Bring on the Rain (24 page)

“
I get you.” Ruby chuckled.
“Good luck at the mall though. I’ll have a booth too Saturday, but
I got a couple of art students from the high school to help
me.”

“
I’ll see you
there.”

“
What you said about Nick?
You think I should snoop though his things?”

“
Ruby! No. You’ve got your
hands full with Tony and Jenna. I’m sure it was something that went
through my mind.”

“
All righty. Have a good
day.”

Madeline hung up. She had lied. Nick
was hiding something. He was no neurotic loser.

She went to laundry room to make sure
the cheerleading uniform was drying right. Then to finish getting
dressed. She donned a mid-thigh denim skirt and a tank top of brown
lace with a sewn in camisole, put shimmering lotion on her legs,
wishing she had time to lie out and get a tan. She grabbed a pair
of brown sling back sandals.

Brook was on the phone to Bud again
when she went to the girl’s room. Dressed in snug low-rise jeans, a
skimpy summer top. Brook was digging through a pile of platform
shoes.

Madeline borrowed her cologne, peachy
smelling stuff.

“
Dad— No, I’m sure about it.
The Viper is too much car. No. Dad, look, I’m not even sure I’m
going to TSU…” Brook turned rolling her eyes and holding the phone
in the crook of her neck as she put clunky shoes on. “No, I can’t
come this weekend, Daddy…. I’m in the parade. Yeah, the
cheerleader—Um… We got red white and blue uniforms today. No, Dad,
Mom paid for it. I have to run a booth for the school. No, not
Sunday.” Brook grit her teeth at her and rolled her eyes
again.

Madeline sighed and sat down in a
chair, pointing to her watch.

Brook nodded. “The Volkswagen, Dad,
please. Sure, I’m going to college...I am. I have so much going on
right now. Soon I’ll have Homecoming and Prom and
Graduation.”

Madeline got up and went to fetch her
purse and keys. She was standing in the doorway.

“
Love you, Dad—Yep. I’ll
call soon. Oh, a new country club? Wow, Dad, that's great. Hmm,
yeah? I’m sure she is very nice. I’m sure I’ll like her…Vivian you
say? A Ballinger? Cool, yes, I know, they own hotels. Look, I’ve
got to go, the mall closes at nine.”

Madeline gave up and went out to start
the car.

Brook eventually came out and got in
after locking up.

“
He’s got a new girlfriend?”
Madeline asked.

“
Yes, she’s got some cute
little dog name Dixie,” Brook snorted, mocking, “Isn’t that
special—Not.”

Madeline chuckled. “Well, is he okay
now, about the car?”

“
No, Dad’s never okay about
anything.” She propped her arm on the door. “Mom, I’m not sure
where I want to go. The closer time comes to decide, the less I can
do it. Everything is busy right now in my life.” Brook rubbed her
temples. “I feel pulled in every direction. Everyone wants me to
make decisions, Dad, the school, it’s a pain.”

The Bronco jerked and made a booming
sound. Madeline kept driving, but they exchanged wincing
glances.

“
What’s wrong with this
thing?” Brook was listening and said worriedly, “Mom, the engine
sounds funny.”

“
I know, I thought something
was wrong last week, it’s been grinding and hard to hit a gear.”
She kept driving down the road, hoping it would line out. A few
miles down the road, the transmission went out, and she hissed, “It
won’t go into second gear.”

“
Mom, pull over!”

“
I can’t do much with it,
Brook.” She managed to get it to a shady, wide spot, beside the
road. “Piece of shit” Madeline grit nervously. “Piece of crap car!
What else can happen to me?”

Brook laughed as she hit the steering
wheel. “I’ll call someone.”

“
Call Ruby. Hey, where’d you
get that?” Madeline saw her take a cell phone out of her purse as
she got out of the car.

“
Coy gave it to me, so we
could keep in touch.” She punched in a number, strolling a bit away
from the car.

