he was determined to find out what was going on. It had taken a while to admit it, but he was attracted to her and he wasn’t giving up easily on pursuing the chemistry between them.

  ****

  “Noelle,” he pleaded, stepping in front of the door after putting Raine to bed. She was so close to making her escape. “Can you give me five minutes? It’s concerning a conversation I had with Raine last night.”

  She nodded. The question sounded more like a command.

  “Please sit down.” He indicated a chair in the living room. As she made her way to the chair he took a deep breath.

  “Have I said or done something to upset you?”

  Like kiss me, while I was off the clock? “What do you mean?” She shifted in the chair and avoided those dark beautiful eyes.

  “It seems you’re very uncomfortable around me lately.”

  You have no idea. “No, I’m fine.” She had to look away. “What is it you wanted to say?”

  “Raine had an interesting conversation with a professor at MIT yesterday.” He related the details. She sat quietly through it all. “Not to mention the countless offers for Raine to attend any number of functions and interviews virtually all over the country. I’m not sure where to go from here.”

  It was apparent he needed more than five minutes of her time. “Sean, I’m not at all surprised. Her scores aren’t something that happens every day. In fact, we might never witness this kind of achievement ever again. Or at least not for a long time.”

 
“So where does that leave us?”

  What she was thinking was important, so she wanted to say it right. She had thought of little else since she had first reviewed those test results.

  “There are really two courses of actions we can take. We sit this out until the news blows over, which in all honesty could take a while. Or we give Raine her ‘fifteen minutes of fame,’ if you will, and then get on with determining what the best plan of action for her should be.”

  He stared at the floor during her spiel. He sat very still with his hands folded.

  “Sean, I understand how you must feel. This is all, well, very scary. I’ve been dwelling on this for a while now, and I really think the latter option might be the way to go. Set her up for a few selected appearances, and then let it all blow over. Oh, and I know this is getting expensive, but most of the national venues who have called will offer a fee for her appearance—some could be substantial. I don’t know what your financial position is, and I certainly don’t mean to pry, but that money could ease the pain of the costs of her evaluation, with enough left over to set aside for the future.”

  Sean looked up at her during the last part of her statement, but it was hard to read his thoughts. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hand.

  “I’m not sure what’s best for her,” he said. “She’s never been comfortable in a lot of limelight.”

  Like father, like daughter. “Have you talked to her about it?”

  He smiled, and Noelle had to look away. A sexier smile she had never seen.

  “It’s funny.” He gave her one of those twinkling glances. “She seems fine with all the notoriety. She seems to be enjoying it. Can you believe it? My shy, sweet little girl?”

  “Would you like for me to talk to her?”

  His expression seemed guarded for a quick moment, then he nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. And I’m sure she would love it.”

  She could guess it was a leap of faith and love for him to be considering any options that would put his daughter in any situation where he might perceive he would lose control of her surroundings.

  “Daddy, I think I would like to do something to help people.”

  Sean flinched. Noelle turned to see Raine standing at the opening of the hallway to her bedroom.

  “Maybe going on TV or talking to people might help,” she murmured timidly.

  Sean looked at Noelle and then to Raine. “Honey, if that’s what you want, then I would be very proud of you. And I’m sure Miss Noelle would be, too.”

  “Absolutely,” Noelle agreed and smiled.

  Sean stood and guided his daughter back to her bedroom. Noelle’s heart raced. At that moment, she knew she had vastly underrated the wisdom of this child.

  Do I have what it takes to help this little girl?

  In the few minutes it took Sean to return, she managed to regroup. To show any weakness now would be fatal in her quest to effectively evaluate Raine. She regained control and began charting a course of action, mentally reviewing the offers that had been extended.

  When Sean returned, he looked perplexed.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Yeah, fine.” He sat across from her. “I was thinking back to that day on the boat.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I was taking a break from working on the engine. She was reading Following the Equator and was concerned about the people in Asia. And then, out of the blue she said she couldn’t wait to help those people.”

  “Maybe this is what she meant,” she said.

  He didn’t respond and seemed deep in thought and very uncomfortable. He continued to look at her, a deer in headlights.

  During the next hour, Noelle and Sean planned a three-event trek for Raine, which included appearances and interviews in New York, Washington, DC and Atlanta. Noelle thought it best if Raine first accepted the offer from Global This Morning, mainly because that cable morning show had consistently gotten high ratings and was offering a hefty fee. From New York, they would go to Washington to accept a special invitation from an Alabama representative to observe a House session. Finally, they would go to Atlanta for a taped interview with World Cable News, which would be aired later that month in a special gifted-children documentary. To somewhat prepare them for the major networks and events, Noelle suggested a brief appearance at a local TV news show.

