Bring on the Rain (40 page)

It was crawling like a cat through an
alley, purring like a well-fed baby. Mitch was aware of all sorts
of comments from the male Coburn's-most of them about as close to
sexual terminology as they’d ever say in front of their mama’s, or
their wives and girlfriends standing nearby.

He turned like the rest of them, in
unison, to watch it glide into the parking slot. There were sighs
when the engine stopped. All eyes glued to the door as it
opened.

A couple of sighs from the females when
the tall suave man got out.

He stood still a moment…about six feet
four, broad shouldered and lean. The sun was warming his coal black
hair and picking up the sheen of his Armani suit. He turned his
sun-glassed eyes toward the gaping people while he pulled off his
driving gloves and tossed them inside. Then started sauntering
forward, slowly, one hand lightly tucked in his pocket, and slacks
hem brushing against his shiny black shoes.

Mitch, like the rest of them was still
as stone as the guy reached the thick square of Coburn's. He paused
about a foot away, and there was no doubt behind the sunglasses he
was scanning them face by face.

The man seemed satisfied and walked the
three steps that took him toe to toe with Coy.

“
You Coy?” he asked in deep
Kentucky drawl.

“
Yeah.”

The man stepped back and swung a right
hook that landed hard enough to knock Coy against the other males
behind them. Before they could jump him to defend Coy, he turned to
Mitch and lowered his sunglasses. Violet eyes hard as stones, and
that bass Kentucky drawl that rumbled out, “Y'all boys got a
problem with me?”

Mitch was slow to react. The shock took
some time spreading over him, but he grinned wide and shook his
head. “No, sir.” He let that husk carrying a ton of unspoken
feeling.

Damn, damn, this… was
Max?
Good-looking sonofabitch. And style.
Shit
. He was…intimidating and healthy,
full-grown. ”No, sir,” Mitch said again. Pride just oozed right out
of his skin.

~*~

Max nodded, slid his glasses up, and
headed for the Lincoln, to escort his aunt and Madeline. He heard
the hell breaking lose on Mitch behind him. He did not stop until
he was opening her door.

“
I can’t believe you did
that.” Madeline rolled her eyes, stepping out and smoothing down
her thigh-length violet dress and sliding on her own sunglasses.
The dress was a gift from Gee Gee, a dark little number that showed
off her legs and smooth shoulders. The matching high-heeled sandals
were the perfect touch. She needed the confidence.

An elegant woman with gray hair in a
twist, her body draped in a designer suit, was laughing. Gee Gee
got out of the driver’s side, and said, “I can.”

Max took them on each arm, having
brought his sister earlier in the Jeep. “Don't worry, Madeline, I’m
left handed.”

She had spent all morning diffusing his
anger. Apparently it hadn’t worked. “Oh, hell, just try and act
like you belong in that suit when we get inside the
gym.”

“
Ma Fuddle thinks I look
like a pimp.”

“
I give up.” Madeline
laughed and eyed her aunt across him.

Gee Gee chuckled. “You see what I
meant? Now you can have gray hair for a change.”

Max walked by the now-contained Coburn
crowd. He detected three dozen manly grunts of approval, but he
only looked out the corner of his eye to see that Coy was gone, and
kept moving toward the gym.

Madeline glanced over. She couldn’t
help it. A quick one toward Mitch, because he looked achingly
handsome. He was talking and didn’t see her.

She had no idea what he thought about
Max now.

~*~

Brook peeked over her shoulder when all
the guests arrived and half the speeches were done. She picked out
her family, along with Sunny and the gang from the Tavern, as well
as Ruby. She was well aware of where the Coburn men sat—on the
opposite side and behind. Jenna was up front, and alone.

She turned back around, determined to
get through the ceremony. She heard Coy’s name called without
flinching. The pain was turning to seething anger, and she had had
a hard time trying to purge it.

