Rogue Wave (The Water Keepers, Book 2) (25 page)

Rayne stared at me silently with a knowing look in his eye.

“Wait, you knew she was going to leave, didn’t you,” I accused.

“It might not be a bad thing,” he said. “I don’t think the doctor’s such a bad guy.” Rayne looked me straight in the eye, as if he were trying to send me a message without being obvious. “I know the doctor hasn’t been your favorite person lately, but I think you were wrong about him. He might be good for your mom. I think they both could use a nice vacation right now, don’t you?”

“I just think…” I paused, trying to come up with the right words that would get my point across, but without giving away my real concerns to any spy who might be listening in the shadows. “I just think my mom should be a little more cautious in moving forward with…their relationship. Things could be getting more…
serious
than my mother is ready for. I just don’t want her to set herself up to get hurt.” I lifted my eyebrows and pursed my lips, trying to make it as obvious as possible that I disagreed with Rayne’s idea of safety when it came to my mom, even if he did think Dr. Jensen wasn’t one of the bad guys.

Rayne exhaled slowly. “All I’m trying to say is that you can’t be with your mom twenty-four seven. You’ll be leaving soon, you know, to college, and I’ll be coming with you of course, so your mom will be left here by herself. At least if she stays with Dr. Jensen, she’ll have a nice man with a good job, who seems like he can handle himself, to keep her company and…take
care
of her.”

I thought carefully through Rayne’s words, attempting to understand the underlying message hidden between them. From what I could gather, he was telling me that it was better for my mom to go with Dr. Jensen on their trip, because Rayne didn’t feel fully capable of protecting both her and me at the same time. He was being spread too thin. And when and if danger finally erupted around us, he would have to choose me.  If there was no way he could protect us both on his own, I would be the one he would choose to save.

Rayne seemed to think Dr. Jensen could be at least some sort of protection for my mom, so I didn’t know what else to do but trust him. “Okay,” I said. “I guess I understand. Maybe you’re right. But I’m not happy about it.”

He smiled sadly. “I know.”

He reached for my waist and pulled me into his embrace, like he understood my pain and wanted to lighten it for me however he could. Some of the tension coursed out from my body, carried away by his arms. How could I be so afraid to love him when he made me feel so weightless? My heart ached at the thought of ever losing him.

I looked up into the sea of green that pooled in his eyes. The eyes I’d known since I was just a girl, when my memory of him only floated forward through my dreams. Rayne stepped back and took my hand in his. He pulled his tiny flask of Healing Water from his pocket and sent life through my body as he let the droplet flow over my skin. Then he pulled me back to him, not waiting to see if I would protest, and pressed a kiss to my cheek. The feather-light touch brushed so close to my lips, electricity surged through my skin. He moved slowly across my mouth, breath warm on my face, and kissed the other corner. I closed my eyes as if under a spell, each touch like an eternity of pure bliss.

I couldn’t catch my breath long enough to answer when he spoke quietly in my ear. “Time to go. I’ll be right behind you.”

21. RAYNE TAKES A DETOUR

When Sadie drove her Honda out to the street, Rayne pulled the Range Rover from his driveway to follow behind her. He only made it a few blocks down Tustin Avenue, when he noticed Sadie’s friend Nicole stagger from the front door of her house and trip over her platform sandals. A tall bottle slipped from her grasp and broke into pieces along the sidewalk. It was obviously liquor.

Rayne didn’t have much personal experience when it came to alcohol. In Banya, it held little appeal to the general population because the Healing Water prevented their bodies from experiencing any real effects. But he wasn’t an idiot. He had been on this planet long enough to witness what alcohol did to the people here. Rayne didn’t want to deviate from his plan to follow Sadie for even a second, but he couldn’t ignore his sense of moral obligation.

He parked his car on the street directly behind Nicole’s blue Mini Cooper convertible. She was fumbling through her purse at the edge of the curb, teetering forward and back on her heels. Nicole’s face brightened when she whipped her hand out of her bag, dangling a set of keys triumphantly in the air. Rayne jogged to her side quickly, realizing she was in no condition to drive, and feeling just a little exasperated that he was suddenly on babysitting duty.

