Where Promises Die: A Second Chance Romance

by R. C. Stephens

  “Don’t worry, Gracie. Just follow what I’m doing and you’ll see how much fun it is.” Eisav convinced her and went on to teach her the rules. Grace loved when he called her Gracie. It was something new he had been doing for the past month or so, and she swore to herself that she would do anything he wanted when he called her that. It not only made her knees wobble, but it also held a tone of possessiveness, informing her that she was most definitely his. Forcing herself to get her emotions in check, she listened to the lesson on poker and caught on rather quickly, which allowed them to play a few real games before the bell rang. Grace thought the bell had rang rather fast, and she wondered where the time had flown, as it usually did when she was with Eisav.

  “Have a good rest of the day. See you later.” He winked at her with his dark eyes. Eisav had this suave way about him that always left her a little breathless. As he turned to walk away, Grace remained glued to her spot on the concrete, her eyes following the length of his tall, lean body in black jeans and a leather jacket. He was definitely different from the other boys in her class. Grace shook her head as if to compose herself after the Eisav-induced trance she had fallen into, then she retreated to class. As she took the stairs into the school two at a time, she looked to the other boys thinking they didn’t hold a candle to Eisav. Then she thought of Jacob, his twin, who was also tall and dark but less handsome than Eisav and slightly shorter. Where Eisav’s eyes were almond-shaped, Jacob’s were large and round. Jacob also dressed differently with his blue jeans and conservative button-down tops, his nose mostly buried in books. He didn’t spend too much time with Grace, Eisav, or any of his other sisters, which left Grace blind to the little crush Jacob had developed on her or the fact that Eisav didn’t like him hanging around her too much.

  Poker had become another secret they shared, and they would play in Eisav’s room at night or down at the stables when they were really supposed to be tending the horses. In fact, it seemed that as time passed, Grace and Eisav spent most of their free time together. Even after Isaac warned them that it was inappropriate and would result in punishment, Grace and Eisav still found time to sneak away while Isaac was at work, which he was most of the time. And Dina, their mother, seemed to live in her own world so she wasn’t even a concern. Under these special circumstances the pond became a special place for the both of them. During summer they swam and in winter they ventured for long walks through the forest. They sat by the pond with blankets as Eisav wrote lyrics and hummed new songs while Grace developed her own hobby of sketching people and landscapes, Eisav being her most prized model. As he sat writing heart-searing words she put a pencil to paper and sketched the beautiful edges of his face, his sharp jaw, his strong nose. As their friendship blossomed, something else began to take root.

  On this particular spring evening, the Duncan family had just finished a hearty meal of meatloaf and potatoes. The girls were helping their mother clean up the dishes since they rarely used the old dishwasher in the house. Grace stood by the sink drying dishes; it was their usual evening ritual before everyone broke off for homework and reading the Bible. Dina mentioned a headache and requested the girls to finish up on their own. Of course they obliged. Their father had already disappeared into to his study, as he did most evenings, and Jacob made his usual descent into his room for an evening of studying. Eisav … well, no one knew where Eisav disappeared to for hours on end.

  While the girls were cleaning the dishes and kitchen, it was Ida’s voice that broke the silence. “Hey, Greta, heard you and the Thompson boy took a nice long walk together yesterday after church.” Ida grinned at her eldest sister, shifting her eyebrows up and down, suggestively insinuating there was something more than friendship blooming between Greta and the Thompson boy. Greta had just celebrated her twentieth birthday a few months prior. Everyone knew it was a matter of time before she caught the fancy of one of the boys in town. Ida, younger by two years, was not conservative like Greta or modest for that matter. She had become well acquainted with the opposite sex a number of years back when she and her friend Missy learned they could run away to Des Moines to meet boys who didn’t have to follow the rules of courting. Unlike Eisav, though, Ida never got caught. She was smart, careful, and actually cared what her parents thought of her—even if that picture was false. In fact, in recent months Eisav and Ida had been bumping into each other in Des Moines numerous times, although Eisav never admitted his true intention of visiting the neighboring town.

