Finding Gracie's Rainbow (42 page)

“
I'm not going anywhere is
this.” Gracie said evenly through clinched teeth.

Paige opened the door and
yelled for Jackson to come down there. “We’ll see.”

Jackson stepped into the
door and looked at Gracie with wide eyes. “Bowsers.”

“
I hate that word.” Gracie
wasn't comfortable as she stood there. “Fine, Jackson has seen it.
Can I please change now?”

Paige shook her head no as
she pushed her out of the room. “Is getting Bea dressed this
hard?”

“
I don't dress Bea up like
some tramp, Paige.” Gracie answered as Jackson started
laughing.

“
I don’t see it like
that.” Jackson informed her as he took her arm. “It's only for a
couple of hours.”

Annie watched as Jackson
led Gracie to them and cleared her throat to get Steven’s
attention. He raised his eyes as he saw the frustration on Paige’s
face.

“
I so hope we don't adopt
a girl.” Paige told Steven as she walked to him. “They are too hard
to get dressed.” She looked down at Bea and noticed that she was
staring at her mother again. “What do you think,
Princess?”

“
I think she looks nice.”
Bea walked off to the front door after she answered her
aunt.

“
Remember who pays your
allowance, Beatrice Cameron.” Gracie told her as she still felt
like running back to her room to change.

“
You look nice, Gracie.”
Jackson told her as he felt her nervousness. “You used to wear
outfits like that to dance in.”

“
Those outfits were picked
out for the dances to match your suit.” Gracie said as they got
into his car. “Besides we aren't exactly dancing- are
we?”

“
I guess not.” Jackson
smiled as he glanced at her while he followed Steven to the
restaurant. He knew that there was another dress for her to wear
tomorrow, and he had a matching suit. “But one day.”

~

Gracie turned over in her
bed as she was having another dream and noticed that Bea wasn't
sleeping there. She turned on the light, threw off the covers, and
glanced at her clock. It was two-thirty in the morning. She ran out
of her room and down the hall throwing on all the lights as she
went. Annie walked out of her room and rubbed her eyes as she
looked at Gracie. There was panic in her eyes, but Annie thought
that she wasn't fully awake.

“
What’s going on, Gracie?”
She asked as she looked around her.

“
Bea is gone. I can't find
her.” Gracie continued to turn on lights as she walked around the
house.

Annie walked back to
Gracie’s bedroom and saw Bea still sleeping peacefully. She turned
around and walked to where she had left Gracie and panicked herself
when she saw the front door open. She walked out the front door and
watched as Gracie walked up the court to Kim’s house. “Great,” she
mumbled to herself as she slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and
walked after her. Annie caught up with her as Gracie was about to
ring the doorbell. “Gracie, Bea is sleeping in your
room.”

“
No, she isn't.” Gracie
started to push the button down when Annie grabbed her
hands.

“
Gracie, it’s time to wake
up.” Annie watched as Kim’s front door opened and Kim looked at the
both of them puzzled. “Wake up, Gracie. It's time to go home.
Jackson put Bea in your bed and went home.”

“
Bea is missing. Mark took
her.” Gracie watched as Kim opened the door to help
Annie.

“
Gracie, wake up, baby
girl.” Kim spoke to her as she did Sammie when she used to sleep
walk. “Bea is fine.” She watched as Gracie rubbed her eyes and
looked at her puzzled, wondering how she had got to Kim’s
house.

“
Come on, let's go home so
you can go back to bed.” Annie looked over at Kim appreciatively as
she led Gracie away from the door. “We’ll see you tomorrow,
Kim.”

Gracie looked over at Annie
after they walked into her house. “What did I just do?”

“
You were having a dream
about Bea.” Annie told her as she slid out of her shoes. “You
dreamt that Bea was missing, and that Mark had her.”

“
This isn't good.” Gracie
ran some water into a glass.

“
No, it’s not. However, I
promised that I wouldn't tell Jackson.” Annie was looking at her
worried. “Bea is still asleep in your bed, and you need to go back
to sleep.”

