A Rainbow Above Us

by Sharon Sala

  When they began cleaning up, he got up and helped. Even when they were claiming they’d do it, he ignored them.

  “I’ve taken care of myself too long to let that happen,” he said. “And now you have to mind me, Gran. You come sit. Put your feet up, and find something you like to watch on TV.”

  Pearl fussed a little, but Bowie could tell it was just for show. She looked tired. Today had been a big day for everyone. He turned on the television, then handed her the remote. She was already surfing channels when he got back to the sink.

  Ella had the dishwasher loaded and was looking for the detergent.

  “I’ve got this, Aunt Ella. You go join Gran. Rowan and I will wash up the stuff that didn’t fit.”

  “I won’t argue,” she said, and dried her hands.

  Rowan was already running hot water into the sink and adding some liquid dish detergent.

  “I’ll wash. You dry and put away, okay?” she said.

  “Okay,” Bowie said, and got a clean dishtowel from the drawer.

  They worked together in comfortable silence, grinning at each other once when Pearl began complaining about what she called “those spoiled women” who were negating every aspect of the houses they were touring.

  “Sounds like they’re watching House Hunters,” Rowan said. “It was one of her favorite shows at the nursing home.”

  Bowie glanced over his shoulder. Ella was dozing, and Gran was shaking her head in disgust. The age on their faces was a painful reminder of how long he’d been gone.

  A few minutes later, Bowie was drying the last skillet, and Rowan was wiping off the table. As soon as they were finished, he put his dirty clothes in the washer.

  “I do this every night,” he said when Rowan followed him back to see if she could help. “My work clothes always get so dirty that it’s easier to wash them the same day than to have them lying around stinking up the place.”

  She leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest, watching, remembering.

  “I did the same thing when Daddy started cutting wood for the winter. We always had some deadfall curing in the woods. All it needed was to be cut up and hauled to the house. His clothes always smelled like chain-saw oil, which stinks to high heaven.”

  Bowie grinned. “I haven’t heard that phrase since I left Blessings.”

  Rowan had never been out of Georgia and envied him the places he’d seen.

  “I guess since you’ve worked all over, you’ve heard and seen far more than the little world of Blessings, Georgia.”

  “Yes, I guess I have,” he said. He poured in the soap, then adjusted the washer settings, and turned it on. “That’s that. So, what do you like to do in the evenings? Do you have favorite shows on TV that you like to watch?”

  “Daddy always did. I’m not much for watching TV, even though it was always on if he was in the house.”

  “Then what do you like to do?” he asked.

  “I read a lot. My favorites are romance books, because they have happily-ever-after endings. And I knit, but my books and knitting things are gone. Once I move in with Pearl and Ella, I’ll be looking for a job. Even though I will be getting Daddy’s retirement income soon, I don’t intend to live off their kindness. I’ll be wanting to pay my way.”

  Bowie thought about her living in his old room, which was where she’d wind up when he used the other empty bedroom to enlarge Granny’s room.

  “There’s a full moon tonight. Want to go outside for a bit?” he asked.

  “Oh yes! I miss night in the hills.”

  “I’m usually far away from cities on a jobsite. I like quiet nights, too. Hey, Gran, we’re going to sit outside for a bit. Do you want to join us?”

  “No, no, I’ll just watch a couple more shows and then go to bed. Looks like Ella already needs to be in bed,” she said, eyeing her sleeping daughter. “She always did sleep with her mouth open. I told her time and time again that’s what her nose was for, but she still does this.”

  Ella frowned with her eyes closed. “I’m sitting right here, Mama. I can hear you.”

  “Then close your mouth,” Pearl said.

  “I will if you will,” Ella said.

  Bowie burst out laughing. “Here’s where we make an exit.”

  Rowan let him help her down the steps, and then they moved to the picnic table nearby. She climbed up one of the bench seats and sat down on the tabletop. Bowie sat down beside her.

