“Mr. Gilchrist, the reason Ray called was to get in touch with Miss Reeves, butsometimes…”She drew out the word. “…Ray gets a bitdistracted.”
“He seemed excited to hear that I’m in Los Angeles,” Jacquesoffered.
“Yes, the La Brea Tar Pits,” she said, an amused but rueful tone claiming her voice. “I knowallaboutthem.”
Jacques’s body relaxed a fraction, and he allowed himself a smile. The woman definitely didn’t sound angry the way she had two weeksago.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I let him call,” she saidsoftly.
“Honestly, ma’am, why is not as important to me as the fact that youdid.”
She might have huffed a laugh. Jacques couldn’t be sure. “Since your… uh…visit,he’s asked me every day about calling, and up until yesterday, every day I’ve saidno.”
“What happened yesterday?” he asked, unable to helphimself.
She let go a weary sigh. “Yesterday, for the first time in ten years, I heard from Dylan Reeves.” She sighed again. “Not his assistant. Not his attorney. But the manhimself.”
“You did?” Jacques could not disguise hissurprise.
“Mmm-hmm. He was calling, of all things, to apologize for the way he’d done me and Ray ten years ago,” she said, sounding like she still didn’t believe it had happened. “He told me that the day after you made your visit to Bowling Green his daughter Rainey paid him a visit, asked about me and Ray, and when he finally copped to what had gone on between us, your Rainey told him what she thought of him and where he couldgo.”
“Yep,” he muttered. Of course, Jacques knew all of this — except the part about Dylan Reeves calling Gloria. That was news, and from what he knew of the man, whollyuncharacteristic.
“He said he’d been trying to reach out to her since the two of you left Memphis, but she won’t take hiscalls.”
This Jacques did not know. It surprised him a little that Rainey had never mentioned her father’s efforts to reach her, but the two of them had had limited time to talk over the last ten days, and with the way Rainey had left things in Memphis, Jacques wasn’t surprised that her father no longer rated high on her list of discussion topics. Besides, Jacques knew all too well how successful Rainey could be when she wanted to avoid someone. His guess was that she’d blocked his number completely and didn’t even know how often he’d tried to reachher.
“He told me, too…” Her tone grew somber. “…about the son he lost and about his other daughter. The one who’ssick.”
“Holi,” Jacques offered, his heartbeat speeding up. “Yeah, she’s the reason we reachedout—”
“I know the reason,” she said, her voice going stiff. “That doesn’t mean I appreciated the way you went aboutit.”
“That was my idea,” Jacques admitted quickly. “And I apologize. We should have beenupfront.”
“I can hear you’re eager to make amends, Mr. Gilchrist. And you’ve probably already figured this out for yourself, but I’m not the type to forgive and forget lightly.” Her tone was hard as flint. But then it softened. “And then there’sRay.”
Jacques held his breath and silently cheered for Ray. Gloria seemed to be waiting this time for a response, so he gave her an honestone.
“You don’t have to know Ray for very long to recognize that he’s a special kid,” Jacques said. “Rainey fell under his spell in just fiveminutes.”
He heard her reluctant chuckle on the other side of the line. “Yeah, he does have that effect,” she mused. “For two months, all I heard about was how much he wanted a lab puppy for his tenth birthday. Then the two of you show up, and then all I hear about is him wanting to meet his sisters. Cliff and I gave in and got him the puppy, hoping he’d let up about the two of them, but that didn’twork.”
Jacques had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He was definitely going to the La Brea Museum to get something for thatkid.
“Mrs. Lopez-Craine, if I may say so, meeting Rainey is one of the best things to ever happen tome.”
Still facing him, Kate rolled her eyes, but Des gave him a warm smile, and Kara placed a hand over her heart. “That’s so sweet,” shewhispered.
Kate glared at her sister and gave her the universal signal to shutup.
Gloria heaved a beleaguered sigh. “Well, if she won’t speak to Dylan because of how he treated us, I’m guessing you’re probably right. And…” She paused, and Jacques could hear her mouth working over the phone. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible. “…if the other one… doesn’t make it, and we did nothing to help, Ray would never forgiveme.”
This statement knocked the words right out of him. “Does Ray understand hersituation?”
“Not the particulars. The last thing I need for him to do is start researching diseases on the internet,” she said wryly. “But he does know that running a test on his blood might show a way of helping her, and he’s allin.”
Jacques could have cheered. Instead, he silently punched the air, making all three of his bandmates jump. Rainey was going to be ecstatic when she heard the news. Could he wait to tell her in person on Thursday so she could throw her arms around him and kiss himsenseless?