Friday, August 21, 2009

Sessions 13 - Far Away



I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go


soundtrack: Far Away ~ Nickelback



South Beach - Beach on West Coast Road


Cooper absently picked a gentle melody on his Gibson, haunting and melancholy and beautiful, not the usual hard driving music he played. He had worked on it for weeks, blending notes and chords, picking here, sweeping there, nearly to distraction.


The surf thundering against the shore, bigger waves than he remembered, did he remember this place? Fire, the campfire, yeah he remembered that, Aidan shoving sticks into the fire, Heydon watching the fire crackle and putting a move on that little blonde, Slim laughing.


Cooper felt her presence before he even saw her, from just beyond a small grove of palms. She was shrouded in the darkness; he barely made her out. So much warmth in her eyes, strong, safe, all his, where he belonged, right there, if he could catch it, keep it. If he moved even one inch to approach her would she bolt?


Cooper rose, arms relaxed and weight shifted, watching her the entire time, knowing she was watching him, a slight smile curving the corners of his mouth. Wrapping tanned arms around a blue tank top, she held his gaze and took a cautious few steps of her own.


Hesitating for only a moment he turned and murmured something to the small group that gathered near the fire. Coop turned back only to find she had turned and was slowly walking away. "Wait, don't go. I don't even know your name." If he said those words out loud, she seemed not to have heard them.


Cooper took three, maybe four more urgent strides toward the grove of palms when she stopped and looked back. He held his breath thinking that she would evaporate in the heat of the night if he wasn't perfectly still. Go get her, damn it; don't let her leave. His heart pounded against his chest. "Hey, don't run away."


She turned again and disappeared, through the trees, through the leaves that clung to her hair, walking up into the night, some place beyond the dunes and some place he couldn't follow.


Feeling strangely alone and disheartened, Cooper walked toward the surf. Three stars, their light brighter than any of the others that scattered across the sky gleamed down. Those three stars, they meant something, something important, something he had to keep, something he wouldn't forget, never forget.


Breathing deeply, Cooper filled his lungs with the salty air and something else, something exotic. He was falling as the wind picked up hissing through the heavy palms. He swore it sounded like a voice, her voice; it hung in the faintly perfumed air where she once stood. "Let me save you." He'd heard her say that before, held onto it, in the dark, the dark...

South Beach - Stanfield Residence 10:30 AM


That soft voice became louder, different, angry, and it clashed with a darker more youthful voice. Cooper tried to pull back, needed to pull back and run after her and hold on. The sky unexpectedly filled with light and he struggled to fall back into that indigo night.

"What the hell did you do...I know what you said...a big mistake...does he know..."


Cooper's eyes flew open and then quickly shut as the glare from his bedroom window momentarily blinded him. He blinked into the light, the dream still there, a confusing, disturbing whisper.


Shifting sideways in the uncomfortably hot sheets, he waited, reluctant to move and even more reluctant to think. Last night...shit. She'd done what he would never have believed. A long time ago, though, right?... It was over, it had been over for years, one night that made him want to kill the son of a bitch, but she'd probably hurt McDermott more last night the way she sent him away than he could have done. He'd left her alone too much, but changing that...damn he didn't want to think about that now. Not now. Not yet.


Rolling over, he pulled his tired body out of bed, stretched and then threw on a discarded pair of jeans. Disoriented, groggy, and distracted he allowed the bedroom door to shut with a loud click and headed toward the sound of his wife and daughter arguing.

South Beach - Stanfield Residence 10 AM


Rayne took a step back, trying not to let her mother see her panic, confusion and surprise. What had happened? How did she know? Hot light blazed through the wall of glass over her mother’s shoulder and made it hard to see her expression, she was just part of that big angry blast of light. This was turning out to be like some sort of hell week test and so far she was trapped right down there with the losers. Maybe her mother was talking about something else; maybe she didn’t know. Maneuvering cautiously, Rayne countered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”


Beth followed her never moving out of that solar flare of light, spitting light, her voice low and tight. “Oh yes you do. I know what you said to Randi. I know every single thing you said to her because Rafe heard it. All of it, Rainie. All of it, including the head game you played with Ryan, making him think it was me in bed with him. You want to play games? It’s your move.”


