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“Don’t open the door! Don’t open the door!” he shouted, but it was too late.
Rainy pushed forward just the slightest bit. Kris lunged and slammed it shut, hopefully not knocking Rainy down. He talked softly to his big mix-breed dog to lead him into the house.
“One second,” he called to Rainy.
Once the dog was safely away, he opened the gate for her.
“Sorry.” He pointed to his dog, who was on hind legs looking through the window. “Big dog—sorry. I wanted to put him away. Come on in.”
Jimmy barked at the window. Kris tapped it to calm him. He wagged his tail and Kris noted the adoration on Rainy’s face.
“You like dogs?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She touched the glass as they passed. “I do. I like other people’s dogs.”
“You should meet him officially sometime because he’ll be out in the yard.”
“What’s his name?” she asked.
“Jimmy Page,”
“Of course,” she said wryly. “That makes sense.”
Kris and Rainy stood just inside the gate on the side of the house. Being on the narrow walkway with her stirred him. Her presence moved him. He didn’t want to go into the garage where all his friends were. He wanted to stay on the walk, surrounded by the lushness of his landscape, under the moon, with only her.
The way the light fell on her was incredibly beautiful. Kris suspected that Rainy had no idea how pretty she was.
“We’re tuned up.” He placed his hand on her lower back. “Come.”
They walked around the house to the open garage where the other musicians waited.
“Rainy is my new neighbor.” He smiled at her, slightly embarrassed that he hadn’t asked her last name. “Rainy what?”
“Rainy McAllister.”
“Nice. It’s got a lyrical quality.”
He pointed to each of his bandmates; they nodded as he said their name.
“Kenyon Danes, Dan Ayres, Jack Meyers and this is Sally Meyers,”
Rainy smiled a particularly big smile that puzzled Kris, but he didn’t question it. He just enjoyed it. He had couches set out and invited her to sit.
“Unless of course you want to play.” He pointed to his collection of guitars. “Guys, Rainy plays.”
They looked to her and waited for her to explain.
“I had a band back in Baltimore,” She thumbed over her shoulder like Baltimore was just around the corner. “They’re still together. I um—” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Her eyes watered and she was blocked by emotion.
“And that was dumb of me,” said Kris.
He handed her a beer, and quickly picked up a guitar. On the outside, he didn’t appear as though he took her emotional snag seriously, but on the inside, his head was filled by it. She was so tender, so affected by the change. He couldn’t be certain he wouldn’t cry if he had to give up music.
“California,” he said, and the band began to play.
It was a new tune they were working on so Rainy wasn’t going to recognize it. She recognized him, so he guessed she was familiar with their music. He kept an eye on her, fixed on her beautiful face.
What he liked about her was her natural, fresh beauty. She didn’t look faddish, and she didn’t try to look strange. She was just herself. It was refreshing. It was definitely a novelty for him in the world of such affectedness. In his world, the competition to impress was cutthroat. She didn’t seem interested in any of that. He made a mental note that before he went to bed he would search the internet for her band to see if her performances were online.