  Frank and Jewel were sitting outside beneath the glow of their porch light. They waved. Bowie waved back.

  “That’s Frank and Jewel. Don’t know their last names, but they seem really nice,” he said softly.

  Rowan looked up, situating herself within the heavens, and sighed. It felt good to be out. Even if she didn’t hear coyotes this close to town, she could still smell the dampness of night air and still find her place in the sky.

  The full moon cast lighter-blue shadows within the darkness, as it painted the ground with moon glow. She inhaled deeply. Someone had mowed their yard this evening. The scent of freshly cut grass was prevalent and familiar. After the month of hell she’d had, it was grounding to be beneath the stars.

  Without thinking, she pointed up. “There’s the North Star…and the Big Dipper, and the Little Dipper. They were the first things Daddy taught me about the stars. They are in the Sagittarius constellation.”

  Bowie looked up at the night sky, then turned his head and looked at her. Her profile was bathed in moonlight, giving her dark hair a midnight-blue hue. He’d never wanted to kiss a woman more than he did right now. But that wasn’t going to happen. She was his guest, not a future conquest.

  He looked away.

  “I have a book about constellations on the shelf in my bedroom. I’ll get it for you when we go back in, if you’d like.”

  Rowan smiled. “So you like the stars, too? That would be awesome.”

  He nodded. “You should see them from flat on your back at the top of a mountain. If you stare at the sky long enough, the stars come down to you.”

  “You have done that?”

  “Yes. I’ve done that,” Bowie said, then noticed his neighbors across the way were coming to say hello.

  “Hey, y’all,” Frank said. “Just checking in to see if you got everything ironed out about your car.”

  “Yes, I think so. I’ll still have to see about a good body shop to get it fixed. Frank, Jewel, this is Rowan Harper. She’s staying with Gran and Aunt Ella. I’m sorry, Frank, but I don’t know your last name.”

  “Crockett. Nice to meet you, Rowan.”

  Jewel nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you two as well.”

  “Are you kin to Davy?” Bowie asked.

  Frank laughed. “That’s what everybody asks…and the answer is yes. He’s like an uncle six times removed, or something like that, but we’re not as daring. This fifth wheel is as close to pioneering as we get.”

  Rowan liked them and their easy manner.

  “Do you live here, or are you travelers?” she asked.

  Jewel was the one who answered. “Oh, we used to be on the road all the time. We came through Blessings about four years back and liked it so much that we stayed. Now we’re too comfortable here to think about leaving.”

  Rowan smiled. “Blessings is a special place.”

  “That it is,” Frank said. “We’ll be getting back to the house and leaving you two to your visit. Just wanted to check out the dude here. He’s a dang good shot with that there laser gun.”

  They were walking away when Rowan asked, “Who did you shoot with a laser gun?”

  “It was a Taser, which I used to stop the kid who keyed the Jeep,” Bowie said, watching the expression on her face to see if that horrified her in any way.

  “It
’s better than a backside full of buckshot, which was probably what Daddy would have done.”

  Bowie laughed.

  Rowan grinned.

  And there they sat.

  They had a long, comfortable moment of silence, and then Bowie grasped her arm and pointed.

  “Look! Just across the way at the trailer next to Frank’s.”

  “Oh, a raccoon,” Rowan said. “Wait! There are two more! Babies! Oh wow…how cute!”

  “They’re probably looking for trash cans to get into. They are notorious little bandits.”

  “We always saw their tracks around the pond back at the farm, but rarely saw them,” Rowan said.

  “Night prowlers,” Bowie said.

  She nodded, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  “What are you thinking?” Bowie asked.

  “How fast life can change,” she said.

  “That’s for sure,” Bowie said, watching the raccoons disappearing into the shadows.

  Rowan glanced at the man beside her when he wasn’t looking. She was almost five feet seven inches, a good portion of which was legs, and Bowie James was much taller. The plus side of that was that he didn’t feel threatening in any way. She’d only met him this morning, and it seemed like she’d always known him. A strange feeling for her, because she wasn’t the kind to make friends easily.

