I Picked You

by J C Hartung

  “Let’s go!”

  They turned off the drive and headed into town, in no hurry to be anywhere.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, as he watched her look around the truck. She put her fingers to the buttons that opened the sunroof and then she stopped.

  “Go ahead; it’s turned out to be a nice night.”

  She opened it, smiling up into the sky where the stars were just pushing their way through the evening’s light. He felt himself relax as the air drifted in.

  “So, I assume you got a babysitter?”

  “Yes, it all worked out!”

  “Are you going to tell me where to go, or are we taking a road trip to the city?”

  He turned into town and slowly drove down the main street. He felt her eyes on him and he turned in time to see her flash a smile his way.

  “Pull in here,” she ordered.

  When he’d closed the windows and turned the truck off, he gave his full attention back to her.

  “How do you feel about karaoke?”

  He swallowed a nervous laugh and decided to go with it.

  “I’m terrible, and you’ll likely be sorry you suggested it, but I’ll do it if you will. Stay where you are, I’ll come around,” he ordered, and walked around the back of the truck and opened her door. He offered a hand, and he watched her place hers firmly in it, and slide out of the truck.

  “It’s this way. I thought we could walk a bit since it’s such a nice night.” She breathed deeply and turned her face to the sky. “I love how it smells here after the rain. You don’t get this smell in the city.”

  “It’s a different world here, that’s for sure,” he countered.

  “What do you miss most about the city?”

  He couldn’t stop looking at her. He used the excuse of people passing on the sidewalk to pull her closer.

  “I miss the food,” he laughed, and she joined. “I miss my family, and some of its conveniences. How about you?”

  She didn’t have to think about it, she answered immediately. “I was thinking about this just the other day. I miss the energy. There’s always something going on, and you can choose to be in the middle of it, or you can watch it, or you can avoid it. But I loved knowing there was always something happening.”

  “I can see that about you.”

  She stopped and her eyebrow rose inquiringly. He chuckled to himself.

  “Look at you!” He motioned with his hands from her head to her toes.

  “Look at me?”

  He stepped to her and wrapped himself around her. When he drew her near and when their lips met, she put her arms around him easily and melted into him, while still maintaining an undercurrent of strength and power. It was an irresistible combination.

  “You’re all energy tonight, so yeah, I can see that about you.”

  “Oh.” She laughed while he set her back from him.

  “So, is this the place?” he asked. He could hear singing from the street, and the entrance was a flurry of activity considering it was a Sunday night.

  She nodded and laughed at his expression. “You’ll survive! The key is in the song selection.”

  “That’s the key, is it?” he said sarcastically.

  She threaded her arm through his and pushed him through the door. It was crowded, loud, and warm. They squeezed their way into position at the bar, and once they ordered, she directed him to a table with a few large books.

  “What are you going to sing?” He watched her flip the pages at random. He knew nothing about karaoke as he’d never done it.

  “I don’t know. What are you in the mood for? Gut-wrenching country, soulful classics, or raunchy rock?”

  He knew his expression hadn’t changed, and when she laughed deeply enough to throw her head back, he figured he looked as nervous as he felt.

  She leaned over and shared a few words with the DJ. He nodded and she tucked the book under her arm, took his hand in her empty one, and led him out a side door. When the door slapped shut behind him, she pulled him to a bench with an umbrella that was lit with fairy lights.

  “Have a seat,” she said, and let the book rest on her knees. He sat down and put his arm behind her.

  “You come here often?” he asked.

  She shook her head and laughed as she sipped her drink. “I don’t. Karaoke has never been my thing, and I’d say if I read your face correctly back there, karaoke is definitely not your thing. So what’s the story, can’t you sing?”

  “I can sing just fine, but is karaoke actually about the singing?”

  She tilted her head and sipped her drink while she thought it over. “No, I guess it really isn’t.” She turned into him and crossed her legs. “So if you can sing, what is it? Stage fright?”

  Her eyes were laughing but her expression remained cool. He mirrored her position as she drew the smile easily to his lips.

  “I don’t know if it is stage fright so much as, I just don’t like doing something unless I know I’ll do it well.”

  That surprised her, and her face showed it until her mouth spread into a brazen smile. “So the easy-going, always confident, smooth-- What’s your last name?” she suddenly asked.

  “Morrow,” he supplied, as he laughed.

  “The smooth, Mr. Morrow has weaknesses! It’s reassuring to know. I was beginning to wonder if anything could rattle you!”

  “Hmm.” The sound was more a laugh than a comment. He crossed his ankle over his knee, and with eyes still alight with laughter, he turned back to her.

  “I rattle, you’ve got nothing to fear!” he paused. Would she believe him if he told her that nothing had ever rattled him the way she did.

  “So are we going to choose a song?”

  “Yes!” She opened the book and started flipping the pages. “I’m not familiar with the current hits, so I’ve got an old book, is that alright?”

  “Sure, how about I pick your song, and you pick mine?”

