Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Eleven Years Before
Ryland
I ’ve decided that if Raine and I can make it through our senior year, we can make it through anything. Davis put an end to our dates after Raine’s shifts at MJ’s Diner during the week. I try my best to make the most of our limited time together at school, squeezing in kisses in the hallways, behind the bleachers, or in the stairwell.
We text and call each other every second we could until the weekend would come, and we’d either spend time together at the farm or at the lake. Little by little, I see Raine’s light begin to dim. The weight of Davis’ control is starting to get to her. Him constantly putting her down, making her feel like everything she does is wrong, and I’ve caught her often mentioning how worthless she is.
It’s emotional abuse. I make it my mission to remind Raine of her worth as often as it takes to help her heal from the damage he’s caused. Only a few more months, and we will taste freedom together.
The ding from my cell phone catches my attention. I rush into the kitchen, pick up my phone from the table, and read the text from Olivia.
Olivia
We’re fixing to head that way.
A wave of nausea hits me, and I begin pacing the room. The unknown of how Raine is going to react to what I have planned has been eating at me, and keeping this secret from her for the last few weeks has been the hardest thing to do.
“Ryland, what did I say about biting your nails?” Mom’s voice booms, causing me to jump slightly and rip my fingers away from my mouth. She gives me a sympathetic smile before closing the distance between us and places her hands on my shoulders. “I’ve never seen you so worked up before.”
“I’ve never gone behind my girlfriend's back before.”
“She’ll be thrilled. Trust me. Now, I’m going to go upstairs and get things ready for the girls. Holler at me when she’s here, okay?” she says before giving me a little squeeze and patting my cheek softly. “You look handsome.”
I release a pent-up breath after she leaves the room and return back to my pacing. What if she’s mad at me? Surely she wouldn’t think about breaking up with me because I changed our plans. Why is it so hot in this house?
I take off my suit jacket and loosen my tie a bit before making my way onto the front porch of the farmhouse. I’m met with a cool breeze, and I take a seat on the porch swing. I reach into my pocket for the paper towels I placed there earlier and dab against the sweat dripping down my brow.
“Getting cold feet?” Johanna asks as she steps up onto the porch, a basket of flowers from her garden in her hands.
“More like a hot flash,” I say, earning one of her snort laughs that I’ve grown to love.
“Mind if I take a seat?” she asks, and I shake my head, gesturing next to me. She studies me for a moment as she sits down, giving me a small smile, and turns her attention onto the flowers in her basket and gets to work on making them into a corsage.
She pieces different kinds together, holding them up to my chest, and hums a sound of approval. “You have nothing to worry about. She’s going to love that you’re doing this for her.”
“You don’t think she’ll be mad that I did this behind her back?”
Johanna exhales, shaking her head, and a sad smile pulling on her slightly wrinkled lips. “No. I know deep down that she wants to go to prom with you. My sweet girl deserves some normalcy in her life. That Davis…he’s ruined so much. You know, in the past we’ve tried to reason with her mother. Just when we thought she was going to let Raine live with us full time, she met Davis and he made sure to not allow that to happen. Earl and I have felt hopeless with the situation but are thankful that her mother has allowed us to have our weekends with her. I hate witnessing how she’s wilted these past few years.”
My jaw twitches, and my hands ball into fists. I inhale a deep breath to try to calm the storm brewing inside of me at the mention of Davis’ name.
“God knew that she would need you.”
Those words draw my attention back to Johanna. The breeze picks up, swaying her white curls over her shoulder, and the scent of flowers hits my nose. Her hands keep moving as she wraps string around stems and looks up at me, a smirk deepening her smile lines.
“You bring the sunshine into her life. When she’s with you, she blossoms.” Now it’s my turn to smile. I like knowing that I make Raine happy. That she can let loose and be herself around me. “Ryland, can you promise me something?”
I nod, confident in knowing that I would do anything for Johanna.
“That you’ll make sure she gets out of this town.” She’s still smiling, but I see the worry that fills her brown eyes and draws her brows together.
“You’d want her to leave?” I ask, knowing the answer before she replies, but it feels necessary to ask.