  Then Bowie suddenly grasped her hand.

  “Look! A shooting star!”

  “I see it!” she said as she looked up. “Oh wow…that one lasted a long time before it burned out.”

  “You have to make a wish,” Bowie said.

  “You saw it first. It’s your wish to make,” she said.

  Bowie looked back at the sky, then closed his eyes and made his wish.

  “I hope it comes true,” Rowan said.

  The hair crawled on the back of Bowie’s neck as he glanced down at her.

  “I hope so, too,” he said, then felt a little sting and slapped his arm. “Mosquitoes found us. We better go in.”

  Rowan jumped down from the picnic table without hesitation, and then waited so they could walk back together.

  “Thank you for this,” she said. “It felt good…almost as if I had my life back.”

  Bowie frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “The doors at the nursing home were locked during supper. I haven’t been able to do this since the night before the hurricane hit.”

  He thought of Gran and Aunt Ella. No wonder Gran thought she’d die in that place. It must have felt like jail.

  “Damn, I never thought of that. I’m sorry. That had to be a defeated feeling.”

  She smiled shyly. “But you rescued us today, so you are officially my hero.”

  Chapter 6

  The praise rode heavily on his shoulders as they walked back. That wish he’d made was anything but heroic. He wanted to make love to her, and she had just given him a halo to hold instead.

  The television was off, and the door to the master bedroom was closed when they walked in, but they could still hear the girls talking.

  “I guess they’re getting ready for bed,” Rowan said.

  “I’m going to do the same,” Bowie said. “We worked our butts off doing demo today, and we’re back at it tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. I’ve already had my shower, so why don’t you take the bathroom first while I make up your bed.”

  “Okay, but no funny business with the beds. You take the bigger one.”

  He grinned. “I remember. Go do your thing. I’ll have the bed ready for you shortly.”

  He was pulling out the bed as she dug through her little bag of clothing, took what he assumed was her nightgown, and went into the bathroom. Bowie pulled out a set of clean sheets, and a blanket, then made up the bed. He pulled a pillow out of a drawer, slid it into a clean pillowcase, and then turned the covers back neatly, making it easy for her to get in.

  He heard the shower come on as he was making up his bed. Now he had a mental image of her wet and naked.

  Sweet merciful God.

  After the beds were done, he put the clothes he’d washed into the dryer, tossed in a dryer sheet, and hit Start. He was so used to falling asleep to the sound that he hoped it didn’t bother his guests.

  Ella opened the door.

  “I thought that might be you,” she said, and gave him a quick good-night kiss on the cheek. “Oh, honey, thank you for coming. Mama is already asleep and is as happy as I’ve seen her in years. Love you, and sleep well.”

  Bowie grinned. “You’re welcome. I love you, too. Let me know if you need anything. I’m a light sleeper.”

  “We’re fine. You have such a grand home. This is like being on an amazing vacation,” Ella said, then slipped back into the bedroom and closed the door.

  Bowie pulled the T-shirt he was wearing over his head and tossed it onto the back of a chair as he went to the kitchen. That ice cream he didn’t eat earlier suddenly sounded good.

  He got out two spoons and sat down at the table. The first bite was in his mouth, and he was scooping up the next when Rowan came out of the bathroom. She wasn’t wearing a nightgown. It was a huge, oversize T-shirt, as decent as any nightgown, but he was struggling not to stare.

  Oh my lord. Those legs. Longer than the law allows. Just shoot me now.

  Rowan laid her clothes on a chair near her bed. Bowie was no longer wearing a shirt, and the muscles in his arms and the breadth and width of those shoulders were something to see.

  He held up the pint of ice cream.

  “Nightcap? It’s Bourbon Caramel. I have an extra spoon.”