“Rayne, hi!” she said, in a cheery slur. She was dressed in a bikini top with a towel wrapped around her waist like a skirt. “Are you coming to the party? We’re going to the beach, you know.” She tugged on the edge of the towel, pulling it away from her body, revealing her skimpy bikini bottoms. “See, look. I’m all ready and everything.”

Ready to get yourself killed
, Rayne thought to himself. He slid the car keys inconspicuously out of Nicole’s hands. “I’m on my way to the bonfire right now,” he said, humoring her. “And you’re coming with me. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

“You want to go to the party with
me
?” Nicole said.  She swayed toward him unsteadily, lightly touching her finger to the tip of his nose. “You’re so cute, Mr. Rayne Stevens.” She tapped his nose again. “I always wanted to go to a party with you. But, you we’re always, always, always with
Sadie
. Don’t you want to go to the party with your precious
Sadie
?”

“Sadie’s already on her way there,” Rayne said calmly. He put his arm under her shoulders. “Come on, time to go. I’ll help you.”

Nicole dangled on Rayne’s arm for a moment, allowing him to walk her slowly around the side of his car.  Then she swung her face down into his chest, leaning on him for support. “You’re so warm,” she said, pawing her hand across his abdomen. “You would make a good pillow. Can I take a nap on you? I think I’m getting sleepy.”

Rayne sighed. “Maybe I should take you back inside.”

“No,” she pouted. “I want to go to the party.”

“Is there anyone else at your house?” he asked, hoping he could pass off the responsibility.

Nicole’s knees turned to jelly and she slid down Rayne’s legs to the ground. This time, he let her go. She giggled and laid her head back on the grass. “Nope. They’re all gone. I’m all alone. That’s why I’m wearing my mom’s favorite, most expensive bathing suit. I snuck into her room after she left and went through her drawers until I found it. That’s when I saw the key.”

“The key?” Rayne asked, his patience shrinking.

“Yeah. The key…to my parents’ liquor cabinet.” Her tone was a little too excited and proud. “They have no idea I know where it is.”

Rayne rolled his eyes. “Great. Good job.” He thought about taking Nicole’s cell phone and calling her parents himself, but even if they were available, he would still have to wait with her until they could get back home.

Instead, he opted to drive her to the party. There would be plenty of other people there he could recruit to take over babysitting duty. Then, he could get back to Sadie that much sooner. Most likely, Sadie was fine on the beach with her friends, but Rayne wasn’t ready to take any chances.

He dragged Nicole as carefully and quickly as he could to the passenger seat of his car and buckled her in. Then he remembered all she was wearing under her towel was a tiny bathing suit. She would freeze at the beach when the sun went down.

“Hey, do you have any warmer clothes we could bring?”

Nicole pursed her lips as if deep in contemplation. “Um, I think so. But I can’t remember where I put them.”

“It’s okay. I’ll find them.”

Rayne jogged up to the door and inside the house, relieved to find a bag with clothes and sunscreen sitting on the couch in the front room. He grabbed the bag and hurried back to his car, where he jumped into the driver’s seat and quickly turned the ignition. When he saw the sour hue looming on Nicole’s face, he grimaced and rolled down the windows. Nicole’s torso rocked towards him.

“If you feel sick,” Rayne said, gently nudging her back toward the door, “aim for the street.”

When they reached Huntington Beach, Rayne drove across the extensive, sandy parking lot until he reached the section closest to lifeguard tower eleven. Nicole was leaning against the car door from the passenger seat, wobbling in and out of attention. He decided it would be easier to get a quick survey of the party situation first and worry about what he would do with Nicole after.

“Stay right here,” he said to her. “I’m just going to be a minute. Don’t move from that chair, okay?”

Nicole dropped her chin lazily in the palm of her hand and pouted. “Do I have to? Are we at the party yet?”

“We’re almost there,” Rayne said, feeling like he was talking to a child. “If you can sit here for five minutes without trying to get up, then I’ll come back to take you to the party. Can you do that?”

Nicole slouched back into the seat and folded her arms. “Oh, fine. I won’t move for five minutes. But then you promise we’re going to the party, right?”

Rayne nodded hastily. “Yep, I promise.”

