Page 92 of Drive
“How old are you?” she found herselfasking.
He pushed his glasses up on his nose as though he were about to discuss a highly serious matter. “I’ll be ten nextweek.”
Rainey felt her face split with a smile. “Well, happy earlybirthday.”
She felt her phone buzz in her hand then, and when Rainey looked down at the screen, she saw that she had already missed three texts fromJacques.
Jacques:I’m in. Comeon.
Jacques: She’s about to wash my hair. Get inhere.
Jacques: Starting toworry.
“Oh, shit.”As soon as the words left her lips, she clapped a hand over her mouth and looked back at Ray Charles. “Oops. I’m sorry,” she mumbled behind herhand.
He crooked a brow at her the same way Holi did every time she was about to deliver sarcasm. “I’m about to be ten. I’ve heard the s-h-i-t word before,” he intoned with a hint of impatience. “It’s like my mom’s second favoriteword.”
Rainey felt her head jolt. “What’s her first favorite word?” she couldn’t help but ask. In the back of her mind, she knew she needed to get back to Jacques — she didn’t want him to worry — but meeting her brother overwhelmedher.
Ray Charles lifted his palm in the direction of the salon, his tone still dry as paper.“Glorious.Everything is glorious. Glorious hair. Glorious nails. Glorious outfit. Glorious glorious,” he lamented wryly. “But if it’s not glorious, it’s s-h-i—”
“I think I get it,” Rainey said, feeling a little guilty for talking four-letter words with a nine-year-old. She stood up straight and handed back his dog book. “Um, I need to head over to the salon — seeing as it’s soglorious—”
His interrupting laugh surprisedher.
“—and before I can do that,” she said, fighting her own smile, loving the music of his laugh. “I need to put Archie in thecar.”
Ray Charles shot to his feet. “It’s about to storm. He’ll be scared in the car. You can bring him inside!” he urged withenthusiasm.
Taken aback, Rainey shook her head. But he was right. The sky was considerably darker now. No rain had fallen, but the downpour was imminent. Still… “I-I couldn’t do that.I—”
“Sure you can. Like, everyone—” He tucked his chin and eyeballed her over the rim of his glasses as he zipped up his backpack. “And I meaneveryoneelse does. Almost all my mom’s clients have dogs that fit in their purses.Ridiculous,” he droned with a disapproving eye roll. Then he nodded toward Archie “Besides, he’s a good boy. Everyone can tell he’s a good boy,” he said, as if she’d offered adispute.
Rainey fought her grin. Her surprise little brother was a neat kid, and all she really wanted to do in the moment was keep talking to him. But her phone buzzed again in herhand.
Jacques:Rainey, WTF? Now is not the time for radio silence. Don’t do this to meagain.
“Oh sh-sheesh! Okay, let’sgo.”
“Yes!” Ray Charles grabbed his backpack and flung it over his shoulder. Then he looked at her with beseeching doe eyes. “Do you think I could walkhim?”
With a look like that, Ray Charles probably got almost everything he wanted. Still, his mother clearly must have been immune to it if he didn’t have a Labrador retriever yet. She was about to hand over the leash when a thought occurred toher.
“It’s okay with me, but you don’t even know who I am. You know it’s not safe to talk to strangers,right?”
He squinted up at her with a frown. “Are you a stranger? You look pretty familiar to me,” he observedinnocently.
Rainey’s heart knocked against her chest. Did he know on some level that they were related? Did he recognize his own features in herface?
“Well, we’ve never met,’ she said diplomatically, and she stuck her hand out. “I’m Rainey…” Her mouth hung open a second as she contemplated telling him her last name. She decided against it, not knowing what he knew of theirfather.
He blinked behind his glasses. “That’s an uncommonly originalname.”
The pull of her smile was automatic. People always remarked on her name, but no one had ever called ituncommonly original.But his choice of words reminded her, too, of herself when she was about his age. Every time she’d read a book, she’d pick up a new vocabulary word and wear it out over the next few weeks.Uncommonlyhad never been one of her fads, but she now loved theword.
Ray Charles accepted her offered hand and shook it with imitated maturity. “My name’s Ray Charles Lopez-Craine, but everyone calls meRay.”
Her heart twitched. Hearing him confirm his identity filled her with conviction, but also, she didn’t miss the fact that Reeves was definitely not part of his name. Which made her wonder how that had happened. Had Gloria’s husband adopted him? And if so, did that mean that their father had relinquished his parental rightsaltogether?
