“You are kidding. Was Steven blind?” Annie glanced at Jackson as he started to laugh while he walked back into the apartment. Annie waited until after Jackson walked out again before she asked Gracie about her last date.
“Dallas.” Gracie smiled. “I like him. We’re going out on Friday.”
Annie started thinking as that alarm went off in her head again when Jackson came back in. “Is that the last box, ladies?”
“It is.” Gracie smiled at him. “I left one bottle of water in the fridge for you if you want it.”
Jackson went over and grabbed it as Gracie stared at him. Annie elbowed her and laughed as Gracie searched for the tape dispenser that she had already in her hand. After taping up the box, she looked around the apartment for the last time. It was the only place that she had lived with Bea. Shutting the door, Gracie followed them out of the apartment and turned her key into the office before leaving. She followed them to the house, and they were unloading the trailer when Kim walked to the house with Bea, Garrison, and Sammie.
Bea ran over to Jackson, who lifted her up and spun her around. “Guess what, Princess?”
“What?” Bea was still laughing as he put her down.
“You are home.” Jackson smiled as he roughed up Garrison’s hair. “And next weekend, Annie and Garrison will start staying with you.”
Bea looked up at her mother as Gracie nodded her head while smiling. “That means the puppies will stay together.”
“You could look at it like that.” Gracie laughed when she grabbed a box to take into the house. Jackson watched her; following behind her with the frame to Bea’s bed.
Annie looked over at Kim and smiled at her. “Why are they tormenting each other?”
“What do you mean?” Kim grabbed another box and stood there as Annie answered her.
“A blind man could tell that they like each other a lot.” Annie grabbed a box of sheets and followed her into the house.
“That would be my sister’s idea.” Kim told her that they would have to talk later so as they weren't overheard.
Chapter 8
Robert looked around the break room at the mill searching for Dallas. He didn't have to look far considering that there was a crowd of men standing around him while he bragged about his date. Robert raised his eyes as Dallas boasted about taking her to bed on their first date.
Robert was laughing inside knowing that Dallas was telling a tall story. Dallas caught Robert looking at him, and he laughed.
“Like to tell stories, don’t ya?” One of the men asked Dallas. “Does she have a name? Maybe we would like to get on the action.”
“Grace Cameron,” Dallas stood up from his table as Robert watched him. After Dallas left, Robert called all the men over to him.
“Knowing Grace, I'm going to tell all of you right now that what Dallas just told you was a fabrication of his imagination.” Robert looked at all of them. “You see. Gracie is my sister-in-law, and she was at my house before ten thirty to pick up her daughter.”
“Why didn’t you deck him?” One of them asked.
“Because right now I need to find out all I can about him.” Robert put his empty bags in the trash. “I know some of you have sisters. Can you honestly tell me you would want him dating them?”
“Heck, no.” Most of them answered before they walked out of the door after they looked at him.
Robert noticed that one of the younger ones hung back. “Sir,” the young man looked over at Robert visibly upset as he spoke.
“What is it, Frank?” Robert took his bottle of water and twisted the lid tight.
“Dallas went out with my sister.” Frank looked him in the eye. “He doesn’t know who I am.”
“Something happen?” Robert stared at him curiously as the anger started to show in the young man’s eyes.
“He raped my sister, and he beat her up afterwards.” Frankie started to tear up as he remembered. “Left her lying in her own apartment. I was the one that found her.”
“Oh, God,” Robert sat back down at the table. “How long ago was that?”
“Five years,” Frank sat down at the table with him. “Don’t let Gracie be alone with him.”
For the rest of his shift, Robert watched Dallas as he tried to figure out how he would tell Kim what he found out. He drove to his house while he still thought about what he had learned, and he was pulling up into his own driveway before he knew it. Robert smiled as he saw the lights on in the house at the bottom of the court before he walked into his house.
Kim looked up him, noticing the expression on his face before laying down her Bible. “Robert?”
“You’re not going to like what I just found out.” Robert sat down in his recliner and looked at her before he told his wife everything, including what Frank had told him.
“We have to stop that date!” Kim rose and started pacing the floor.
Robert watched her as she continued to walk from one wall to the next. “Why don’t we just talk to her?”
“And if she doesn’t believe us?” Kim paused as she looked back over at him while he laughed at her.
“Why wouldn’t she believe you?” Robert stood and hugged her.
~
Kim watched Gracie and Bea sit down in between her parents and Jackson before church came into session. Robert whispered in her ear because he could see that she was still worried about what he told her last night. “Try to concentrate on your sermon.” He squeezed her hand in support.
“I’ll try.” She walked into the back of the church and took a minute to compose herself before walking up to the pulpit.
After the sermon, she invited her family over for a barbeque and asked Jackson to invite Annie. “No problem,” he took out his phone and looked over at Gracie before he started dialing. “Something is bothering your sister.”
“I’ve noticed.” Gracie walked out beside her parents while she held Bea’s hand. “Kim was preoccupied during the whole service.”
“I guess we'll find out what she has on her mind soon enough.” Janet looked down at Bea. “I'm going to miss you next week.”
“Where are you going?” Bea looked questionably at her grandmother.