Stunned, frightened and exhausted, Rayne nervously watched her mother. She didn’t have a move. She didn’t see any way to move. Well ok move back at her...no defense, use aggression...something Ryan taught her.


“All right,” she began, sitting on the end of her bed, close to terrified, her hands shaking, her voice shaking, “I did it. We did it. Me and Ryan, it happened. So what? So I made a mistake! So did you and you cheated on Dad! At least I didn’t cheat!”


Her mother went white around her mouth; she looked like she was going to faint or throw up. “My god Rainie,” she gasped, “you didn’t…do you have any idea what this could mean? Does he…does he know?”


Does he know...her disappointment and rage and guilt and anxiety and all of it scalded her and her mother would stand there and come up with something like that. Did he know? What kind of slam was that?


Rayne leaned forward and glared at her mother. “You know what he thought? He thought it was you. All night long, he thought it was you. He couldn't tell the difference.”


Although she thought she had driven the fatal blow, Rayne had only drawn first blood. Still flooded in light, her mother drove right back at her, her voice cold and biting, “He knows the difference, Rayne. Don’t you think for one second he doesn’t know. He was drunk - you stupid child, you really think he wouldn't know it was you and not me if he wasn't drunk? It wasn't me, and I can't believe you don't understand why I don't want him to think it was! Don’t you know what you’ve done?"


She was right. Randi was right. He would be horrified and disgusted if he really knew, it had not worked the way she thought it would, it was all twisted and if he found out he would be seriously mad at her. Rayne leaped off the bed, screamed, “You bitch! What is it with you, you want him and Dad too? Fuck you!”




She shoved past her mother, slammed out the door, hesitated a split second when she saw her father striding toward her, then without another word headed for the front door and the way out.

South Beach - Beach on West Coast Road 11 AM


He’d given her a sword.


Shoving seaweed around with the toe of her sandal, Rayne picked at that distant and blurred memory. He’d given her a sword. Right here on this raggedy old piece of sand, he’d given her a sword and said something about the cold. You dreamed it, she thought drearily. You dreamed it all up. You saw some stupid Disney movie and dreamed about it except sideways since the prince in those movies never gave the princess a freaking sword.


The high bluffs to the north and south hid the beach from the lights in South Beach, and there really wasn’t anything to the north but the country club and the long road that climbed through the mountains to Millwood. People came down here but mostly at night. She’d been here at night, many times, many many times and she had never seen him again. That’s because he doesn’t exist….


He wasn’t going to show up and rescue her now. Not now. Not ever. Rayne sat down in the surf and let the water surge past her feet and her legs and her hips, and it was cold, chilled from storms and rain and far away ice and despite the heat on her arms, she shivered.


Seagulls hopped around in the surf looking for something to bite and rip and kill, like her toes were food. Yeah go for it, try it, just try it. I grew up with a Navy SEAL; I’ll skin you and eat you first.


Uncertain what to do and miserably anticipating a scene with her father – if he’d heard her call her mother a bitch, that was going to be bad – she kicked the seaweed aside, deliberately aiming at the birds, and started back toward the road.


Those bluffs captured and held road noise, and they echoed with it now. A bike approaching and it was a big one. Rayne folded her arms over her breasts, steadying herself, the birds still screaming and crying and circling above her while she watched the road to the south. It was almost sure to be her father coming after her, and he was going to be pissed. He’d been pissed last night when Wyatt told him where he’d found her. He’d be doubly pissed now, and there was nothing she could do to avoid it.


The bike rounded the curve, slowed, pulled off the road, sand that had drifted close to the road spitting outward from its tires. Whoever it was, it wasn’t her father.


