Mythe: A Fairy Tale (53 page)

After almost a year of planning and effort, the Raines Foundation was a reality. Just the night before, their kick-off fundraising event had been a huge success. Jen had suggested a high-profile event for their big launch and Manda’s creativity had, as usual, served them very well. He remembered the exact moment the idea had come to her.

She, Richard, Josh, and Mikey had been having a cookout on the terrace at the loft. Manda had tuned the radio to a local station that was playing ‘80s hits and she was singing along to herself as she set the table. Josh had joined in first, and then Richard. Losing himself in the enjoyment of the moment, he’d begun to sing lyrics to the popular song that differed from the version on the radio. Manda and Josh had stopped singing and listened until Richard realized he was performing solo and looked around quizzically.

“Those aren’t the words,” Manda laughed, “but I like your version better.”

“But those are supposed to be the words,” Richard countered with a mischievous grin before turning back to check the steaks on the grill.

“He would know,” Josh explained. Richard could hear the amusement in his voice. “He wrote it.”

“You wrote that?” Manda exclaimed in delight, slipping up behind him and sliding her arms around his waist.

Richard closed the grill and turned into her embrace, pulling her closer. The awe and pride in her eyes when she looked up at him filled him with pleasure.

“Yes, I wrote that.” He lowered his head and stole a quick kiss. “Do you like it?”

“Yes. Very much. What other songs have you written that I would know? I mean, besides Rain’s songs.”

Josh answered for him, rapidly naming off a long list of songs that he’d written between the late seventies and the present. Richard watched Manda’s expression turn to amazement as the list lengthened. Josh was just naming the songs that had charted in the top forty. He’d written many more, though they were all under a variety of different pseudonyms.

As Richard held Manda and watched her reaction, a shiver caused her to tremble in his arms and she gasped.

“That’s it! That’s your fundraiser!” She quickly explained her brainstorm to the three men and the idea she’d had at that moment eventually culminated in last night’s concert at Red Rocks.

Manda’s idea had been simple but brilliant, and from concept to execution she’d had fun with it. The result had been a concert of ‘80s hits featuring Rain performing with the original artists. They’d called it
‘80s Class Reunion
and Richard had used his influence and called in favors to secure the participation of some very big names. There had been a great deal of buzz and Manda’s promotional materials had driven the anticipation even higher. The concert had sold out within hours and donors had clamored to be included in the pre-concert reception, where they would meet stars from past and present. As a gift for those who attended the donor event, Manda created a book with pictures and profiles of all of the performers, as well as information about the foundation, all themed as a high school yearbook. Jen had even convinced a national yearbook printing company to donate the books.

The reception had taken the form of a yearbook signing, where attendees were able to have their books signed by the performers. As a companion piece to the concert and yearbooks, Rain and a number of the other performers had recorded an album of songs from the concert, all of the proceeds of which would benefit the foundation. That had been Manda’s idea as well. Thanks in a large part to her, their foundation would be able to help a good many people.

Richard pulled the small box out of his pocket and opened it. He tried to imagine how the ring it held would look on Manda’s slender finger.

“So, tonight’s the big night,” Josh said. Richard hadn’t heard him come downstairs. His thoughts had been on Manda...and, he admitted, Josh had gotten much better at moving soundlessly. When Richard started taking assignments again, he’d have to start thinking about letting Josh come with him. That would have to wait until he knew Manda was safe though. She was his first priority.

“Are you excited?” Josh continued when Richard didn’t respond.

“I’m scared to death,” Richard admitted. He snapped the ring box closed and tucked it safely back into his pocket.

Josh put an encouraging hand on his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be. She loves you. She’s gonna say yes.”

“I’m not so sure,” Richard worried out loud. “I mean, I know she loves me. I can’t believe my luck sometimes, but I know she does or she wouldn’t have put up with me as long as she has. I’m just not so sure she’ll say yes after I tell her everything. She might just run away from me as far and fast as she can.”

“You’re not giving her enough credit,” Josh disagreed. “She doesn’t scare easily, and she’s stubborn enough that she’s not going to let something like that stand in the way of what she wants...which is you.”

“I still can’t help but think she might be better off if she did run away,” Richard sighed.

“Well, she won’t, so you’d better start deciding where you want to spend your honeymoon.” Josh shoved him playfully. “Now, let’s go. They can’t start the game without us.”

The local baseball franchise sent a car for them and they arrived at the stadium well before the game for the usual walk-through and meet-and-greet. Richard had been through it all before and was impatient for it to be over so he could join Manda in their seats behind home plate. She’d decided to wait for them there rather than endure the pre-game hoopla to which he and Josh would be subjected. He wouldn’t have agreed to it himself if it weren’t for the publicity it would bring to the foundation. They had started the foundation because it was important to them—it was something they believed in very strongly—so he shook hands and made conversation with good grace and a friendly smile. Then he stood on the field with Josh, wearing a team cap and jersey, and sang the Star Spangled Banner. The entire time he was singing, however, his attention was on Manda.

She smiled at Richard from the VIP section, where she sat with Mikey. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt blazoned with the home team’s logo and her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail that emerged from the back of her baseball cap. She looked lovely and he wanted to be there by her side.

As soon as they completed their singing duties and fulfilled their obligations for the evening, Richard waved to the crowd and led the way off of the field. When he finally took his seat beside Manda, the nervousness and worry that had plagued him for days vanished. Under the bright sunshine, with Manda laughing exuberantly beside him and an engagement ring in his pocket, Josh’s optimism seemed reasonable. Tonight would be difficult, but he was finally beginning to believe that it would end well—with Manda wearing his ring. Things would be easier, he admitted, when she finally knew everything.

