Bring on the Rain (41 page)

Madeline felt them in her bones, in
every corner of her life, able to hug him and say she loved him and
call him her son. It was permissible now.

It was during a much needed cooling off
for all of them, the pouring of cold drinks, and dabbing at faces
with water, repairing make up, that Brook and Madeline sat on the
corner of the table, arms around each other looking at the cards
from her friends at school. Sharing a melancholy moment, realizing
High school was past and adulthood was beginning. Their
relationship would be adult to adult now, changed
forever.

Max drew their attention speaking
through a microphone.

They looked at the stage and gaped,
realizing he was holding a guitar.

“
Brook,” he said, “I haven’t
played in awhile. Not since Ma Fuddle sent me to classical guitar
classes. But I sort of picked it back up a few days ago, and worked
this up for you.”

Brook’s lips trembled. It was another
trait they shared, it didn’t matter to her they had different
fathers, they were blood. She jumped down and went and got a stool
from the bar, sitting up there beside him, as he warmed up, running
a beautiful strain of classical chords.

Ruby went up with the camera to take
pictures, while the tripod held the movie camera.

Madeline sat down in front of them in a
chair, her children under the spotlight, half facing each other.
Yes, certain things were worth any pain, any sacrifice. This was a
moment she wanted to freeze in time, to remember all of her
life.

Max started playing and
singing Bryan Adams,
Have You Ever Loved a
Woman?
In a husky voice that blew everyone
away. The purpose of the song clear to Brook, telling her what love
would be. When he played the Spanish flavored melody, it was
apparent he had been humble about his talents.

Brook was crying, Madeline was crying,
heck, everyone was in tears, when he finished,

Brook got up and hugged him tight;
their murmured voices picked up by the microphone. “Thank you, I
love you.”

“
You’re a woman now, you
don't settle for anything less than that.”

“
You play
beautifully.”

“
You are beautiful, baby
sister.”

They laughed. Max told everyone; one
more and he would probably have to hold his fingers on ice, because
they were too delicate from lack of playing.

He said, “Everyone sing with me now.”
He looked out at the table and waved, “y'all too, this is for the
road.”

It was the climax, the best
song to end the evening REO Speedwagon’s
Time for me to Fly.

Chapter 22

Madeline’s friends and co-workers sent
them home, assuring them they would clean up.

Brook packed the Lincoln with her
gifts. She and Gee Gee drove ahead to the house.

Gee Gee was tired. She and Brook were
going to head out the next morning. After the last minute checks
with Brook, Gee Gee went to the hotel to relax.

Madeline changed clothing, aware that
Max helped Brook get her things ready. At nightfall, they sat on
the porch in sweats, drinking coffee, getting to know each other
better. She found it refreshing, though she blushed to talk so
openly about the things they did.

They asked her many questions about her
relationship with Mitch, and she answered as honestly as she could.
Conversation moved to relationships in general. Madeline learned
Max had an affair with a woman who was twelve years his senior
throughout college.

Considering he had been sixteen, she
was a bit shocked. But his advance classes apparently put him in
contact with older women, who were eager to advance his knowledge
in other areas. She did not ask questions, but was all ears as
Brook did.

She learned her son had much more
experience than she would have assumed. She also learned he had
respect for women that was rare. He had good relationships with his
ex’s, and he had good friends of both sexes.

Eventually Brook crashed on the sofa,
leaving them to close the night talking quietly. At times, sitting
silent, listening to the crickets and katydids, and losing
themselves in thoughts. Finally Madeline asked the question she
been holding off on all evening. She looked at Max, who was lying
back on the old bench; feet propped on the banister and murmured,
“Are you going to Copper Creek…to meet him?”

He said he had been thinking about the
kin he’d seen today, the father he’d looked in the eye. Okay, he
was more curious now. Before, he couldn’t have cared less. Madeline
was the one he grew up knowing, not Mitch, and his thoughts from
the moment of truth, had been to hear her side of it.

He told her, “I might, but I’m too
damned old to need a daddy.” He sat up, tossing the coffee out of
his mug into the yard. “He might be their official Coburn elder,
but I got a life, and I’m not looking for a sperm donor to step in
and expect anything from me.”

“
Wow,” Madeline whispered,
“You sound angry.”

“
I’m not. I tell you what I
am though. I’m confused about a man who would find out what he
has-and he professes to have loved you, still love you, and he
didn’t even speak to you today.”

“
I explained that, he was
stunned yesterday. He had tears in his eyes. I told you, he has a
son with his first wife. He must have been blown away by you today.
You did punch out Coy. And let’s face it, you drove into that lot
like a bad-assed dude, and left half the county standing with their
mouths open.”

Max laughed. “Yeah well, I hardly ever
drive that car. Pop Griffin gave it to me when I finished college.
It’s the kind of car you keep locked up in a garage, go in, and pet
once in a while-drive to make an impression. My regular vehicle is
a Dodge Truck. I was pissed about Coy. I was also making a
point-despite what I said to you, that I wasn’t a Copper Creek
man.”

Madeline snorted. “Well, you missed
there. They love cars, they absolutely love them. And, fist fights,
and bad-assed dudes. It backfired probably.”

“
I made my point though. But
you tell me, Madeline, why ain’t he here? Why not…in your
life?”

“
Because I won’t let him,”
Madeline said truthfully. She got up and walked over to look up at
the full moon, “I told him we couldn’t pick up where we left off.
We didn’t know each other as mature grownups with a different
history, twenty years of it. That’s a lot of growing. There was you
too—I had to tell him and, the fact is, I do not want to mess up
anymore. I don't want to lose control.”