Swinging a long leg over the bike, he straightened, drawing a hand through thick black hair. “Hey,” he greeted her, “can I get some directions? I think I took a wrong turn somewhere.”


Rayne stood transfixed. Nailed to the sand. Nailed right down through her head through her heart down to her feet nailed and unable to move or speak.


He hesitated, taking another long lingering look at her, ignoring the birds, the wind, the sun in his eyes, cool blue eyes. “Maybe I’d better start again. I’m Cruz, and I’m lost. And who are you?”

South Beach - Beach on West Coast Road




Long past sundown, past dusk into true night, light flashing, small light, firelight. Warm quiet laughter, driftwood crackling and scattering colored sparks high up into the dark air.


She tilted her head back and gazed up at the play of light. One ruddy star gleamed to the right of the moon, Mars, outshone by three just above the horizon. Venus. And below her, the twins, yin and yang, hot white and yellow gold, Castor and Pollux. Great beauty at an intolerable distance.


She turned and looked back into deep shadow and waited. What was she doing here? She was supposed to meet someone but was this right place? She didn’t remember so many palms this close to the surf line.


The laughter gave way to silence, and out of the silence, music. Long yearning strands of music tangling and releasing like the firelight itself. Someone was playing a guitar.


She swept the palm fronds aside and took one tentative step out of the shadow. There was the fire, just a beach fire, a beach fire like any other beach fire, and a few people gathered around the fire watching a boy playing a guitar. His head was bent over as he swept long fingers across the strings and pulled out more music. The music was in his hands. If he put down the guitar, would the music still flow out of his hands?


And he looked up. Dark golden hair, dark golden eyes in a sunburned face, bare shoulders catching the firelight. He set the guitar down on the sand. The music stopped. He eased to his feet in one swift and athletic move and took a step toward her.


From somewhere behind her she heard someone shouting her name; above the dunes. There was a parking lot above the dunes. North. It was to the north and the beach was just to the west. She could see lights from Bay View in the distant dark to the south. Was she dreaming? Why was this so familiar? She had to go, she wasn’t supposed to be here.


“Wait,” he called out. So close now she could see the long sensual curve of his lower lip. The rough timbre of his voice, the light in his eyes, golden, full of gold light. She knew him, didn’t she know him? She suddenly and desperately wanted to stay, to reach out, to touch, to hold on. If you don’t do it now, if you don’t, he’ll always be out of reach, as impossibly out of reach as those stars.


It was already too late. The shift had begun. Someone was calling her name. I’m not leaving! Don’t make me leave!



She fought it, wrestling with the fabric of the dream even as it shredded, determined to hold on, screaming, too late, always too late, rendered voiceless and eyeless in the dark.

South Beach - Stanfield Residence - 2 AM


That low, hoarse, familiar voice very close now, quiet. “Baby wake up…you’re having a bad dream….”


Moonlight still illuminated the side of his face but through a window, the same golden eyes, his face older now, the lines harder. Propped on one elbow, he smiled down at her. One long bare leg tucked between hers, his hip pressing against her hip. The relief was so strong she held her breath, fighting tears, disoriented, waiting for him to vanish. “Was something chasing you?”


No dream. This was real. She groggily reached out and touched his mouth, his cheek, the elegant arch of one eyebrow. Cooper. It was such a strange dream, more memory than dream, had that happened, had it even partly happened? He hadn’t tried to prevent her from leaving, had not chased her, and real or unreal, that made it a nightmare. “No, Coop. Nobody was chasing me. It was just a dream.”


Cooper lay back down, murmured sleepily, “I’m right here. Everything’s going to be all right. I’m going to change some things. Go back to sleep.”


Held close, listening to his breathing slow, she finally sat up, uneasily watching clouds scud across the face of the moon. The first few months she had lived and slept with Cooper, he’d been haunted by nightmares, things that chased him down dark places he had been reluctant to share. Julia places. Agnes places. Places on fire. Places that hurt him. Places that drove him half insane. Before he’d gone tearing off after Rayne today, he’d mentioned dreaming about the beach, a stray comment, uneasy. That must be why she’d dreamed about the beach, she was picking up on Cooper’s own bad dream. What am I doing….dragging him down there again? What kind of ‘change’ is he talking about?


