Finding Gracie's Rainbow (16 page)

“
I’ll try.” She walked
into the back of the church and took a minute to compose herself
before walking up to the pulpit.

After the sermon, she
invited her family over for a barbeque and asked Jackson to invite
Annie. “No problem,” he took out his phone and looked over at
Gracie before he started dialing. “Something is bothering your
sister.”

“
I’ve noticed.” Gracie
walked out beside her parents while she held Bea’s hand. “Kim was
preoccupied during the whole service.”

“
I guess we'll find out
what she has on her mind soon enough.” Janet looked down at Bea.
“I'm going to miss you next week.”

“
Where are you going?” Bea
looked questionably at her grandmother.

Janet laughed at her. “I'm
not going anywhere. You'll start getting dropped off at Kim’s house
after school.”

Chandler stared at his wife
and chuckled. “Don’t start, Janet. I'm sure that Kim would babysit
you, too, if I asked her.”

Bea started laughing as she
saw the look her mother shot at them as Jackson walked out of the
church.

“
Annie acted like she was
expecting my phone call.” Jackson looked at all of them. “Why are
you guys laughing?”

“
They are making
arrangements for Kim to babysit Granny over here so she won’t miss
Bea’s company.” Gracie answered with a smile.

Jackson swung Bea up in the
air. “Maybe she'll babysit me, too.”

“
I thought she already
did.” Gracie laughed at him, “Every Friday night.”

“
Funny.” Jackson looked at
her. “You better go if you're going to change clothes before the
barbeque.”

Gracie left with Bea as
Jackson watched before getting into his own vehicle. He still
needed to drive over to his apartment to change and pick up Annie
and Garrison.

~

Gracie watched Kim while
she talked to Sammie about her school and her current boyfriend.
Sammie was telling her about her English class when Jackson came in
with Annie and Garrison.

Gracie watched Annie walk
into the kitchen with Kim while talking animatedly as they walked.
“What is up with your mother today?” Gracie asked turning her
attention back to Sammie.

“
I wish I knew.” Sammie
smiled. “I could ask her for anything in the world right now, and
she'd probably let me have it without asking one question. She’s
been like that all morning.”

Jackson was playing a game
of dodge ball with Bea and Garrison as Paige walked outside with
Steven. Gracie saw him tense up and watched with amusement when Bea
threw the ball at him, hitting him on the face. Jackson walked out
of the game pretending to pout as he glanced over at
Gracie.

He stepped over to where
she was sitting. “Whatever is going on, it must be serious.” He sat
down beside her as Sammie stood up to hug her uncle. “I hope he
doesn’t try to fight me again.”

“
I think he'll behave. Kim
probably gave him his orders when she invited him over.” Gracie was
trying not to laugh at Jackson. “Mom and dad just arrived, so maybe
we'll find out what is going on in a bit."

Kim had walked out and
overheard her. “Not until after we eat this time. I don’t want
anybody walking away from my table without eating.”

Gracie studied her eyes.
“Why do I have the feeling that it's about me again.” She watched
as Kim just shrugged her shoulders as she walked away from her.
“What have I done now?”

“
Nothing.” Jackson had
watched Kim’s reaction, too. “She wasn’t like this yesterday at
your house.”

“
My house,” Gracie smiled
thinking about the house at the bottom of the court. “I like the
sound of that.”

She called the children
over and told them to go wash for lunch as she stood. Jackson stood
at the same time, and she looked up into his eyes as he was looking
down. She shook her head no at him, and he smiled before they
followed the children into the house.

Gracie noticed that Annie
was quiet during the meal as the rest of them talked about anything
that popped into their heads. “Why are you so quiet?”

“
I just have a lot on my
mind.” Annie tried to smile. “Your family is something else. No
wonder Jackson is over here so much.”

“
You haven’t been around
when we’re fighting.” Gracie looked down at Bea, who was picking
through her vegetables. “What’s wrong with your food,
Bea?”

“
Nothing,” Bea looked at
her uncle and Jackson wondering if they were going to get along
without fighting or arguing.

“
Then eat,” Gracie picked
up a carrot slice and was munching when she noticed Jackson staring
at her. “You, too, mister.”

Jackson smiled as Annie
smirked at him. She whispered in Jackson’s ear before she started
to help clear off the table. “Why don’t you go and talk to Steven
and see if you can be friends again. That’s what your Princess is
worried about.”

“
You think?” Jackson
watched Gracie nod her head as she agreed silently.
“Fine.”

Kim turned to her sister as
they started to wash dishes. “We need to talk.”

“
About?” Gracie had
guessed right when she asked if it was about herself
again.

“
Your date on Friday with
Dallas,” Kim looked very concerned as she spoke. “Don’t worry; I'm
not going in on a sermon about how you should act. Dallas works at
the mill with Robert and there were some things said that I think
that you should hear.”

Gracie turned around and
noticed that Robert was looking at her. He motioned for her to sit
down as everybody else sat down also. Gracie listened to him not
too thrilled with what he was saying. “After all that a young guy
named Frank told me about his sister.” Robert gave them all the
details as Paige gasped.

“
How well do you know your
cousin?” Gracie asked her not looking too pleased.

“
Third cousin, and
evidently, I don't know him that well. Paige stood looking very
apologetic. “If I had known, there wouldn’t have been a
date.”

Annie took out the papers
that were in her purse. “I worked that case and one more dealing
with Dallas.” Annie looked over at Gracie. “He molested a little
girl who was younger than Bea.”

“
Oh, my God!” Gracie
exclaimed as she looked at all of them. “No more blind dates,
Paige, and I mean it this time.” Gracie walked out of the back
door, and Jackson looked over at her. He could see the agitation in
her face, and Steven elbowed him.

