Finding Gracie's Rainbow (45 page)

Addison watched her
throughout the week. She noticed that Christian and Annie were at
the office a lot going over all the testimony and the charges
brought against Mark and his cousin.

On Friday, Gracie finally
asked about what was going to happen to Susan and Christian looked
at her seriously. “Do you wish to bring charges against
her?”

“
No, I don’t.” Gracie
looked across the desk at him as she answered. “She saved my
daughter from Mark’s hands.” She stood as she thought about the
kidnapping. “Susan was coerced into doing what she did. Does that
not make her a victim?”

“
In my point of view it
does.” Annie spoke up from beside Christian watching Gracie start
to pace. “What about the manuscript charge?”

“
I would like to drop
that. She turned it over to get sent to prison.” Gracie stopped
pacing long enough to look at her. “I thought that I would die with
the little time that I was with Mark. She spent nine years going
through the same thing.”

“
I’ll talk to the judge.”
Christian stood and walked towards her. “Would you like to watch
the video that we’re going to show to the court?”

“
Not really,” Gracie
started frowning at him as she answered. “I would like for someone
to fast forward through the whole mess and get it over with. The
Camerons are coming in sometime tonight, and they're going to stay
with my parents.”

“
I was wondering about
them.” Annie looked over at Christian before asking her the next
question. “Are you up to working on your journal?”

“
Not really, but I won't
let my mom read that.” Gracie walked back over to her desk and sat
down when she saw the look on Christian’s face. “Don’t worry,
Detective, I'll have it ready for you.”

Addison buzzed Gracie's
intercom. “Gracie, your mother is on line one.”

“
Thank you, Addison.”
Gracie glanced at Christian and Annie as she answered the phone.
She hung up and looked down at her desk. “It seems that the
Camerons are already here.”

Christian stood and walked
to the office doors. “I'll go see the Camerons now. Will you join
me or do you need to get back to your office?” He looked at Annie
before opening the doors.

“
I need to get back to the
office.” Annie frowned as she never took her eyes from Gracie as
Christian left.

Gracie raised her eyebrows
as she looked over at her roommate. “What are you thinking
about?”

“
Christian is really not
that bad.” Annie stood up then as Gracie smiled.

“
I'm glad you figured that
out.” Gracie stood and walked over to her. “Now when are you going
to admit that you like him?”

“
When you start talking to
Jackson.” Annie watched as Gracie started frowning at
her.

“
Don’t go there, Annie.”
Gracie shut the doors after Annie left, and Addison watched
her.

Addison waited until after
Gracie sat down before walking into the office without knocking.
“It’s lunch time, Gracie."

Gracie stared at her before
saying anything. “I want to get as much done as possible
today.”

“
I’ll bring you a tray
then.” Addison sat down and studied her. “You have smoke coming out
of your ears. Calm your thoughts down.”

Gracie caught herself
getting angrier. “You know what I’m fixing to go through. Any
suggestions about how I should calm down?”

“
Do something fun.”
Addison was scrutinizing her. “What did your mom want? She never
calls the main phone.”

“
Bea’s grandparents are in
town for the trial.” Gracie stood. “I hope nobody tries to take
their picture.”

“
Why is that?” Addison
asked as she wrote down what Gracie wanted for lunch.

“
They’re Amish; very
traditional Amish.” Gracie saw the shock come over Addison’s face.
“I forgot to mention that, didn’t I?”

“
I think so.” Addison
smiled. “I never met anybody Amish.”

“
They’re good people.”
Gracie stood and opened her file. “Did I forget to have you call
Carolyn?”

“
I called her this
morning. She is thrilled about Gaige.” Addison stood and walked to
the doors. “Try not to think about next week, Gracie.” She had said
before she walked out the doors.

“
Easier said than done.”
Gracie thought to herself as she started going over the articles
for next week’s magazine. Five o' clock finally came, and she shut
her computer down, making sure there were no loose papers laying
around for Salem to find. Satisfied with what she had accomplished,
she walked out to Addison’s desk. “What are you still working
on?”

“
Is it time, already?”
Addison looked up at her strangely as she quickly finished typing a
reply to an email. “Give me a couple of minutes.” She signed off
and then shut the computer down. Grabbing her purse, she walked
with Gracie out of the building. “So what are you going to do this
weekend?”

“
Revisit my past.” Gracie
said solemnly as she got into her car. She looked up at Addison.
“Don’t look so shocked. I have to take Bea over to meet her
grandparents.”

“
I forgot. Have fun and,
Gracie. . .” Addison looked at her seriously. “Don’t stress
yourself out too much.”

“
I'll try not to.” Gracie
shut her door and took off towards her sister’s house to pick up
Bea.

Kim opened the door as
Gracie pulled up. “I heard you have company over at Mom’s
house.”

Gracie sighed. “News does
get around- doesn’t it?” She noticed that Ed was sitting with
Sammie on the couch as they watched a movie with Bea and Garrison.
“So, how serious is that relationship?”

“
I’ve had to set an extra
place at the table a lot lately.” Kim smiled. “But at least they
both respect the rules.”

“
I'm happy to hear that.”
Gracie watched as Bea saw her and ran over to where she was
standing. “How is it going, Princess?”

“
I am having fun.” Bea
looked at the expression on her mother’s face. “Kim said we were
going to grandma’s house.”

“
That we are. Are you
ready?” Gracie noticed that Sammie had looked in their direction,
and she smiled at her.

Sammie stood and walked
over to her aunt. “May I talk to you?”

Gracie looked at her
puzzled, “Sure.”

“
Privately,” Sammie looked
down at her cousin. “The movie is still on, Bea.”

Sammie walked out the back
door as Gracie followed her. “Ed’s mother knows what is going
on.”

