Finding Gracie's Rainbow (8 page)

“
My dear brother told me
that I needed a night out. You could've told me what they were
planning as often as you’ve seen me this past week.” Gracie saw the
smug look on his face. “I'm not going to get mad and kiss you
again, so stop trying if that’s what you’re after.”

“
As much as I enjoyed
those brilliant kisses, that ain't what I'm after.” Jackson looked
at her seriously. “I wouldn’t have picked Richie if he was the last
person on earth. Not for you.”

“
Thank God.” Gracie smiled
at him. “Where’s your date?”

Jackson laughed as he shook
his head. “She didn’t like all the accusations being thrown around
last night at dinner, so I dropped her off and haven’t heard from
her since.” He ran a hand through his jet-black hair. “Cinderella
didn’t kiss her fella last night.”

“
You could kiss Richie,
Jackson. He's certainly not my type.” Gracie watched as Steven
started to walk out to the back yard. “Just don’t make Steven
jealous.” She winked before she walked away from him.

Steven watched Gracie walk
away from Jackson as he made his way to his friend.
“Jackson.”

“
I so hope the next guy
you set her up with isn’t as boring as Richie.” Jackson pushed away
from the table. “And please, let me know where you take them, so I
won’t go to the same place.”

“
I thought you wanted to
watch us set her up.” Steven was laughing at him.

“
Not if you can’t pick any
better than that.” Jackson said as he looked over at the grill.
“Your sister needs something that a man like Richie can’t offer. A
little fantasy, romance, or at least fairy tale status.”

“
And you know everything
about my sister- don’t you?” Steven glared at him.

“
I watched her grow up,
also, Steven. I paid close attention to her, and I warned you about
what Mark was doing.” Jackson looked hard at him. “You didn’t
listen to me then like you aren't listening to me now.”

Gracie listened to them
raise their voices while talking angrily as she stood with Paige
and Kim. They all looked at each other.

“
As a matter of fact, you
told me to back off and mind my own business.” Jackson stopped when
they saw the girls looking at them. “And now I've said too
much.”

“
You warned me?!” Steven
stared at him dumbfounded.

“
Yes, I did, Steven, and
I'm not going to tell you what you said as the vulgarity of it
ain't for the ears of young children.” Jackson looked at Gracie
after she had walked up to them.

“
You knew that Mark was
cheating on me? Even when I was in high school?” Gracie stared at
him when he nodded. “And you told Steven?” Again, she saw a nod for
an answer. “Did you know he was beating me, too?” Jackson shook his
head no when she stared at him.

“
I think that if I had
known that, I would’ve taken care of it myself. With or without
Steven,” Jackson tried to smile as he answered Gracie.

Gracie frowned as she
looked at them both before walking over to where Paige and Kim
stood. “I'm going for a walk.” She walked through the house and out
the front door as she was thinking to herself.

Jackson had known that Mark
was cheating on her and had told Steven. She kicked at a piece of
loose gravel as she walked. Why hadn't she been told? Would it have
made a difference? She was still frowning when Jackson started
walking beside her. “Why are you walking with me,
Jackson?”

“
Kim sent me.” Jackson
stopped to tie his shoe and noticed that Gracie kept walking. “You
want to know why.”

“
No, I want to know if I
would've listened if you had told me.” Gracie was pensive when she
paused and looked at him.

“
I think that you were too
much in love with him to listen.” Jackson was smiling. “I was
waiting for you to say something, so I could take care of it seeing
as Steven wasn’t too concerned about it.”

“
But I didn’t say
anything, and looks can be deceiving. I had actually broken up with
him a week before we were married.” Gracie admitted to him. “I was
Pennsylvania, so I couldn’t say anything.”

“
So I figured everything
was alright.” Jackson watched her face for any expression. “You
aren't getting mad.”

“
No, Jackson, I'm not
getting mad.” Gracie smiled as she pushed her hair out of her face.
“Are you disappointed?”