She places the flowers down in her lap and turns slightly so she’s facing me. I feel the warmth of her hands slide over top of mine, a slight tremble in her fingers telling me all that I need to know. My spine stiffens as I prepare myself to listen wholeheartedly.
“Selfishly, I want her to stay so I can keep her close and see her every day. But I understand that when you love someone, sometimes you have to choose to let them go. If she stays here, it’ll smother her. She needs to be replanted somewhere new so that she can truly grow.”
I let her words sink in, knowing that she’s right, and I make the promise to her because it's the promise I’ve already made to myself and to Raine. I will do whatever it takes to get her out of Covewood and away from Davis. Johanna pulls me in for a quick hug.
“You’re such a blessing.” She grins before standing up and disappearing into the house. I stand up to do the same, but the sight of headlights making their way down the driveway has me freezing in place. I blink away the nerves and go into action.
I toss my jacket back on, tucking everything into place before fastening each button and tightening the tie around my neck. I swing open the front door, and I pop my head inside to yell that Raine has arrived. My hands are trembling with the nerves growing inside of me. I feel like I look weird. Should I lean against the post by the steps? Go inside and stand by the stairs? Hold my hand out like Leo did in Titanic ?
Before I can turn and run inside, I catch sight of Raine at the bottom of the steps. Her eyes widening in shock as she takes in the sight of the black suit I’m wearing. Her pink lips open, and naturally, I’m drawn to them. I want to rush down the steps, tell her I’m sorry, and wrap her into my arms .
She’s wearing a hoodie and a pair of blue jeans. Her honey-blonde hair with purple tips is worn in waves that touch her shoulders. My fingers twitch with the need to run them through her strands. Her eyes are wide, taking the sight of me in, as if she, too, is frozen in place. Olivia bounces beside her and squeezes Raine’s arm.
“Surprise!” she squeals, shaking her arms out in excitement before pointing to me. “We’re going to prom!”
“We’re what?” Raine asks, her voice picking up at the end, her light brows furrowing.
“You know what, I’ll let Ryland explain, but you have to hurry! We don't have a lot of time to get ready. So, make it snappy, and then meet me upstairs.”
Olivia rushes past me in a blur, and once the door shuts, Raine starts making her way up the front porch stairs. I can’t get a read on her, and I pray silently that she’s not upset. What should I say? What do I do with my hands?
She stops in front of me, her grayish-blue eyes staring up at me, and I want to reach out and touch her so badly, but what if she doesn’t want me to? For the first time since we started dating, I don’t know what to do around her.
“We’re going to prom?” she finally asks, breaking the silence.
I swallow hard and pull out another paper towel to dab at my upper lip. She smiles
then, big enough to reveal all her white teeth, and it's enough to lift the weight off my chest. She takes the paper towel from my hands and starts to pat against my whole face.
“Yeah,” I reply, my eyes staying on hers, watching every expression that passes on her face.
“We are going to prom even though Davis basically took all my paychecks lately and refused to let me buy a prom dress? Even though we both agreed that prom is dumb and we’ll just hang out here instead? ”
“Yeah,” I repeat because apparently all other words have left my brain.
“And you're sweating because you think I’m going to be upset with you?”
“Yeah.” This time, I’m able to give her a smirk. “Because I knew deep down that you didn’t think prom was dumb and that you actually wanted to go.”
“You know me too well.” She places the soaked paper towel into my hand before wrapping her arms around me and pulling me closer to her. “How are we going to prom? I don’t have a dress or?—”
“I took care of everything,” I admit. Her smile drops, and she goes to take a step back, but I won’t let her. I bring her closer to me and run my hands up her jaw until I can finally run my fingers through her hair. It feels like a small victory as I see her skin pebbling beneath my touch.
“How?” she asks, but before I explain, I pull her head toward me until our lips are together. She doesn’t need to know that I spent some of my savings on renting this suit or how I asked her grandparents for help to pull this off. Or that Johanna and I went and picked out her dress together, finding the perfect one, and had Olivia help find the right accessories and whatever else girls need for prom.
