Finding Gracie's Rainbow

by Deborah A. Price

  “Kim let me borrow her key.” Jackson smiled down at Bea. “Hello, what have you been up to?”

  “Nothing, Uncle Jackson. Where are you going with our stuff?” Bea asked curiously spotting her name on some of the boxes.

  “To the house,” Jackson looked back over at Gracie. “Should I have called first?”

  “That might not have been a bad idea.” Gracie started walking up to her apartment. “Annie?” She asked as she remembered the name of Jackson’s date while they were at Asahi.”

  “The same.” Annie smiled down at Bea, “Are you the little Princess that Jackson is always talking about?”

  “I am.” Bea smiled at her as Gracie was silently thinking to herself.

  “Come along, Bea. I'm sure Jackson is waiting on Annie.” Gracie walked into her apartment and noticed that they had already loaded up all the boxes that she had packed. She breathed a sigh of relief and started to take some fresh vegetables out of the refrigerator.

  Jackson came back up and told Gracie they would be taking the trailer, since they were finished loading it.

  “Thanks, Jackson.” She watched him leave without asking about Annie. Why should she? Jackson was a grown man, and she had already told him that she just wanted to be friends. She smiled after Bea came into the room carrying yet another movie. “Uncle Jackson has spoiled you rotten.”

  “This one has both of our names on it.” Bea smiled when Gracie looked at it.

  “The Princess and the Frog?” Gracie handed it back to her, “Supper first.”

  ~

  Annie looked over at Jackson after they unloaded the boxes and placed them into their specified rooms. “When are you going to tell her?”

  Jackson looked up after unboxing the television for Bea’s room. “Tell who what?”

  Annie shook her head wanting to laugh at him. “Tell Gracie that I'm your cousin and not your girlfriend.” She sat down on the beanbag chair that he had bought on a whim.

  “When it comes up.” Jackson smiled as he placed a stack of DVDs on the stand. “Which knowing her, it won’t.”

  Annie stood. “Okay, Jackie Boy, this is me that you're talking to. Every Friday for the past month, I've watched you come back home looking like you could kill someone because your ‘best friend’ has been setting Gracie up on lame dates.” She walked over to him. “You won’t even look at another woman and. . .” She waved her hand around the room. “You're as crazy over Bea as you are Garrison.”

  “But nothing is going to happen between me and Gracie.” Jackson glared at her before he walked out of the room. “She only wants to be friends, and she has another date tomorrow.”

  “And what are you going to do?” Annie followed him out of the room. “I can tell you exactly what you're going to do. You're going to spend the evening watching a movie with Bea while you try not to think about Gracie, and then you're going to wait there until she comes home to see if Steven struck out again.”

  “What is wrong with that?” Jackson washed his glass before turning around to study her.

  “You're making yourself miserable.” Annie watched him. “What if Steven doesn’t strike out, and Gracie likes the guy she was set up with? Have you thought about that remotely being a possibility?” She walked out the door as Jackson just stood there. “You haven’t.”

  “Not exactly,” Jackson frowned at her after he locked up. “But if that happens to be the case, I'll just have to deal with it.”

  “You’re pathetic, Jackson Carter.” She got in her truck and waited for him. “Let’s go pick up Garrison from Kim’s house. It’s his bedtime.”

  ~

  “Why is Steven acting so nervous?” Gracie asked as she looked over at Paige. “I thought he ‘knew’ all of his friends.”

  “He didn’t pick this one. I did.” Paige laughed at the look on Gracie’s face. “He isn't boring, fresh, or funny; he is actually really decent.”

  Steven walked beside Paige’s cousin and introduced him to Gracie. “This is Dallas.”

  “Dallas?” Gracie looked him over. He was cute with sandy, cropped hair and brown eyes.

  “My father’s favorite football team,” Dallas smiled as he sat down beside her.

  Paige was relieved as she watched them talk. Steven was very watchful too, and Paige elbowed him as he openly scrutinized them.

