House Divided (14 page)

Doris was already gone, thankfully. I’m
sure I looked frightful. I drug all of my bags up to my room and then just sat
on my bed and cried some more. I pulled Brady’s coat tight around me and drank
in the smell of it. I had always loved the way he smelled, well except for
after football practice and games, but even then I didn’t mind too much. I
loved when he would come off the field, pick me up, spin us around and then
kiss me. It was thoughts like these that had gotten me into trouble for the
last ten years. Why couldn’t I just be a normal person and move on from my high
school boyfriend? I felt like those crazy people they have on talk shows. And
that kiss tonight wasn’t going to help the situation any. When he kissed me, my
first thought was, “Finally.” I had been kissed by plenty of men over the
years, but they had never compared to being kissed by Brady. I don’t know if I
could explain it, but when Brady kissed me, all felt right with the world, and
I felt like I was his world.

I was so exhausted, I only kicked off my
shoes before I curled up on my bed, wrapped in Brady’s coat, and fell asleep. I
awoke early, and I reluctantly took off Brady’s coat. I got a garment box out
of the closet and placed the coat in it. I wrote a short note:

Dear Brady,

Thank you for the use of your coat and for
being there for me yesterday. I will always remember your kindness.

I wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Elle

I almost naturally wrote “Love, Ellie,”
but I stopped myself. I quickly got ready and took the box and note down with
me and asked Doris if she would please deliver it to the bank. I didn’t know
what other way to get it to him that didn’t involve me seeing him. I guess I
could have given it to Kendra, but I didn’t want her to ask any questions. I
needed to cut all ties with the Jackson family. The only thing I would do was
read to Caroline’s class, and that was only because I had already promised to.

Doris
surprised me. She sat
next to me and held my hands. “Do you want to talk about it, Miss Ella?”

“Talk about what?”

“That Jackson boy, of course.”

I laughed lightly. “You know he has a
name, right? And he’s definitely not a boy anymore.”

“Sorry, Miss Ella, that’s what Ms. Eaton
calls him and I’m just used to it.”

“It’s ok, Doris. Thanks for the offer, but
I think he’s the last person I should talk about.”

She squeezed my hands. “Oh Miss Ella, you
still love him.”

I tried not to cry. “I almost can’t
remember a time when I didn’t.”

“You know, I was always rooting for the
two of you.”

“Does my aunt know that?” I smiled.

She waved her hand back and forth. “This
Eaton-Jackson nonsense has gone on long enough in this town. I was always
hoping the two of you would bridge the gap once and for all. And I’ve never
seen two kids more in love than the two of you.”

“I thought so too, but I was just young
and naïve. Brady fell in love with someone else and his parents would have
never accepted me.”

“Oh Miss Ella, my mother-in-law never
liked me, God rest her soul, but that sure didn’t keep me and my Cal apart. And
as far as Mr. Brady being in love with that girl, I don’t know. I saw them
around town, and it sure didn’t look like it to me.”

“Then why did it last so long? And they
were engaged.”

“Honey, I can’t answer that. Have you
asked Mr. Brady?”

“No, I just yelled at him.”

She smiled at me and patted my cheeks.
“Well, he probably deserved it.”

“Thanks, Doris. I’ve missed you.”

Her eyes were suddenly wet. “It’s never
been the same since you left.”

I hugged her and got on with my day. She
fed me well, once again, and then I was off to see that aunt of mine. I had
already called this morning, and I knew she was doing well, but I still wanted
to get there and see her myself. Even though she was sick, I just needed my
momma this morning. Talking to Doris was lovely, but sometimes a girl just
needs her mom.

Before I went to see my aunt, I found my
nice doctor friend who was still lying through his teeth about being an Auburn graduate. I had several boxes of books and dolls arrive that morning before I left.
I owed him for being such a good sport, and I wanted to talk to him about
visiting the children’s ward and donating some books and dolls.

