I Picked You Page 8

  She looked over to the patio doors where Carrie was leaning against the wall.

  “No, I’d better go.”

  “I figured. I’m Lincoln. ” He introduced himself as he released her.

  “Raina.”

  “Can I call you, Raina?” he asked, shoving his hand in his pocket and pulling out his phone.

  “Ah, that may not be one of those possibilities.”

  When he looked at her, his eyes were warm and his smile was genuine. She was sorry that it might not be a possibility, and that was new. She felt herself even more drawn to this mysterious stranger, so she gave in and smiled back at him.

  “Okay, how about this. You give me your number, and when I call, if it’s still not a possibility you say, get lost, buddy! No harm done.”

  She laughed, and though her head didn’t tip back, her eyes held a light and she looked to be considering. He could settle for that, for now.

  Carrie watched from the terrace doors. She was itching to talk to Matthew, he wouldn’t believe it. She’d called him when she left Rae and Mr. Smooth at the table. He didn’t believe it, and she almost didn’t either, yet she could see it.

  Raina was smiling at this man, they’d danced, she’d been laughing and now she was giving the guy her number. She didn’t look quite comfortable with the situation, but that didn’t seem to be hindering tall-blond-and-handsome.

  Something was happening to Raina, something they were all patiently waiting for.

  Chapter Fourteen

  She lay awake for a long time. Analyzing her emotions, lamenting her reaction, questioning his motives and finally convincing herself that, yes indeed, she had definitely given some random stranger her number; a very handsome, random stranger.

  How had her day begun and moved so quickly from a ferocious cleaning of the kitchen after the sleepover, to potentially having a date with a compelling blond man. Or perhaps more importantly, how did she feel about potentially having a date? The thought alone made her feel slightly ill. There was obviously no way she could go. Hadn’t she proved just today how overrun her schedule was? There simply was no time, not that she wanted to go either way. She couldn’t, end of story. Even thinking about it made her worry, and she had never been one to worry.

  In the early hours of the night, she begged sleep to give her head a rest, and she begged the dreams to stay away.

  Leaning on the counter he spread out his choices. Three strips of color. It shouldn’t be so hard. The only thing was... how could white have so many different shades?

  “How come it’s taking you so long? You’re not even picking a color,” Oliver asked, feeling bored with Linc.

  Linc was leaning on the counter with his ankles crossed. He felt like he’d been staring at the small squares of white forever. He understood perfectly what the kid was saying, and he could have kicked himself in the shins for needing the half-pint to show him that. Spending all this time looking at three shades of creamy white wasn’t much fun for him either, but he wanted this to be perfect. Only his very best would do.

  He pushed his hands through his hair; it flopped and then fell back into place. He realized when it fell into his eyes that he could probably use a haircut; not his favorite thing. He’d been avoiding it for a few weeks already. He took the hat he’d slapped on Oliver’s head and shoved his hair back under it.

  “You know how when you’re coloring a picture and you want to do a really good job because it’s for someone extra special?”

  Oliver nodded; he’d worked hard like that on the picture of the chair Linc had given him.

  “Well this paint is special like that, so even though they all sort of look the same, it matters.”

  Oliver leaned over the colors one more time. “What’s this one called again?”

  Linc picked up the chip, turned it over, then looked at Oliver.

  “It’s called Snowfield Memory. This one is, Angel Dream, and this one is, Cloud Dancer. What do you think, which will it be?”

  “This one!”

  “Angel dream! Great choice, I think I was leaning towards that one as well!”

  He gave the chip to the girl to mix, and he walked with Oliver over to look at some wood stain and brushes.

  “Mr. Linc?”

  “Yeah, Buddy, what’s up?”

  “I colored the picture for you and I have something else in my backpack for you. Can you wait here for a minute?”

  “Of course, I’ll be just over here,” he said, pointing to the paint brushes.

  He watched the kid run back down the center aisle of the store and disappear behind the desk. He was wondering what he could come up with for the kid to help him with next week. These little visits had quickly become the highlight of his week.

  He could hear the sound of his feet racing back towards him, and Linc could only smile.

  “Here,” Olive semi-shouted, unceremoniously shoving into Linc’s outstretched hand the slightly crumpled at the edges sketch he’d drawn of the glider he was about to paint. He’d colored it a bright turquoise blue.

  “You did a great job, Buddy!”

  “Are you going to put it back up on your drawing board?” he asked hopefully.

  Touched that the kid cared so much, Linc bent down to eye level. “I sure will, and I’ll make a really good spot for it so everyone will see.”

  Oliver smiled and nodded obviously satisfied. Then he pushed another small paper into Linc’s hands, this one was folded and colored in a rainbow of different colors. Linc knew instantly what it was.

  “Hey! What’s this?”

  “It’s for my birthday. It’s soon, and I’m having a big party!”

  “No kidding!”

  “Can you come?” He tipped his head, and as Linc looked into those deep, dark eyes the last thing he wanted was to disappoint the kid. It was awful sweet that the kid thought so much of him; he felt he could do nothing but accept the invitation.