Janet laughed at her. “I'm not going anywhere. You'll start getting dropped off at Kim’s house after school.”
Chandler stared at his wife and chuckled. “Don’t start, Janet. I'm sure that Kim would babysit you, too, if I asked her.”
Bea started laughing as she saw the look her mother shot at them as Jackson walked out of the church.
“Annie acted like she was expecting my phone call.” Jackson looked at all of them. “Why are you guys laughing?”
“They are making arrangements for Kim to babysit Granny over here so she won’t miss Bea’s company.” Gracie answered with a smile.
Jackson swung Bea up in the air. “Maybe she'll babysit me, too.”
“I thought she already did.” Gracie laughed at him, “Every Friday night.”
“Funny.” Jackson looked at her. “You better go if you're going to change clothes before the barbeque.”
Gracie left with Bea as Jackson watched before getting into his own vehicle. He still needed to drive over to his apartment to change and pick up Annie and Garrison.
~
Gracie watched Kim while she talked to Sammie about her school and her current boyfriend. Sammie was telling her about her English class when Jackson came in with Annie and Garrison.
Gracie watched Annie walk into the kitchen with Kim while talking animatedly as they walked. “What is up with your mother today?” Gracie asked turning her attention back to Sammie.
“I wish I knew.” Sammie smiled. “I could ask her for anything in the world right now, and she'd probably let me have it without asking one question. She’s been like that all morning.”
Jackson was playing a game of dodge ball with Bea and Garrison as Paige walked outside with Steven. Gracie saw him tense up and watched with amusement when Bea threw th
e ball at him, hitting him on the face. Jackson walked out of the game pretending to pout as he glanced over at Gracie.
He stepped over to where she was sitting. “Whatever is going on, it must be serious.” He sat down beside her as Sammie stood up to hug her uncle. “I hope he doesn’t try to fight me again.”
“I think he'll behave. Kim probably gave him his orders when she invited him over.” Gracie was trying not to laugh at Jackson. “Mom and dad just arrived, so maybe we'll find out what is going on in a bit."
Kim had walked out and overheard her. “Not until after we eat this time. I don’t want anybody walking away from my table without eating.”
Gracie studied her eyes. “Why do I have the feeling that it's about me again.” She watched as Kim just shrugged her shoulders as she walked away from her. “What have I done now?”
“Nothing.” Jackson had watched Kim’s reaction, too. “She wasn’t like this yesterday at your house.”
“My house,” Gracie smiled thinking about the house at the bottom of the court. “I like the sound of that.”
She called the children over and told them to go wash for lunch as she stood. Jackson stood at the same time, and she looked up into his eyes as he was looking down. She shook her head no at him, and he smiled before they followed the children into the house.
Gracie noticed that Annie was quiet during the meal as the rest of them talked about anything that popped into their heads. “Why are you so quiet?”
“I just have a lot on my mind.” Annie tried to smile. “Your family is something else. No wonder Jackson is over here so much.”
“You haven’t been around when we’re fighting.” Gracie looked down at Bea, who was picking through her vegetables. “What’s wrong with your food, Bea?”
“Nothing,” Bea looked at her uncle and Jackson wondering if they were going to get along without fighting or arguing.
“Then eat,” Gracie picked up a carrot slice and was munching when she noticed Jackson staring at her. “You, too, mister.”
Jackson smiled as Annie smirked at him. She whispered in Jackson’s ear before she started to help clear off the table. “Why don’t you go and talk to Steven and see if you can be friends again. That’s what your Princess is worried about.”
“You think?” Jackson watched Gracie nod her head as she agreed silently. “Fine.”
Kim turned to her sister as they started to wash dishes. “We need to talk.”
“About?” Gracie had guessed right when she asked if it was about herself again.
“Your date on Friday with Dallas,” Kim looked very concerned as she spoke. “Don’t worry; I'm not going in on a sermon about how you should act. Dallas works at the mill with Robert and there were some things said that I think that you should hear.”
Gracie turned around and noticed that Robert was looking at her. He motioned for her to sit down as everybody else sat down also. Gracie listened to him not too thrilled with what he was saying. “After all that a young guy named Frank told me about his sister.” Robert gave them all the details as Paige gasped.
“How well do you know your cousin?” Gracie asked her not looking too pleased.
“Third cousin, and evidently, I don't know him that well. Paige stood looking very apologetic. “If I had known, there wouldn’t have been a date.”
Annie took out the papers that were in her purse. “I worked that case and one more dealing with Dallas.” Annie looked over at Gracie. “He molested a little girl who was younger than Bea.”
“Oh, my God!” Gracie exclaimed as she looked at all of them. “No more blind dates, Paige, and I mean it this time.” Gracie walked out of the back door, and Jackson looked over at her. He could see the agitation in her face, and Steven elbowed him.
“Go.” Steven pointed to his sister as he stood to walk into the house. “Ladies, what is wrong with my baby sister?”
Kim, Paige, and Annie filled him in as Janet watched them.
“Wow. We sure do know how to pick them- don’t we, Paige? Did she give him her address to pick her up on Friday?”
