The Rain Began to Fall (6 page)

Leigh was staring
silently at the floor, and Cheryl watched her for a moment, wondering what was
going on in her daughter’s life.

“Listen, honey,”
Cheryl advised. “One thing I can say about marriage: It’s not a matter of
logic, or…a blueprint you follow. If it’s for any other reason than love, it’s
not the real thing, and it won’t last.” She paused a moment. She wanted her
words to be helpful, to mean something to her daughter. “I want you to be
happy, Leigh. That’s all that matters to me. But a man and woman must share
that unconditional love, that caring for each other. Your father and I didn’t
have much starting out; Lord knows we struggled there for awhile! But we loved
each other, and I can honestly say that despite all of the success that came
after, some of the best times of our lives were when we had the least. Money, a
nice home, those things are nice. But if there’s true love, it will live in a
cave as easily as a mansion.”

Leigh had been
staring down throughout her mother’s speech, and now looked up at her with eyes
full of confusion. She and this Chris had known each other since childhood,
just like she and Gene? And her dad, all charm and swagger, sweeps her mother
off her feet? Seriously? Her mom couldn’t possibly have known that her story
would parallel so closely to her situation with Kyle and Gene right now. It
certainly did nothing to reinforce the idea that her attraction to Kyle was
harmless. But Cheryl understood much more than her daughter realized. She
leaned over and hugged her mother tightly.

“Thanks for sharing
that mom,” she said sincerely. Cheryl stroked the back of her head, as she had
so many times when she was a little girl and needed comforting. How quickly she
had grown up!

“I hope I’ve
helped in some way. I am always here for you, you know that don’t you?”

“I know mom, and I
appreciate it.”

“Do you want to
talk about what you’re feeling?”

“No,” she
responded. “It’s really no big deal. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“You know Leigh,”
her mother said, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking directly into
her eyes, “you’re going to be just fine. This is not an easy time, I know!”

You can say
that again
, she thought, but said: “Thanks mom.”

“So, have you
picked out your wedding dress yet?” Cheryl asked. “You’ve narrowed it down to
about fifty now, haven’t you?”

Leigh laughed, and
was about to reply that it was more like a hundred, when the house phone rang.
She sprang off the couch to answer the call, and watching her, Cheryl was
reminded that her “spring up” days were definitely far removed. Ah youth!

“I’ll get it. It’s
probably Mindy.”

“Good!” Cheryl
exclaimed. “You two should go out and have some fun!”

She answered the
phone in the kitchen.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” replied the
voice on the other end. It wasn’t Mindy. It was a male voice, and she knew
immediately who it belonged to. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Hello Kyle,” she
answered in a whisper, shocked that he had called her at home. She glanced
behind her to see if her mom had followed her into the kitchen. She wasn’t
there….yet.

“I hope you don’t
mind my calling,” he said.

“No...yes...I
mean...its okay, I guess,” she stammered.

“So which one is
it, all of the above?” She laughed nervously.

“It’s…ah… fine,”
she replied. She gathered herself somewhat. “So how did you get our home
number, anyway?”

“Well, there are
quite a few Thompsons in the phone book, let me tell you,” he replied. “A
few
of them were nice.”

“You called down
the list?”

“Yep.”

“You’re a trip,
Kyle,” she replied. “So why are you calling?”

“Well, you know I
don’t mind a good race, right?  And neither do you, huh?”

“Funny.”

“I got to know a
couple of the guys at work, and they challenged me to race down on Summerville
road tonight. You know where that is?”

“Uh...” Her mental
gears spun for a moment as her fingernail clicked on the phone’s receiver, and
then she remembered.”Yeah! Yeah I do.”  She was aware of that stretch of
back road and the illegal drag racing that went on there. It had been going on
as long as she could remember.

“I told them I was
game. I figured, since you like racing, you’d like to come and watch me do some
damage.”

“How do you know
you will?’” she asked, amused at his confidence.

“Well, I’ve
already run against the best, haven’t I?”

“
Very
good!” she exclaimed.