  “Sure, I’ll stop by!” He looked at the time, the date and the address.

  “Granddad said I have to go get my stuff together, because my Mom is coming.”

  “Off you go then, you don’t want to keep her waiting. I’ll see you soon, Buddy!”

  “See you later, Mr. Linc.”

  She’d changed her mind at least a handful of times. She wasn’t settled, and for the first time in two and a half years she didn’t care. She didn’t let herself think about it, or she knew she’d stop and turn around. She’d made arrangements at work, and they had practically pushed her out the door. They would be fine; she knew that on a perfectly rational level. Only a very small part of her brain, the part that had taken over and run her life on autopilot for the past two and half years, was telling her that there was absolutely nothing rational about her recent thoughts. But there was no room in her head for that fight, plus she knew she was making a spontaneous choice and she didn’t want to stop it.

  If any piece of her had survived the accident it was the piece that was able to focus on a goal. Once the goal was in her cross hairs she would execute a plan of attack and she would not stop until she was holding the prize or forced to abort her mission. She could say, without arrogance, that there were not too many aborted missions in her past.

  Oliver was loaded in the back sound asleep at the early hour of the morning, he was safe and his excitement was one of the currents keeping her on the road. He was thrilled that they were making the trip to the city, or more specifically, he was thrilled to see his cousins.

  When she’d called Marie to say she’d pick Shanna up and stay overnight, Marie hadn’t flinched. When she’d asked if she and Trish would have time for a bit of shopping, they’d made plans right away, no questions asked.

  They hadn’t gone out like this in a long time, and when they pulled into Pete and Marie’s driveway she wasn’t surprised to see the rest of the family there either. Only Allen and Sue were absent as they were out of town.

  Dave and Pete sent the three women off for the day and
encouraged them to stay away for supper, and if they hadn’t bought the farm after a day of shopping, he thought they should head to the movies as well.

  Raina was so preoccupied with her own thoughts she didn’t notice how all four sets of eyes and minds sized her up at different times. It wasn’t until she was sitting down trying on a pair of tall brown boots, surrounded by a few random shopping bags that anyone even asked.

  “Those are great, Rae!” complimented Trish. She sat down next to Rae and taking a deep breath, pushed on her belly and watched it dance in response.

  She looked down at the boots and she knew they were made for her. “They are, aren’t they?”

  Raina noticed Trish’s discomfort; she shifted closer to place her own hand over top of Trish’s and smiled as it bounced.

  “Are you okay, sweetie?”

  Raina knew it would need to be addressed, the same way she had known Carrie would eventually ask the other night. She rarely had to be the one to bring up talk of emotions. Hers were always monitored, as if she were the center piece of a high traffic window display, and because of it, she’d worked hard to keep them locked down. They always seemed to be waiting for her to break down, freak out or most terrifying of them all, remember.

  Marie walked in just as she’d sorted out what to say. She took the boots off and packed them up. She sent Trish and Marie to a coffee kiosk across the way while she paid for the boots. When she sat down across from them, the three looked at each other before Raina began.

  “I love you guys. I love that you are patient, and generous, and I know your families have rearranged your life to accommodate me since….”

  She had thought she was in control, but the control was lost when Marie’s eyes glossed with moisture, and she couldn’t bring herself to say, Mark died. She’d never been able to say those words. She had always just said, since the accident, or the accident. It sounded less final that way. But she’d begun to see that that was part of the problem. It was final, and to get a hold of her life again, she needed to acknowledge that.

  Marie reached over and took Raina’s hand in her own. She had adored her baby brother and she loved and respected the woman who sat in front of her, yet she didn’t know how to encourage her to move on, when it was still so hard to know they were all moving on without Mark.

  “I haven’t been okay for a long time, and you both know it. Marie, when was the last time you asked me to cater one of your parties? I know I don’t live in the city anymore, but I would come up and do it for you anytime. And, Trish, when’s the last time we went to the theatre or spent the day shopping? Honey, you were my friend long before I met Mark.” Trish opened her mouth to speak, to defend, but Raina held up her hand to stop her and she looked at the two women who she loved so much. “I don’t know what okay is anymore, or if it’s possible. But I do know that while I’ve been sorting it all out, I haven’t been living.”

  He’d tried to be on the road before lunch but time had slipped by him, and he still couldn’t say he had accomplished the one thing that was on his mind.

  He woke for the second day in a row to see the sun rise. He had enough work to keep him busy, enough to distract him and draw his attention for weeks, but he had only one thought trapped in his head.

  How long did he have to wait before he called her? Would she talk to him when he called? She didn’t seem too interested, skittish was a more likened description, but then again she had given him her number in the end. Were there rules he had to follow? He didn’t know. He’d been out of the game for a long time and frankly he didn’t want to play games or follow rules where she was concerned. She didn’t seem like one to play games either, though what little she had said the other night hadn’t made much sense.

  Linc did know that he was through driving himself crazy second guessing the whole thing. It was time to find out.

  He’d make the call because he’d already spent countless extra hours in the shop or the house working, trying to sort out the nerves he was feeling about it.