“No, she said she would meet him.” Paige sighed with relieve. “Gracie isn't stupid.”
Kim smiled for the first time since she had heard all about Dallas. Annie stood up to look for Garrison when Paige looked at her curiously. “Aren’t you Jackson’s girlfriend?”
“I’m Jackson’s cousin.” Annie smiled at her before walking out the backdoor. “I'm going to be staying with Gracie until I can get back on my feet from the divorce.”
“You are?” Steven was more than curious. “Where have you been staying before this?”
“In Jackson’s little two-bedroom apartment,” Annie answered before she shut the door behind her. She smiled when she saw Garrison playing a board game with Bea.
Bea looked up at her and grinned. “Garrison is cheating.”
“He is?” Annie walked over to them and saw the cards lying down in Garrison’s lap, “No more playing cards with Jackson, buster.”
“Aw, Mom.” Garrison picked the cards off his lap and placed them back in the pile as she rumpled his hair. “Where did Jackson go anyway?”
“Momma said they were going for a walk.” Bea informed them. “She has to walk when she talks about something that makes her mad.”
“That’s good to know.” Annie smiled before she walked back into the house and looked out the front window watching as Jackson walked with Gracie as she talked. “Now why is it that ‘it’ won’t happen between the two of them?”
Kim heard her ask the question. “I never did tell you about that- did I?”
“No, you said you would tell me when the children weren’t around.” Annie turned back to them. “Jackson has acted like he could kill somebody after Gracie came back from her dates.”
Janet looked up then from working the crossword in the paper. “I believe it.”
Annie was waiting for somebody to start and was surprised when Steven started to talk with everybody pitching in with what they knew. Robert finished it up though. “Gracie won’t let it happen because she values the relationship that she and Bea has with Jackson.”
“So she’s punishing them?” Annie laughed at that. “Anybody with two eyes could see that they belong together.”
“Yeah, Jackson believes in Fairy Tales.” Steven had finally realized that and remembered his promise not to interfere with them anymore. “One more blind date?”
Annie and Paige both glared at he suggested the date. “She said no more blind dates, and she's dead serious about that.” Paige informed him.
Steven just shook his head. “You didn’t ask who I had in mind.”
They all looked at him then. “Who?”
“Jackson.” Steven saw the smiles spread out on their faces. “If we get them away from Bea and away from us, in a romantic, fairy tale setting, maybe Gracie will relax and go with the flow.”
Paige stood and kissed him on the mouth. “Finally, I've been asking you to put him on that list since we started.”
“Your wish is my command, me lady.” Steven smiled as he held her. “Now all we have to do is convince her that this would be worth going on.”
Annie looked at all of them. “You work on Gracie and I'll work on Jackson.”
“Work on us for what?” Jackson came into the house after Gracie stopped off at her house to check on the puppies.
“We want you to go on a blind date with Gracie.” Steven looked at his friend as Jackson stared at him alarmed.
“You’ve knocked your heads and gone crazy.” Jackson looked at them hard. “I just walked this court four times while Gracie tried to calm herself down about the dates she has been on.”
“But none of them have been with you.” Paige smiled at him.
“No, they haven’t.” Jackson sat down and looked around the room. “I promised her she wouldn’t have to go on any more blind dates. And all of you promised her, too.”
“But,” Janet spoke up then or at leas
t tried to before Jackson looked over at her sternly.
“Let me handle this my way.” Jackson smiled at all of them before he walked out the back door. “Let’s play some basketball, Steven.”
“You’re on.” Steven grabbed the ball that was sitting at the back door in a basket.
“I thought that really went well." Robert stood and smiled. “I'm going to be referee.”
They all went outside to watch the game after Gracie came back to Kim’s house. “This a lot better than the last barbeque you threw, Kim.” She smiled as she stretched out in a lounge chair.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Kim smiled at her as she thought about the conversation no more than five minutes ago.
Jackson, Annie, and Garrison walked down to Gracie’s house with Gracie and Bea after everybody left Kim’s. Gracie finally turned her cell phone on as she sat down at the table. She was writing down all the messages as she stopped halfway through; throwing her pen down hard on the table. “I swear I didn't give him my number.”
Jackson looked up from the movie he was watching with Bea and Garrison. “Who?” He caught the look of shock that Gracie was wearing on her face.
“Dallas.” She answered as she replayed the message on the speaker for him. “What do I do now?”
He had walked over to her, so he could hear the phone better as Annie walked into the house from checking on the puppies.
“Maybe Paige gave him your number.” Annie had heard most of the message.
“Or he got it from the internet which means he knows where I work.” Gracie was frowning. “That’s how Mark found me, and I really don’t need anything else to happen there.”
Jackson nodded as Annie looked at them puzzled. He described how Mark had walked into the office along with the outcome that had landed Gracie in a hospital room.
“How is the security at your office?” Annie asked as she thought about what she had just learned.
“They installed cameras and hired a security team after that happened.” Gracie saw Jackson smile as he listened to her.
“Better late than never,” he mumbled when he noticed the headache start to form in her eyes. He started to massage her temples as he still stood where she sat.
Finding Gracie's Rainbow Page 11