  “Thanks for planning all this.” His look melted her heart. “This kind of stuff isn’t my strong suit. I really appreciate you laying it all out. Makes things so much simpler.”

  “I would be happy to have someone at my office make all the arrangements if that’s okay with you.” Noelle couldn’t remember why she was so unhappy with him. Tonight, he was absolutely adorable. The memory of the kiss kept running through her mind.

  “That would be great,” he said and gave her one of those sexy smiles. “You don’t know what a load off my mind this is.”

  In spite of her efforts to the contrary, she found she couldn’t stay mad at him. He was just too damned gorgeous. Even his groveling was sexy, and he was so sweet and personable to her during the time they spent planning.

  But at no time did he say a word about the kiss.

  Even worse, he never tried to kiss her again.

  Chapter Eight

  “Can Miss Noelle go with us?”

  Raine’s question came out of the blue. Sean wasn’t expecting it, although Noelle had been on his mind all day.

  “You know, Daddy,” she said and tugged on his sleeve. “On our trip next week?”

  He nearly flipped a burger off the grill.

  “Are you going to drop my hamburger, Daddy?” Her gaze followed the rolling hunk of meat as he caught it with the spatula before it fell onto the patio.

  “Well, sweetie,” he said and cleared his throat. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  “Why, Daddy? Didn’t you tell me we would have connected rooms at the hotels where we are going?”

  “Well, yes,” Sean said tentatively. Before he could offer another objection, her face drooped and she climbed back onto her patio chair. He suspected this wasn’t the end of the conversation. He had never known her to give up so easily. As he paused for a moment to drink some ice water, she confirmed he was right.

  “Hey, Daddy? Didn’t you say each room had two beds?”

  “Well, yes, that’s right,” he said. “But I’m not sure—”

  “Noelle could sleep in one, and you could sleep in the other.”

  Sean almost choked on his water. “No.” The word was louder than he intended. But nothing was going to deter his daughter’s persistence.

  “Hey, wait.” She rocked in her chair. “Miss Noelle could stay in the room with me. That would be neat! Girls in one room and you in the other.”

  He stood in front of the grill. His face felt hotter than the coals. He glanced at his daughter and suspected he had been set up. As innocently as her conversation had meandered around to the two ladies staying in the same room, he wondered if she had planned it this way from the start. Propose the preposterous, and then offer a solution that seemed doable.

  He looked at his daughter. Why, the little sneak. She set me up.

  Her smile widened, as if she knew she had been caught. “Can we ask her, Daddy?” She flashed that pitiful look she was becoming so skilled at. “Please?”

  There was no denying her.

  “She’s due here in a few minutes. We can ask her later, maybe after we eat, so we don’t spring it on her when she first walks in. And don’t be disappointed if she says no. She is very busy and a very good doctor. She has a lot of patients.”

  “Oh, thank you, Daddy.” She sprang from the chair, hugged his leg, and skipped toward the kitchen door. “I’ll go watch for her.”

  As Sean finished the grilling, Raine walked outside, hand in hand with Noelle. He did a double take. She looked even better than the last time he had seen her. In fact, she seemed to look better every time he saw her
. Had she done something special with her hair? Was her makeup different? Did she even wear makeup?

  During the pleasant conversation before and during dinner, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes from her.

  “So which princess is your favorite?” Noelle asked, taking a break from the food.

  “I like Belle the best.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because she isn’t afraid of the beast,” she said, her mouth still full of food.

  “So you like her because she is brave and isn’t intimidated by big ugly beasts?” Noelle glanced toward Sean, and Raine giggled.

  “You mean like my daddy?” Her giggle turned to a belly laugh, and in spite of the implication, he was more concerned she might choke.

  “Oh, no, sweetie, I didn’t mean your daddy was big and ugly.” Noelle’s face turned red, and she dropped her fork on her plate. She glanced back and forth between them and, after noticing the smile on his face, joined in the laughter. Raine regained her composure and the conversation continued between them.

  Sean sat back in the cushioned chair and enjoyed the banter. The sun made its late-day escape, but the warm temperatures were holding. The spring rains had been light, and tourist season was beginning to kick into gear. It was beach time in coastal Alabama, but given recent events, he wondered if they would ever again be able to go to the beach and enjoy a simple uninterrupted session of sandcastle building and boogie-boarding.

  He finished his food and continued to watch the ladies’ feeding frenzy. When it came to eating, they were two peas in a pod. He couldn’t figure it. Raine ate like a horse and never seemed to gain an ounce. Noelle’s appetite seemed as ferocious, yet she was quite slender. Where were they putting it?

  “Daddy, why are you staring at us?” Raine paused from the mêlée and glanced at him with a concerned look on her darkly tanned face. She was so beautiful in her pale yellow sundress. It seemed a perfect complement to Noelle’s floral spaghetti-strap dress.