Finding Gracie's Rainbow (31 page)

Gracie watched as Kim left
and guided Bea and Garrison into the office building. Her coworkers
greeted them as they walked through the corridor in between the
cubicle stations.

She walked up to Addison,
still puzzled before she hugged her friend. Addison hugged Bea and
looked over at Garrison.

“
Addie, this is Garrison.
He's Annie’s little boy.” Gracie smiled down at him as she
introduced him to Addison.

“
Nice to meet you,
Garrison.” Addison shook his hand before she turned to Gracie. “I’m
sorry, but he saw you on the monitor.”

Salem was smiling as he
walked out of Gracie’s office to greet her. “Gracie, I hate to do
this.” He looked down at Bea and smiled.

“
Then don’t, you're the
one that told me to take a vacation.” Gracie reminded him as she
looked at him with scrutiny.

“
This isn't about your
job. You're the best editor I have. This is about your book.” Salem
looked serious as they walked into her office, and she stared at
the papers shuffled around on her desk.

She glanced at Salem after
she had settled Bea and Garrison at the conference table. “What
about the book?” Gracie had finished the ending and had it sent to
him in New York on Monday before her day had turned
sour.

“
What’s the title?” Salem
sat down at her desk as he watched her walk towards the windows
that overlooked the pond.

Gracie was laughing as she
focused on the pond. “I guess a title would be important. She
smiled at a family of ducks swimming. “What else?”

“
A dedication page and
maybe a biography to put on the jacket.” He watched as Gracie
turned towards him frowning.

“
I’ll do the dedication
page.” Gracie walked over to the conference table and had the
children stand as Salem watched them.

“
No biography?” Salem
picked up a piece of paper.

“
I’m nothing special. I'm
just an ordinary person with an ordinary life.” Gracie answered as
Salem handed her the paper he was holding. She looked down at the
paper puzzled before looking back up at him. “I don’t
understand.”

“
You wrote it.” He
informed her as he watched her expressions. “I found it underneath
your desk with a code written below the words. I had Addison type
it so the code was distracting me.”

“
And you are wanting?”
Gracie sat down looking at her daughter as she asked.

“
Addison and Carolyn both
have said that there is more.” He paused as he stared down at her.
“I know I said that I didn’t expect another book, but I'm a tad
curious as to what this is about.

Gracie stood. “I seriously
doubt that there will be another book.” Bea and Garrison were
watching her as she started to walk to the door. “I will, however,
have a title and dedication for you by tomorrow.” She glanced back
over at her desk frowning before she left.

“
So where do you guys want
to go?” Gracie asked as they started to drive away. “A movie,
Celebration Station, or the water park?”

“
The water park,” They
both agreed as Gracie smiled. She drove up to the house, so they
could change.

They spent the whole day at
the park sliding down the slides and splashing in the wave pool.
They were exhausted as they piled back into the car to go home. She
noticed that Jackson’s car was already in the driveway when she
pulled up.

She followed the children
in and looked over at Jackson who was busy in the kitchen. She
walked over and hugged him. “Ugh, woman, you're wet!”

“
That’s what happens when
you play in the water all day.” Gracie laughed when he handed her a
carrot. “Call me when you have supper ready.”

“
You aren't helping?”
Jackson stared at her after she had taken off her shirt on the way
to her bedroom. “Bowsers.”

Gracie wondered where the
word ‘bowsers’ had come from before answering him. “I have some
work to do.”

“
You’re on vacation.”
Jackson said loud enough for her to hear.

Gracie walked back up the
hall and looked at him. “I'm aware of that. This is for the
book.

“
Come here.” Jackson
motioned for her as he studied the bathing suit. He saw her start
to put the shirt back on. “Don’t”

“
I need to.” Gracie looked
up at him as he walked over and took it from her.

“
No, you don’t.” Jackson
was smiling at her.

Gracie glanced around him
as she noticed there were flames coming from the stove. “Jackson,
are you trying to catch the kitchen on fire?”

“
What?” He turned around
with her shirt still in his hand and started beating the flames
after removing the chicken.

“
That was my favorite
shirt,” Gracie moaned as she saw the blackened white shirt still
smoking in his hands.

“
And it did a great job.”
Jackson watched as she started to walk back down the
hall.

“
Just let me know when
it’s ready.” Gracie shut her bedroom door behind her and after
changing her clothes, sat down at her desk drumming her fingers as
she settled down to work. The dedication page had been easy, but a
title was eluding her. She stood and walked to the window as she
heard Bea squealing.

Gracie turned as she heard
knocking on the door. She opened it as Jackson had lifted his fist
to knock again. All Gracie saw was the fist and backed up as
Jackson watched her face go pale.

Jackson watched as she
backed up to bed and sat down before he thought about where his
fist had been when he knocked. “Gracie? It’s just me.” He knelt
down in front of her as he saw a few tears in her eyes.

“
I need a minute.” Gracie
looked down at Jackson. “I'm sorry. I thought I was over the
flashbacks.”

“
I didn’t mean to scare
you. I wish you would talk about what he did to you.” Jackson
stood. “I came to tell you that supper was ready.” He studied her
face. “You got some sun today.”

“
I know, I'm feeling it
all over.” Gracie stood and followed him out of the bedroom. She
walked into the living room and listened as Garrison very excitedly
told Annie about his day at the water park.

“
Sounds like you had a
ball.” Annie glanced up as Gracie stood there. “Ouch.” She noticed
her roommate’s face. She stood and walked over to the table before
Jackson placed the chicken on the table.

“
We had a blast.” Gracie
sat down at the table beside Bea. “Then we come home and Jackson
tries to set the kitchen on fire. He uses my favorite shirt to put
it out.”