“
I woke Kim.” Gracie drank
the water and placed the glass in the sink.

“
Go to bed, Gracie.” Annie
said in voice full of authority. “I'm sure that Kim will forgive
you.”

“
I'm going back to bed.”
Gracie shook her head as she looked at Bea nestled under the covers
holding on to her teddy bear. “But will I go back to sleep?” She
asked herself quietly as she slid under the covers.

Gracie managed to go back
to sleep and was awakened by Bea a little after nine. “Wake up,
Momma!” Bea was shaking her.

“
Why?” Gracie mumbled as
she rolled back over.

“
Jackson is here, and you
have to see what he’s wearing.” Bea was smiling as Gracie looked
over at her.

“
He can wait.” She said as
she closed her eyes feeling very tired.

Bea looked at her mother
and thought about the trick that Annie played on Garrison when he
didn't want to get up. She walked to the kitchen and grabbed a
chair, so she could reach the ice cubes. Annie smiled as she
watched and followed her into Gracie’s bedroom.

Bea placed the ice cube in
the back of her mother’s gown and listened as she got the same
reaction that Annie got from Garrison.

“
Geez, Bea. I'm up.”
Gracie grabbed Bea after she found the ice cube and put it down her
shirt listening to her daughter squeal. Gracie sat up and watched
as Bea danced around the room trying to free the ice cube from her
jumper. Gracie smiled as she saw Annie watching them. “Look at what
happens when you teach a kid new tricks.”

“
I didn't tell her to do
it.” Annie turned away from them. “Jackson is waiting for us so you
need to jump into some action. Get dressed.”

Gracie looked over at Bea
puzzled as she slipped out from the covers. “Why is Jackson here so
early?”

“
Because somebody is
having a birthday.” Bea smiled at her. “Happy Birthday,
Momma.”

“
Thank you, Bea. Now
skedaddle so I can get dressed.” She stood and walked to her closet
to grab some shorts and a shirt.

She looked at Jackson funny
as she walked into the living room. “Well, don’t you look
spiffy.”

“
Do I not?” Jackson smiled
as Bea came into the room wearing a dress that was a miniature copy
of the one waiting for Gracie at her mother’s house. “Meet my dance
partner.”

“
Oh, my.” Gracie stared at
Bea in the little frilly gown with blue ribbons. “Bea, you are
absolutely gorgeous.”

“
Thank you.” Bea was
feeling a little uncomfortable. “How long do I have to wear this?”
She looked up at Jackson with huge brown eyes.

“
All day. It's for your
mother.” Jackson knelt down next to her. “You really look like a
princess now.” He took a toy tiara out of his pocket and placed it
on her head as Gracie smiled.

“
I want a picture.” Gracie
went and grabbed her digital camera quickly snapping a picture as
Jackson was rushing her out of the house. “Will you wait a minute?
I haven't even had breakfast.”

“
Just drink some juice and
come on.” Jackson told her. “We’re having breakfast at your
mother’s house.”

“
I haven’t had any
coffee.” Gracie started to frown as Jackson took her elbow and led
her out of the house.

Annie held a travel mug and
handed it to Gracie after she sat down in Jackson’s car. “And away
we go.”

Gracie walked into her
mother’s house before everybody else and was frowning at her
mother. “Just so you know, I was sleeping really well.”

“
You'll have a Happy
Birthday anyway.” Janet hugged her daughter as she watched Bea walk
into the house, “Déjà vu.”

Gracie was still nursing
her coffee when she saw her mother studying Bea. “Isn’t she
beautiful?”

“
Spoken like a proud
mother,” Janet looked back at her.

“
Who is very hungry.”
Gracie mentioned as Jackson walked into the house with Annie and
Garrison.

“
There’s something
missing.” Janet started to set the table as Jackson walked out of
the room.

