Title: When Lightning Strikes (The Thunder Rolls) Chapter 4
Author: Romantique
Email: dolph1n
Classification: Rayna Jaymes
Rating: T for language (but no worse than the show)
Summary: This is a fantasy fic. (I'll let on I what mean when the time is right.) It starts after the airing of "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)," but before the not yet aired "Lovesick Blues."
Disclaimer: This fic is based on nothing but my imagination.
Legal: These characters do not belong to me. I'm just a fan and have not made a dime. Please email me to obtain permission to post.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The next morning, a little before 4 a.m., Luke stumbled into the kitchen after seeing the light was on. He was showered and dressed casually, athletic for the day.
"There's fresh coffee on the counter," Rayna pointed, still in her nightgown. "Help yourself."
"Thanks," he said and went over and poured himself a cup. He took his coffee black.
"Did you sleep?" he asked.
"I dozed for a bit," she answered.
He face was void of all makeup. She looked a little older than her years without it, and Luke wondered if it wasn't partly because of the stress she was under.
"How about you?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I got several hours in," he answered. "I'm good for a while. I'm normally an early riser."
"6 a.m. Revielle?" she smiled.
Luke nodded.
"I had a high school boyfriend in boot camp, and I remember the sun up bugle call," she smiled, thinking about the memory. "It was a lucky guess on my part."
Bringing her back to reality, Luke asked, "Am I driving the girls to your sister's? Is that still the plan?"
"They're getting showered and dressed now," she nodded.
"Alright," he nodded in return, showing absolutely no emotion, but avoiding eye contact with her.
He thought to himself, how could she let her kids go? He didn't know her at all, but from what he'd observed the night before, to leave them seemed against her nature.
"You don't know where you're going, do you?" she finally got back with the program, feeling silly.
She walked over to a far kitchen drawer and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and she began drawing him a map.
"It's a real straight shot off of Memphis-Bristol Highway," she explained, as she continued drawing. "You turn left on Belle Meade Boulevard until you hit Harding Place, and turn left."
"Turn left here?" he pointed to the map with his index finger.
It was at that moment, he inadvertently bumped her hand. The feeling of the contact of their skin was electric. She felt it, too.
They looked into one another's eyes, really looked at one another, for the first time without turning away.
Rayna's eyes reflected pain and dread. His reflected calm. Each reflected a silent burden, loneliness.
Finally, she was able to speak. "Yes. It's the palatial, white colonial monstrosity on Harding Place, directly across the street from the Belle Meade Country Club. Trust me, you can't miss it. That house was built to be noticed."
At that moment, the girls ran into the kitchen.
"I'm glad I don't have to go to school today, but I still don't understand why we have to go and stay with Aunt Tandy and not here," Maddie complained.
"Mom told you," Daphne rebuked her sister. "She has to go make an appearance out of town, and Dad's too busy with the campaign. She'll be home in a few days."
Rayna handed them each muffin and a juice box.
"Here, you can eat these in the car," she said. "Luke is going to drive you on over. Now help him find the house because he's never been there, okay, Maddie?"
"Sure thing, Momma," she said giving her mother a hug and a kiss.
Daphne followed suit and added with a smile, "Don't forget to bring me back something."
Rayna smiled back at her youngest. "When have I ever forgotten you girls?" After a beat, she asked Luke, "Would you like a muffin?"
He was quiet, looking down. Then, he said, "No, thank you. The coffee was just fine."
Then, he turned his attention to the girls. "Alright, let's go," Luke said and herded them towards the door that led to the garage.
"Bye, Momma," the girls said in unison.
Then, Luke looked over at Rayna. "I'll be right back."
And they left Rayna alone with her heavy thoughts. She thought she had better get herself showered and dressed and ready for the day, for God only knew what this day would hold.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
About twenty minutes later, Luke returned back to Rayna's street. The sun was just rising over the horizon. As he approached the house, he looked carefully all around. Nothing on the street or in front of the house looked out of the ordinary. He clicked the garage door opener, pulled the car in, and just as quickly clicked the door closed. He then entered the house.
He went back to the kitchen but found it was empty. Refilling his cup with coffee, he thought that perhaps touring was such a normal part of their lives, and Rayna had done a very unselfish thing by allowing the girls to stay in their normal routine.
Within a few minutes, Rayna made her way back downstairs.
"Oh, you're back, already," she said.
"Are you okay with me being here?" he asked.
"Maybe that's a question I should be asking you?" she looked at him, perplexed by his question.
"I feel like I need to get going," he said. "It wouldn't be good for my career to get entangled in this kind of thing ... with the Press and all."
"Oh, I understand," she said with great sincerity. "I wish I could just up and leave, believe me."
He looked at her. "Why don't you? You told the girls you were going off on tour. Why don't you leave and go 'on tour.'" He made air quotes with his fingers.
She looked at him in disbelief. "I can't just take off."
Then, she asked herself, "Or can I?" She looked back at him. "Teddy just called and said he left town so that he won't be available for interviews. He wouldn't even tell me where he was so that I wouldn't have to lie."
Luke looked at her with a new intensity in his eyes. "Look, we don't have much time. Let's go. Let's get out of here. Why do we have to deal with this impending Press storm? Why do you? As you said, you could be on tour and not a sitting duck in this house, in this 'target.'"