“
I'm not going to live
that down- am I?” Jackson moaned when Bea started to laugh at
him.

“
Mom has at least ten
favorite shirts.” Bea informed him as Gracie grinned.

“
Oh, she does?” Jackson
was watching Gracie as her lips twitched with laughter.

“
She does and in every
color imaginable.” Gracie admitted tasting the chicken on her
plate.

After they finished, Gracie
started to help clear the table as Jackson looked at her. “Did you
finish your work?”

“
I tried.” Gracie was
stacking the plates together to take them to the sink. “It's always
going to be Bea’s story to me.” She walked over to sink and put the
stack down before turning back to him. “How can I give it another
title now?” She made her way back to the table as Jackson watched
her.

“
Sleep on it,” He studied
her. “There’s something else that is on your mind.”

“
What?” Gracie sat down in
the living room.

“
You seem preoccupied.”
Jackson sat down beside her. “You’ve had that same look on your
face since the minute I knocked. . .” He glanced over at her then.
“You didn’t think that I was going to hit you. Did you?”

“
No, I didn’t.” Gracie
answered him honestly. “I guess I just have a lot on my mind. I
have a lot of thinking to do.”

“
Still a bad thing for
you.” He tried not to laugh at the expression that was on her
face.

She stood up then. “Not all
the time. I. . .” She watched as Bea came running in through the
back door and hugged Gracie tightly. She looked down at her with
amusement.

“
Garrison is chasing me.”
Bea explained as she tried to catch her breath.

“
That’s it!” Gracie smiled
as she hugged her daughter. “Thank you.”

Bea looked up puzzled as
Annie and Jackson asked, “What?” They looked at each after Gracie
had walked hastily to her room and shut the door.

Gracie smiled as she saw
the new title printed out on the paper. ‘Chasing the Fantasy’. She
was filled with excitement and with a renewed energy as she walked
back into the living room. “I’m finished now and I need to
seriously go for a walk.”

Jackson was staring at her.
“So what is the new title or aren't you telling?”

“
Not telling,” Gracie
laughed at him as they walked down the driveway. She stopped at the
mailbox, and he looked over at her. “All of a sudden I have all of
this energy. I'm excited, and I can't figure out why.” Gracie
noticed that Jackson was standing in front of her.

“
It fits you.” He put his
arms around her. “I thought we were walking.”

“
We are after you go back
to the house and ask Annie, Bea, and Garrison to join us.” Gracie
felt his arms pull her closer to him, and she looked up smiling
after he kissed her. “Go.”

“
Fine, I'm going.” Jackson
walked towards the house as Gracie’s excitement had transferred to
him. “Annie, Bea, Garrison. Come on, Gracie wants us all to walk
with her.”

He smiled when he saw the
puzzled look on his cousin’s face as she walked to the door with
the kids. “Don’t ask, I have no idea.”

Annie shook her head as she
walked to the end of the driveway where Gracie was waiting for
them. They walked up the court as Gracie stopped at Kim’s house so
the kids could grab their bikes. Kim stepped out of the house with
Sammie, and they joined them for the walk.

Kim scrutinized her sister
who was holding Jackson’s hand as they walked. “Why are we walking
around in circles while you smile?”

“
Because we all need the
exercise.” Gracie looked down at her watch, “And cue the ice cream
truck.”

“
Like you don’t have ice
cream at the house.” Annie laughed as she remembered that Jackson
had brought in ten cartoons of the same ice cream.

“
Just don’t buy
chocolate.” Jackson looked over at his cousin.

“
And I've been meaning to
ask you- are you trying to move in?” Annie asked him seriously as
Kim looked over at them around Gracie who had stopped dead in her
tracks.

“
Why would he move in?”
She watched as Annie turned around to face her.

“
Because the only thing he
doesn’t do there is sleep.” Annie smiled then. “He was cooking
supper for us tonight because you were working.”

Gracie looked over at
Jackson, who was just as stunned as she was when Annie asked him
that question. “He was cooking supper before he found out that I
had to work.”

“
I am so totally lost
here.” Kim looked at all of them as Bea circled around them on her
bike. “But I do have part of the picture.”

“
He’s only been over every
single night.” Annie started walking with Kim as she
talked.

“
She really does have a
big mouth.” Jackson mumbled as he stood with Gracie, who had felt
her excitement vanish.

“
And now I'll have to go
through the third degree because I haven’t talked to Kim since
Wednesday.” Gracie was frowning. “I'm done walking.”

“
What about the ice cream
truck?” Jackson heard the music as he asked her while she turned
around to walk down to the house.

“
Just buy some ice cream
for Bea and Garrison. They can choose anything but chocolate."
Gracie left him standing there and walked into the house to lie
down on the couch as she started to think. She picked up the book
she had started the night before as Kim walked into the house and
frowned at her.

“
Something is going on
with you.” Kim looked seriously at her sister as she lay on the
couch.

“
Nothing is going on with
me.” Gracie glanced up at her.

“
Then tell me what
happened at the office this morning.” Kim sat down in the chair
facing her. “Don’t try to tell me it didn’t. You had to work this
evening.”

“
I had to create a title
and a dedication. That isn't really considered work.” Gracie sat up
and laid the book on the table. “Why do you think something
happened?”

“
Gracie, you're usually
pretty honest with me, but I can’t shake the feeling that you’re
holding something back from everybody.” She looked at her sister
seriously.

“
Mr. Foster found a paper
that I had written in that stupid code. I had written the words
down below the code, and he read the paper.” Gracie looked at the
door. “I don’t want to finish another story just because I was
careless enough to leave it lying around.”