Dr. Sandstrom was as gracious as ever. He
even took me down to meet the pediatric ward coordinator, and they were more
than happy to have my donations. They even asked me to come in and read to the
kids that Friday. I was happy to oblige. I needed to do something for someone
else. It was the best cure for feeling sorry for yourself. And admittedly, I
felt pretty sorry for myself. I would probably be having a pity party for me,
myself, and I right now if my aunt wasn’t in the hospital. It still might have
been on the agenda for tonight.

My aunt was alert when I entered her room.
She still looked frail, but she had a little more color to her. The doctor said
she should be in a regular room by tomorrow and hopefully home by the weekend.
I sure hoped so.

I noticed a large floral arrangement with
several types of white flowers including, roses, spray roses, oriental lilies,
and alstroemerias. It was gorgeous.

“Who sent the flowers?”

“That Jackson boy.” Her voice was still
raspy from being intubated during surgery.

Of course they were from him. He needed to
quit being wonderful.

“Are you ever going to call him Brady?”

She looked at me and narrowed her eyes.
“Do I have a good reason to?”

“Other than he has a first name and he’s
not a boy anymore?”

“It will take more than that, sugar.”

Ok. I didn’t want to talk about him anyway.

“Are you alone today, Ella Lu?”

But, it looks like that wasn’t going to
happen.

“Yep, always and forever it looks like.”
Yes,
that was very dramatic.

I sat down next to her and held her hand.

Her eyes were full of concern. “What
happened?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re not a very good liar, Ella Lu.”

“That’s not true. I lied to you for over a
whole year once, don’t you remember? You don’t know how sorry I am for that
still.”
I have paid heavily for lying and breaking the rules.

“Ella Lu, I’m sorry I made you lie.”

I looked at her inquisitively. “What?”

“You heard me. I should have never made
that rule. It was unfair to you and even that Jackson boy.”

“In the end, you were right. I should have
stayed away from him.”

“Sugar, what happened last night?”

“Oh, just a bunch of built up of anger was
unleashed.”

She smiled almost evilly. “You finally let
him have it?”

“You could say that.”

“So what did he say?”

“Not a thing. But it makes no difference.
Jacksons and Eatons aren’t meant to be together.”

“Ella Lu, do you still love that Jackson boy?”

I put my head down and laid it on the side
of her bed. “Oh, what does it matter?”

I felt her touch my hair. “You didn’t
answer the question, sugar.”

“Yes, I still love the stupid man.”

I heard her try and laugh at me, but she
didn’t have it in her yet. “So what’s the problem? You love him, he loves you.”

I lifted up my head and looked at her.
“How do you know that?”

She touched my cheek. “I asked him.”

“Why in the world would you do that?”

She didn’t answer me. I learned the art of
delay and divert from her.

“So what’s the problem?”

“Really? Are you kidding me? Do they have
you on some mind altering medication?”

“I’m completely lucid, Ella Lu. Do not
sass me.”

“I’m not sassing you, I’m just very
confused. You hate Brady Jackson and you never wanted us to be together, now
all of sudden you do? Why?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

I put my head back down and sighed. Why
couldn’t she ever just tell me what I wanted when I wanted? Oh, I knew
eventually she would. That’s how she worked, but it was awfully frustrating
right now.

“Well, let’s start with he lied to me,
left me, got engaged to a bimbo, oh and his parents loathe me. Are those good
enough reasons?”

She didn’t say anything for a while. She
just stroked my hair, and I was content just letting her. Part of me wanted to
curl up on her bed with her like I was a girl again and let her make it all
better. Unfortunately, not even she could make this one better.

“Let’s plan a trip for as soon as you can
travel,” I said after several minutes of silence.

“Sugar, look up at me.”

I obeyed. She looked at me with eyes full
of tenderness. “You can’t run away from this.”

“But it’s over. There’s nothing to run
away from.”

“Sugar, I don’t think it’s over for you or
for that Jackson boy, and I think you both deserve a second chance without the
previous constraints.”

