Rainey
It had been almost two weeks of Slater sneaking in every night to stay with her and Rainey had to admit, she was getting used to having him in her bed. They never really made plans and every night, around dinner time, she worried that he might not make it over. Yet, every night at nine sharp, her front door opened, his keys made a thud on the entryway table, and he spent the night in her bed. Honestly, she didn’t even miss going on real dates with him, it was as if they had settled into a comfortable rhythm that she had come to not only expect, but also to count on.
Slater had run the plates on the sedan that had appeared a few times in her back alley, but she hadn’t seen the car in days. The plates didn’t turn up anything either. The car was registered as stolen and the guy who originally reported it had been dead for almost two years now. The whole thing was a mystery, but one that she cared less about each day that the sedan didn’t show up at her place.
Her only dilemma now was how to help Jack build a working volcano for his science fair project and she was pretty sure that was going to be nearly impossible. “Mom,” Jack groaned. “That’s not how you do it. The book says that you have to pour that stuff into this,” he said, pointing to the top of the volcano. Making the damn thing was easy enough. It involved some paper mache and paint. Getting the thing to explode was harder than she anticipated.
The doorbell rang and she smiled at her seven-year-old. “Saved by the bell,” she teased.
“Don’t be long, Mom,” Jack insisted. “I don’t want to miss my turn for watching my television show.” Rainey had developed a rotating system for her kids to each pick a show to watch so that there would be no complaining or fighting. It was honestly one of the cleverest things that she had come up with. It saved countless hours of the kids fighting and her having to tell them to cut it out.
“You won’t miss your turn, son,” she said back over her shoulder as she looked out the front door to see who was there. “Slater,” she breathed. Rainey worried that something was wrong with her sister or the baby. She quickly pulled open the door. “What’s happened?” she questioned.
“Everything’s fine,” he assured. “Your sister told me that you were helping Jack with his volcano, and she also told me that might be more science than you’re equipped to handle, so I thought I’d come over and lend a hand,” he offered.
“Thank you,” she whispered. She gave him a quick kiss and let him into her house. “You’re a Godsend.”
“I don’t know about that, but when Derrick had to do this project, I just about lost my mind. I learned a lot from all of the attempts to get that damn thing to explode, and I’m here to pass on that knowledge to you,” he said.
“Ahh—passing the baton,” she teased. “Well, we appreciate the help. Jack—Slater is here to give us a hand. He has a son who did this project.”
“How old’s your son?” Jack asked.
“Um, he’s twenty-two,” Slater said. She could tell that he was a little uncomfortable about answering Jack’s question.
“He’s old like my mom,” Jack assessed.
“Yeah, they are almost the same age,” Slater said.
“Wow,” Jack said. “You must be really old then.”
Slater stammered and Rainey wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh about the whole conversation or feel bad for her guy. “Okay, that’s enough talk about age,” she insisted. “Let’s get this volcano to explode so that you can watch your show. Would you like to stay for dinner, Slater?” she asked. “We’re having spaghetti and meatballs.”
“It’s my favorite,” Jack announced.
“Hey—mine too,” Slater said. “And I’d love to stay for dinner, thank you. Now, let’s get to work on this volcano,” he said. Jack’s smile nearly lit up the kitchen and she couldn’t help her own. Slater was quickly becoming someone she could count on—a partner to tag in when she found things to be too much, and that was both exciting and scary as hell.
* * *
About a month passed and Rainey loved the sweet routine that they had all settled into. She had spent the day playing outside with Ella and when she saw the dark sedan in the back of the alley behind her house again, she picked Ella up to carry her in from her swing set. She foolishly left her cell phone in the house and all she could think about was getting in to find it and call Slater. He made her promise to call him if the car showed up again.
“Mommy, I play,” Ella shouted, pointing back to the play set.
“Not now, sweetie,” Rainey said. “Mommy needs to find her phone.” Ella squirmed and protested in her arms. Rainey got her in through the back door and made her way into the family room to turn on the television for Ella. The art of distraction usually worked well with her two-year-old. She turned on some cartoon with singing and Ella giggled and clapped, settling on the sofa.
“Stay right here and watch your show, baby,” she said. “Mommy will get you a snack.” Ella nodded, not bothering to take her eyes from the television screen.
“Okay, Mommy,” Ella agreed. Rainey hurried to the kitchen, checking out the side window to see that the car was still there. She noticed that it was, but no one was sitting in it anymore.
Rainey found her phone and quickly dialed Slater’s number. “Hey, Rain,” he breathed. “Everything okay?”
“No,” she said. “That car is back again and there’s no one in it.”
“Shit,” he growled. “Why is it back now? Are you and Ella safe?”
“Yes,” she said. “We were outside playing, but as soon as I saw it, I got her inside and called you.” She left out the part about her forgetting the phone in the kitchen when she took her daughter outside to play. She knew better and Slater would give her quite a lecture if he found out. Rainey didn’t need that right now. She needed to figure out where the hell the guy who was in the car disappeared to. Then, she needed to find out why he’s been coming around her house, basically stalking her.
“I’m on my way,” he said. “You and Ella stay in the house and lock the door, Rain. Don’t answer it for anyone. I have my key and will let myself in. Got it?” he asked.