  “Oh, look at you, brave one!” she teased.

  They chose each other’s songs and they went in blind, not knowing what they were singing until it was their respective turns. She chose for him a country song. Drawing from experience and assuming that most contractor/builders had an affinity for country music, she figured she couldn’t go wrong with Garth Brooks.

  He did well. The crowd was in good spirits and appreciative of his efforts as he easily gained their support. He swaggered across the stage and had the crowd eating out of his hands, hooting and hollering for an encore. She was thoroughly impressed, and when he descended the stairs to have her sing the last bit with him, she felt a surge ripple through her body, not unlike what she may have felt if a real rock star had done the same.

  She leaped at him and he caught her while she threw her arms around him. “You were great! As if you were afraid to do that!”

  “Fear was never a factor, doll! It’s your turn, go get ‘em!” She beamed up at him, oozing confidence and energy.

  He gave her the microphone and they swapped places. He took his seat while the crowd around him clapped his back and cheered his efforts. It was a rush, and it didn’t hurt his ego to see her hooting and cheering with the rest of the room.

  He chose for her a song that would keep her energy running on high. He wanted all energy, all fun, and he couldn’t risk a ballad that could wipe the fun out with the first few notes, her song was I Love Rock N’ Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

  When the familiar beat rang through the speakers and the words flashed on the screen, her eyes widened and her laugh sung through the speakers. She pointed at him and gave herself over to the music. There was no stopping her; she put on a full show. He was astonished and knocked speechless by her. She could sing, and she didn’t hold back because she could move. There wasn’t one single person in the room who wasn’t captivated and involved in her performance, she’d somehow even gathered together her own group of back-up singers for the chorus.

  When she took a bow they all want
ed more, and he was included in that lot. She was that good.

  They stuck around for a few more numbers and then walked out, hands threaded together, into the cool September air.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  They drove home as the energy of the evening slowly faded.

  “How hard is it to get a babysitter?” he asked.

  She turned to face him as he slowly wove his way to her house. “It can be tricky. But if I’m honest, I usually leave Oliver with my family. It’s not as hard to leave him when he’s with them.”

  He nodded. He could understand the reasoning behind that, especially since they seemed like such a tight family.

  “So what are the chances we can do this again soon?” He glanced quickly in her direction and saw she was still facing him.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we could stay in next time. I still don’t know much about you, isn’t it time you told me your story?”

  He laughed under his breath. “We could stay in. You let me know when it works and I’ll share all the juicy details of my story!”

  “Are you always so flexible and easy?” she asked, as he turned down her tree lined drive. He stopped in front of her garage, turned the truck off, and turned to her.

  “No, I’m not always easy or flexible. But when something matters, you find a way to make it work.”

  His guileless answer sent a shiver through her. Hadn’t she easily gone out of her way earlier in the day to show him he mattered?

  “Well,” she managed, and reached for the door.

  “Just wait, I’ll come around.”

  With long strides she watched him walk through the beams of light around the front of the truck, and was thankful for the moment to settle. He opened the door and offered his hand as he had earlier.

  She found her keys, unlocked the door to the garage and said nothing when he followed her in. They weren’t late. She’d told Jamie the babysitter she’d be home by 11:00 and it was minutes before. He watched the exchange between them and saw the thirty dollars Raina gave the girl when she let her out.

  He whistled when she turned back to him. “Thirty bucks for an easy three hours; wow!”

  She laughed and tossed her bag onto the counter behind Linc. She stopped and leaned on the counter next to him. “I know, it’s crazy right? That’s more per hour than I made at my first job, and Oliver slept the whole time.”

  He smiled because there was not even the smallest trace of bitterness in her assessment. He took her hand, pushed off the counter and walked back into the garage kitchen.

  “Do you have time for lunch this week?” he asked, when he reached the door.

  She smiled easily up at him. “I’ll make time for lunch, but call first just to be safe.”

  He moved into her and she received him. He looked down into her eyes and felt the warmth of her arms around him.

  “I had a great time tonight, Raina. You were quite the entertainer, and I’d say you’ve got smooth wrapped up tight yourself!”

  At the last bit she shrugged and threw her head back. He felt her body shake with her laugh and saw her eyes sparkle.

  “It was fun! Fun was a good idea, even if it didn’t include breaking into the neighbors and skinny dipping!”

  His own laugh shook loose and forgetting himself he asked. “Do you remember everything?”

  He saw the flash in her eyes, though it was brief. He ignored it because she bravely held her smile. He leaned his forehead on hers, closed his eyes, and tried to make her forget.

  She gave willingly, and when they parted, she held on. “I had a great night too.”

  Their eyes were searching. They each saw what neither had been prepared for. She saw his capacity and a need to give love. He saw a woman uncertain she was ready to give herself over to this big, new beginning. They both saw desire, want, determination, and a commitment to explore where this could take them.