  With the chair and a dining table loaded into his trailer, he grabbed his pack, threw a handful of random clothes into a bag, and threw it into the backseat of his truck. He started the engine and sat there thinking he’d lost his mind for feeling like he had the first time he’d called a girl.

  He hit the number. When it went straight to voice mail, he laughed at himself, fumbled over the words as he left a message, and put the truck into drive. She would either call back or she wouldn’t, it was now out of his hands.

  With that out of the way he would be able to concentrate on the long list he had to tackle once he got to the city. He was late, his list of errands had grown, and he needed a haircut, badly. He wondered if he could juggle a few things around. Worse case, if he didn’t get everything done before the weekend was over he could always stay a few extra days.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Shanna was unpacked and set up in the spare room. She and Oliver were on a treasure hunt in the woods behind the house, and Raina was sitting at the kitchen table staring at her phone.

  She’d listened to the message in the car as the ladies headed back to Marie’s house, and if the past few days hadn’t already set her stomach into twisted knots that were whirling without control, it certainly was now.

  She’d given him her number, but she had been such a disaster she hadn’t really thought he’d call.

  She closed her eyes and listened to the message for the fifth time.

  “Hey, this is Lincoln. I believe that anything is always possible! Prove me right and call me back. You’ve got the number now; I’ll talk to you soon.”

  That was some specific brand of confidence, and it didn’t put her at ease. Yet the laugh that had followed the first statement had her believing that he was convincing himself that she would call him back, and that spoke to her of potential humility.

  She looked out the window one more time and saw Oliver chasing Shanna while they both giggled. The sun was setting on a beautiful weekend; a weekend of possibilities! She laughed at herself now, as she rolled the idea of possibilities around in her head. She wasn’t yet sure if she was ready to believe in them, but the mere idea suddenly looked to her like a tall blond man, wearing a grey V-neck tee and jeans, pulling off a hopeful smile, his hair so unruly it looked like he’d been racing in a boat all day, and he clearly couldn’t be bothered to shave.

  Could she do this? She didn’t want to think. Shanna would be here all week to help out. If she ever had an opportunity it was now. She picked up the phone and dialed.

  He’d wrapped up his work quicker than he anticipated and was anxious to get back to his place. He just had one more important thing to take care of and she was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck next to him. She had convinced him, though it didn’t take much, to put on an ironed shirt paired with shined up shoes, and just as he was helping her out of the truck, he felt the phone buzz in his pocket.

  Normally, he would ignore the phone or have turned it off, but he had been desperately willing the stupid thing to ring. He gave the beautiful woman on his arm an apologetic look as he held up his hand to plead two minutes away from her.

  Thankfully, she wasn’t the jealous type. She simply smiled at him and walked into the restaurant to announce their arrival.

  Hoping with all the power in him that this was a positive sign he engaged the phone and answered.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, it’s Raina,” she pronounced on an exhale.

  “Yes, I believe it is! Your name flashed big and bright across the screen. I’m glad you called.” Smiling, he turned to a bench that was located just outside the restaurant door.

  “Well, it would have been horribly rude of me not to return your call,” she said, and rolled her eyes at her sad attempt at light hearted conversation. He laughed and leaned back into the bench while crossing one of his ankles over his knee.

  “It would have been so much more than rude. I’d have called it criminal, but t
hankfully we’ll never have to question. What took you so long?”

  She laughed just loud enough for him to hear and he took that as a pretty good sign.

  “I wasn’t sure if I was going to,” she confessed.

  “Okay, so what convinced you, and keep in mind I wound easily.”

  He heard another quiet laugh as he waited.

  “You didn’t push, and you made me want to believe in possibilities!”

  “Great answer! So, might one of those possibilities allow me to see you again? Maybe tomorrow night?” he asked, and he hoped it wasn’t too soon, or that he didn’t sound as impatient as he felt.

  “No, tomorrow doesn’t work. Do you have time any other day this week?”

  “There are two things I can make time for this week. I figure food and you might go together nicely. I’ll make it work whenever you’re free.”

  “Okay, Tuesday night works for me.”

  “Perfect! Where can I pick you up?”

  “Ah, could you meet me at The Bakery around seven?”

  “Sure! That’s the place down Main Street, right? I’ll be there!”

  “Alright.” She let out a deep breath that he could just barely hear. He felt certain of two things when he heard it; she was not playing games, and she was more nervous than he was. He hoped he could do something to calm those nerves.

  “Raina?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you thought it was rude not to call back!”

  She laughed.

  “I’ll see you Tuesday!”

  His date was seated by the time he’d finished up his call. She was perusing the menu when he took his seat across from her.

  “So?”

  “Sorry about that!” he said, with a victorious smile he thought might stick until Tuesday night.

  “Are you, sorry?” She offered her own knowing smile.

  “That I kept you waiting, absolutely. That I took the call, not even a bit!” He laughed and watched his mother order a glass of wine. After he’d ordered and the waiter left them she turned on her most innocent smile.