Where Promises Die: A Second Chance Romance

by R. C. Stephens

  “So the cruel bastard wasn’t my father,” Eisav’s voice drifted off almost in awe.

  “No, but he was mine,” Ida cut in.

  “And Grace’s …” He was starting to feel like his mother was purposely leaving out facts.

  “Isaac is her father. That’s why Lena made the stipulation in the will for Grace to come here if she ever passed away. I didn’t know their affair didn’t end when he said it did. I thought your father had chosen the Christian path as I had. I only found out that wasn’t the case when Grace showed up on our doorstep. Then I understood the affair continued for quite some time. Grace is two years younger than you and Jacob.” His mother’s lips turned down. Of course that had to have been a painful realization. “Seeing Grace was difficult for me. I’m sure you can both understand that.”

  “That’s why you never spoke about her mother … Grace wanted to know so badly … She wanted details and you gave her nothing. She grew up thinking she had no one in this world when in reality she was his daughter,” Eisav called out bitterly, and that is when the thought struck him. “Shit! That is why he banished me … He banished me because I had slept with his daughter. He hated me for it.” As he said the words out loud, they rang true. His father could put up with the fact that he knew about his fraudulent business, but he couldn’t handle the idea that Eisav slept with Grace.

  “Yes,” his mother confirmed. “Eisav, I’m sorry. All of us watched how close you and Grace were. As you grew, we witnessed your love for her blossom. We weren’t that oblivious.” She laughed sadly, swiping a tear away from her eye. “You were just never good enough for her.” Her voice drifted off and it sounded as if she was repeating Isaac’s own words but didn’t believe them.

  That didn’t console Eisav. His mother was the only true parent he had, and she failed to stand up for him. She stood by as Isaac tore him down. Eisav felt defeated until he grasped that his father or rather Isaac had not won. He did not break him. He was still a successful musician. He had still done more than okay for himself.

  “What’s the ring on her finger? Does it belong to that brother of mine?” Eisav asked through gritted teeth. This conversation was close to over, and right now the only thing he wanted to do was pound on his twin brother.

  “She’s engaged to Jacob, Eisav. You’ve been gone a long time. Let it be. We need to head to the funeral home for the wake tomorrow. There’ll be viewings the next couple of days. Followed by the funeral. Just let it be …” his mother repeated. “They’re happy and you’ve been gone for a long time.”

  “I know how long I’ve been gone. Why is it you didn’t try and contact me until now?” Eisav’s voice broke on the last word. He had always wondered why his own mother didn’t try to stay in touch, and then it hit him. His mother’s parents had been poor. She had grown up poor and agreed to marry Isaac when he also agreed to help her parents. He never met his mother’s parents. “He threatened you, didn’t he? He told you he wouldn’t leave you the farm if you didn’t do what he said.” Eisav’s voice was harsh as he made the statement. He didn’t even need her affirmation to know it was true.

  “He threatened to leave the farm to Father Joseph.” His mother bit back, and Eisav’s stomach turned. How had this woman mothered five children? She was so damn selfish.

  “Honestly, Mother, have you watched television at all? Do you know how much money I have? I can help each and every one of my siblings. This farm is pennies compared to my fortune. You did this for you, you selfish woman. Only for you, so don’t go believing your own lies. None of us have ever been able to rely on you for anything. I don’t see that changing in the near future, even with Isaac gone.” With those last words, Eisav extended a hand to Ida, and she stood, taking his hand in hers.

  As the two siblings stalked toward the house, Dina sat on the log and looked at the trees and land before her. Owning land and being the wife of the city attorney had once made her happy or so she fooled herself into believing. Now the error in her judgment was blatant. She had this beautiful piece of land, but she had lost her children. All the money that Isaac had defrauded from the townspeople had been returned. Jacob and Grace knew the truth, and they still stayed with her. For how long, she had no clue. Marie had also stayed, but Dina knew that she, too, would leave eventually. Especially with Eisav back in her life. He would take Marie under his wing, and she wouldn’t look back. Marie was an introverted person who aimed to please. Dina knew all too well that when a person reached their limits things began to implode or explode and with Marie it only seemed a matter of time. It was a truth Dina could not escape. She had made terrible decisions in her life and now, one by one, her children were leaving and she would be left alone.