  “Oh! Do tell, Sister,” Marie cut in, rubbing her palms together. Marie was usually the quiet one, but something about her sister’s defiant behavior sparked a curiosity within her. At sixteen, Marie was the youngest of the three. With red locks as bright as fire, a face sprinkled with freckles, and eyes the color of caramel, she was a sweet sight to see. Even in their pious town, the boys turned their heads to glance at her, though she never noticed the attention.

  A pink fluster crawled up Greta’s cheeks as a small giggle erupted from her throat, and she held both her fists together close to her heart. “He is dreamy. We talked for hours outside the church. His parents hung around to chaperone. Did you notice his blue eyes?” she asked with the same dreamy tone. “We have so much in common. I’m hoping he’ll ask to see me again. Mama seems to think he wants to court me,” Greta explained.

  Grace watched her sisters intently. Over the years she had come to think of each of them as her sister. They gave her advice on friends and fashion, although she didn’t seem to succeed in the friendship department and thought their sense of fashion was rather bland. She had still grown fond of them. She had heard the word ‘court’ before. The Duncan’s had brought it up at the dinner table when there was news of someone soon to be married in the small town of Sade.

  “You make me laugh, Greta. Are you really going to oblige our parents and allow him to court you?” Ida asked almost condescendingly.

  Greta’s eyes turned wide. “Ida,” she scolded, shifting her eyes to Grace before forcing a smile. Greta knew of Ida’s indecencies. However, Grace did not, and as the eldest, Greta felt it her duty to shield her.

  “What?” Ida asked, drying off a dish and batting her lashes innocently.

  “Don’t what me. Some of us believe a man shouldn’t touch a woman before they’re married,” Greta said quietly, leaning toward Ida’s ear.

  “What was that, Greta?” Marie leaned in close to her sister, attempting to hear her low words. “Uh! So you have not been touched by a man.” Marie giggled, which bought her narrowed eyes from Greta.

  At thirteen years old, Grace felt slightly out of her element. She had definitely taken notice of the opposite sex. In fact, she managed to compare every boy in her class to Eisav, and she was surely convinced none of them appeared as handsome or as good.

  “Marie, these aren’t things you need to interest yourself with,” Greta affirmed.

  “Yeah, Marie, seriously,” Ida said, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Maybe by next year you can come on a little road trip with me to Des Moines, and I can teach you how to really live.” Ida winked, smiling at her youngest sister who seemed clueless.

  “What is in Des Moines that’s so interesting?” Marie asked innocently.

  “Boys … lots of them. Handsome, teenage boys who don’t believe it’s a sin to touch a girl. They kiss and touch …” Ida touched her neck as a flush of heat ran over her skin at the thought of her fond memories in town.

  Grace felt her own cheeks flush at Ida’s words. She had no idea that world existed. She remembered vaguely watching a TV show back in New York when she was maybe ten where the teenage girl had a boyfriend she kissed but the memory, along with the other memories she had of New York, were fading faster than she wished. Besides, at her school boys and girls played separately; they were definitely not allowed to date. The teachers even taught those rules in the classroom. If she were being honest with herself, then she would admit that all this talk of boy crushes made her mind drift to Eisav. It dampened h
er spirits that in recent months he had grown more distant. They still went for walks and hung out in the forest on weekends, but during the week he would disappear every evening for hours on end. Now she worried maybe he, too, was escaping to Des Moines to find pretty girls. It wouldn’t surprise her if he did. He was never one to follow rules.

  “I’m sixteen years old, Ida. I’d say I’m old enough to make the trip with you if I wanted to,” Marie scoffed, placing her hands on each side of her hips. “Question is do I want to? Modesty and courting are so important to Mother and Father. I don’t want to disappoint them. As it is, they have Eisav to deal with, if they knew about Ida …” Marie’s eyes widened. The Duncans were not the most forgiving. They seemed to be very extreme with their opinions and punishments. “Well, I think it may cause Father to drop on the spot. I could never do that to him.” Marie finally nodded her head in affirmation, as if she had come to her own conclusion. She was always the soft compassionate sister and even now, her compassion blossomed from within her.