“
Let me think about it,
and I'll get back to you.” Jackson turned around to walk to Kim’s
house. “Come on, Cinderella, your family awaits your arrival back
at the barbeque.”

Gracie was looking at him
strangely. “I wonder. . .” She started walking without finishing
her sentence.

“
You wonder
what?”

“
I was just wondering. . .
never mind,” Gracie walked into Kim’s backyard as Bea watched for
her.

“
I wonder what it would be
like to kiss you when you aren't mad.” Jackson whispered when he
saw the shock spread over Gracie’s face. “And that's what you were
wondering, too. Right?” He whispered so no one besides her would
hear him.

“
That wasn’t it at all,”
she shook her head before she walked away. “I was just wondering if
my life would’ve been any different if I’d told anybody about what
was really going on.”

Jackson watched her puzzled
as she walked away. He frowned when he noticed that Paige and Kim
were walking towards him. For some reason, he felt like he was
about to be cornered.

“
Jackson, we need your
help in the kitchen.” Kim said as they walked past him.

“
Sure you do.” Jackson
frowned as Gracie sat down in front of Bea on the grass. He turned
to walk into the house as Steven glared at him. “What exactly have
I done to make Steven so mad at me?” Jackson asked Paige as he
stood near her.

“
You paid more attention
to Gracie’s life than he did. However, that isn't the reason why we
brought you in here.” Paige answered as Kim took some corn out of
the sink that had been soaking in water.

“
It’s not?” Jackson looked
from Paige to Kim.

“
It’s not.” Kim answered.
“For some reason, my brother wants to keep you away from Gracie. He
pretty much let us have it after I sent you to bring Gracie back.”
She placed the corn neatly on a plate. “We just want to know if
there's a good reason for it.”

“
Can you be more
specific?” Jackson sat down as Paige looked at him.

“
I'm trying to sort out
everything Steven has told me, and I'm going to be quick so keep up
with me. Just shake or nod your head,” Paige frowned as she looked
outside and watched Steven sit down beside Gracie. “Did you change
her diaper?” Jackson shook his head no. “Do you date the same woman
more than once?” Jackson nodded his head yes. “Do you sleep with
every woman who comes your way?” Jackson glared at her as he shook
his head no. “So you don’t do one-night stands?"

“
No, I don’t!” Jackson was
angry. “This is what my so called best friend has been telling
you?” He looked at Paige trying hard not to digest the bitterness
from the questioning. “Kim, please excuse me, but I think that it's
best that I leave.” He started to stand up but decided against it.
“No, I'm staying. If I leave now, I'll break Bea’s
heart.”

“
So what are you going to
do?” Kim asked as she watched the anger on his face.

“
I guess we'll all have to
wait and see.” Jackson walked outside with the platter of corn and
handed it over to Robert before he walked over to
Gracie.

Gracie had just stood when
he stepped in front of her, “Jackson?”

He pulled her to him and
kissed her right in front of Steven as Paige and Kim smiled. Gracie
responded to him before she pushed him away. Jackson whispered to
her. “Fair play, Cinderella. I'm mad.” He turned around and caught
Steven’s fist before it could land on his face. “Knock it off,
Steven. Gracie isn't a little girl anymore!”

Gracie watched them before
she ran into the house with tears running down her cheeks. Paige,
Kim, Janet, Sammie, and Bea had followed her. Bea watched while her
mother paced the floor while fighting back the anger that she
felt.

Kim told Sammie to take Bea
to her bedroom as her sister's agitation built.

“
Would somebody care to
tell me what just happened out there?!” Gracie looked at Kim after
she heard Sammie’s bedroom shut.

“
Jackson is just a little
miffed at Steven.” Kim said before she looked over at Paige. “It
seems that Steven has been saying a lot of things that weren’t true
about Jackson.”