“
Coffee.” Gracie said as
she saw a full pot on the stove. “Yes, I would love some. Thank
you.” She walked over to the counter and poured herself a fresh
cup. “Why won’t you people just let me wake up?”

Janet started laughing at
her while she cracked some eggs into a bowl when Chandler walked
into the kitchen. “There she is, my little Gracie. By the way, I
loved the dress last night.”

“
I don't want to talk
about that dress.” Gracie sat down at the table as she stared at
her father.

“
Of course not,” Chandler
smiled as he sat down knowing what Sammie had planned for her
aunt’s birthday. “I guess it's not as comfortable as what you're
wearing now.”

“
But she’s used to
dresses.” Kim walked in followed by Sammie and Robert, who were all
dressed up.

“
Now that I'm awake, I
want to know why everybody is dressed up and insisted on dragging
me out of the bed really early this morning.”

“
So you went back to
sleep?” Kim asked her after making sure that Jackson wasn't in the
room.

“
I never woke.” Gracie
informed her not wanting to ask any more questions. “Have we got a
big bib to place over Bea’s dress?”

“
I think I still have
one.” Janet went to her pantry and pulled out the one that she had
insisted that Gracie wear whenever they had a
competition.

Gracie smiled fondly at it
as she remembered how her mother had made sure that she wore it
when she was little. After they all ate breakfast, Janet walked to
her bedroom and brought out a dress for Gracie, who just looked at
her puzzled. “What is that for?”

“
Sammie, would you like to
tell Gracie what you have planned for today?” Janet looked over at
her oldest granddaughter.

Gracie listened as Sammie
explained what she had planned for today, and Gracie smiled. “That
is why everybody is so dressed up.”

“
Well, girl, go try it
on.” Chandler looked at her fondly before glancing at Bea. He
walked over to Janet. “She looks just like Gracie did when she was
younger.”

“
That she does.” Janet
smiled over at Bea as she sat with Jackson. “I can almost believe.
. .”

“
Don’t say it, Grandma.”
Sammie looked at her seriously. “You're going to set off a bomb if
you mention the m word.”

Janet looked over at Sammie
puzzled. “Fine, I won’t say it but you all know what I'm talking
about.”

“
We do.” Annie smiled.
“But we all know better. I was stupid enough to say something the
other day, and she just about shut me out.”

Jackson was listening as
they spoke but didn't say a word as Steven and Paige finally showed
up. “Does anybody know this character?” Steven moved out of the way
when Christian walked into the room.

Annie moaned as she spotted
who they were talking about. “I'm not working today,
Detective.”

“
I'm not dressed for work,
Ms. Roberts.” Christian smiled as he noticed the look on her face.
“Let’s start over. Hello, my name is Christian, and who do I have
the honor of greeting?”

“
Funny.” Annie walked away
from him as Jackson started to laugh.

“
Funny. That is a rather
unusual name for a lady.” Christian looked over at Jackson and
mumbled under his breath. “I think that went rather
well.”

“
Sure, it did.” Jackson
stood and stared as Gracie walked into the room. He bowed, before
he took her hand. “My lady, I think that we have
trouble.”

“
We do?” Gracie noticed
Christian and then looked over at Annie. “I guess we're going to
have to assign them as partners. I know that Annie can dance, you
said she was your partner.”

“
Christian can dance, too.
He just doesn’t like for people to know that.” Jackson watched his
cousin across the room from him. “By the way, she changed her name
from Annie to Funny.”

“
Are you serious?” Gracie
was laughing before she walked over to Annie. “What’s
up?”

“
Somebody invited that
arrogant, self-absorbed. . .” Annie looked at the smile on Gracie’s
face. “Did you?”

“
I had nothing to do with
the invitations. I, myself, was not invited until I was dragged out
of the bed this morning.” Gracie picked up the rest of her coffee.
“He looks rather sharp, don’t you think?”

“
Jackson always looks
sharp.” Annie answered as she frowned.

“
I wasn’t talking about
Jackson.” Gracie walked away from her as Paige motioned for her to
come over to them.