He was speaking in very logical, tactical terms that suddenly made great sense to her. The look on her face prompted him to forcefully say, "Let's meet right here in 5 minutes. Grab whatever you think you might need for a few days."
She nodded, and they each took off in their respective directions, gathering their various things.
When she came back to the door leading out to the garage, he was already in the garage stacking his things behind her SUV. She approached him with her things, which he grabbed from her hands.
"I don't think we want to take Teddy's car," he suggested.
"You're right about that," she said and unlocked her car with her key fob.
Luke loaded their things in the back of her SUV and handed her a hoodie, one of his. He already had a hoodie on, in a different color.
"Put this on, in case you need to cover your face," he instructed. "And hand me your keys. I'll drive."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Away from Ground Zero," he answered.
She climbed into the passenger seat as he started the car. She instinctively pulled up her hood, tucking her pony tail inside, and put on her dark glasses, even though it was dawn.
Luke clicked the garage door opener. Their hearts were pounding.
As the door came up, Rayna remarked, "Thank God. Looks like the coast is clear."
"Not for long," he glanced at the clock on the dashboard as he pulled out of the drive and closed the garage door behind them.
4:52 a.m.
"Duck down into the seat until I tell you to come up, okay?" he said.
He was used to giving orders.
"Okay. Where to?" Rayna asked, as she lowered herself down into the seat.
"How about we get out of the Great State of Tennessee for a day or so?" he answered, concentrating on the road. "But first, I need for you to direct me to the airport. We can park your car there for a few days, and I'll pick up a rental car. The press isn't looking me."
As they were driving, Luke pulled out his cell and called Avis-Rent-A-Car and made a reservation. As a military frequent flyer, when they arrived, a car was ready and waiting. All he had to do was swipe his Avis card with the representative. Luke transferred their things into the Lincoln Continental and handed her set of keys to her. Then, he followed Rayna in her car, over to Long Term Parking. She got her parking ticket from the parking attendant, found a parking place, and left her SUV. Luke was waiting for her on the other side of the attendant's gate.
After she entered the rental car, she buckled up and let out a deep sigh. Her heart was still pounding. She watched, as he drove the car onto I-65 headed towards Bowling Green, Kentucky.
There was absolute silence in the car. The sun was now up, and it looked as if it was going to be a beautiful day. The further and further they got outside of Nashville, she began to silently count off the mile markers, as they approached the State Line. In less than 20 minutes, they crossed over into Kentucky. Rayna was finally able to breathe easy. She looked over at Luke who was looking straight ahead. She noticed his hand was leaning on the center console, giving him easy access to the gear shift.
Rayna placed her hand over his.
Her touch was soft and warm. Lucas glanced over at her, somewhat surprised by her action, yet not really. He gave her a closed-lipped little smile and took her hand in his and gave it a firm squeeze.
"Is there anything you can do to yourself to make you look a lot less than Rayna Jaymes?" he asked. "I mean, you have fans in Kentucky and every other place we could possibly go."
"You don't think the dark glasses help?" she asked.
"No," he gave her a grin, but his answer was emphatic.
"How do you think I'd look as a brunette?" she quipped, making light of their situation.
"There's a town coming up in 15 miles. Maybe you could go into a drug store and pick me up some hair dye?" she suggested.
"Alright," he answered, giving her hand another squeeze. "Any special kind? I know nothing about these things."
"Maybe a rich brown made by L'oreal because 'I'm worth it,'" she laughed.
When he didn't respond, she offered, "It's a commercial ad's tag line, Luke. I'm afraid you'd have to know that to get the joke."
"Sorry," he sounded genuine. "I don't have the chance to watch much TV."
"Well, that, and it's a cultural thing," she added. "Which maybe you wouldn't know because you said you're not in the States much."
He nodded, his hand still holding hers.
"Why are you here?" she asked, peppering him with questions as she did the night before when they first met. "Don't you have to work?"
She found herself having a hard time trusting him. He was too good to be true.
"I'm in between assignments, on R and R," he explained. "That's why Teddy asked me to come to Nashville and help him work on his campaign. I was going to see what he had in mind before I accepted a volunteer position. To be honest, I don't know where Teddy stands on politics these days. We were going to have that talk last night."
"If it has to do with keeping the rich and powerful, rich and powerful, than my Daddy is all over it," Rayna explained. "Teddy used to be against all that, but the last couple of months? To be honest with you, he sounds more and more like my Daddy every day."
"You don't seem to hold your father in very high regard," he looked over at her. "May I ask why?"
"Colonel, I've only known you for about 12 hours," she began. "But I've known you long enough to be pretty darn certain that you are an honorable man. My Daddy? He's anything but. He's self-serving. Pure and simple.
"And I take it you were not all for Teddy running this campaign because of your father's involvement?" he asked, putting two and two together.
"If you accept my Daddy's help, there is always a price," she answered. "Let's just say that now, Teddy is as beholding to my Daddy, as are all those people who were at that fund raiser last night."
Luke smiled at her. "Not me."
She laughed. "Me, neither."
(To be continued ... )
