Finding Gracie's Rainbow

by Deborah A. Price

  “I wanted to know, Amanda Grace.” Her mother said as she took the journal back. “And I want an answer to my question. Why?”

  “Mark was messing with Sammie.” Gracie answered her angrily. “Are you happy now?”

  “Not really,” Janet took the journal back and threw it at the wall. “Why did you stay?”

  “He said if I didn’t, he would come back here and. . .” Gracie started to cry as her mother questioned her. “I did it all because of Sammie.”

  “He threatened you with her when he took you from here.” Janet was studying her. “Didn’t he?” She was asking loudly, “Well?!”

  “Yes, are you happy now?” Gracie was starting to look panicked. “He held Sammie over my head.” Gracie sat down in the window seat.

  “I’m sure that Sammie would appreciate that fact if she were told.” Janet said angrily. “I don’t guess that it even occurred to you just to talk to somebody about what was going on that night.”

  “Mom, it wasn't that simple.” Gracie glanced at her as her mother started to walk around the room. “And Sammie wouldn't appreciate it. She would feel guilty.”

  Janet stooped over to pick up the journal. “We just thought that you wanted to get married. I thought you were following in Kim’s footsteps because you might've been pregnant.”

  “Say what?” Gracie looked at her puzzled. “Are you telling me that Kim was expecting Sammie when she got married?”

  “You weren’t?” Janet looked at her as she asked.

  “I was a virgin.” Gracie informed her. “I always wondered why you were so strict with me.”

  “I take it that you didn't know about Kim.” Janet stopped next to the window seat.

  “Kim never told me, and I never thought about the math.” Gracie looked over at her from staring outside. “We have company downstairs.”

  “I know.” Janet stepped away from the window seat as Gracie stood. “Not being such a good hostess, am I?” She looked over at the box that Gracie had sat out the weekend before. “Where is the letter that you wrote me?”

  “I gave it to Christian.” Gracie said as they walked down the stairs. “Why?”

  “You wrote down that there should be an impression of a letter that you had started before that said everything that was going on, but Mark had taken it because you wrote in code.”

  “He threw it away.” Gracie stopped before they walked into the living to look at her mother.

  “But there should be some impressions from the letter before. It was written on a legal pad.” Janet wanted to see the letter.

  “I never thought about that.” Gracie started to walk into the living room. “I'll tell Christian when I hand him the journal.”

  “Thank you.” Janet put a smile on her face as she spotted Bea talking to her Amish side of the family.

  They visited with the Camerons for a little while before Gracie took Bea home. She was thinking about how her mother must've felt as she had sat down and read the journal. She walked into her house and noticed that Christian was sitting at the table with Annie with papers strolled out in front of them. She tossed the journal on the table and walked to her room to change her clothes.

  Gracie walked back into the room and noticed that Annie was watching her. “Not tonight, Annie, I want to think about something else.” She looked at Christian. “But first, may I see the letter that I handed you?”

  “No problem.” Christian took the letter out of his file and handed it to her. “I made a copy of it.”

  Gracie took a lead pencil out of the drawer in the kitchen and scratched at it; watching as a code appeared. “She was right.”

  “Who was right?” Christian had watched her rub the letter. He looked down at what appeared. “Can you put that in English?”

  Gracie took another sheet of paper and wrote it down for him as he smiled. “My mother took my journal before I got there, and now she knows everything that happened.”

  Annie looked over at her and stood. “I thought you didn’t want to go there tonight.”

  “Too late for that,” Gracie said as she watched Bea go outside to play with Garrison. “How long do you think this trial will last?”

  “With everything that you’ve given us? Not long.” Christian stood and gathered all the papers. “Maybe a week at the most,” he studied her for a minute. “Jackson was here earlier. He’s kind of upset that you weren’t here.”

  “He'll get over it.” Gracie sat down in the living room and watched as Christian laid down all of his papers and walked towards her.

  “You're pushing him away.” He watched as Gracie turned on the television.

  She looked over at him and then turned television on. Christian turned the television off, and she glared at him. “Was there something else, Detective LaVern? You are in my house.”

  “Gracie, Jackson is a friend of mine, and I don’t like seeing him hurt.” Christian watched as Annie came over and sat down beside Gracie.

  “And I don’t have time for Jackson to act like a child.” Gracie stood angrily and marched to her bedroom; slamming the door behind her.

  “I thought you said we couldn't interfere.” Annie accused him as she listened to the door slamming.

  “He deserves to know what is going on with her.” Christian sat down next to her.

  “And I agree with you, but it's up to Gracie as to how much he knows and when he finds out.” Annie looked at him seriously. “Maybe it's time you left.”

  “Probably,” Christian looked at her as he stood. “I know Jackson, and he's probably at Dylan’s.”

  “No more interference,” Annie said as he gathered all of papers. “And she is right.”

  “About what?” Christian picked up his file not looking at her.

  “Jackson is acting like a child.” Annie informed him.

  “That depends on which side you are looking at. If it were me, I would want to know what happened to the woman I was involved with or in Jackson’s case, the one he thought he was involved with.” Christian walked to the front door and left as Annie stood and walked out the back door to check on the children.

  Annie watched Bea as she thought about Gracie. She had been through so much, and Annie knew that with the trial coming up, she had a lot on her mind right at the moment. Jackson would just have to man up and wait for her to come around to him. She stopped in the middle of her thoughts. Christian had said ‘thought he was involved with’. She dialed his number. “What did you mean before you left here?”

  “What did it sound like?” Christian was watching traffic as he talked. “Jackson is at the end of his rope.”