“
So Jackson takes it upon
himself to kiss me in front of Steven to make a point. That made a
lot of sense. And what was the reason that Steven thought he should
take a swing at Jackson?” Gracie glanced at her sister hard. “You
can tell them both that they could go. . .” Gracie looked at her
mother who had been silent throughout the whole scene. “I'm sorry.
I’m going to leave for a couple of hours. I’ll come back for Bea;
right now I just want to be alone.” She started to walk out the
door before turning around. “Please inform Steven that he needs to
make up with Jackson because Bea is really attached to
Jackson.”

Janet glanced from Paige to
Kim after Gracie had left. “Okay, ladies, it's time that you inform
me exactly what is happening because I'm totally lost.” She sat
down while she waited. “Gracie said there wasn’t anything going on
between her and Jackson.”

“
You want everything?” Kim
asked as she sat down next to her.

“
Every itsy, bitsy
detail.” Janet motioned for Paige to sit down. “I have a feeling
that this could take a while.”

Paige and Kim told her
everything, including the web of lies that Steven had started to
spread in hopes of keeping anything from happening between his
sister and Jackson. “It all started when Jackson told Steven that
Gracie had kissed him.”

“
I see.” Janet stood and
looked for something to clean. She turned to Paige. “I was so
hoping that you could change my son.”

“
I'm just starting to see
this side of him, and I can’t say that I'm too pleased with it
myself.” Paige frowned as she admitted that Janet. “He's just darn
lucky that I love him, but I was Gracie’s friend first.” She paused
glancing towards Kim. “I feel like I'm the middle, and I don’t know
how to deal with that.”

“
Don’t.” Kim looked at her
seriously. “Gracie won’t ask you to choose sides. I'm not too sure
about Steven though.” Kim stood then. “I can tell you one
thing.”

“
What’s that?” Paige asked
as she stared down at the table.

“
Gracie isn't looking for
romance or a relationship.” Kim looked at her mother as she
informed them of what she had already guessed. “She's only looking
out for Bea’s happiness.”

Janet looked at Kim as if
she had gone crazy. “She's still young and this is all
foolishness.” Bea was looking for her mother when she heard them
talking.

“
Where did my mother go?”
Bea asked as she walked to her grandmother.

“
She had to do an errand.
She’ll be back, Princess.” Janet hugged her as she thought about
her own daughter. Sammie was watching them with a little more
understanding than Bea had and Kim noticed it.

“
She didn’t want to stay
in my bedroom after Aunt Gracie left, and she heard almost
everything you said.” Sammie whispered as she walked to Kim, who
after hearing what Sammie had to say gasped.

“
This is turning out to be
some barbeque.” Kim started to laugh before she went outside to see
Jackson and Steven still glaring at each other. She motioned for
Robert and Chandler to walk over to her. “Gracie left. She said to
tell those two that they had better find a way to get along for
Bea.”

“
How do we tell them
that?” Robert looked at her as Chandler winked.

“
Watch, Robert, you just
have to know how to handle those two.” Chandler walked over to
Steven as Kim and Robert watched. He made them both stand and
talked to them as they faced each other.

Kim fixed Gracie a plate
and wrapped it in foil to keep it warm as everybody else sat down
at the table. Janet noticed that Bea had sat down next to Jackson
and smiled when she remembered what Gracie had said right before
she left.

Steven and Paige had
already left by the time Gracie returned Kim’s house. Kim watched
her as she looked around. “Did the two of them make up?” Gracie
asked before she sat down.

“
Kind of, they' being
civil to each other.” Robert answered while Kim frowned. “What were
they fighting over? I missed that part.”

“
That’s what I love about
you, Robert.” Kim stood and smiled at her husband. “You never see
the bad in people.” She glanced over at Gracie before she answered
his question. “They had a disagreement about Gracie. I saved you a
plate, baby girl.”

Gracie followed her sister
into the kitchen where Bea was playing Chutes and Ladders with
Sammie and Jackson. “Who is winning?”

Sammie looked up at Gracie.
“Bea is.” Sammie laughed when Jackson took his turn and had to go
backwards again.