~*~

Back in the rows, they heard the
thunderous shouts from the Copper Creek crowd when Coy was called
up. Madeline glanced at Max amid the whistles and
clapping.

Max looked at her and whispered, “Is
that tissue hanging in his nose?”

She laughed and elbowed him. “I think
it’s still bleeding.”

“
Poor baby,” he said without
a blink.

Gee Gee leaned toward them. “Madeline,
your friends better make as much noise when Brook gets up
there.”

“
It’s not a contest,” she
said dryly.

“
It is now.” Gee Gee glared
up at the stage as Coy exited.

Madeline need not have said anything,
because when Brook got up there, not only were they clapping and
yelling, but the whole Copper Creek bunch went wild too. Whistles
and calls split through the air so loud they winced.

Gee Gee looked taken aback.

Madeline heard Mitch yell above the
others, “We’re proud of you, Brook!”

She heard Ruby holler out, “You go
girl!” Then saw her daughter smile and give a thumbs up.

“
My sister has class.” Max
lifted his chin arrogantly.

“
Good lord.” Madeline
finally sat down. “I’m glad this year is over.”

About that time, Karla held her
diploma, and turned around to face the silence, yelling,

“
Coy—I’m
pregnant!”

“
Oh, shit.” Madeline closed
her eyes amid both gasps and laughter.

Behind her, Ruby leaned up and hissed,
“Coy passed out.”

“
Took him long enough,” Max
murmured dryly.

“
How’s Brook?” Aunt Gee Gee
looked between the rows of students.

“
Got her chin up.” Sunny
also leaned forward.

“
Hey,” Rafael put in. “The
Copper Creek men left him lying there.” He added, “Can Karla know
if she’s pregnant this soon?”

“
What’s Brook doing!”
Madeline reached back, grabbing Ruby’s hand, her heart stopping as
her daughter went back to the stage.

Then they witnessed it. Brook took one
of the vases of live flowers, tossed the flowers out, and walked
back to Coy. She poured the water on his face, dropped the vase
pretty much in the same area. She continued back to her family, her
cap off and unzipped the gown revealing a little black dress. She
smiled and arched her brow.

“
Y’all ready to leave? I got
what I came here for.”

They stood, along with the row behind
them. “Yep—” Madeline smiled, and slid her arm around her. “Between
you and your brother, we either leave, or they’ll throw us
out.”

They walked out amid the chaos; Jenna
trying to shut Karla up. Jude, finally coming in to haul Coy over
his shoulder. Startled guests and family members trying to figure
out what to do. The staff were running around soothing everyone.
Students were laughing, whispering.

However, by the time it was settled,
Brook’s family was partying at the Tavern. The whole back room was
theirs. The jukebox was cranked up. Brook opened her gifts, a cell
phone, movie camera, and the luggage Madeline bought for her. A
credit card from Bud for shopping. Everything from the gang a girl
might need in Europe; translation books, maps, and a gag gift or
two, like Ruby’s box of colorful condoms and a book called a
thousand ways to say F-off, in any language. There were also blank
journals, plenty of stationary for her to write everyone, and
wonderfully, from Rafael, a beautiful chic cape to keep her warm.
No one knew where he could find such a thing in the states. He
later told her he had sent for it, months ago, from
Peru.

Mrs. Dupree had given Brook names of
her family members; the younger set scattered about Europe.
Assuring her, they were hip and fun, the kind to show her around.
All of this seemed to help Brook take hold of her decision with
more determination.

Ruby’s movie camera was set up. Max
seemed to have brought dozens of expensive cameras. After a catered
meal with Brook’s favorite, lobster, as the main course. Brook went
to the jukebox and put her money in. Everyone was watching her as
she walked to the dance floor and said, “Come on, Mom! This is for
us.”

Madeline had never danced in public,
only waltzed with Mitch once, in the meadow, after he had taught
her how. She had danced around with the mop and broom. However, she
was high on life at the moment, tickled that both her children were
here together, that they loved her. She was going to miss Brook
like hell. She walked up, amid the clapping, whistling, and flash
bulbs.