Shaking, she slipped quietly out of the warmth of their bed and approached the steel rail, the line, the edge between the light behind her and that dark. I can’t let it happen to him… I can’t let it happen to him again. Not for me. I have to give him room, all the room he wants, all the space he wants, anything he wants, because I can never, never make it up to him.



-------------------

NEXT CHAPTER: Sessions Chapter 14

33 comments:

Phoenix said...

Oh my...

The beach scene was beautifully done. The contrast between Coop's and Beth's memories tells a lot about their frame of mind right now.

I actually felt sorry for Rayne. Beth was acting the part of a jealous lover and not the part of a mom when she confronted her daughter. The girl was shattered. Couldn't she see that? I guess not through the haze of her anger.

This was beautifully written guys. And the pictures that accompanied it...wow! Just wow! I seriously don't know how you two do it.

Things are coming to a head...

S.B. said...

Phoenix - thank you. Jealousy was certainly one of the emotions we wanted to come out in that confrontation. And yeah she's angry for several reasons, not the least of which Ryan now believes she came to him when she didn't. That's forgery on a grand scale.

The pictures, like the writing, were a joint effort. And they would not work as well without Gayl's technical and artistic ability. Thank you!

Penelope said...

Unbelievably stunning. Everything about it- the images, the prose- Rich, vibrant but also emotionally raw. And very ominous. I'm worried about what things Coop plans on changing, as well as how he plans to change them.

I've never been a parent but I do remember being a teenager coming to blows with my parents (or rather, one parent in particular) so I really felt for Rayne in this case. My heart was absolutely sinking for her while my brain was telling her that she made this mess and she is dead wrong.

S.B. said...

Pen - thank you so much! This piece changed and shifted on us many many times. Ominous is exactly what we wanted.

I guess I think it's possible for a child to trespass on a parent's basic right to be a person, apart from a parent. And in this case, Rayne certainly did. Misleading Ryan had truly horrific possible consequences, and she would be the one least hurt by them.

thank you again!

S.B. said...

I have to add that there is a reason why Rayne met who she did on the same beach. It's not a tangent (I hope)...

Anonymous said...

Oooo Rayne. Not that I expected that encounter between her and Beth to go well at all, but I'm torn between feeling bad for her and wishing that she had taken her mother's approach for what it was. But both she and Beth are proving to be the most irrational, crazy pants wearing, blue ball level of frustrating, fools. Fools. FOOLS.

I am also interested in Cooper and Beth's level of connection at this point. Tenderness is the last thing I was expecting, and then their dreams (AWESOME BTW)seem positively passionate in remembrance of how they feel about one another. I'm waiting to see just where Ryan will play into this... because I'm sure he will at some point. They'll have to confront that eventually.

And Cruz has my eyes shifting.

This was awesome. Really excellent stuff. I'm impressed as ever.

thewynd said...

Working backwards here...

Veron: Again thank you. Beth slammed the door on her feelings for Ryan. They cannot come anywhere close to her love and connection to Cooper. Her anger at Rayne stems from the fact that Ryan may still cling to his feelings, even if he buries them, for Beth to come to him. Not to mention the deep shit he would be in, drunk or not. Rayne is headstrong and does not think before she acts.

Cooper has lost so much in his life. He will not cut and run on his wife. He loves her too much. They both made a conscious decision not to give up on that and will fight passionately to keep it. Tenderness, passion, crazy love.

Penelope: Thanks! The things Coop plans to change will have far reaching consequences and not just for him and his immediate family. More on that soon! You do have to feel bad for Rayne. She has just been through a very adult thing that she was not really prepared for and I doubt she needed the confrontation. But she learned a lot from Ryan as a child and puts it to good use.