Behind her, he asked quietly, “What do
you feel for him now?”

She looked over her shoulder.
“Physically, we still have incredible chemistry. I haven’t dated
anyone in years. I’m not counting on that. I have to admit it has
never been there, or been like it is with him. However, Mitch is...
He’s a man who can overwhelm me with emotions I never realize I
have, when he’s not around.”

He watched her turn and lean against
the banister. She wasn’t used to talking about her intimate
feelings.

“
You guys are lovers?” he
asked bluntly.

“
No—we... Sort of. I—” She
cleared her throat and looked away. Shit. She blushed.

Max chuckled softly. “All right, I’m
not asking. I wanted to know what the deal was. If we don't hit it
off, don't let it affect your own relationship with him. That’s
what you have separate from us. Like I say, I’ve got a life and
friends and work.”

“
Mitch and I haven’t had
more than a couple of hour’s conversation. I wouldn’t call it a
relationship in the present tense.”

He stood and said, “It’s your business.
We are all grownups here. You cannot shut yourself off like you
have been. With Brook gone, it’s going to be hard for you. I saw
something this evening, a different person. Do not get bent at your
friends, but they were telling me how you try to be there for
everyone, how you have this total commitment to your job…and Brook
and themselves.

Everything, but your personal life.
They all understood it, as soon as Mitch was back in the picture.
What they don't want to see, what I don't…is regardless of whether
it’s Mitch or not, you can’t go on depriving yourself of the basic
need we all have. To be held and to hold someone. You have a right
to need, Madeline. You don't have to pay for your past, by closing
yourself down to everyone. Everything is out in the open now and
others are buried and gone.”

“
I know that. I know.”
Madeline looked at him. He was a deep thinking man, and one who
somehow had already pegged her, doubtless through Gee Gee, her
friends, Brook, and what she’d told him. She was starting to
realize that she kept a lot of distractions in her life to keep her
own feelings shut off, her needs suppressed.

They hugged and went inside and to bed.
The house seemed full to Madeline. The old shadows and dark lonely
echoes never came to torture her mind, to remind her of the void
she had created. She lay in her bed. Both her children were there.
She could get up and look at them, touch them, and tell them she
loved them.

She knew they would go, Brook in a few
hours, Max in a day or two. It was all right now. It was good and
right that they were going to do better than she had, do more, and
have a support system for when they made mistakes.

Madeline wanted them to be excited
about their lives and futures. She wanted them to go out and find
their own unique selves. That they were young and healthy was a
blessing. She thanked God they were. She prayed hard for them to be
made stronger by these recent tests they’d come through, and would
still go through.

Madeline prayed God would teach them to
learn from their mistakes, help them move on afterwards, not doing
as she had and punishing themselves and hurting other people.
Despite her intentions, she accepted that she had. She wanted her
children to have roots and faith and down-home common sense. To
have a good work ethic and humble heart. They were good people, and
what mother wouldn’t be proud of them?

She finally slept, lying on her side,
holding the other pillow to her chest. She felt comforted. She did
not feel alone.

~*~

The following morning was hectic.
Madeline didn’t cry until Brook and Gee Gee drove off. Her uncle
was meeting them half way, his business wrapped up, and his
retirement now official too. Brook didn’t take many of her things,
wanting to travel light, because Gee Gee said they would outfit her
in Paris. She took her guitar though, and the locket, and seemed
excited when she left.

Madeline felt like a sap for bursting
into tears as the car pulled out.

Max comforted her. They went out and
had breakfast. Back at the house, he told her he was going for a
drive and asked to use the jeep.

“
Take the top off,” she
urged him smiling. “I haven’t yet and it’s such a warm, beautiful
day. You haven’t seen much of this place.”

He saw she was going to clean house all
day, trying to keep her mind off Brook, no doubt. He collected the
keys off the table. “Just don't work yourself in the ground. We’re
going out to dinner late this evening.”

“
I won’t.”

Max slid his sunglasses on. He went out
to remove the top, having dressed in faded Levi’s, a dark purple
shirt and casual shoes. He climbed in, tooting the horn at Madeline
as she was shaking out rugs and laying them over the
banister.

~*~

Max drove around for an hour, purchased
gas, a bottle of water, and found himself headed for Copper
Creek.

~*~

Mitch woke up to a full house of
people. Though the party had taken place at Jude’s, he had ended up
with half of them there. Deena’s daughter Renée stayed
behind.

Now eighteen, she had inherited the
farmhouse and totally split with Deena over it. Meanwhile, she was
at the house, having talked to him, letting him know she thought
her mom done wrong years ago. Deena knew it too, though she
wouldn’t admit it. He hugged her, welcomed her to Copper Creek, and
told her he didn’t waste his time trying to make Deena come around
anymore. His sister lived in her own bitter world, and it was her
choice.

The Graduation party itself had been
crazy. Coy passed out from dehydration because of his recent
drinking bouts. By the time Jude got him home from the hospital,
the entire bunch was in his house whooping and partying. Mitch was
there too, and the major subject had been Max and the shock of
him.

Everyone was impressed, muttering
comments like, “Hell, he might be pretty, but did you see that jaw?
Strong I tell you, the man’s a bad ass.” Or, G.W. grunting to Coy
later, “We finally got a dude who will kick your ass back in line,
didn’t we?”

The females were agog, totally gushing
about the blend of Madeline and Mitch in him.