When You Least Expect It (38 page)

             
“Wow, Mandy, you’re definitely carrying a load.  Why did you do that?  That’s not like you.”  Mariah looked at her friend with concern, “What are you afraid of?”

             
“I don’t think I’m afraid of anything.”  Amanda wasn’t sure she even believed that herself.

             
“Come on, girl, spill it!  What’s bothering you?”

             
“Oh Mariah!  It’s Ray!  I want to meet him.  I keep wondering if what we have via the Internet and phone is real.  I won’t ever have a normal relationship until I get this out of my system.  Even when I meet someone, Ray is always in the back of my mind.  Like Dan, he was such a nice guy, but I just couldn’t let him in.  Mariah, it’s driving me crazy!”

             
“Crazy girl, go meet him then.  Once and for all, meet Mr. Internet and see if he’s the man for you.  But let me tell you one thing, if he turns out to be an axe murderer, you’re going to be in big trouble with me!”  Mariah hugged her little friend.  “Whatever it takes to make you happy Mandy, you do it”.

             
Amanda was beside herself.  “I can’t believe you’re advising me to meet Ray.  This is great!  Thanks Mariah.  I’m going to do just that”.

             
She drove home smiling from ear to ear.  She was going to meet Ray.  There were a few more obstacles to hurdle, like telling the kids and Hilary.  She shuttered at the thought.  There was also the fact of finding the money, but if Ray came to El Paso, that wouldn’t be an issue.  Although, if, God forbid, he turned out to be an axe murderer, she didn’t want him to come and be around her kids.  Her eyes widened as the thought hit her---she was going to Maine!  She was going to cross the Mississippi.  She’d never even been east of El Paso.  She smiled to herself; this was going to be quite an adventure.

             
                                                        ~~~             

             
Carrie wasn’t having a good day.  Things were falling apart everywhere and she didn’t know how to fix them.  Ray had always been the one to get her out of the predicaments that they faced on a daily basis.  Right now, she was facing possible foreclosure.  Her job wasn’t as stable as she’d hoped, and running the house was impossible.  Today, they didn’t have hot water; she’d forgotten to send in the monthly payment.  In fact, after checking this morning, she was behind on several things, the electric bill, the phone and the cable.  She groaned out loud, not to mention the mortgage!

             
This had all been what prompted her to make the call to Ray. She felt like an idiot now, begging him not to divorce her.  She laughed, he probably thought she missed him and didn’t want to lose him.  She didn’t want to lose the paycheck!  She didn’t want to have to worry about paying bills or bill collectors, or having things shut off.  She wanted to be able to go shopping and not have to worry if she could afford it or not. She wanted Ray to handle all the headaches while she continued to live her life, not working, just playing and taking care of the girls. 

             
She’d called in sick today.  She had to figure out how to get the hot water back on.  The girls had been livid, and had threatened to call their dad.  She told them that under no circumstance were they to tell their father, he’d have a field day.  She’d threatened them with all that was dear to them if they told.  They’d gone to school without showering, and very upset.

             
Carrie wondered how her parents would feel helping her catch up the bills.  Of course, that would mean a lot of lecturing and crying, and playing the poor me card, but in the end, they’d help her.  Otherwise, they’d end up with them, and nobody wanted that! She decided she had no other choice and made another check list on her ‘why I hate Ray’ list. 

Chapter 29

Ray had decided to walk to work this morning.  The harsh Maine winter was almost over, and although it was still very cold, he could feel spring was just around the corner.  The winter had been especially long this year. Being snowed in was never fun, but being snowed in alone was worse.  He definitely had cabin fever and was glad the weather was calm enough for him to get out and get some fresh air.

              The holidays had been especially brutal.  His first holiday without the kids had been horrible.  They’d come over for Christmas Eve, along with his mother, and it had been nice enough, but very different from what they all were used to.  Norma had cooked, they had opened gifts, which had been sparse this year, and they’d watched a movie.  It had been uneventful, but in the past, the only ‘event’ had usually been Carrie having a fit about something or another.  Holidays were very stressful for her, and they all had suffered because of it.  So no, uneventful was better.

             
The funny part was that he’d really missed Amanda.   He didn’t even technically know her, but he kept wishing she were here with him.  He wished he could be sharing everything with her; things would have been much easier.  She’d talked him through his worse times, and had even surprised him with a gift in the mail.  It was just a CD, but he loved it.  He had saved it for Christmas morning, and it been his only gift that day.  It amazed him how thoughtful and caring she was.

             
Ray was out of breath as he reached his building, but he felt invigorated.  It was a new year, and Ray was feeling optimistic today.  His divorce would finally be over soon, he was going to meet Amanda, and things would start looking up.  Things were going to be better; he just knew it!  His goal here was to keep moving forward, and not to let things get him down, no matter how hard
she
tried.

             
He and Amanda had not decided on a date yet. They had decided that it would be best to wait until after the divorce was final.  The court date was only a couple of weeks away now, but Ray wasn’t too sure it would actually happen.  He’d not heard from Carrie in a while, and that worried him.  He was afraid that she was up to something.  As he walked into his office, he put it out of his mind; the less he heard from Carrie the better.  His phone rang and he hurriedly picked it up, ready for the workday to begin. It was Amanda.