Phoenix: I always find it fascinating to look at an event from two different pairs of eyes and perspectives even in dreams. There is a deep connection to past events for both of them that just now seem to be resurfacing. And Cooper had horrible nightmares after the incident with Agnes as well as Julia's death and such. He was not just physically scarred after that fire. He lost so many years with a son he barely saw and who ultimately resented him for screwing up his family. I'm rambling.

I think SB addressed Rayne's issue already so I won't repeat. Thank you so much!

S@n said...

Wonderful job you two!! Amazing heartfelt writing like always and beautiful beautiful pictures and poses!!!

:( Rayne makes me so sad... poor girl she is all alone and lost...

I'm still mad at Beth.... agree with Phoenix, Beth is still playing the angry lover part, she should play the mother part for once, can't she see how Rayne is really feeling?

I wonder what kind of changes Cooper is talking about...
I really believe Beth and Cooper need to talk... I mean like really really talk it all through... if they just go on living pretending it never happened, the mess will come back eventually and really destroy one or the other...

The dream sequence was awesome... it really makes you think, those two were meant to be together...
you know everything happens for a reason, and maybe this whole mess will just bring the whole family together... (hopefully)

I'm still hoping for Rayne and Beth to become friends or at least respect each other... like they used to be when Rayne was a little girl..

Wonderful awesome chapter, every single emotion is right there hanging in the air so pure and raw!!!

Cruz, I don't know what to think of him yet!! He seems to have arrived in the perfect moment, or not.. lol...

Bows to you two!! Amazing job like always!!!

thewynd said...

Thank you Sandy! I think that Beth's reaction is coming both as a parent of a child that screwed up as well as from jealousy. It is important to remember that she shut down whatever feelings she had for Ryan when she walked away from his house and him.

I will say that both Cooper and Beth talked for most of the night about their marriage and what they want. And like father like daughter. Cooper will make some impulsive decisions that will have far reaching consequences.

Cruz is fascinating isn't he? ;)

Van said...

Gorgeous pictures, as usual :)

Yeah, I have to agree with Phoenix and S@ndy about Beth. Even if she's made her choice, she definitely wasn't being the mom there--she could have handled that better, that's for sure. Of course, Rayne could have also, but I think in this case, she had more reason to be irrational, if that makes any sense.

Interesting getting the two completely different POVs with the dream sequence. Gives a nice contrast between Cooper and Beth while still getting a certain feel of destiny across.

I might have to come back and leave a more coherent comment when I'm a little more awake. Sorry :(

Sinclair said...

OMG is this another relative of Rafe and company? Cause they like populate this entire dam city. Theyre everywhere with their tan skin and stunning eyes. What I wouldnt do to be in that family :) Plus Cruz looks like a breath of fresh air for Rayne. It seems like in the upcoming months(or however much time passes in the story) shes going to need someone to be objective and listen. Cause no one else can say a thing without injecting their own personal feelings. Which is kinda sad but thats life.

And what will Cooper do? It seems like Beth is looking at this whole thing from the ex girlfriend view instead of an adult. Which to me says at some point he's going to find out his daughter is a total vixen.

Theres a small part of me that is totally feeling bad for Rayne. She's just the sad girl who was in love with someone and wanted him so bad and when she had a chance to hit that she did. And realised just how much fantasies should stay fantasies. It also made me wonder what I would do if the chance to be with that dream person ever arose. I feel like I would be right there with her and be totally selfish and take that chance.

S.B. said...

Sinclair: YES YES. Cruz is another relative of Rafe and company! I am so glad you picked up on that! We have a bio posted for him under the surname Delgato on our bio page. He's a very close approximation of Rayne's 'prince' and for a very good reason...

Will Cooper ever find out? He'd kill Ryan if he did. I doubt he'd ever think of his daughter as the aggressor.

Rayne is in search of a fantasy. She thought she found him. I think I'm right with you on that point about the dream person - I'd go for it too.

Thank you so much!

S.B. said...

Dinuriel thank you! Particularly for the compliment about the pics since I go into a panic attack about them every single time.