All she needs to know is how much I love her and that I would do absolutely anything to bring a smile to her face. Like the one she’s blessing me with right now as I pull away from our kiss.
“I’d do anything for you, Rainbow,” I say, tracing her cheek with the backs of my fingers. “Now, you need to go get ready. They’re waiting for you upstairs in your grandparents’ room.”
It took the girls an hour to get ready. An hour. I didn’t think we were going to make it in time for dinner before the dance started. It took me all of fifteen minutes to pull on my suit, have Pops fix my tie, and Earl made sure my shoes were shiny and ready to go. I added a bit of gel in my hair to keep it in place and squirted a bit of cologne on. Things are simpler for men, I guess.
All my complaints go out the window the moment Raine makes her way down the stairs. Much like those slow-motion scenes from the chick flicks Raine’s had me watch with her a few times, watching her walk toward me in the flowy rainbow-colored dress I picked out has the same effect on me. She has her hair pulled back into a braid with some of the flowers Johanna picked placed throughout her hair.
Pops reaches over and pushes my mouth shut, chuckling with Earl and earning a scolding look from me before I return my attention back to my girlfriend.
I hold her gaze as she makes her way toward me. I take this rare moment and memorize every detail, because if this is all I ever get with Raine, I want it seared in my mind like a cattle brand to become a permanent part of me.
“What do you think?” she whispers, her trembling hands finding mine.
I bend down to say in her ear, “Things I shouldn’t say in front of the old men.”
She giggles before Earl walks over and steals a hug from her. His eyes are a bit misty, and Pops and I share a grin. “Quit hogging her, you old sap,” Pop grumbles and pulls Raine into a hug, whispering something in her ear before pulling back and patting his best friend on the shoulder.
“Now, don’t you dare leave without us getting some photos!” I hear my mom announce as she jogs down the stairs with a camera in her hand. Olivia follows behind her, wearing a shimmery green dress, her red hair in waves that flow down one shoulder. She gives me a wave before making her way to stand next to Raine.
“Hang on, you all need these corsages before we get photos!” Johanna shouts from the top of the stairs.
My patience is running a bit thin as it takes ten minutes to get the corsages right, another fifteen minutes to snap photographs, and another five for hugs to be given. Raine laughs as she looks up at me, sensing my frustration, and gives my hand a light squeeze, grounding me with her touch.
Finally, we make our way toward the door, tossing a last goodbye over our shoulders, only to come to a halt at the sight of Raine’s mother walking into the living room.
“Mom?” Raine freezes next to me, her fingers clamping down on mine, a look of panic washing over her.
My first instinct is to look for Davis but I don’t see any signs of him. My next move is to place Raine behind me, to protect her from whatever her mother is about to do or say. But to my surprise, her mother gives everyone a nervous wave and smiles at Raine. I peer over at Johanna and Earl and see the small smiles that spread across their faces and feel the tension leave the room, at least for me anyway. However, Raine stays completely still.
“I’m sorry to show up at the last minute. I had to—” she starts, her voice shaky. “Anyway, I wanted to see you before you left.”
“You did?” Raine questions, her words soft.
“Yeah. I can’t stay long,” she adds, and we know what she means. Davis will know that she’s gone or that she’s here. The last thing we need is him involved. “You look beautiful. I hope you all have fun.”
The breath Raine is holding whooshes out slowly, making her body deflate like a balloon. She runs a hand down her braid nervously, giving her mother a shy smile, before thanking her for coming. Her mom waves goodbye to us all before disappearing as fast as she came, leaving us all shocked and frozen in place until we see the red lights of her vehicle leaving the farm .
“We called and asked if she could sneak and come see you. It’s what your father would have wanted. They went to prom together, you know. Plus, you deserve to have your mother see you off to your own prom,” Johanna announces, giving Raine’s arm a small squeeze before leaning over and planting a kiss onto her cheek.
“I’m ready to dance the night away!” Olivia shouts as Raine and I follow her through the door.
We give everyone one last wave goodbye before shutting the door behind us and once we are down the front door steps I take a moment to sneak in a quick kiss. “You look beautiful.” I whisper into her ear, soaking in the smile she gives me, and lead her towards the car.