Finding Gracie's Rainbow (47 page)

“
Did I forget to mention
that you're an ass?” Annie’s eyes fired daggers at him. “You were
at the house a full ten minutes yesterday before you got mad
because she was at her parents’ house.” She noticed that Dylan and
Christian were sitting beside Jackson. “Gracie thinks you're mad
because she can’t talk to you and then reminded me that she had
tried to tell everybody that it wouldn't work out between the two
of you.”

“
And at this point I would
believe her.” Jackson watched as Christian had gone to the
refrigerator to take out some water bottles. “She has a hang up
about anything other than kissing.”

“
She took a. . .” Annie
was stunned when Christian turned her around and kissed her on the
lips.

“
Careful, Annie, you were
about to give away too much information.” He whispered softly in
her ears before backing away from her.

“
I have to go now.” Annie
looked at Christian puzzled before she left.

Jackson walked back over to
the table. “Maybe you should’ve kissed her when she opened the
door. It would have saved me some grief.”

“
And maybe you should get
over yourself enough to listen to her.” Christian fired back at
him. “You were Gracie's dance partner and best friend back then.
Where are those people now?”

“
Still knocking on her
door,” Jackson started dealing the cards again. “One eyed jacks are
wild.”

Christian looked at his
cards and then laid them down. “Stop knocking, it's time for you to
crack that door open. If you aren't going to be there as anything
else, at least be there for her as her best friend.”

Jackson looked over at
Dylan, who had remained silent throughout the whole conversation.
“Are you going to join in this conversation?”

“
I'm sorry, but I'm still
seeing the expression on Annie’s face when Christian decided she
was talking too much.” He smiled and looked up from the cards
before he grew serious. “I think I have to agree with Christian on
this, and I would be very worried about her sleepwalking.” He laid
down two cards. “Hit me.”

Jackson dealt him two more
cards. “What was that kiss about, Christian?” He looked at him
amused. “It was sort of out of the blue.”

Christian just shrugged his
shoulders as he laid down three cards. “Worry about your own
problems.”

~

Annie rode around for a
while before she went back to the house, and Gracie looked up from
a book she was reading.

“
What happened to you?”
The look of amusement didn't escape Annie’s attention when Gracie
asked her.

“
Men can be so mean.”
Annie stepped into the kitchen and sat down at the
table.

“
Did you somebody pull
your pony tail?” Gracie asked as she remembered Bea walking in from
school telling her that boys could be mean.

“
No, somebody kissed me.”
Annie stared at Gracie. “But that is beside the point. Do you
remember going for a walk last night?”

“
I dreamed that I was
trying to find Jackson and Sammie.” Gracie had remembered at least
that.

“
I told Jackson.” Annie
looked down at the table.

“
You told Jackson what?”
Gracie was puzzled.

“
About your sleepwalking.”
She didn't look up as she started to swipe an invisible crumb from
where she was seated.

“
We can't do anything
about that now. I was sleepwalking?” Gracie asked before she
finally sat down.

Annie nodded her head. “I
rode over to Jackson’s apartment and told him about himself.” She
finally looked up at Gracie. “In front of an audience.”

“
Who?” Gracie was curious
now.

“
Christian and Dylan. It
seems I interrupted a game of poker.” Annie looked towards the back
door. “Where is Garrison?”

“
Playing in the back,”
Gracie noticed that Annie was trying to change the subject. “Please
tell me the rest of the story.”

“
I was about to blurt out
that you had taken a vow of celibacy when Christian kissed me. I
guess that was one way to make me hush.” Annie stood up watching as
a smile spread out of Gracie’s face. “What?”

“
I could see that coming a
mile away.” Gracie looked over at Annie seriously. “I need to take
Bea over to my parents. There’s a new book waiting for you in your
room.”

“
There is?” Annie looked
over at her then. “Who is the author?”

“
Amanda McBride. You might
know of her.” Gracie went to the back and called for Bea. She
walked back in and saw the book in Annie’s hands. “Enjoy. I should
be back by supper time.”

Gracie was reserved on the
short trip to her parents’ house and Bea was looking at her
strangely when they pulled into the driveway.

“
Momma?” Bea spoke up
before she opened her door.

“
Yes,” Gracie turned to
look at her.

“
Are you alright?” Bea
placed her hand on the door handle.

“
I'm fine. I was just
thinking.” Gracie opened her door as Bea started laughing at her.
“Something funny?”

“
Jackson says that you're
dangerous when you think you too much.” Bea ran up the steps and
into the house. She smiled as she hugged Janet and then turned to
hug Sarah and Jonah.

Janet was studying Gracie
as she watched the scene. She walked over to Gracie; still
remembering her daughter’s journal. The tears started to form in
the older woman’s eyes.

“
Please don’t start.”
Gracie hugged her tightly. “I survived. I'm here.”

“
Yes, you are and I
appreciate that more than ever now.” Janet managed to smile. “So
how is Jackson? I haven't heard from him much this
week.”

“
I have joined that club,
too.” Gracie admitted to her mother. “I can't figure out what he
wants from me.”

“
Men.” Janet smiled as
Mary came into the room.

“
My favorite subject,”
Mary smiled back at her. The blue from her Amish dress set off the
color of her eyes. She smoothed the black apron down before hugging
Gracie. “You never married again?”

“
Absolutely not- you?”
Gracie asked as they sat down at the table to catch up.

“
To a very great guy,”
Mary looked at her seriously. “What about the guy in that
picture?”

Gracie looked up to where
Mary was pointing. “That is Jackson.”

“
Your best friend?” Mary
stood and took a closer look. “Funny.”