Rayne crossed the lot to the edge of the beach and spotted a group of kids from Sadie’s school congregating near a fire pit several yards away. He moved his feet swiftly forward over the heavy sand and scanned through the faces in the group as he approached, searching for Sadie, the only face he cared to see. There were a lot of familiar faces, but hers wasn’t one of them.

As Rayne reached the edge of the group, someone else caught his attention. The guy with the silver Audi was there, the one Sadie had invited to her house earlier that week. Who was this guy anyway, with his overly-groomed hair and self-satisfied smirk?

And why did Rayne have the sudden urge to rip out the guy’s fingernails one by one?

From what Rayne remembered, Sadie said the guy was Nicole’s cousin. As much as Nicole’s cousin rubbed Rayne the wrong way, maybe he would be useful when the time came to hand her off to somebody else. If the guy really was family, he should feel at least some obligation to take the responsibility and make sure Nicole didn’t hurt herself or anyone else.

Nicole’s cousin glanced up from the girl he was currently schmoozing and returned Rayne’s glare from across the sand. Something about the guy’s arrogant smile felt strangely familiar. Rayne held his position, not afraid to wait as long as it took to make the message he was sending clear.
You’re not getting anywhere
near
Sadie tonight.

But it was more than the guy’s past interaction with Sadie that bothered Rayne. He was sure he knew the guy from somewhere, and it wasn’t from Sadie’s front yard or the yogurt shop earlier that week. Rayne had seen this guy before. He was almost sure of it. And there was one thing that Rayne knew more than anything else…this guy wasn’t a friend.

Rayne flinched when he felt a nudge on his shoulder and turned to find Heather by his side. “Oh, hey, Heather,” he said. “Have you seen Sadie?”

Heather ran a hand through her sun-bleached hair, flipping it lightly to the other side of her face. “Great to see you too, Rayne.”

Rayne wrapped his arm playfully around Heather’s shoulders. “Oh, come on, you know I’m crazy about you…”

“Well, maybe,” she answered. “But it’s no secret that Sadie’s the only reason you come to any of my parties.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? She makes these high school gatherings a little more bearable.”

“Well, then I guess you’ll be a little disappointed when I tell you she’s not here.”

Rayne’s expression fell. “Why? Where did she go?”

“Don’t cry, sweetie. She’ll be back soon. When we first got here I realized we forgot the cups, so I sent her in my car to go get them. Sorry. She wanted to wait for you, so you could go with her, but you were taking forever. You can’t start a party without cups, and I needed to stay here to make sure everything else was ready.”

“Yeah, okay,” Rayne said uneasily. Then he caught another irritating glimpse of Nicole’s cousin and said. “So, what can you tell me about this new kid over here, the one with the wandering hands and the plastic smile?”

Heather followed Rayne’s glare. “Who, Derrick? Oh, that’s Nicole’s cousin I guess.”

“So I’ve heard,” Rayne said, holding a defensive stance in the sand. “So, what’s his story, anyway?”

Heather suppressed a grin. “What’s the matter, Rayne? Afraid of a little competition?”

“I just like to know what I’m up against, that’s all.”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Heather said. “He has no better chance with Sadie than any of the other guys here.”

Rayne continued to send skeptical glances in Derrick’s direction. “Why do you say that?”

Heather grabbed Rayne’s arm, leading him away from the crowd down the beach. “Come on; walk with me for a minute.”

Heather stopped at a quiet spot on the sand. “The thing is,” she began. “Sadie’s a tough girl to win over, period. It doesn’t matter who the guy is.”

“That doesn’t really sound like Sadie, to me,” Rayne said, shaking his head.

“No, I know,” Heather agreed. “Don’t get me wrong. Sadie loves pretty much
everyone
, to the point that it’s almost annoying. I just mean, the minute any guy tries to push past the friendship zone, she kind of freaks out.” Heather laughed. “You probably just haven’t realized it yet, because you’re the only guy she’s ever kept around longer than a week. You’re the first person she’s been willing to even call her boyfriend.”

Rayne nodded, forcing a smile. “Well, it was pretty great while it lasted. I just hope she’ll give me another chance.”

Heather looked up at him and squinted. “So, can I ask you a personal question?”

“Maybe,” Rayne teased.

She folded her arms to her bright yellow tank top. “What’s
really
going on between you two? I get these vague, sugar-coated explanations from Sadie, but I’m not sure I buy it.”