  “Don’t feel bad about being respectful, Marie. I don’t. Nothing wrong with following the ways of our church. You too, Grace,” Greta immediately responded, not wanting her sisters to be tainted by Ida’s frivolous ways. “You’re still young, but when your time comes you should wait to be courted by the right boy.” Greta looked from Grace to Marie as she set the conversation straight.

  Grace repeated Greta’s words in her mind in an assessing way. Truth be told, she only wanted Eisav. She dreamed of what it would be like to kiss him but wasn’t sure how courting would fit into that picture or if the Duncans would even allow them to marry since they always referred to them as siblings, even though it was never the case for Grace and Eisav. It also irked Grace that their mother, Dina, never took a liking to her. She was always cordial yet never warm. Maybe she thought Grace wasn’t good enough for her son and worst of all, the piece of information that sent danger bells ringing in her mind was the fact that maybe Eisav only saw her as a friend. Maybe she had misread his intentions toward her, confusing his kindness for something else. She took a large, panicked gulp, thinking how many girls he had kissed and why he’d kept such an important detail from her if he was truly her closest and best friend. She and Eisav had been sharing all their secrets for years. Once the girls finished cleaning the kitchen, they each separated to their own rooms. Grace didn’t follow them up the stairs because she felt too on edge from all the new information clouding her mind. The awful tightness building in her chest made it feel like it was hard to breathe as she pictured Eisav with other girls. Then a new emotion curled its way into her chest and heart. It felt tight and angry. She was practically seeing green at the thought of his lips connecting with any other girl’s but hers. As the rush of her emotions ran deep, she grabbed a light coat from the closet and went outside with the hope that the fresh evening air would calm her down. She was scared to stroll too far at night, so she took a short walk toward the chicken coop when she noticed the lights on inside. She tried to turn away before Jacob noticed her. Not a moment later, he sauntered her way, wearing a thick plaid shirt and blue jeans, his hands tucked into his front pockets, shoulders slightly hunched, and happy grin splayed on his lips.

  “Hey.” His grin widened and his dark eyes looked happy. “I was just catching up on chores.” He looked down to his watch. “What are you doin’ out here by yourself this late?”

  “Just taking a walk,” she answered quietly, wrapping her hands around her waist. She and Jacob didn’t have much in common. In fact, sometimes she felt like being so close with Eisav was a deterrent for him.

  “It’s a nice night.” Jacob straightened himself out, looking up to the clear, inky sky. “Thing I love most about Sade is the stars at night. So many, like diamonds in the sky.” He smiled at Grace. She had no idea he was internally kicking himself for sounding so corny.

  “Would you like to take a walk? It’s rare that I see you without my brother.” Jacob’s voice came out shakier than he would have liked, and Grace felt the insecurity in his tone. Although, he was right. When Eisav was around, he did give off a territorial vibe that Grace assumed prevented Jacob from getting too close to her.

  Truth was she wanted to be alone tonight to figure out the mess in her head. She wanted to wallow in what she realized now was jealousy over Eisav going to Des Moines. She also didn’t want to be rude to Jacob, who seemed like a loner most of the time, since she understood what it was like to feel alone. Where Eisav attended public school, Jacob was a student at the Christian Academy she would be attending in a couple years, so she figured it would be better if they were friends.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Sure a walk sounds good.”

  They walked slowly and quietly under the brightly lit sky, an awkward silence radiating the air. Grace didn’t have anything to say. She wasn’t familiar with his hobbies. She knew he liked the Bible, but that wasn’t her thing. She knew he wanted to be a lawyer, but that wasn’t her thing either. Besides, her mind was too preoccupied with Eisav being with other girls. She wished she had a girlfriend her age she could confide in. Her sisters were great, but she could never reveal to them how she felt. She also knew she couldn’t confide in Jacob, who always looked for opportunities to prove to Isaac that Eisav was bad to the core. Maybe that’s why she had kept her distance from Jacob, because she didn’t understand why he only looked for the bad. She understood why Eisav kept his distance from Jacob, who reinforced his own position as the perfect son, while Eisav was branded as trouble. Grace didn’t have real blood relatives, so she disliked how the twin brothers were pitted against each other.