Janet stood and walked to
where Mary was standing as she studied the picture. She looked over
at her daughter smiling as Mary walked back with her.

“
That looks a little
stronger than friendship.” Mary said as she sat back down. “What
Mark did was mean, cruel, and physically sickening but don't let
that bring real love to its knees.”

They all turned around as
they heard Chandler loudly greet Jackson and Janet noticed that
instead of looking thrilled, Gracie was panicking.

“
What is the matter?”
Janet watched her with amusement. “This isn't the first time that
you've seen Jackson.”

“
He isn't the same guy.”
Gracie stood and started for the back door.

“
Yes, he is. You're just
looking at him with a different perspective.” Janet went over and
took Gracie’s hand. “Your father was my best friend.”

Gracie looked at her then.
“I know. Pop has told this story to us at least fifty
times.”

“
Good for him,” Janet
looked at her straight in the eyes. “But you didn't know that for
the longest time, I wouldn't open up to him. I kept everything to
myself.”

“
What happened?” Jackson
had walked into the room and was listening as he watched
Gracie.

“
I let things fester up
until it all exploded at one time.” Janet smiled before she walked
out of the kitchen to leave the two of them alone.

Gracie looked over at
Jackson after they had left them. “I want to tell you, Jackson. I
really do.”

“
Then tell me.” Jackson
walked over to her. “We can go outside if you want. Bea is being
entertained by the Camerons.” He followed her out the back door and
looked over at the swing set that hadn't been moved back to its
original place. “I'm all ears.”

Gracie laughed. “My
imagination needed to hear that.” She sat down at one of the tables
and looked at him seriously. She started talking about the week
that she had broken up with Mark and continued to the point where
Bea had been born. Gracie noticed that Jackson had tears in his
eyes. “That I don’t need.”

“
I can't help it.” Jackson
took her hand and stared into her eyes. “I remember when I was
called to look at Bea. She could fit in one of my hands.” He stood
up. “I looked over to the window, and you were watching her. There
were bruises on your face, and your eyes had a defeated look to
them.”

“
She was two months
premature.” Gracie couldn't look at Jackson. “The rest of the story
you know.”

“
I was in love with you
before you got married.” Jackson told her. “And I love you more
now.”

“
But I can't give you what
you want, Jackson.” Gracie was still sitting as she
spoke.

“
Let me be the judge of
that.” He was smiling at her as he walked to stand right next to
her. “You just took a major step, and I do mean major.” He lowered
his hand to lift her face towards his.

“
Oh, I was never married.”
Gracie blurted it out. “And I took a vow of celibacy.”

He was grinning at her. “Is
there anything else?”

“
Yes, but I'm not ready to
say that yet.” Gracie stood up, and he pulled her closer to him and
kissed her. “And I do love you.”

“
You said it.” Jackson
said as he grinned from ear to ear.

“
I did.” Gracie saw the
stereo still sitting outside and turned it on. “And I'm willing to
slow dance now.”

Janet heard the music
outside and walked over to the window. “She did it.”

Chandler looked up from
where he was sitting. “She did what?”

“
I don’t know exactly, but
they're slow dancing.” Janet looked over at Bea. “I think she'll be
alright now.”

Mary walked over and
watched them. “Good riddance to Mark.”

Sarah smiled as Mary had
talked and looked over at Jonah. “We made the right
decision.”

“
That we did.” Jonah stood
up and hoisted Bea into the air as she squealed in delight. “And we
never even thought about looking back.”

Chapter 21

Gracie sat in the courtroom
beside Bea and their attorney as the jury was being selected and
approved. Annie just had to stay there while Bea was needed. She
sat beside Christian, who was also a witness in the case. Jackson
would come in after the actual trial would start as well as the
rest of Gracie’s family.

Gracie and Bea were so
bored they almost went to sleep. Every time, one of them would nod
off the attorney would clear his throat to get their attention.
Christian and Annie were sitting behind them making a game of it.
They were having a contest to see who would try to nod off more.
Would it be Gracie or would it be Bea?

Gracie was holding Bea’s
hand when court adjourned for the day. She looked over at
Christian. “Is it over? Did we win?”

“
No, it’s not over.”
Christian glanced at the tally marks on Annie’s legal pad. “I
believe that I won.”

“
You won what?” Bea asked
as she watched him.

“
We had a contest to see
who would try to sleep more. You or your mom.” Christian smiled as
he glanced at Gracie. “I picked you.”

“
Very funny. Ha, ha, ha.”
Gracie could not help but to smile. “So the actual trial will start
tomorrow.”

“
It does.” Christian
turned towards Annie. “You actually made sitting in there
fun.”

“
You say that today, but
tomorrow will be a different story.” Annie watched as Christian
left and then turned around to see Gracie smiling at her. “Wipe it
off, Gracie.”

“
Wipe what off?” Gracie
started to walk off, and Annie quickly caught up.

“
That stupid smile,” Annie
answered as she looked down at Bea.

“
Whatever you say.” Gracie
took her hand and wiped it across her face as Bea laughed at
her.

They stopped by Kim’s house
to pick up Garrison and to tell her that the trial would start the
next day.

“
Would you trust Bea and
Garrison with Sammie so that I can be there?” Kim asked both Gracie
and Annie.

“
I would.” Gracie said as
she smiled at Sammie.

“
I guess I would, too.”
Annie nodded.

Kim smiled over at her
daughter. “I guess you'll be earning that allowance this
week.”

“
I'm so not seeing a
problem with that.” Sammie walked over to her aunt and was studying
her. “Something is different.”