Neither Richard nor Manda paid much attention to the game. She had her camera out and kept snapping pictures—often of him—and he mostly just watched her. Occasionally something would intrude upon their private world, often in the form of the crowd in the adjacent section. Children and a few adults would gather near the divider that surrounded the VIP section, wanting to see Richard and Josh and hoping for an autograph. Richard would wave occasionally, but he left the autograph signing to his brother. Being in such a large crowd made him particularly nervous about Manda’s safety and he scanned the sky repeatedly, looking for the black bird he knew would be nearby.

The steady roar of the crowd made conversation difficult. With his enhanced hearing he was usually able to hear Manda without too much difficulty, but he had to lean close and speak near her ear to make himself heard without yelling. Rather than being an inconvenience, however, Richard considered it a bonus. It gave them a very good excuse to sit intimately close, and the smell of her skin and hair was intoxicating.

During the seventh inning something caught Manda’s attention. She repeatedly looked past him and frowned, but when he turned to see what displeased her, all he saw was Josh signing autographs again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning back to speak close to her ear. 

“See that little girl over there?” She pointed toward the crowd swarming around Josh. “The one on the left in the back? She’s wearing a pink shirt and shorts, just behind the boy in the purple cap.”

Richard spotted the girl and nodded. She was watching Josh from the back of the crowd and looked ready to cry. She clutched a piece of paper and a pen to her chest, but she was much too far away to get Josh’s attention and ask for an autograph.

“She’s been trying to get close to Josh for a while,” Manda explained, “but she seems kinda shy. Everyone just keeps crowding in front of her and pushing her back. She’s been trying to get his autograph every time he’s been over there since the second inning.” The little girl’s plight was obviously bothering Manda.

“Go talk to her,” Manda urged him. “Please? For me?”

Richard hesitated. He hated to disappoint Manda, but he wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone.

“Please?” she asked again.

“Okay,” Richard agreed, “but you have to come with me.”

Richard led Manda up the center aisle of their section and turned down the empty last row. When they reached the section divider, adjacent to an open area at the back of the next section, he looked around for a way to get the girl’s attention without attracting everyone else’s. He spotted an usher a few rows away and motioned him over. He quickly explained what he wanted and the usher returned shortly with the little girl and a group of others that had been farthest from Josh.

The little girl still clutched the pen and paper to her chest but was too shy to speak to him, though excitement shone in her eyes. Richard smiled at her and spoke to the people around her to give her time to work up her courage. He had to practically yell in order to make himself heard. He’d been talking to the small group for several minutes when he sensed Manda move away from him. He turned immediately to see where she’d gone and was relieved to see that she’d just stepped back a little to let Josh squeeze past her in the limited space between the rows of seats.

“Hey guys,” the younger man greeted the small crowd gathered on the other side of the short wall. “What’s up?”

Several of the children near the front extended various things toward him to be autographed. He grinned good naturedly and signed a few, then knelt down in front of the girl Manda had singled out. Richard should have known that Josh had noticed her. Watching over Manda had honed his powers of observation. Richard was impressed.

“I saw you waiting patiently and politely for me earlier so I thought I’d just come over here and say hi.” Josh extended his hand toward the girl and waited until she timidly reached out and shook it. “My name is Josh. What’s yours?”

The girl answered Josh a little more confidently and Richard chuckled. His little brother was a charmer. The girl couldn’t be more than eight or nine but she was already staring at him adoringly, just the way most women did. Richard was just thankful that Manda wasn’t in that group, as he’d once thought. At one point he’d been thoroughly convinced that she and Josh would end up together—happily ever after. Now he was finally letting himself hope that the happily ever after with Manda would be his. There was still a huge hurdle in the way, but…

Josh nudged him to get his attention. “This is my big brother, Richard,” he told the little girl, as if she didn’t already know that. “Richard, this is Kayley.”

Richard glanced back to check on Manda before kneeling down and shaking Kayley’s hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Kayley.” Richard pointed at the paper and pen she still had in her hand. “Whatcha got there?”

“I wanted you to sign this for me,” she explained, thrusting a green pen and an empty envelope toward him eagerly.

“Oh, I think we can do better than that,” he said, wanting to do something special for her. She reminded him of Manda. He took off his baseball cap and borrowed the marker someone had given Josh. He signed his name on the bill of the hat and handed it to his brother, who did likewise before giving it to Kayley. The girl bounced up and down happily.

“Thank you very much,” she squeaked, remembering her manners.

Josh sidled back down the row toward Manda. “I’m gonna go watch the game for a while. Come keep me company, M. Leave Richard here with his new girlfriend.”

The crowd reacted loudly to something that had happened on the field and Richard couldn’t hear Manda’s reply. He leaned closer to Kayley so that he could hear her over the cheering.

“I have a little brother, too,” she informed him solemnly. “His name is Tyler. He’s five.”

“Little brothers are a lot of fun,” Richard confided with a grin. “I really like mine.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she agreed doubtfully. She leaned toward him, as if to tell him a secret. “You’re girlfriend is pretty. I’ve seen her on T.V.”

“I think she’s very pretty too,” Richard agreed, “and she really doesn’t like to be on T.V.” He looked back to see if Manda had overheard this. It would embarrass her and she was adorable when she blushed. She’d left with Josh though. A stout couple sitting in the row behind their seats blocked his view of Manda, but he could see Josh. His brother was leaning toward her, talking and laughing. Richard smiled and turned back to Kayley and the other
autograph seekers. Another girl, a few years older than Kayley, had worked her way to the front of the group. He signed an autograph for her and then started to edge away. Time to get back to Manda. Tonight was a special night, after all. The older girl drew his attention again with her question though.