  “What now?” Ida asked as Eisav pulled her across the property with determination growing in each step he took.

  “I’m going to get Grace back, and then we all leave this hellhole.”

  Ida looked up to her brother like he was Superman. She also realized that their mother left out some details in her story. Getting Grace back wasn’t going to be so easy.

  As Eisav walked through the front door of the Duncan home, Ida released his arm and gave him a nod. “I’m okay. I’ll be watching some TV in the family room…” she paused before winking “…until I get an itch for another cigarette.”

  “Just promise me that you’ll come to me if you’re feeling bad,” Eisav replied.

  “I will. Thank you, Eisav. This feels nice. I can’t remember a time when I had someone stable to lean on.” She gave him a weak grin before turning into the living room.

  Eisav’s heart rate accelerated as he anxiously walked through the house looking for Grace. Grace and Jacob were nowhere to be found. With the blood in his veins pumping too hard, he knew he couldn’t just sit and wait. He had to find her, so he stalked back into the family room where Marie was lying back on the couch watching TV and whispered in her ear. He had not yet caught up with his youngest sister, but there would be time for that after he fixed things with Grace.

  “She went for a walk with Jacob, outside,” Marie whispered back. “They’re engaged, Eisav. You’re too late,” she continued with a sad voice. Marie had kept the secret of Grace and Eisav’s fledgling love affair, and she had rooted for them all along.

  “It will never be too late,” he responded, placing a small peck on her cheek before turning away to look for Grace.

  He’d been a coward for too long. It was now time to man up. It was unfortunate it took his father’s death for him to realize that he feared Isaac to the bone. The man had lived to break him and almost ended his life the night he and Grace were caught. The childhood trauma had a hold on him like a noose around his neck, and now that noose had been cut with his pseudo-father’s death.

  Eisav stalked outside, going straight for the chicken coop, knowing Jacob always liked to stroll around that area of the farm. It didn’t take long for him to take in the figure of Jacob and Grace walking side by side. The vision only served to infuriate him further. He walked faster toward them and the vision of them became clearer: their hands were entwined. His breaths were ragged as he neared. It appeared as if Grace wanted to drop Jacob’s hand, but Jacob only held on tighter. That feeling of possessiveness he once felt for her returned, inflating his chest before spreading through his entire being.

  “Brother, Grace.” He nodded as he approached the couple.

  “Eisav,” Jacob retorted with a cold tone.

  “I need to speak with Grace privately,” Eisav stated, knowing his brother would not take his demand lightly.

  Jacob threw his head back and laughed, seemingly amused. “Seriously, Eisav, you’ve been gone three years. You can’t just waltz back into our lives and expect that everything stayed the same. Grace and I are engaged. We plan to marry. She’s wearing my ring,” Jacob gloated.

  The furry inside Eisav heightened. Red smoke must have been blowing out of his nostrils. The thought of Jacob having his hands on her drove him mad. “Brothe
r, why don’t you tell Grace how our father, or wait a minute he wasn’t our father was he … Why don’t you tell Grace why it is that Isaac decided to come out to the forest the night I was banished from this farm?”

  As the words left Eisav’s mouth, he watched Jacob’s jaw tick, his eyes narrowing. If Eisav wasn’t sure of his guilt before, he was now.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “See, Brother, I think you do. You’re the one who told him Grace and I were out in the woods. I’m guessing, like me, you didn’t know she was his daughter and he almost shot me with his rifle when he caught us,” Eisav bit out.

  “You’re right. I didn’t know she was his daughter. We only found out last year when the doctors told him the cancer spread. I was just as hurt as you to find out, I’m sure,” Jacob snapped. “I looked up to him as my own father all my life. Imagine how hard it was for me and Grace? She was living with her father this whole time and didn’t know it,” Jacob continued to argue.