  “Then you should try to calm him down. She doesn't need this right now.” Annie was frowning as she talked.

  “And how am I supposed to do that, Annie? At this point, I know more about Gracie than he does.”

  “Just figure it out, Detective. Gotta go.” Annie hung up as Gracie walked out of her bedroom. “From this minute we won't mention anything other than family or our kids.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Gracie tried to smile as she looked at the clock. “I'm going to fix Bea and myself a little something to eat.”

  “There is some pizza.” Annie offered knowing that Gracie usually ate very healthy. “Or not.”

  “Pizza is fine.” Gracie really didn't care what they ate at the moment.

  Annie took the pizza box out of the oven and placed it on the table. “You hate pizza.”

  “But Bea loves it. I would love to make at least one person happy today.” Gracie opened the box and looked at the pizza. “Why do you love this stuff?”

  “I have no idea; I just do. I'll get Bea for you.” Annie went to the back and called Bea as Gracie was looking at the telephone ringing beside the couch. Annie walked into the house asking, “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

  “No.” Gracie poured Bea a cup of soda. “Whose idea was that anyway?”

  “Jackson’s” Annie walked away from the table.

&n
bsp; “And he's going to get upset if you don't answer it.” Gracie took a bite of pizza, frowning at the taste.

  “Probably,” Annie finally picked up the phone. Gracie shook her head as Annie looked over at the table. She hung up after she told Jackson that Gracie was eating supper. “That buys you thirty minutes at the most.”

  “I don’t think so.” Gracie stood and unplugged the phone from the wall. “If he wants to talk to me, he can call the cell like he always does.”

  Annie was smiling when she sat down on the couch and watched her. “I told him that if you had wanted one, you would've bought it a long time ago.”

  Gracie picked up the phone and placed it on the counter. “That is Jackson. Always assuming what I want.” She turned to look at Bea as she scarfed down the last bite of pizza. “Were you hungry, Princess?”

  “I just want to play before bed.” Bea smiled at her mother before taking off to the backyard where Garrison was playing with the puppies.

  “So what’s the deal?” Annie asked watching Gracie clean the table.

  She glanced in Annie’s direction. “About?”

  “Between you and Jackson,” Annie was studying her as she paused. “You haven’t seen a lot of him this week.”

  “I've been busy.” She rinsed out the dishcloth and spread it over the sink.

  “And?” Annie was not buying it.

  “He’s upset because I can’t talk to him about what happened.” Gracie turned to face her as she leaned against the counter. “I tried to tell everybody that it wouldn't work out between us but nobody believed me.” She turned and looked back out the window. “Now I've probably messed up Bea’s relationship with him.”

  Annie sat still as she listened to her. “So that is why you said he was acting childish.”

  “Could be. I think that the princess and I are going to bed.” Gracie called Bea. “Good night, Annie.”

  “Good night, Gracie. Night, Bea.” Annie was watching them walk down the hall. ‘Don’t interfere, Annie’, she kept telling herself. She put Garrison to bed and stretched out on the couch.

  She woke when she heard Gracie walking around the house. “Gracie, wake up.” Annie was frowning as she walked around behind her. “Where are you going?”

  “Mark is going after Jackson. I have to warn him.” Gracie started looking for her cell phone. “Where is my phone?”

  “I don’t know. It’s time for you to go back to bed.” Annie was about ready to call Kim. “Jackson is fine; I just talked to him an hour ago.” She hoped that the fib would pacify Gracie enough to calm her down.

  “Mark is coming.” Gracie was panicked and having trouble breathing. “Sammie? Where is Sammie?”

  “Sammie is fine.” Annie was starting to panic herself. “Deep breaths, Gracie. Please wake up.” She tried the soothing voice that Kim had used with her just a week before. “Feel better?” She asked as Gracie's breathing had evened. “Back to bed with you, then.”

  She walked into the bedroom and watched her slide under the covers without missing a beat. Gracie's nightmares were getting worse, and the sleepwalking was starting to freak Annie out.

  Annie waited until after Gracie woke the next morning and then rode over to Jackson’s apartment. She saw that Christian and Dylan were sitting at the table with cards in front of them. Jackson was standing beside the door with a baseball bat in his hand.

  “Don’t even.” Annie snapped glancing over at the card game. “Did you sleep well last night, Jackson?”

  “I slept just fine.” He raised his eyes as his cousin took one of his beers out of the refrigerator. He placed the bat next to the door. “What is the matter with you?”

  “You.” Annie popped the top on the can. “You are a pampered, self-centered, all assuming, pompous idiot.” She studied the shocked expression on his face and handed him the can.

  “Where did that come from?” Jackson asked taking the can from her.

  “Lack of sleep,” Annie noticed that Christian and Dylan were both watching them.

  “You sleep like a log.” Jackson sat down on one of the stools at his bar. “This is about Gracie- isn’t it?” Annie nodded her head as Jackson put the can down on the counter. “Tell me what is going on.”

  “She is sleepwalking. It has only been twice but after the first time I haven't allowed myself to completely sleep.” Annie watched as Christian walked over to them. “She made it all the way to Kim’s house the first time.”

  Jackson looked over at Christian and back at Annie as she continued. “The first time she was looking for Bea, and we found her.” She paused as she studied the beer in front of her. “Last night she was looking for you and for Sammie.”

  “Why?” Jackson was listening to her closely.

  “Mark was after you.” Annie took the beer from him. “What are you thinking? It's too early to drink.”

  “But you gave it to me.” Jackson was watching as she dumped the beer down the kitchen drain. “And Gracie doesn't want me hanging around her all the time.”

  “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 re
membered 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.