Madeline muttered, popped the hood, and
grabbed a couple of empty bags she kept in the car. She started
emptying the glove box, and crawling around getting junk they kept
in it for emergency, a few tampons in the seat pouch, Midol and
aspirin, Rolaids, a box of tissue and wipes, a snap purse of
quarters.

She went to the back and got the white
T-shirt she usually used to wipe the headlights off with, and hung
it on the antenna. Madeline laid the bags and her purse on the top
of the car and leaned against the side of it near the road,
waiting.

At least she was in the shade, she
thought. She slid her sunglasses up. It was pathetic, the things
that she had to cling to in order to see the bright side lately.
Brook was still a ways up, facing the woods and talking on the
phone.

After a time, Madeline glanced at her
watch, she saw Brook walking toward her still talking,
smiling.

The birds were singing. The wind was
soft, ruffling leaves above and around them.

A roar jarred the air. It sounded like
a semi-truck and she was standing there, leaning against the car
with her arms folded when the flatbed came over the slight rise at
a high-speed. Madeline had time to see the C C towing on the side
before it slowed. The engine dipping to a bass rumble as it pulled
in front of her.

Her mouth was open to question Brook,
when a line of vehicles followed it. First Mitch, Coy, and two
others. They eased beside the road and men started piling out of
the trucks, the back, and cab. No one had a shirt on. They were
tanned, sunburned, and dirty. Jason wore hacked off Levi's, same as
Jude, and they wore bandannas around their heads.

Some guy with big muscles jumped out of
the tow truck. His baseball cap on backwards. He wore a denim shirt
with the sleeves ripped out and worn jeans, a pinch of Skol snuff
in his lip, and a beer in his back pocket. He started hooking up
the Bronco.

Madeline stepped out of the way the
same time Brook reached her saying, “Awesome,” at all the
half-dressed men with sweaty muscles crowding around the
car.

Madeline saw Coy look at her engine and
yell something, he had dirt and grime on him and wore a straw
cowboy hat, no shirt, jeans ripped across the knee.

She finally looked at Mitch, who was
talking to the guy in the wrecker. He sported a dark suntan-burn on
his shoulders, but the rest of him was brown. He was leaning two
hands on the front of the Bronco, talking as they hooked the winch
up. His Levi’s looked like he had worked in them a couple of days,
they were creased, the low waistband slid down exposing a ridge of
black hair from his navel. The band stopped short at the top of his
firm ass.

Mitch wore tan work boots. The hems of
his pants were bunched, and the light blue material had sawdust in
the creases. His flat stomach, his back, as well as his face was
dirty. The lines on his forehead mixed with sweat. He had a
baseball cap on, and sunglasses that made him look like a bad
ass.

Madeline kept her arms
folded to hide the hardness of her nipples. She wished she had worn
a bra. He was sexy. Hell, all the men were, even the big burly one
who looked like he enjoyed his beer and cornbread. He was wide
hipped and barrel-chested, but hey, he was a Copper Creek boy. One
at a time was hard to ignore. Truckloads were like, who needs
Chippendales,
these were
M...E...N
.

Madeline could smell the testosterone
and had a hysterical mental flash that she was sure was brought on
by stress, about mares and studs. These men emitted something that
was like the stuff hunters used to lure their prey. —She was
seriously wondering if the strain was getting too much for
her.

“
Madeline?” Mitch looked to
the side and yelled out.

Madeline raised her head. The noise was
loud as they started the engine on the truck.

“
Get your stuff off the top,
okay?”

She nodded and got everything down. Men
were around her Bronco, some nodding, and some talking. Most of
them Coburn’s, even Lee and Doug were there. A young boy with a
head of brown hair was laughing, and handing them bottles of
water.

Madeline was signaled over by the
driver.

“
Here’s my card.” He handed
her one. “I’ll find you something to drive while it’s getting
fixed. Write your number down here.” He gave her another
card.