  Gracie listened to Dallas as he talked about football, his job, and his family. Paige joined into their conversation. All in all, Gracie marked it down as the first decent blind date since Steven had started them.

  At the end of date, Gracie agreed to see Dallas again, and Paige started fighting herself after she thought about how Jackson felt about Gracie.

  Gracie looked over at Paige after Dallas left. “You aren't happy?”

  “Sure, I'm happy.” Paige smiled over at Steven. “I just wasn’t expecting you to want to see him again.”

  “Why not?” Gracie looked over at Steven then. “This might have been a double.” She laughed when she saw the look come across Steven’s face. “I told you this would be the last one.”

  “What about Jackson?” Steven was the first one to ask and was surprised to see Gracie laugh at him.

  “Jackson is dating Annie again.” Gracie informed them before they walked away from the table.

  Gracie walked into Kim’s house with a smile on her face, and her sister was the first one to notice it. “You’re smiling.” Kim looked around to see if Jackson had come back into the room. “I take it that you had a nice time.”

  “Yep, and I'm going to see him again next week.” Gracie sat down and looked at her. “Paige picked this one out.”

  “And she got past Steven?” Kim waited for an answer not knowing what else to say.

  Gracie nodded as she told Kim about Dallas, and Jackson walked in at the last of it. Kim was watching him while he listened to Gracie.

  Kim stood and walked into the kitchen after Gracie left with Bea. “Okay, Jackson, the ball's in your court.”

  “What am I supposed to do with that?” Jackson looked at her sadly. “Gracie knows how I feel.”

  “She saw Annie.” Kim glared at him. “That isn't a game that you want to play.”

  “I have no choice. Gracie just wants to play it safe and stay friends.” Jackson left Kim standing there as he walked out of the house.

  He pulled up at the apartment that he was sharing with Annie and her son. Annie was reading a book when he walked in and glanced up noticing the expression on his face. “You’re kidding.” She took one look at him and decided that he looked like a whipped puppy. “Want to talk about it?”

  “All I know is that his name is Dallas, and she plans on seeing him again next week.” Jackson picked up one of Garrison’s cars before sitting down.

  “You know she probably thinks that you're dating again and allowed herself to relax with him.” Annie stood. “Why does the name ‘Dallas’ ring a bell?”

  “I have no idea.” Jackson just stared vacantly. He knew that his cousin was a social worker and had dealt with a lot of names.

  “You need to change your game plan.” Annie told him good night before walking off to her room.

  The next morning, Annie walked into the living room and found Jackson sleeping where she had left him. “Jackson?”

  He mumbled to her before he woke, “What?”

  “The puppies are scratching at the door wanting to get out.” Annie listened as they started to whine. “Do something with them.”

  “I’ll take them over to the house.” He didn’t bother to change his clothes before he grabbed the puppies and headed over to his parents’ house. He put them both in the fence and watched them as he allowed his thoughts to wander.

  Gracie had dropped Bea off at Kim’s house, so she could finish packing and since Kim lived just up the court from where Gracie was moving, it was easy for Sammie to spot him as they rode their bikes in the court. “Jackson?” She called him a couple of times, and he never turned around.

/>   Bea rode her bike into the driveway and watched him before she walked over to him. “Uncle Jackson?”

  “Princess, you surprised me.” He rubbed his eyes before he looked down at her. “Beast needed some exercise.”

  “I’ll go ask Aunt Kim if I can play with him.” She picked up her bike and walked to her Aunt’s house.

  Kim nodded her head to Bea after she picked the phone up so the ringing wouldn't wake Robert. “Annie?”

  “Can you talk?” Annie asked her from the other end of the line.

  “No ears around,” Kim watched as the two girls peddled their bikes to where Jackson was standing.

  “Jackson is really down.” Annie whispered so her own son wouldn't hear her talking. “Would you by any chance know Dallas’s last name?”

  “I can find out. Why?” Kim saw Jackson glance up at her house.

  “Just a hunch, but Dallas isn’t a popular name, and it's ringing an alarm in my head.” Annie gave her a cell phone number where she could be reached.