  “I imagine it was very hard to hear the truth about how our parents deceived all of us our entire lives. It doesn’t change the fact that you unleashed a mad man on us that night.” Eisav responded with clenched teeth. It was taking everything inside him to maintain self-control and not pounce on his brother, who had his heart set on Grace despite the fact that he knew Eisav and Grace loved each other. His mother had just admitted to him that the whole family knew.

  “Is it true?” Grace finally cut in, pulling her hand abruptly out of Jacobs.

  Jacob didn’t respond. His face reddened, at a loss for words, “You’re my fiancée now. It wouldn’t be right for you to walk off with another man.”

  Grace furrowed her brows. “Jacob, I’m asking you to kindly take a step back and let me speak to Eisav. You and I know well enough that he isn’t just some man,” she snapped.

  With all the chaos, Eisav was pleased she hadn’t lost her backbone. Earlier in the kitchen it seemed like Jacob had her wrapped around his finger.

  Jacob stumbled as if punched in the gut, and Eisav nodded to Grace.

  “Okay, let’s go.” He motioned for her to follow. He knew better than to take her hand now. Grace followed him so easily, for a moment it was like nothing had changed, yet the reality was that everything had changed.

  The two lost lovers made their way to the place that was once their special haven, the forest. As they trudged across the freshly trimmed grass, a strong feeling of uncertainty washed over Eisav.

  “I don’t know what to say, Grace,” Eisav admitted sadly as she kept up pace beside him.

  “I can’t believe it was Jacob’s fault we got separated,” she retorted, still trudging quickly toward the forest. It was as if they both couldn’t get inside the forest fast enough. The smell of the trees was strong and acted as a shield against the world.

  When they were finally inside the forest, they stared into each other’s eyes as a million emotions crossed over them. At first Eisav grasped her in a strong hug. He reveled in the feel of her in his arms. She had matured and was even more beautiful than he remembered.

  “I have died a thousand deaths waiting for you, waiting for you to come to me,” he said almost in tune to a line from a song he wrote about her.

  Her gaze turned assessing as she looked up at him. “Don’t say that to me, Eisav. Don’t.” She bowed her head and pulled out of his embrace.

  Eisav took a step toward her, and she lifted her palm in the air to stop him. “I said no.” Her voice strengthened with each syllable and his chest tightened.

  “Why?” was the only word he could get out. In his mind she was still his.

  “I packed my bags that night, Eisav. I returned to my room and packed my bags. I was sure I was leaving with you. You made promises. Do you remember those promises? We were supposed to leave this place together.” She was practically screaming and shaking as tears flowed down her cheeks. “How could you?” she screamed louder, holding her heart.

  Eisav stumbled back, feeling the weight of her words. “Gracie … I … I … thought it would be better for you to stay. You still had to finish senior year. If you came with me…” He shook his head and drew in a long breath before letting it out “…I didn’t know where I was going … I was worried you wouldn’t finish school … I thought …”

  Grace cut him off. “You thought … you thought …” she screamed. “Exactly, you thought … not once did it cross your mind to consult me, to ask me what I thought of your plan. No.”

  Eisav took a step toward her, and she didn’t back away. “Gracie, if I would have taken you with me that night, Isaac would have shot me. I didn’t know you were his daughter or that I wasn’t his son, but I saw the anger and disappointment in his eyes and the fact that he didn’t banish you from here when he banished Ida and me said it all … He must have loved you more. Maybe he loved your mother more than mine. I don’t fucking know. What I do know is that I had a rifle shoved down my throat that night by a sadistic man. I had no way of knowing if he would or wouldn’t pull that trigger. You need to believe me,” Eisav pleaded with her. He hated to see what a mess she was. This disaster was not easily fixed. “I waited, Gracie. I waited for you to find me. I know it sounds crazy …” Eisav laughed sadly as he glanced up to the dark sky. He needed a moment to gather himself because he felt tears welling in his eyes. It hurt him to his soul that she didn’t come to look for him. “I became famous about two and a half years ago. I’ve been on television for several award shows. I’m all over the radio. I’m a public figure. I truly believed that when you finished high school you’d leave this place and come look for me and we’d be together.”