She wrote her number down and handed it
to him. He stuck it in his pocket. Madeline looked at the business
card and sighed. Copper Creek towing, G.W. Coburn owner. It
explained a lot, darn Brook.

Then Mitch was standing beside her, his
glasses resting on the hat, his hands resting on his hipbones and
touching the low waistband, one leg forward. Obviously, he had been
checking her out.

“
He’ll scare you up
something to drive,” he said loud.

She nodded looking in his dirty, sweaty
face.

His eyes were pale blue and he flashed
a white smile. It shouldn’t have been sexy considering his
appearance, but it was all the more because of the way he
looked.

God, was she that deprived?

Thunder rumbled overhead. Someone
yelled. Madeline found herself being led back to Mitch’s truck. Men
started running, getting in the vehicles. Madeline only had time to
see Brook get in Coy’s truck before Mitch was opening the door and
she was climbing into his.

The wind picked up. Mitch started the
engine, pulling out with a squeal of tires, and all the vehicles
started speeding down the road. He muttered something.

Madeline noticed his hands were grimy,
but they were working man hands. She told herself to stop checking
him out.

They turned off at Copper Creek. Mitch
was driving fast. Madeline slid a bit when he turned down to
Jason’s lane. She was looking at his stomach, his bare
torso…

He glanced over, eyeing her legs in the
skirt that rode up high.

The tension was elevated, sizzling.
Their eyes met. The truck smelled like him, like the heat and grime
and warm, sunbaked skin. It mingled with her peach perfume. They
traveled up the tree-shaded rise, only this time he took her
between the trees and up to the lane, leading to the
house.

“
Sit tight. Sorry.” He
jumped out, as did the rest of them. Men were running all over. It
was obvious what they been doing all day, working on Jason’s house.
The thunder rumbled and rolled so deep it vibrated the
truck.

Madeline turned sideways and leaned her
elbow on the open window and watched them, running round unplugging
tools, tossing drills and saws into the gaping doorway.

It was roofed and cedar-sided, a few
massive windows in. A modern design considering, low in the roof,
but complementary to the wooded setting.

With the cedar and double stories,
glass and wood, braces for a wide high balcony to jut from the top
floor, it would look like you could touch the treetops when it was
done. No doubt, it would give a breathtaking view of the wooded
hills.

Men hopped through rebar where the
lower patio was yet to be laid. She saw the first drops smack the
windshield. Smiling as she watched them pointing and hefting
toolboxes, running it inside the house, running out, and unrolling
plastic sheeting.

They were having a good time despite
the need to protect the expensive tools and shield the new
construction. She could hear them laughing, cussing, and joking
with each other. The rain came with a hiss of forceful wind. The
breeze moved through the truck window, cooling her with pine scent
and turned up earth where the house sat.

Madeline listened to the ping of it
starting and saw Brook run up and pick up a blueprint that had
blown down the path. Coy was directing her inside the
house.

Ladders, toolboxes, a zillion extension
cords, and even a huge table saw were taken in. Lightning flashed,
the trees groaned in the high wind beside her.

A boom shook the earth—before it
started emptying heaven of water.

She could not hear much apart from the
occasional shout. She winced at the mud pooling around the
job-site. Men were slipping and sliding, everyone heading for the
house.

Mitch came running toward her. They
were the last truck parked, back on the lane and downhill. Mitch
was carrying a couple of water bottles, getting deluged by the
thick hard drops. Like a curtain, it obscured everything. He slid
while making his way to the truck.

There was no hearing anything as the
water violently came down. Mitch opened the truck door, tossing one
of the water bottles inside. He reached behind the seat, blinking
as the rain beat down on his shoulders. Using orange hand cleaner
he washed his hands, took a roll of shop towels, and rubbed
them.

His head lifted, blue eyes meeting
hers.

Deafening vibrations were all landing
at the same time. He took off the hat and glasses tossing them
inside. The interior of his door was getting wet, but he unscrewed
the other water, turned it up and drank half, at the same time
shoving his fingers through his dripping hair.