  The next day he found himself looking at paint chips again. This time it was a more permanent addition to his life. He had time in the evenings, so he was going to paint the upstairs bedrooms while he waited for the drywall crew to finish up with the downstairs. As soon as the drywall was done the pace of everything would depend mostly on him.

  The color scheme had been planned out before he started. The star would be the wood and neutral would be its background, but he was feeling restless again, and restless to him translated into abstract ideas and bright-bold color.

  He tossed another two chips onto the counter and turned back to the large selection board. Three bedrooms and no one to fill them, that was the problem. At twenty if he could have predicted his future, he would have said by now he’d have three happy and healthy children, a beautiful wife he was desperately in love with, and to round it off, a family of cats and two dogs.

  To his chagrin, he was no longer twenty and he had none of those things, though his dreams still hadn’t changed.

  Beige wasn’t his thing, and because he wanted to keep the rooms gender neutral and follow the scheme he and his designer had mapped out, he gave in and bought the warm basic white. He collected the chips he’d pulled and stuffed them into his back pocket for later.

  “Linc!”

  He heard his name and turned. He saw Martin walk past as he gave Linc a wave of acknowledgement, even as Oliver was leaping at him. “Hey, Buddy! What’re you doing here? Is school out already?” He hoisted Oliver up and sat him on the counter.

  “Yep! I’m having a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s!”

  “On a school night? No way, what’s the occasion?”

  “What’s occasion?” he asked. His face was cutely scrunched.

  “Hmm,” he had to think. “It’s how you describe when something special is happening. Like a birthday, or a celebration, or when someone does something nice. You might say, what’s the occasion? You get it?”

  As far as explanations went, that would just have to do.

  “I think so. It is a big occasion!” he sparkled, pleased at his usage of the word. “Auntie Trish had a baby, so mama went to see them and she won’t be back till tomorrow.”

  “That is a big occasion!” he agreed, rustling his fingers in Oliver’s hair. “You didn’t get to go?”

  He shook his head and kicked his foot against the desk obviously disappointed. “I have to go to school, but Mama said Thanksgiving is coming soon and I can go then.”

  “It is coming soon! That’s something to look forward to.”

  Oliver shrugged. “Are you getting more paint?”

  “I am.” He leaned on the desk and turned back to the color board.

  “What color are you picking? I like blue.”

  “I like blue, too, but today, I’m afraid white wins again.”

  Oliver made a disappointed face. “When can we come over to play again? That was fun.”

  “It was fun. You can come anytime, but you’ll have to ask your mom.” He thought that was a safe deflection, hopefully he wouldn’t pester her too relentlessly.

  His paint was ready. “So, maybe I’ll see you again soon.” He helped Oliver off the tall counter and they walked to the doors.

  “See you, Linc,” Oliver chirped, as Linc turned to the door.

  Trish had been comfortably relaxing at home for two days with her new angel, surrounded by the chaos of her life. Raina’s very brief overnight stay had altered nothing in their home.

  When she arrived she felt like she’d been bombarded. Sue and Allen were there, Pete and Marie were loading up to leave, and Trish’s parents were on the drive making their departure as well. Her timing couldn’t have been worse.

  She shared words with everyone, hugs with a few, and tears with Sue and Allen. Last time she’d spoken with Dave and Trish, the morning after Oliver’s birthday party, they’d sat down with her and told her that if they had a son, they would be including Mark in his name. She couldn’t have been happier for them and that they would honor Mark by naming their own child after him could only be called beau
tiful in her opinion.

  Raina stayed just long enough on Tuesday to help see all the children off to school, throw together three different types of casseroles to get the family through the week, and have a heart to heart while snuggling her new nephew Grayson Mark.

  Trish wanted an update on the situation with Linc, and Raina used her as a sounding board for the bizarre thoughts jumping around in her head.

  As she drove home with the beat of music propelling her over the miles, she felt settled, and because of it she let the tears come freely.

  She felt it was somehow symbolic that if a new life could be called Mark, surely it was acceptable for her to look to the future and live her own life.

  She picked Oliver up from school on her way home. There was no sense in racing home to wait for the bus if she was passing by. She drove past The Bakery and peered in the windows. It was strictly out of habit because it was Tuesday and they were never open, but it always made her feel better to give it a quick check.

  “How do you feel about pizza tonight, Monkey?”

  A silly question, she thought, he always wanted pizza.

  “Pizza! Really?”

  She confirmed with a wink into the rearview mirror. They swung by the grocery store to pick up a few things and were on their way.

  They made a grand mess, tossing flour and rolling dough. While Oliver waited for the oven to bake the pizza, he played Lego and Raina sang a song that played through the speakers.

  The smell of baking pizza floated through the air and they sat down to eat. Raina was reaching for a second piece as Oliver continued his animated run down of his day.

  “Mom, can we go play at Linc’s again? He said we could go anytime if you said it was okay.”

  She froze briefly with the pizza squeezed between her teeth. Her mouth was full and she used that as an opportunity for fast thinking.