Someone started the strobes
going, but the spotlight was on them. Aunt Gee Gee, Mrs. Dupree,
Sunny, Rafael, Ruby, Ashley, Laura, Nick, Rocky, and Max, were all
a few feet away at the long table. When she heard the “
Boom— Boom Boom Boom Boom, wild thang,”
Madeline kicked off her shoes. Even Mrs. Dupree
yelled out encouragement.

It was also doubtless amazing because
no one had ever seen Madeline let her hair down, except
Ruby.

Brook looked at her.
Boom--Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom. Wild Thang.

Madeline’s shoulders moved, her head
went back, one side, and then the other side. Her arms went up in
the air, and palms out. Her feet did a shuffle. She
laughed.

When Brook started moving
too, Madeline caught the natural rhythm; the innate passionate side
of her took over, the natural one that carried her to the highest
sensual level, the one that made her feel free. She thought of it
now as she moved to the funky beat. She mirrored Brook’s moves,
hearing a scream of “
He—ll
Yez
,” from Ruby made her laugh
again.

Madeline ignored the fact she was
probably being filmed, pictures were taken. She let her head fall
forward, roll side to side again while her knees bent, her hips
jerked, three times fast, as Brook was doing. She found the moves
easy to follow, and when she looked at Brook, her daughter was
pumping her palms in the air smiling ear to ear.

~*~

Max was up close now, snapping
pictures, grinning and loving it. He got dozens of Madeline,
completely lost in the music, eyes closed, head turned to the side,
mouth parted, and strands of russet hair flung across her cheek and
neck, a strand across one lid. He took a few of her and Brook,
side-by-side, making the same moves, hands on their hipbones, knees
bent, and spines arched.

Max stood a moment later rolling up the
film and just letting himself absorb the fact that it was his
sister, his mother. He had felt a strong bond with Brook years ago,
and kept tabs on her through Gee Gee. Madeline, he had been a
little fascinated by. Intrigued by her Mother Earth side, and her
deep private side.

In that last visit, he had watched her
closely and he’d also noticed the way she listened to him, looked
at him. Yes, he had felt her love. Though he had bitched about the
cards, he’d always smiled when he got them. All through his life,
Gee Gee had talked about her like a daughter, and he supposed, all
through his life, she was weaved in there and he had always been
connected to her.

Max put in a fresh roll of film while
the things she’d told him slid through his mind. He understood it,
maybe, because he had been treated like a grown up since he’d
graduated at fifteen. He had lived on his own a long time, out
there in the world. He had some mistakes in his past too. It had
been a long time since he’d felt like a little boy.

The love he felt for Madeline was more
for who she was, what he knew about her, how she treated people
rather than her being his birth mother. He liked her. He thought
she was cool, stronger than she probably realized, and he respected
her for putting him first.

He’d had a fantastic and supportive
upbringing. He knew she hadn’t. The contrast really struck home
with him.

~*~

When the song ended, everyone yelled.
Madeline smiled, Brook was hugging her, saying how she was freaked
by how well her Mom danced. The men danced with Brook, even Sunny,
who turned out to be a great dancer. Rafael spun her out in a wild
salsa. When Nick waltzed with her, both Ruby and Madeline shook
their heads at him. He was an expert at the box step, and the old
big band tune made them look as good as Fred and Ginger. Somewhere
inside him lurked a man of hidden talents and suppressed passions,
and Madeline wondered again how many little clues would come out
like this, revealing he was more than he let on.

Mrs. Dupree and Max danced a formal
waltz, Gee Gee got her twirl with Sunny and Rafael, and a good bit
of teasing for it. Madeline danced with her son. Max requested it,
a fifties classic that made her get teary-eyed because it spoke the
words I don't have anything, If I don't have you.