We worked hard to get the two POVs right. Hope it works!

I'd personally have hit Rayne with something if I was her mother. Wouldn't care about her feelings since what she did could and can still send a good man to prison and brand him as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Plus by passing herself off as her mother, she left him with hope he should not have had. That said, I agree, jealousy played a part in her mother's response - not good.

Muzegoddess said...

I'm speechless....

First, the shots are so damn beautiful. Amazing does not even begin to discribe them. They took me right into that world with them.

I feel like we are coming full circle again with Cooper almost getting lost in his dreams and now to have Beth experiencing the same thing is so bittersweet. They seem to be getting back to that deep connection they shared, which is good, but, it seems to be taking them both do a dark place, which could be bad.

I must admit, that I've been kind of pissed with Beth for cheating on Cooper (even if it was with Ryan), but I'm feeling her pain for thinking that she has driven him back to the dark place he was in when she met him. I know it's killing her.

I love the Cruz/Rayne scenario and all the possiblities that could come with this first encounter. Can't wait to see what developes with that.

Overall, great update. You two have totally out done yourselves. This is a true example of what great things can come when you kick perfection to the curb and go with what's in your heart.

Loved it, loved it, loved :)

S.B. said...

Hey Muzegoddess! oh thank you yes! Full circle is exactly right - from the beginning when Cooper was lost in his dreams.

You're right to be pissed at her for cheating on Cooper. And yes, you're right, it's killing her to think she could put him back into that dark place.

I'm still not sure about how the Cruz/Rayne scenario works here, but tying in her memory/dream with her parents' experience on the same beach, and long term it needed to happen, so there it is.

You are too kind! We had to go with this, it felt right, so we just did.

Thank you. Means a lot to both of us...

S.B. said...

and Muzegoddess I forgot to add THANK YOU for the compliments on the shots! I do so always want them to be a part of the entire world. To a fault probably, but I'm obsessive about it. So thank you that's an incredible compliment.

cheripye said...

I am totally breathless, everything ties in so perfectly and what a shocking addition, Beth and Coop having met so many years before.

Then the confrontation between mother and daughter, Hmmm... How did Beth know LOL! other than Randi, although why do I want to expect that Rafe isnt going to take to well to his baby girl hanging out with Coopers kid? LOL! and Chico??? I Think I got that really wrong, but WHAT an excellent addition... So the prince returns in the true (as close to it) form. 80)

Stunning screens I love the skyline with the buildings... and beautiful writing as always!!! Bravo both of you!!!

cheripye said...

Ok I remember now, Cruz... DUH!!! not Chico, I am not kidding I feel brain dead today. LOL! 80)

S.B. said...

Cheri, I was about to delete that skyline shot, so thank you LOL!

You know, you are absolutely right. Rafe is not going to want his 'baby girl' hanging out with Cooper's kid, not he was ever crazy about it to begin with.

Yeah the 'prince' returns. Sort of. Whether or not he wants to be anybody's prince is another matter.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting - I know you've got a lot going on. You take care!

KDSGS said...

Just stunned speechless, quite the installment, from the misty, dreamy beach scenes to the stark reality of the present.
And Cruz. Oh my. Did he just tumble into Rayne's life. Surely she will make the connection to her 'prince', how could she not? Love the sword reference.
Still not liking beth, LOL! But again, that is great. Love it.
great work all around!

Unknown said...

Oh my, Cruz, should just take his gorgeous bad-ass self on down the road and not look back. It'd save himself a world of hurt.

Beautiful and well done as always ladies. :D

S.B. said...

Hi Lachesis - thank you from both of us! Yeah Cruz really should head off as fast as he can go LOL! I doubt that's going to happen though.

S.B. said...

thanks so much Drew. Really glad the contrast worked!

Rayne's already made the connection, although it's not one that makes any sense to her. And everybody here has made some mistakes, and will continue to make them...

thank you for the compliments and all your support - we both really appreciate it!

goodbye_sun said...