  “He is my sister-in-law’s cousin, so I'll call you back as soon as possible.” Kim ended the call and stepped into the house.

  Robert was awake when Kim walked back into the house and looked at the puzzled expression on his wife’s face. “More drama?”

  “Possibly, I'm not sure yet.” Kim started to fix Robert some breakfast, telling him about Gracie’s date and Annie’s phone call.

  “Dallas?” Robert asked. “I work with a guy named Dallas.”

  “You do?” Kim looked over at him as she slid the plate down in front of him.

  “Dallas Young,” he picked up his fork as Kim started dialing Paige’s cell phone.

  After confirming that was the last name from Paige, Kim turned to her husband. “What do you know about him?”

  “All I know is that he's a hard worker.” Robert pushed his empty plate away from him. “I don’t know much else about him. I can ask around when I go in this afternoon.”

  Kim took the plate. “Let me know what you find out.” She propped on the counter before she turned back around to Robert. “Did you know that Annie is Jackson’s cousin?”

  “Really?” Robert smiled at her. “Why doesn’t your sister know this yet?”

  “Because Jackson told me not to tell her.” Kim was troubled. “I know something that I really should tell, and I feel guilty about it.”

  “And you should.” Robert stood and hugged her. “Where is Sammie?”

  “Down at the house with Bea playing with Beast,” Kim had forgotten to mention that Jackson was at the house that Gracie was going to move into until then. “I need to call Annie back, and afterwards, I'll walk down there.”

  Robert walked down to the house with Kim, and Jackson took them inside so they could sit down. “How are you holding up, Jackson?” Robert studied his friend’s face as he asked. “You look like crap.”

  “I feel like it, too.” Jackson tried to smile. “I fell asleep on my couch.”

  Kim looked at him. “I hate to run, but Gracie is going to be here in about fifteen minutes to pick up Bea.”

  “Not cool,” Jackson started dialing Annie’s number. “I was hoping to move some more of her stuff without her around. Can you manage to find something for Gracie to do for the next three hours?”

  “What for, Jackson?” Kim asked him in a puzzled voice.

  “I called her but I haven’t heard back from her.” Jackson frowned as he answered. “There’s no need for her to stay in that apartment.”

  “She doesn’t know?” Robert asked. “She might want to help.”

  “Yeah, why don’t you call her for me?” Jackson frowned at the look Kim shot at him.

  “You call her back. Don’t even start acting like you don’t want to see her.” Kim stood. “Annie thinks that there might be something to this Dallas guy.”

  “And how do you know this?” Jackson looked at her seriously.

  “Your ‘cousin’ called me this morning wanting a last name.” Kim walked over to him and looked at him square in the eyes. “You haven’t lost yet.”

  “Yes, I have.” Jackson looked at them as he realized he hadn't ended his call to Annie, and she had heard everything. “Annie, I’ll meet you at Kim’s house. She'll watch Garrison for you.” He hung up the phone and looked at Kim. “Now I'm really in for a lecture.” Jackson walked out the back door as Gracie started walking down from Kim’s house.

  “Hello,” Gracie called out as she entered into the front door. She saw Robert and Kim look at her strangely. “I went to your house. Do you realize that the door is wide open?”

  “We were going to stay for just a minute, but Jackson has a lot on his mind.” Robert spoke from where he was still sitting.

  “He does?” Gracie looked around her and noticed that most of her stuff was already put up in place. “He makes moving easy.”

  Jackson walked in and looked at her as she studied him. “Gracie?”

  “Why do you look like you lost your best friend?” Gracie asked after she looked over the house; noticing that most of her framed pictures were already on the shelves.

  “Maybe I have.” Jackson watched her as she smiled after looking over his work. “You haven’t returned my call.”

  “I haven’t had the cell phone on.” Gracie sat down next to Kim. “I wanted to take the day off, and a lot of my clients think that I should work on Saturdays.”

  Jackson smiled. “I guess I didn’t lose my best friend then.”