“
She does? I’m not
surprised. Ed’s father has been in the newspaper for the last
couple of weeks.” Gracie sat down in one of the deck
chairs.

“
She knows more than the
papers.” Sammie looked at Gracie worriedly. “She used to go up to
Pennsylvania when Ed was younger so that he would appreciate the
luxuries that he had, and she’s close to the Camerons. They were
there when you were.”

“
How much do you know,
Sammie?” Gracie looked over at her shocked at what she was
hearing.

“
More than I want to know.
Why did you allow yourself to marry him?” Sammie had tears in her
eyes. “Why didn't you leave him?”

“
I'm not telling you that,
Sammie.” Gracie stood aggravated with the fact that Sammie knew
what her life had been like. “Please, forget what you know. I never
wanted anybody to learn about any of this.”

“
Ed wants to go with you.”
Sammie said causing Gracie to turn around. “It has been awhile
since he has seen them.”

Kim was watching as Sammie
talked to Gracie outside before she turned around to look at Ed.
“What is all that about?”

Ed looked up at her from
the movie and stood not to disturb the younger kids. “There’s
something that you don't know.”

“
And I am waiting to
learn.” Kim looked at Ed hard. “Spill it.”

“
My mother was visiting
the Camerons when Mark took Gracie up there.” Ed started to
explain. “Sammie heard her talking to one of her friends on the
phone and started asking her questions.” Ed paused as he saw the
look come over Kim’s face. “Momma thought that Sammie knew, or she
wouldn’t have answered her.”

“
Oh, God.” Kim frowned at
him as she listened. “So now she knows more than I would have told
her.”

“
If you could have seen
the look on her face after Mom told her, you would've been sick. I
thought Sammie could have committed murder then.” Ed was frowning
just as hard as Kim. He glanced over at Bea. “My cousin has Mark’s
eyes.”

Kim glanced at Bea. “Not
completely, she might have the color, but not the shape.” She
walked out the door after talking to Ed and Sammie looked at her
with the tears still threatening to fall down her face.

“
Sammie, some things just
happen. Some reasons aren't meant to be explained.” Gracie walked
to the door. “And if Ed wants to come with us, then he
can.”

Sammie watched her as Kim
hugged her. “You really can't expect me to forget everything that I
know.”

“
My life is going to move
forward, Sammie.” Gracie smiled at her. “You can only learn from my
example.”

Kim looked into her
daughter’s eyes after Gracie walked back into the house. “You were
never meant to know any of that.” She kept hugging her as Sammie
finally let the tears escape her.

“
I think that I'm old
enough to know.” Sammie said through her sobs. “I think that
Jackson was right when he told me that there should be an
instruction manual for her.”

Kim laughed then. “When did
Jackson say that?”

“
At the party,” Sammie
finally smiled. “I found out what happened when I had dinner with
Ed and his mother on Monday.”

Ed peeked out the door and
waved to them while he was getting ready to follow Gracie over to
her parent’s house. He was relieved to see Sammie smiling and blew
her a kiss as Kim watched.

“
He seems like a pretty
decent guy.” Kim said as she watched him leave.

“
His mother doesn't play
around with him.” Sammie walked into the house and looked over at
Garrison, who was still watching television.

“
I'm glad to hear that.
When are you going to invite them to church?” Kim followed her into
the house watching as she sat down next to Garrison.

“
They’re coming Sunday.”
Sammie smiled as she talked. “You’ll like his mother; she acts a
lot like Paige.”

~

Gracie pulled into her
parent’s driveway and looked at her daughter. “Are you ready to
meet your other grandparents?”

“
They’re here?” Bea
brought her hand back from the door handle as she looked up at her
mother. “What if I don’t like them?”

“
You’ll like them,
Princess.” Gracie opened her door and waited for Bea to join her.
“They’re a little different from us, but they're very nice people.”
She took her hand, and they walked up the sidewalk together and
walked into the door.

Chandler looked up from the
couch where he was talking to Jonah Cameron and smiled as he saw
Bea walking in with Gracie. “Bea, come over and meet your other
grandparents.” Chandler looked over at Gracie as she looked around
for her mother.

“
Pop, where is mom?”
Gracie asked him as she hugged Jonah and Sarah.

Chandler frowned as he
answered. “She's in your old bedroom.”

“
Why?” Gracie noticed the
frown on his face. “Tell me she doesn't have the
journal.”

Mark’s sister walked into
the room, nodding at Ed as she talked. “I’m afraid she does,
Gracie. You haven't changed a bit.” She smiled as she watched Ed
sit down with her parents.

“
Mary, how are you doing?”
Gracie smiled as she walked over to hug her.

“
I’m doing just fine.”
Mary answered as Gracie started to the staircase. “I didn't know
who to give the journal to, and she took it.”

“
Thanks.” She watched as
Bea talked with Jonah and Sarah. Gracie took the staircase two
steps at a time as she wanted to reach her mother. “Mom?” She
watched her as she went over to the old desk that was sitting in
the corner.

Her mother turned to her
with tears in her eyes. “How could you put yourself through
this?”

“
I had to.” Gracie
answered as she went and hugged her mother to her. “I thought I
said I would take care of this.” She flipped through the pages
noticing that her mother had already written down all the words. “I
didn't want you reading this.”

“
I wanted to know, Amanda
Grace.” Her mother said as she took the journal back. “And I want
an answer to my question. Why?”

“
Mark was messing with
Sammie.” Gracie answered her angrily. “Are you happy
now?”

“
Not really,” Janet took
the journal back and threw it at the wall. “Why did you
stay?”

“
He said if I didn’t, he
would come back here and. . .” Gracie started to cry as her mother
questioned her. “I did it all because of Sammie.”