Beth and Cooper are obviously in such a different place than each other, that ever present connection between then seems like its getting harder and harder to hang on to.

And Cruz, dude, why do I get the feeling you just wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time?

S.B. said...

goodbye_sun, that connection is certainly being tested. Ryan's decision to show up that night and assert himself may have strengthened it though - there's nothing like a mutual, outside threat to make people think about what they have to lose.

Cruz does NOT know what he's getting into LOL. Probably won't take him long to find out.

thank you so much for all your continuing support. It means a great deal to both of us.

Mao said...

That shot of the beach at night, with the city in the background? Blew my mind. For real. That is pure awesome.

This was all over the place, but it should have been. The characters are all over the place. I don't think anyone really has some cohesive thought system going on right now. Grasping for straws, trying to find footing in quicksand, etc, etc. It's the aftermath of a whole lot of insanity. It's going to take time for these wounds to mend... and some of them, well, they might just get deeper before they get better.

You two did an excellent job here, with the different perspectives and everything. I don't know what else to say. It's great!

S.B. said...

Mao! Thank you!!!

I was so NOT sure about including that shot of the city. It's still just sort of there, but thank you!

Hope it doesn't come across as too disorganized, but you're right, three different perspectives, and nobody is exactly sure what to do right now. Damage control, trying to get the horses back in the barn and figure out how they got out in the first place.

Surprised and pleased to see a comment from you given everything. Thank you!!

Emily said...

Okay, I'm so very late but I have been dying to get here!

My favorite part of this was Rayne reminiscing about her 'prince'. She has absolutely no idea who he was and the line, 'that's because he doesn't exist' - got me. Damn. The parallel there in that statement is beautiful and sad all at the same time. I half expected it to be him on the bike! LOL. However, I was bouncing on my seat when I saw Jr. And now he has a name! And what an awesome name too! I cannot wait to see how he pans out with Rayne. If he's anything like dad, they should make one explosive pair!

I love the flow in this chapter, from dreams to reality...back to dreams and crash back to reality. All the shots were fabulous as usual and I too loved that one of the city across the bay. Gorgeous!

I feel so bad for all parties involved here...most of all Rayne. She's so lost and her parents are really struggling with their own problems, it's like she has no one to really lean on and guide her in the right direction.

Fabulous update you two, brilliant as usual, keep up the good work, it's worth it!

S.B. said...

Hi Emily! LOL no, not Gabe! Maybe in the future the 'real prince' may stride onstage but not yet.

so glad the flow worked for you. It took a long time to work it all out.

Rayne is definitely confused and at loose ends. Whether she's lost...I'm not sure that's the case. Only in the sense that she doesn't know where to look for what she wants, and, after Ryan, her conviction that she would know it when she saw it has been seriously shaken. She doesn't know what she's doing though, that's for sure.

Thank you so much! It means so much to know that a LOT of hard work was worth it!

Colliegirl said...

That dream sequence was truly amazing! I find myself wondering what might have happened if they had connected with each other in their dreams : )

Poor Rainie. She's still searching for that mysterious prince of hers. I'm still hoping for him to show myself... although, I fear she may be greatly disappointed to discover he isn't as noble as she has imagined him to be.

Cruz seems like an interesting character... he certainly is handsome, and his looks are very similar... but he isn't Gabe. :P I wonder what Rainie will think of him!

S.B. said...

Hey colliegirl!

maybe they did connect. Coop certainly had some extra help when he was struggling in the dark.

Rainie has something she is going to pursue relentlessly. Interesting to contemplate whether she will recognize it, if and when she ever catches up...

She's going to tear through everything getting there. Long long dark road.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting. It is always so good to hear from you!

Jen said...

Love your shots, they are so beautiful. I love Rayne's room too, it's beautifully decorated.
Continuing on... :)

S.B. said...

Jennifer, thank you! I really love decorating, and Gayl did those gorgeous beach shots.

Thank you so much for reading and for letting us know you're enjoying it!