  “Not unless you want to, Jackson. You did a good job.” Gracie walked towards Bea’s room and peeked in. “Is that a new television?”

  “It is.” Jackson had walked up behind her. “And the beanbag chair is her favorite color.”

  “You do realize that you're spoiling her.” Gracie smiled up at him. “I finally finished packing.”

  “That’s what I was calling you about.” Jackson couldn’t help but look at her mouth. “Annie and I were going over with the trailer again and wondered if you would want to go ahead and finish moving today.” He watched as Gracie frowned over the mention of Annie.

  “That will be great. So you and Annie are getting pretty close.” She watched as Jackson’s eyes started to show laughter.

  “As close as cousins should be, I guess.” Jackson grinned at the amusement in her eyes.

  “Cousins? You introduced her as your date when. . .” Gracie frowned at him.

  “And that was wrong,” Jackson hugged her. “She went through the same thing that you did except her husband had stayed around to beat her son.”

  “Ooh.” Gracie felt for her when Jackson told her this.

  “And that being said, I have another solution for you.” Jackson started going to the master bedroom. “Annie needs a place to stay until she lands on her feet, and my apartment isn't big enough for the three of us.”

  “You looked at my bills again?” Gracie glared at him in accusation.

  “They were in the drawer that we packed.” Jackson spoke softly, wanting Gracie to calm down. “If you both pay half of the bills, you'll both be able to save some money.”

  “You make sense.” Gracie walked into the room and noticed that her clothes were hanging up. “Who unpacked my stuff?”

  “Why? Is there something here I shouldn’t see?” Jackson was laughing at her again.

  “Some things are private, Jackson.” Gracie walked towards him wanting him to stop laughing.

  “Annie unpacked your things.” Jackson could smell Gracie’s hair she was so close to him, and he couldn’t resist the temptation as he closed in her mouth. Gracie pushed away from him as he still held her.

  “I thought we had talked about not kissing each other.” Gracie looked up into his eyes before he pulled her back to him and kissed her until she responded to him.

  “You talked about it. I think I like it too much.” Jackson could feel Gracie getting angry when she pushed away and out of his hug.

  “Of course you do.” Gracie walked off into the
living room when she saw Annie. “Control that beast of a cousin of yours.” She saw the shocked look that Annie shot to Jackson.

  “It’s about time you told her.” Annie smiled at him as Garrison walked off to play with Sammie and Bea. “What did you do?”

  “Honestly, all I did was kiss her.” Jackson watched all of their faces before Gracie tried to sneak outside before her sister caught up with her.

  “Jackson, why would you do that after what she had told you at the apartment after you and Steven fought.” Annie looked at him seriously as she asked him.

  “Because I can’t help myself.” Jackson smiled at her. “I already dislike this Dallas guy.”

  Annie just raised her eyes while she studied her cousin and Robert watched the both of them.

  “Speaking of Dallas; I need to get ready for work.” Robert stood and winked at Jackson. “Try not to kiss her before I get back.”

  Jackson stared at him as he asked him about Dallas. “What has Dallas got to do with you going to work?”

  “He works at the mill.” Robert went in search for Kim to tell her that he had to go.

  Annie frowned as she started remembering the case that she had worked on just last year. “Jackson, if we're going to help her move; we need to get a move on.” She looked at Kim as she walked back into the house. She walked over and whispered a question in her ear and Kim told her just as quietly that Friday was the date between her sister and Dallas.

  “I’ll call you on Monday.” Annie walked out behind Jackson and Gracie.

  Gracie found that it was really hard not to like Annie. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice that you and Jackson have the same eyes before.”

  Annie laughed at as she remembered the first time they had met. “Richie and Steven.” She was wrapping the plates in the newspaper that Gracie had saved.

  Gracie moaned as she remembered that date. “That was the most boring date, granted not the worst, but definitely the most boring.”

  “Which one was the worse?” Annie was watching Jackson as he carried out a mattress.

  “Billy.” Gracie told her about that night as they continued to work in the kitchen. “And the funniest was the one with Terry Rogers.”