“
Go.” Steven pointed to
his sister as he stood to walk into the house. “Ladies, what is
wrong with my baby sister?”

Kim, Paige, and Annie
filled him in as Janet watched them.

“
Wow. We sure do know how
to pick them- don’t we, Paige? Did she give him her address to pick
her up on Friday?”

“
No, she said she would
meet him.” Paige sighed with relieve. “Gracie isn't
stupid.”

Kim smiled for the first
time since she had heard all about Dallas. Annie stood up to look
for Garrison when Paige looked at her curiously. “Aren’t you
Jackson’s girlfriend?”

“
I’m Jackson’s cousin.”
Annie smiled at her before walking out the backdoor. “I'm going to
be staying with Gracie until I can get back on my feet from the
divorce.”

“
You are?” Steven was more
than curious. “Where have you been staying before this?”

“
In Jackson’s little
two-bedroom apartment,” Annie answered before she shut the door
behind her. She smiled when she saw Garrison playing a board game
with Bea.

Bea looked up at her and
grinned. “Garrison is cheating.”

“
He is?” Annie walked over
to them and saw the cards lying down in Garrison’s lap, “No more
playing cards with Jackson, buster.”

“
Aw, Mom.” Garrison picked
the cards off his lap and placed them back in the pile as she
rumpled his hair. “Where did Jackson go anyway?”

“
Momma said they were
going for a walk.” Bea informed them. “She has to walk when she
talks about something that makes her mad.”

“
That’s good to know.”
Annie smiled before she walked back into the house and looked out
the front window watching as Jackson walked with Gracie as she
talked. “Now why is it that ‘it’ won’t happen between the two of
them?”

Kim heard her ask the
question. “I never did tell you about that- did I?”

“
No, you said you would
tell me when the children weren’t around.” Annie turned back to
them. “Jackson has acted like he could kill somebody after Gracie
came back from her dates.”

Janet looked up then from
working the crossword in the paper. “I believe it.”

Annie was waiting for
somebody to start and was surprised when Steven started to talk
with everybody pitching in with what they knew. Robert finished it
up though. “Gracie won’t let it happen because she values the
relationship that she and Bea has with Jackson.”

“
So she’s punishing them?”
Annie laughed at that. “Anybody with two eyes could see that they
belong together.”

“
Yeah, Jackson believes in
Fairy Tales.” Steven had finally realized that and remembered his
promise not to interfere with them anymore. “One more blind
date?”

Annie and Paige both glared
at he suggested the date. “She said no more blind dates, and she's
dead serious about that.” Paige informed him.

Steven just shook his head.
“You didn’t ask who I had in mind.”

They all looked at him
then. “Who?”

“
Jackson.” Steven saw the
smiles spread out on their faces. “If we get them away from Bea and
away from us, in a romantic, fairy tale setting, maybe Gracie will
relax and go with the flow.”

Paige stood and kissed him
on the mouth. “Finally, I've been asking you to put him on that
list since we started.”

“
Your wish is my command,
me lady.” Steven smiled as he held her. “Now all we have to do is
convince her that this would be worth going on.”

Annie looked at all of
them. “You work on Gracie and I'll work on Jackson.”

“
Work on us for what?”
Jackson came into the house after Gracie stopped off at her house
to check on the puppies.

“
We want you to go on a
blind date with Gracie.” Steven looked at his friend as Jackson
stared at him alarmed.

“
You’ve knocked your heads
and gone crazy.” Jackson looked at them hard. “I just walked this
court four times while Gracie tried to calm herself down about the
dates she has been on.”

“
But none of them have
been with you.” Paige smiled at him.

“
No, they haven’t.”
Jackson sat down and looked around the room. “I promised her she
wouldn’t have to go on any more blind dates. And all of you
promised her, too.”

“
But,” Janet spoke up then
or at least tried to before Jackson looked over at her
sternly.

“
Let me handle this my
way.” Jackson smiled at all of them before he walked out the back
door. “Let’s play some basketball, Steven.”

“
You’re on.” Steven
grabbed the ball that was sitting at the back door in a
basket.

“
I thought that really
went well." Robert stood and smiled. “I'm going to be
referee.”

They all went outside to
watch the game after Gracie came back to Kim’s house. “This a lot
better than the last barbeque you threw, Kim.” She smiled as she
stretched out in a lounge chair.

“
I couldn’t agree more.”
Kim smiled at her as she thought about the conversation no more
than five minutes ago.

Jackson, Annie, and
Garrison walked down to Gracie’s house with Gracie and Bea after
everybody left Kim’s. Gracie finally turned her cell phone on as
she sat down at the table. She was writing down all the messages as
she stopped halfway through; throwing her pen down hard on the
table. “I swear I didn't give him my number.”

Jackson looked up from the
movie he was watching with Bea and Garrison. “Who?” He caught the
look of shock that Gracie was wearing on her face.

“
Dallas.” She answered as
she replayed the message on the speaker for him. “What do I do
now?”

He had walked over to her,
so he could hear the phone better as Annie walked into the house
from checking on the puppies.

“
Maybe Paige gave him your
number.” Annie had heard most of the message.

“
Or he got it from the
internet which means he knows where I work.” Gracie was frowning.
“That’s how Mark found me, and I really don’t need anything else to
happen there.”

Jackson nodded as Annie
looked at them puzzled. He described how Mark had walked into the
office along with the outcome that had landed Gracie in a hospital
room.

“
How is the security at
your office?” Annie asked as she thought about what she had just
learned.

“
They installed cameras
and hired a security team after that happened.” Gracie saw Jackson
smile as he listened to her.