“So I’m ready.
These guys couldn’t be nearly as hard to beat as you were.” She laughed out
loud, cupping her hand over her mouth and looking back over her shoulder toward
the doorway.

“It would be
extremely
hard if we raced again, I
assure
you!” she responded, helplessly charmed.

“You’ll get your
chance. What do you say?”

Against her
supremely better judgment, she found herself actually considering it. It was
foolishness, of course; but Gene was working over late, immersed in his case,
and she knew it would be midnight before he came up for air.

“Well?” he
pressed.

“I don’t know,”
she said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“All work and no
play make Jane a dull girl,” he replied.
Oh temptation, you have a name!
How did I get caught up in this conversation
?

“What time does it
start?”

“Nine o’clock,” he
answered. “I’d really like to see you there, Leigh. What do you say?”

It was
insanity. Accepting his invitation would be inviting trouble and all of
his friends along for the ride. She wasn’t any stronger now than she had been
earlier today, when his lips had been so close to hers, so close to a kiss.
That bit of unfinished business begged to be concluded, even as her mind railed
against the idea. And her mother’s tale, far from dissuading her, had breathed
life (on purpose?) into the possibility of undiscovered romance. What to do?
She touched her forehead, leaning against the kitchen wall. On the other end of
the line, Kyle waited patiently. He could almost hear the back and forth going
on in her head.

“Okay,” she said
finally, softly biting her bottom lip, “but I can’t stay long.”

“Great! I’ll see
you there.” They hung up, and she folded her arms against herself, glancing at
the clock on the wall: 8:15.
I have lost my mind
, she thought, and then
went quickly upstairs to change into something a little more complimentary.

Cheryl had started
toward the kitchen, but paused just around the corner when she overheard a
snippet of her daughter’s conversation and realized it wasn’t Mindy on the
phone. Her daughter’s whispered tone, together with the fragmentary content she
had heard, told her it was a male, and it most likely wasn’t Gene. She would be
there if her daughter needed her, but she knew Leigh would ultimately have to
work out the issues of her heart on her own.

Leigh’s cell rang
as she was coming downstairs and preparing to bolt out the door. Before she
looked at the caller I.D., she had the thought it might be Gene, ringing to
tell her he was done and wanted to get together. She found herself hoping it
wasn’t. When she looked at the phone’s screen she saw “Mindy” flashing, and she
was relieved.

“Hey girl!"
 she answered.

“Hey!” Mindy
responded. “What are you doing?”

“Not much, what’s
up with you?”

“I just got off
the phone with Jim,” Mindy replied. “Another stimulating, positive conversation,
you know?”

She had been
having serious problems lately with her boyfriend, Jim Seales, a sales rep for
Stenco parts. They had met six months ago, and in the beginning, Mindy was sure
she had found Mr. Right. She had gushed about him, but when they went out on a
double date with their respective beaus, Leigh was not impressed. He struck her
as self absorbed. She kept her opinion to herself until a couple of months ago,
when Mindy had informed her that all was not right in Pleasantville. She told Leigh
he didn’t seem to care about what she wanted to do, and she was suspicious that
he was still seeing his ex-girlfriend.  Since then she had been urging
Cindy to drop the creep, and it appeared promising lately that she might be
headed in that direction. “I told him what a jerk he was.”

“Did you mean it?”

“With all of my
heart!” she stated emphatically. “He hung up mad, but I don’t care, really I
don’t. I‘m through with him.”

“Well it’s about
time! But
really
do it, okay?” Leigh pressed. “You’re gorgeous Mindy!
You’ve got your pick of men! Just give one of them a chance and Jim will be
history.”

Mindy was a
pretty, blue eyed brunette who kept her body in great shape by working out
religiously. On her down time, she enjoyed hiking and rock climbing, a passion
Leigh didn’t share given her aversion to heights. Although Leigh joined her in
the gym three times a week, the one time she had ventured out to watch Mindy
scale the face of a steep cliff she had gotten dizzy just watching her.
Shopping was more Leigh’s speed. Mindy had hired on a year ago at Falstead,
within a week of Leigh, and they had become fast friends.