  They had only been walking a couple minutes when Grace spotted a figure in the distance, almost like a shadow moving up the road. Her heart sped up, figuring it must be Eisav returning from his night out, though it wasn’t happiness she was feeling; it was more like a sense of dread, knowing the truth would somehow change their friendship or make him drift away from her even more. The thought of him pulling away caused panic to grip her throat, making her feel like the air was being sucked out of her lungs all over again.

  She turned to look up at Jacob, noticing his jaw tense. He must have spotted Eisav in the distance too. She didn’t like his reaction, and she knew she needed to diffuse his tension.

  “So how do you like high school?” she finally asked, looking up to him thinking the question should elicit some conversation.

  She was also hoping to tamp down her own sense of dread and panic. Grace hoped Eisav wouldn’t sense her change of heart, because sometimes she felt like she was an open book to him and this was one of those times she didn’t want to be. The tension released from Jacob’s jaw and his mouth curved upwards. Grace was happy to see his positive reaction; she only hoped her own stomach would stop feeling like it was curdling.

  “It’s pretty good. I have a lot more work than middle school, but I don’t mind. I want to take over Father’s law firm one day. Make him proud. Help the townspeople with their legal issues. I truly can’t wait for law school. Now I’m one step closer.” Excitement gleamed in Jacob’s eyes as he spoke of his hopes for the future.

  Grace was happy to see he felt so passionately about his studies. She had no clue what she wanted to be when she grew up, although lately she had been leaning toward artist. Her mama loved to paint, though it wasn’t her real job. Sketching made Grace feel close to her mother, which was reassuring because over the years the memories were slowly fading. She could no longer remember little details about her mother that she felt she should remember, like the shape of her hands or her favorite color. “It’s nice you know what you want to do,” she answered.

  “Yeah,” Jacob responded curtly. He opened his mouth to speak but then shut it before opening it up again. “What is it with you and my brother? I mean are you two only friends?” He paused but before he gave her a chance to answer, he continued to mutter, “I mean he hasn’t tried to kiss you or something, has he, Grace?” Jacob asked nervously. �
��Because you know he does enough kissing when he leaves at night, and I just don’t want him using you,” Jacob continued.

  Grace worked hard not to roll her eyes. She knew his concern was not the true intent of his words. He meant to hurt her, and his brother, by tainting Grace’s image of him. On a number of occasions, she had caught Jacob watching her and it reminded her of how she watched Eisav with a dreamy stare. She began to understand that maybe Jacob was jealous. That instead of trying to win her over with his charm or good nature, he aimed to hurt. It was a quality that didn’t sit well with her—even if Jacob had been right about Eisav kissing other girls.

  Feeling uneasy with his line of questioning, Grace didn’t want to give him the benefit of the doubt by answering. Instead, she chose to remain silent. Jacob mistook her silence for accepting his words and continued to speak. “My father will expect me to court a girl one day. I want to make my father happy and do what he expects …” Jacob paused to clear his throat. As she walked beside Jacob, Grace realized how different the twin brothers truly were. Jacob had a vindictive side. Eisav was charming, deep, and when she was with him, she felt safe and at home. Jacob turned his gaze downwards to face Grace, placing a hand on her shoulder. Grace immediately tensed. “You know, Grace, I would like to court you one day,” Jacob finally said with a jittery voice. Then he waited expectantly with the corners of his mouth tugged up on both sides.

  Grace returned a blank stare, feeling tongue-tied while her stomach roiled at the thought. Is he insane? I’m only thirteen years old, she thought to herself. He must clearly be out of the loop to mention his future intent to a girl he exchanged minimal words with over the past two years. Tonight may have been the most conversation we ever had. As the conversation played out in her mind, she noticed Jacob still had his hand on her shoulder. She twisted her body out of his grasp, but Jacob didn’t let go. He wanted his answer.