  At Eisav’s last word, Grace let out a strangled laugh. “Really? How did you figure that? Your damn father didn’t let me out of his sight. I was forced to attend church with him all the time. He became like a man obsessed. He told Father Joseph I was unclean and that they had to purify me, Eisav. Are you hearing me?” Her voice was shaky. “Your brother Jacob was there for me. He was a friend at first. He was by my side, promising Isaac he would keep an eye on me, which was better because I swear the old guy became even crazier when he was diagnosed with cancer. He thought he repented for his own sins, and he didn’t understand why he was being punished. That is when he told me I was his daughter. He explained that it was his right to watch over me and discipline me so I would be a pure Christian girl like Father Joseph wanted me to be.” Grace broke down crying and fell to the ground holding her abdomen. “You have no idea what I’ve been through.” She gasped. “Father Joseph thought he could brain wash me like he did your father…” she paused, her breaths short and ragged “…I have panic attacks …” she held onto her throat like she was choking or maybe had trouble breathing. “Your father took me to a doctor but wouldn’t let me seek treatment,” she explained. “He was scared of someone finding out the truth about him and his transgressions.”

  Eisav let out a heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry, even though I know those words are meaningless.” He dropped to the ground and embraced her. It had become very clear that things had taken a turn for the worst after he left. Grace had been through something traumatic. It sickened him as he wondered how bad it had gotten. “I’m so sorry, Grace,” he whispered into her hair as she held herself in fetal position. They sat silently for a long while as Grace sobbed and Eisav rubbed her back, kissing the top of her head, hoping to soothe her pain, which he now understood ran deep.

  “Did Dina tell you what happened to Father Joseph?” Grace finally lifted her head and asked.

  “Yes.”

  “He was arrested, went to prison,” Grace snapped bitterly. “Do you know who put him there?”

  Eisav continued to nod but his stomach sank, thinking he had an idea.

  “Jacob,” she stated as if his brother was now her savior.

  Eisav grumbled. Of course his brother had somehow found a way to be a hero in this mess.

  “My mother told me the whole story,” Eisav explai
ned.

  “Did she?” Grace looked to him. “Everything?”

  Eisav ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe not.” He was scared to hear what she had to say now that he had also heard Ida’s story.

  “Father Joseph had a criminal record because he used the same tactics in other towns in the east. He preyed on people and they gave him what he wanted,” Grace explained and her voice slightly cracked.

  “What does that mean, Gracie?” Eisav asked, his tone now laced with panic. “Did he hurt you?”

  The silence permeated the air between them as Grace gazed at Eisav with almost a blank stare.

  “Talk to me, Gracie,” he urged. It suddenly reminded him of a different place and time, when Grace first arrived to the farm and she was unable to speak. He had made her promises, promises he had not kept. With that realization he knew he couldn’t make her further promises or coax her into speaking. He had messed everything up and somehow had lost her.

  “Isaac knew we had sex. He told Father Joseph who recommended I be brought to the church for lessons on what a good “Christian girl” should be like. He told Isaac I would need to be redeemed or else face an eternity in Hell. I wanted to run away so many times, but then Greta would tell me stories about Ida living on the streets. I convinced myself one more month would pass and I’d find a way.” Grace paused again, bracing herself.

  “Speak to me, angel,” Eisav caressed her shoulder and spoke with a soft voice. She curled into his touch.

  “I’m telling you these things because I think it’s your right to know, but I don’t want you to think there’s hope for us because there isn’t,” she explained, and he sensed the pain in her tone. He knew he messed up, and he knew he lost her trust. “I once loved you to the depth of my soul and as tragic as it was when you were banished from the farm, I believed I could rely on you. I thought you’d find a way to be there for me like you always had, but that wasn’t the case,” she said, and her tone wasn’t angry only sad. Eisav didn’t know how to fix the past. They were both victims here. She continued to speak. “I’m not an angel anymore. My innocence has been washed away, and I’m not speaking of our love because our love was innocent,” she paused to take some long, slow breaths.