“So when are we
going to make the final selection on your wedding dress?” Mindy asked. “How
about tomorrow? You’ve got to get moving on this thing!”

“Sounds good,”
Leigh responded. “I think we can do that. “

”Great! What
time?”

“Say noon-ish? I
want to sleep in!”

“I hear that! Me
too!  We can.....”

“Hey, listen, I
hate to cut this short but I’ve got somewhere I need to be,” Leigh interrupted.
“I’ll call you later, okay?”

“No problem. So
where are you heading?”

“To the races.
Gotta go!”  They hung up and she darted toward the front door. Cheryl was
standing in the side doorway of the living room, a towel between her hands.

“Heading out?” she
asked, as Leigh’s hand fell on the doorknob.

“For a little
while,” she responded. She went over to her mother and hugged her.

“Thanks for
talking with me,” she said sincerely.

“I hope it did
some good,” Cheryl responded. “Just remember, anytime you need me, I’m here.”

“Thanks mom. I’ll
see you later.”

She went out the
door, looking sexy in her short skirt and tight sweater, her long blond hair
brushed and flowing. Cheryl smiled as she walked back toward the kitchen,
thinking of Chris, the young man’s heart she had broken so many years ago, and
wondering if her daughter had found herself a sailor.

After hanging up
with Leigh, Kyle went through some final checks on his car: the oil level,
tightening the spark plugs, and using the pressure gauge to check each tire.
When he was satisfied all was in good working order he climbed in behind the
wheel, started the engine and revved it up. She sounded good and ready to run.

Now he was on the
road he normally took to Fastead each morning. A couple of blocks down he would
turn right and head south of the city to Summerville road, on the outskirts of
town.  ZZ top blared out of the car’s speakers ...
Gimme
all
your
lovin
', all your
hugs and kisses too...
He sang along, thrilled that Leigh was coming out.
She had been surprised that he’d called, no doubt; but it was a chance he had
to take. He was sure she was confused after he backed off from kissing her
earlier, and he felt he needed to reestablish himself, overcome whatever scorn
she may have felt as a result. And he knew that every opportunity he got to
spend some time with her increased his odds. He had not held out much hope that
she would be home on Friday night, figuring her fiancé would be getting in his
time.
It’s his mistake if he chooses to leave such a beautiful woman alone
,
he thought. He was more than happy to fill the void. He slowed to around twenty
mph and then punched the gas pedal hard. The rear tires barked on the pavement
in response as he whipped into the parking lot of a convenience store he frequented.
He pulled up to the pumps, and the female clerk inside, hearing the familiar
sound of his engine, looked outside with anticipation. Lisa worked part-time at
Seven Eleven and attended a cosmology school three nights a week, where she
studied hard with plans to open her own salon in Charlotte one day. She had
briefly considered dancing (not ballet) to make money, and with red hair that
spilled down to her waist, the body of a playmate, and gray/ blue eyes, she
would have raked in truck loads of cash. It was a tempting proposition - the
owner of a local night spot had offered her the moon to perform - but she had
turned him down, displaying rare moral fortitude.

Kyle climbed from
the car, removed the cap and began pumping ninety-three high-octane fuel into
his tank, as he did before every race. He set the lock on the pump handle, and
then walked to the end of the island to locate the windshield washer. He began
the chore, and as he maneuvered around the front window, Lisa gazed lustfully
at him from inside the store. She observed the snug fit of his jeans that so
complimented his well-shaped rear.
I’ve got plans for you baby,
she
thought, and then she heard someone clear their throat loudly. She turned
around and saw a short, balding male customer with a Yahoo and a Little Debbie
snack cake on the counter.

“I’d like to get
waited on sometime this century,” he said sarcastically, “if you don’t mind.”
She rang up the impatient man, and as he went out the door, Kyle came in.

“Hi there!” she
chirped, favoring him with her brightest smile. Since the first day he had come
into the store, she had flirted with him blatantly. Subtlety was not her strong
point.