Page 36 of Raelynn's Little Repeat Day
Les
Les’alarm roused him from a deep sleep in which he was dreaming of his Little girl, soft and warm in his arms, where she belonged. He hit the stop button on the shrill sound and scrubbed his hands over his face. He’d set the alarm earlier than normal because the Realtor he’d been working with in Texas had a house showing that day. He couldn’t be there in person, but Joan agreed to do a video walkthrough with him before any other potential buyers showed up.
Les quickly dressed and headed to the kitchen for some coffee, keeping the phone close and handy so he could answer quickly when the video call came in.
CHAPTER 31
Les
Les watchedhis screen closely as Joan droned on about the house’s history and value, about its attributes and location. None of that really mattered to him, except maybe the location but as far as he could tell, there weren’t anyreallybad parts of town in Lilton. Some less than stellar ones, sure, but nothing he would consider truly bad.
Les was more interested in the look and feel of the home, and this home was done in such a way that it screamed Rae-Rae’s name. Everything was colorful and had that hippy flare to it that she’d love. Les knew that all the furniture would be gone when he moved in, if he bought the place, but it was giving him great ideas of how to decorate once he got settled. They’d entered the bedroom, and the Realtor was about to show him the walk-in closet when he noticed something.
“I’m sorry, can you go back a bit?” He’d interrupted the flow of her speech when he asked but she didn’t say anything, just backed up a few steps, “There!” he said when the screen filled with the sight that he’d thought he’d seen. It was the bed, withthe same purple covers Rae-Rae generally was covered up with when they talked. Sitting on top of the covers were Sami and Ty, the sloth brothers, and the bedside table held a little night light lava lamp in front of a much bigger lava lamp. But the real confirmation was the jar of sapphire shards sparking among tiny twinkle lights in a mason jar.
Les couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was on a buyer’s tour of Rae-Rae’s home. She was selling her house. Was she having money trouble? If so, why would she have gone to the expense of the vacation she’d taken? That didn’t seem right. She hadn’t mentioned it to him, but he planned to tell her tonight about his trip. He could ask about it then.
Les didn’t have the right to keep any potential buyers from seeing the home and since he wasn’t sure about the reason for selling, he also wasn’t sure he wanted to stall anything. For now, Les crossed his fingers for whatever outcome was best to happen, thanked the agent for her time, and hung up, already counting the minutes until he could talk to Rae-Rae that evening.
It had been a long afternoon,and despite her best intentions, she hadn’t made it back before the showing ended. When she pulled in the drive, she found the Realtor on the porch talking to a couple. The woman held a young baby wrapped up in a pink cloth and wearing a pink hat. Joan, her agent, waved her over and Raelynn made her way to the group.
“Perfect timing,” Joan said with a bright smile, “Janice and Patrick, this is Raelynn. She’s the current owner of the house.”
Raelynn shook their hands as the couple exclaimed about how perfect the little house was and how they couldn’t wait tomove in. Raelynn gathered they had put in an offer, but it was confirmed when Joan said they were simply waiting on the bank to approve it. The group chatted a few more minutes before the young family headed to their car.
“They’re a great family,” Raelynn told Joan.
“They are. I have to admit I kind of hoped Leslie would get it; he made so many comments about how perfect it seemed for his girl.”
“Leslie?” The word was more of a gasp, but shock had stolen her breath.
“Yeah, he was a real sweet guy, a bit of a cowboy to him. I kind of wanted it for him but he wouldn’t commit, even after I told him it was going to sell fast.”
Raelynn lost complete track of the conversation after that, her mind racing fast as lightning, until finally Joan waved and headed out. Long after her car had pulled away, Raelynn continued staring into the night with a growing sense of anticipation.
CHAPTER 32
Raelynn
Raelynn was sittingon her bed, hugging Sami tight, and staring at her phone, willing it to ring when finally, the sound of the ringtone pierced the silence. She didn’t bother with pleasantries asking, “You’re moving?” as soon as she hit the accept button.
Apparently, Daddy had the same idea since his first two words blended into hers so perfectly, you’d hardly know two people were speaking at all.
After a quick chuckle from the two of them, they settled down again and Daddy told her to go first.
“I’m moving. I should have told you sooner and saved you some virtual house hunting, but I can’t be away from you anymore. I won’t walk away from us this time. So I’m coming back.”
Daddy’s face softened and his eyes got brighter as he said, “I’d been figuring things out to move down there for the same reasons. I even have a plane ticket I was going to tell you about tonight. I’m coming to visit. I’d planned to find a new job andbuy a house for us to share and was planning to put my notice in at the Ranch as soon as I got back if things worked out with a job. I couldn’t let you leave and not come after you this time.”
Raelynn bounced on her mattress in excitement even as her heart melted. He was going to come all the way to Texas for her. She couldn’t believe it. She was so lucky!
“Well, I know you love your job on the Ranch, and honestly, being up there reminded me how much I love and miss Montana. I had a resident remind me that Texas isn’t the only place that needs shelters like mine, so I asked Diana to take over operating this one and I’m looking for a good place in Porter’s Corner to open a second location out there.” Raelynn fidgeted with her blanket and suddenly felt very shy as she suggested, “Maybe, you could still visit but, instead of trying to move here, you could just see me?”
Daddy smiled softly through the screen as he said, “There’s no‘just’about seeing you, babygirl. Seeing you would mean everything.”
Raelynn hugged Sami tighter to her chest, wishing the sloth was her Daddy, but in just a couple of days, her Daddy would be there, and she wouldn’t have to justwishhe was.
“I’ll also help with anything that needs doing to get you ready to go, selling the house or packing up or anything else.”
