Bring on the Rain (7 page)

Madeline laughed and took a sip of her
beer. She had felt it when he had come to the Tavern to do his
photos, it was an intuition that stuck with her and didn’t change
over time.

They applauded when the song
finished.

Jason signaled behind them while
speaking in the mic, “I know I don't have to introduce him. But
he’s a family elder and all…” Laughter followed this. “Ladies,
gentleman, Mitch Coburn.”

Ruby and Madeline were the only two not
clapping. Ruby was staring at her, and Madeline rolled up the soggy
napkin as if it had to be done. Her eyes bore into the table.
Please, she thought groaning, please do not sing anything
romantic.

Mitch ambled into the spotlight. He
wore black Levis and a black shirt with a banded collar, the
material snug enough to show his taut muscles. The light glistened
on his silver hair as he tuned the acoustic guitar and talked a bit
of foolishness.

She thought they hadn’t spotted Ruby
and herself from their vantage point. However, he looked right
over, and sat down on a stool strumming slowly.

“
I wrote this years ago.
Found it recently, tucked in an old photo album, but y'all know
what memories are like. Particularly good ones. This was uh…
inspired by a rainy night in August. The fog was lifting off the
lake, and a beautiful girl and me scared off the wildlife for miles
around.”

Ruby laughed.

Madeline hit her arm, hissing softly,
“That was me.”

Ruby’s eyes were huge.

Madeline took a long drink of her
beer.

Mitch was saying, “I never gave it a
name, but here goes…”

“
I can’t listen.” Madeline
put her hands over her ears.

Ruby pulled them down.

They sat there with the lights low, a
hundred people around them. Ruby and Madeline knew Mitch was
looking at Madeline when his deep voice husked out the
words.

She’s lying here, beneath
the rain, letting midnight melt upon her skin. And I’m watching it
with envy, already wanting her again. Baby, don't you know the
magic, you work on me this way? Spells you cast about with
passion,’ neath the moon drops as you lay.

“
Jesus.” Ruby sighed and
glanced at her. “I’m going to cry.”

“
Don't be stupid.” Madeline
was trembling, trying to hide her feelings. “It could have been
someone else.”

“
Too late. You’ve already
admitted it.”

“
Well, I...”

“
Oh, shut up,” Ruby muttered
and slid her chair back, so that Mitch got a view of Madeline from
the candle on their table. Madeline knew this because he seemed to
pierce right through the shadows with those sky blue
eyes.

And I rest my head upon
your skin, the rain covers it pure, and you run your fingers
through my hair, telling me I’m still yours.

Madeline glanced away, down at the
table again. Vivid in her memory was the night they swam in the
rainstorm; the sultry heat of August and the wild beat of the rain
upon the weathered boat dock, drumming, while they made passionate
love. He’d done that, lay his head upon her.

But no words had been spoken. Mitch
never spoke the way he sang, and she’d never known anything but her
own intense feelings for him. Wrapped up as she’d been, in the high
she got from being around him. Stupid, stupid me, she thought…I was
clueless then.

The song ended and everyone applauded.
She heard his brother, Jude speak in the mic, to break the mood.
Madeline looked up, meeting Jude’s topaz gaze. He smiled, short and
impersonal. Or was it regretful? Madeline couldn’t tell.

She’d never forgiven him for telling
her what he had years ago. He was hard assed, as Ruby said, known
around the area as being a sonofabitch if he didn’t like you. The
fact that he was Coy’s father made her sick, thinking about Brook
getting mixed up with that one. On the outside, the young man
seemed a better type, but who the hell knew how much Jude passed
onto him?

She ordered another beer from Joe as he
passed by.

The band went back to singing pop. She
nodded as Ruby accepted several dances. She didn’t want to spoil
Ruby’s night out. As for herself, she was going to make this her
last beer. Madeline wasn’t much of a drinker and she wanted a clear
head for driving home. And too, for getting out of there without
having to speak to Mitch.

The band took a break after two more
songs. The jukebox was cranked up.

People crowded the floor for line
dancing.

Madeline urged Ruby to join them. Ruby
was a fantastic dancer and she often felt as though she was a stick
in the mud kind of friend. Being a parent for so long, she supposed
made her that way. That and her mom. Well, Madeline worried too
much, about what people thought of her now. She tried hard because
of Brook being so popular, not to remind anyone of her mother or
her ex, or to live up to the stereotypical waitress
image.

Madeline was peeling the label off her
beer when Mitch came over. She had sensed him though long before he
reached her.

Mitch took the chair vacated by Ruby,
though there was one other. He tilted his head, taking her in.
Madeline realized he had probably never seen her in her town
clothing. She had her jacket off. He eyed the locket she wore, a
bit too long. It was nestled in that valley between her
breasts.

“
Someone told me you don't
come here when you’re not working.”

“
Usually not.” She looked at
him, then away and wished all of those cinched muscles that had
tensed up during the song, would relax...

“
You look nice.”

Madeline peeked at him.
“Thanks.”

“
Am I intruding?”

“
It’s our girls’ night. Ruby
and me.”

He nodded, looked at Ruby on the dance
floor, and then said to her, “Now there’s a woman, who can make
Jude nervous.”

“
I don't see why. She hasn’t
cared about him in years.”

Her coolness apparently caused his
smile. “Z’at right? Well who knows what Jude freaks about? He had a
thing with her once, is all I know.”

“
Yeah right.” She laughed
and shook her head.

“
What?”

“
It’s obvious you know she
went a bit overboard for him. Can’t you have a normal conversation
without lying?”

His brow rose. “I was aiming to not dis
your friend.”