  “Maybe just a taste,” she said as she slid into the chair beside him and picked up the spoon.

  She aimed for the swirl of caramel, digging into the little frozen river of sweetness for her first taste.

  She closed her eyes and sighed.

  “This is so good.”

  “Want another bite?” he asked.

  She didn’t need any urging. “Yes, please.”

  Quiet descended upon them as they scooped and ate, until the container was empty. The only evidence of what had been in it was the tiny smear of caramel at the edge of Rowan’s lower lip, and it was driving Bowie crazy.

  Rowan cleared the table and dropped the carton in the trash and the spoons in the sink. When she came back, the smear of caramel was gone.

  He sighed, then put his cell phone on the charger by his bed.

  “I’ll take my turn in the bathroom, but I won’t be long. Turn out all the lights that you want. I’m used to finding my way about in the dark.”

  “Okay, and thank you again for letting me stay.”

  “I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” he said.

  Rowan turned out the kitchen light as he closed the bathroom door, and then the living room light as well. But the moment the room went dark, little built-in night-lights began to glow.

  “How cool is that?” she said, and then climbed into bed. The sheets were soft against her skin, and the lightweight blanket just right.

  Bowie heard a slight, nasal snore as he emerged from the bathroom. That would be Aunt Ella, breathing with her mouth open, and Gran likely sleeping through it.

  Then he glanced toward the twin bed on the opposite side of the room. Rowan was asleep on her side, curled up like a baby in a womb, but tightly clutching the covers beneath her neck.

  He frowned. It made him think she was afraid, and that was the last thing he would have wanted her to feel. He thought again about how alone she was in the world. That’s how he’d felt after his mother was gone.

  Seeing Rowan in such a vulnerable manner was the cold shower he needed. So he took his guilt to bed, certain he wouldn’t sleep a wink, and didn’t wake up until the alarm on his cell phone began to beep. He quickly silenced it before it woke the
others.

  It was time to begin a new day.

  * * *

  Jud’s head was pounding, and his cell phone was ringing. Even worse, he’d forgotten to close the curtains last night, and the sunlight coming through the slats in the blinds was adding pain to his hangover headache. When he saw caller ID, he passed on his misery by yelling at the caller.

  “What the hell do you want?”

  “Good morning to you, too, Daddy,” Emmitt said. “I just went by the house. Your car was gone, and Mama wouldn’t let me in. What’s going on?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on. Your mother saw that damn bastard and lost it. She’s divesting herself of Boones, so consider yourself no longer welcome in her house. Not just me, not just you, but all of us.”

  Emmitt laughed nervously. “Oh, she’ll get over it…won’t she? I mean…she can’t just kick you out. You guys have been married for almost fifty years.”

  Jud glanced at the empty whiskey bottle. What he wouldn’t give for a little “hair of the dog.”

  “Those years mean nothing to her now. She made that clear yesterday. The house is hers. Willed to her by her daddy the year before we married. She grew up in it. I moved in with her. The money in the bank and the money from the sale of our sporting goods store belongs to both of us, and that’s it.”

  The silence that ensued was telling. It took Jud a few moments to realize Emmitt was crying.

  “Suck it up, boy! Face the facts. She knows everything we did, and most of Blessings is figuring it out, too. She knows Randall lied about what he did, and she knows we backed him. She also knows it’s why we ran Billie James and her kid out of Blessings. I’m not gonna stay here and be judged by people for doing what I thought was right. My pa drilled the hate into all of us. It is what it is.”

  “But Daddy—”

  “You and Mel figure it out on your own. Stay or move. I’ll be satisfied if I never see another member of the James family.”

  Emmitt couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He and Mel hadn’t been able to buy a bottle of beer without their dad telling them what kind to drink. Now their mother had disowned them, and their dad was basically abandoning them. When he heard the connection suddenly end, Emmitt frowned. His dad had hung up. This was serious. He needed to go talk to Mel.