             
“What are you doing up so early?”

             
“I can’t sleep thinking of us meeting. I was wondering if you have time to talk to me about a date. I can’t wait!”

             
“I can’t either!  Although I have to admit, I’m a bit nervous.”  Have you told anyone yet?”

             
“Nope, besides for Mariah, I haven’t brought it up.  I think I’m scared of what my family is going to say.”

             
Ray laughed.  “Well, I might only tell my mother, and of course Diego.  I haven’t told either of them about you yet, but I think the time has come. I’m a little bit nervous about it myself, but I think they’ll both be supportive.”

             
“Okay then, when should we meet?”  Amanda was starting to drift off to sleep.

             
“Let me figure it out and talk to you tonight.  You sound like you need to sleep.  Try to get in a couple of hours before work.”

             
She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t keep her eyes opened any more.  “Okay, but today is the day we set the date.  I’ll call you later.”

             
“By the time we next speak, a date will be set.  Now get some shuteye, girl! 

             
“Good night Ray.  I’m going to go dream of ‘Knights’ in shining armor.”

             
Ray groaned, ‘Really, Mandy?”

             
They both were giggling as they hung up.

                                                        ~~~

              Ray checked his calendar to see when the best time would be to take vacation time.  He was taking a day off for the court hearing; maybe he should just extend it and take a week off.  That way, he’d do the hearing, get his place ready for Mandy, and be able to take her to all the sights he wanted.  She didn’t know this yet, but he planned to take her into New York City.  She’d love that.  However, as of yet, they hadn’t talked about where she’d be staying, and if it was with him, what the sleeping arrangements would be.  He didn’t want to assume anything, or pressure her into doing anything she wasn’t ready to do.  It wasn’t as if they’d never had sexual conversations, they definitely had.  Ray wasn’t going to think about it, he’d just let nature take its course.  If it happened, it happened, and it would be great, and if she wasn’t ready for it, then that would be okay too; the important part would be them meeting.

             
He requested the time off. He could always change his mind if it wasn’t a good time for Amanda.  He rocked back in his chair with his hands behind his head, thinking about what a great time they were going to have.                                         

              Amanda woke up about eleven, thinking about Ray.  She had called Mariah and told her she was sick, she’d needed some more sleep.  She thought of her early morning conversation with Ray.              She was so excited that they were going to meet.  Finally, she’d find out if they really did have a ‘love connection’, or if she was just a desperate and lonely woman who latched on to any man that paid attention to her.  Wait, that wasn’t true, she didn’t become attached to the men she dated.  It didn’t matter anyhow; she was flying to Maine to find out if soul mates really did exist.  The proof would be in his eyes. 

             
She padded into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee.  As she toasted a bagel, she deliberated on how she would tell the kids.   They, of course, wouldn’t try to stop her, but she would have to tread lightly, this was definitely not something she’d want them to try, and she didn’t want it thrown in her face one day when they did something crazy.  She laughed, holy cow, even
she
thought she was crazy.  It was unquestionably out of the ordinary for her, but she felt it was something she had to do.  It felt right to her, so she had no doubts.  Okay, she had a few doubts, but wanted to take the chance.  She wanted Ray to be everything she hoped, and had to pray that she came back alive.  She had to hope he was being truthful with her and that she wouldn’t get to Maine and find out it was just a great big lie.  What would she do?  Would she stay there with him anyway?  Where
was
she going to stay?  What if they didn’t connect? She knew did know one thing, and that was that she needed the answers to these questions before she talked to Ray. 

         It was time to tell Hilary.  She sighed.  She dreaded it.  Maybe she’d go take a shower and dress and be all refreshed before taking this on.  Yes, she would do just that.  It would give her just enough time to come up with a good defense, because as it stood, the whole notion sounded crazy, even to her.

~~~

              Hilary was on her way to Nene’s to meet her sister.  She was a little concerned because Amanda sounded like the cat that swallowed the canary.  She hated when her sister sounded that way.  It usually meant she’d met someone and was already head over heels in love.  Her pet peeve where her sister was concerned was she always went into everything heart first, instead of using her brain.

             
She pulled into the parking lot and decided a margarita was in order.  It didn’t look like Amanda was there yet, so she decided to hit the bar anyway and start on her drink.  She wanted to be ready for her sisters ‘big news’. 

             
She was a little disheartened at how busy the bar was, but since she spotted two stools, decided to wait for Amanda there.  She ordered a cheese quesadilla, Nene’s specialty, and a strawberry margarita and waited happily.  It was rare that she had these almost quiet moments.  She relished it. 

             
She spotted Amanda coming in and waved her over.  She hated sitting at the bar, but that’s what she gets for being late.

             
“Are we getting a table?”

             
“No, I have food coming, let’s just sit here.  I’m anxious to hear your news.”,

             
Amanda brightened.  She’d almost forgotten.  “Okay, now promise not to freak out?”

             
“Who, me? Never!”

             
“I’m going to Maine to meet Ray.”  She held her breath.

             
There was a long moment of silence.

             
Hilary finally spoke.  “Excuse me?  I must have heard wrong Mandy, because I thought I heard you say you were going to fly thousands of miles away from home to meet someone you don’t even know.”

             
Amanda’s face dropped.  “I did. I am.”

             
“No you aren’t.”