Madeline was a she-lion now that she
knew her friend’s secret. “Ruby is long past him. She’s lived away
from here a long time. I think her list of lovers probably showed
her the difference between a boy and a man.”

“
Am I supposed to pass that
to Jude?”

“
Yeah.”

“
And Bud? Did he do it for
you?”

“
I don't kiss and tell. And
no—I don't give a shit about your wife and you.”

“
Ex-wife,” he corrected.
Then, “Have you drank too much, or are you always a bitch after
dark?”

Madeline forced a laugh, took another
long drink, met his gaze, and muttered, “What was up with the song?
Was it supposed to mean something to me?”

Mitch’s gaze roamed over her
face.

She hoped her mauve eye shadow was
still fresh. She hoped he wasn’t looking at the laugh lines at the
corners of her eyes. She had applied fresh lip-gloss. She had done
a deep condition on her hair last night to bring out the shimmers
of deep red. Madeline wasn’t kidding herself. She wanted him to be
impressed with the way she’d aged. Shit, part of her hated him, and
part of her wanted him to regret he’d dumped her.

Madeline didn’t expect his answer when
he finally gave it, but she should have known from the
under-the-lashes look and half grin he gave her, it was
coming.

“
I got hard singing
it.”

She paused, her beer half to her lips.
She carefully set it down.

Mitch reached across before she could
prevent it, taking the locket in his fingers, and rubbing it with
his thumb. When he let go, his fingertips touched her cleavage.
“That was a compliment.”

She snorted soft. “Yeah? Well, in
Copper Creek, it would be.”

Mitch stroked his jaw, a glint in his
light blue eyes and a lowering of his lashes. “I told Coy about us.
Jason knows too.”

“
Why—what did you
say?”

“
Just, yes. We were an item
and it ended badly. Jason found a photo album. You recall Jude
taking pictures that summer? He had questions. Hell, Jason never
could figure out what me and Ronda were doing married anyway. But
Coy, he can’t understand why you hate all of us. Or what it has to
do with him and Brook.”

She swallowed, furious, feeling the
tension and beer turn her stomach into a nauseated knot. All
Madeline could think of was, “He’ll tell Brook.” When she said it
aloud, she knew her daughter would demand answers.

“
Maybe.”

“
Dammit, Mitch. Why did you
start this mess?” Madeline leaned her head back a moment, then
lowered it.

“
You should have asked me
first. Brook thinks her Dad is the only…she’s glad we divorced,
because she always thought we were too opposite, but, hell, Mitch.
This is going to bring up a whole conversation with my daughter I
do not want to have.”

“
I didn’t think of that. I
thought maybe Coy deserved a break though. He deserves to know why
you‘re so dead set against them dating.”

The music changed. Madeline glanced
over to see Ruby waltzing with an insurance salesman who was a foot
shorter.

“
Dance with me?” Mitch’s
voice rumbled under the popular love song.

She shook her head. No way could she
touch him, move against him. Sitting there was hard enough on her
senses. Shit! Her past and her daughter’s future were in route for
a head on collision.

“
Remember, we waltzed to the
truck radio that night? Out in the field?”

“
No.” Madeline lied, and he
knew it.

He smiled dryly. “Jason wants to meet
you.”

“
I’ve spoken to him.” She
shook her head. Go away, she thought, go away and let me
think.

Mitch grunted, got up, and moved
through the crowd. Madeline debated dashing for the restroom, but
before she could move, he came back with his son.

Dressed in a neat black silk shirt and
tan slacks, Jason was smiling. It was a hard one to resist, because
that cleft in his chin was shadowed, but his eyes, like his
father’s, weren’t.

He offered his hand. "Hello,” his bass
voice rumbled.

“
Hello, Jason.”

They both sat on either side of her.
She glanced at Mitch, who was leaned back, relaxed and watching,
then at Jason who was openly looking her over. “You seem to have
inherited your father’s talent,” she offered. “You play and sing
very well.”

“
Thank you.” Jason glanced
at his Dad, still smiling. “So, why’d you let Dad marry the wrong
woman?”

Madeline knew then he was a Coburn
through and through. He didn‘t care, evidently, that his question
was impertinent. “It wasn’t my decision.”

“
Really?”

She glanced at Mitch.

“
Behave. “ Mitch grinned at
Jason

“
Sorry, guess old Dovie
really messed things up.”

It was hard to be calm under a gaze
similar to Mitch’s. Though Mitch’s was intimate, personal, this
searching one was still difficult to ignore. Madeline changed the
subject. “I hear you’re building a house?”

“
Yes ma‘am. On our land, of
course. Dad’s is great, but it’s hard to impress a girl, living
with your daddy.”

She smiled. How many young men his age
could afford to build a house? Okay, so they did work hard and she
had always known that. Madeline knew Jason had worked for Mitch
since he was a young kid.

He leaned slightly and murmured under
the din of the voices and music, “I want to commission your friend
Ruby, to do some hand painted tiles and glass art for
me.”

“
I’m sure she
will.”

Jason appeared as though he wanted to
ask a million questions but eventually sighed and nodded his head.
“Break’s over, nice meeting you.” He added, “Dad had better taste
the first time around. He never looked at my mom the way he does
you, never wrote her a song either.”

He left. Mitch leaned up, looking at
her a long time. “He saw a lot in those pictures, enough to make
him question why we’re strangers now.”

“
That’s your problem, not
mine.” She flushed, because the song was obviously about making
love. That young man knew she’d had sex with his father. Shit, it
made her feel weird. People around the town presumed she had only
one lover, one anal husband, and no wild past.

Mitch grunted, smiled, and then shook
his head. “I’ve got to play this last set.” Yet he continued
watching her for a moment, as if he was waiting for her to say
something.