I laid my head back down again and almost
cried. “How could it ever work?”

“Well, sugar, that’s something you and
that boy will have to figure out. You just need to decide if it’s worth it and
if he’s worth it.”

Well, that was the million dollar
question. Was Brady Jackson worth it? I had too many unanswered questions to
know for sure, but after last night, they were probably going to stay that way.

We spent the rest of the day discussing
which place I should write my next book about. I had three destinations and
plot lines in mind. It was between Sydney, Tokyo, or Rio de Janeiro. My aunt
liked my Sydney story line the best because it surrounded the Opera House
there. I told her we could work up some story boards while she stayed in the
hospital. She seemed to like the idea.

By evening she was tired and I was too,
and I really didn’t want to eat hospital cafeteria food for dinner; lunch was
enough. Doris had told me she would leave something for me to warm up. I really
did need to get a cook in Atlanta. I said my goodbyes and headed home. On the
way home, I contemplated the conversations we had about Brady. It was still
perplexing to me that my aunt, of all people, wanted me to give Brady a second
chance. I still wasn’t ruling out the possibility that I’d been pulled into a
parallel universe or that I was in a coma. I wished she would come clean about
her motives, or about the so called information she had come across about the
two of us, but I knew she wouldn’t until she was good and ready, or until her
plans either worked or failed.

I walked straight back to the kitchen when
I got back to the house. Something smelled fabulous. I found a crockpot full of
cheesy potato soup and, to top it off, a loaf of freshly made bread. So, maybe
Kaysville wasn’t all bad. I returned the emails I had been neglecting all day
while I ate. I was a great multi-tasker. After dinner and my distractions, I
felt that pity party coming on.

I walked toward the music room. I missed
playing my grand piano. I didn’t have room for it in my townhome in Atlanta, plus it just fit in this room. I perused through my old sheet music; it brought
back lots of memories of recitals and hours and hours of practice. I remembered
my relentless complaints about the amount of time I was made to practice, but
my aunt always said someday I would thank her and, as always, she was right.
One particular piece brought back more memories than I needed at the moment.

I was taken back to a clear, warm, early
spring night my junior year. Brady asked me to meet him by the river at our
favorite spot. When I got there, he had the back of his truck decked out with a
blow up couch, and he had one of those portable DVD players with a screen that
you could watch in your car on a trip. To top it off, he had popcorn and
drinks. I remembered how proud he looked about his idea. We could never watch a
movie at each other’s home, but this was better in my opinion. We snuggled
close, and Brady put on an old movie (at least old for us). It was called ‘The
Man from Snowy River’. I had never even heard of it, but Brady loved horses,
and this movie was made for Brady. Actually, it fit our own situation somewhat
too. It was about a man and woman that loved each other, but there was strong
parental objections. The female lead, Jessica, played the piano too. During a
poignant scene, she played ‘Fur Elise’. Brady and I both loved that scene so
much, I decided to learn how to play it. My piano teacher had told me it had
been way over done, but I didn’t care. I practiced that piece until I could
play it perfectly and from memory.

And it wasn’t just the music from that
movie that hit me so strongly. At the end of the movie, Jessica’s love
interest, Jim, tells her father, who objected to them being together, that he’d
be back for her. I remember crying during that scene, and Brady wiping my tears
away and then kissing me. He promised me, no matter what, he would always come
back for me; that nothing could keep us apart, not even our parents. I was dumb
enough to believe him with all of my heart.

Since I was already crying, I sat down on
the bench and lightly ran my fingers across the keys. Then I began. I still
didn’t need the sheet music. That piece had become a part of me, the way good
music is supposed to. I also played “Jessica’s Theme” from the movie. While I played,
I cried and cried. It was a world class pity party for one. At the end of
“Jessica’s Theme” I realized it wasn’t a party for one. I had an audience.

I was startled by clapping. I turned to
find Brady standing at the door, looking fabulous in jeans and a collared shirt
with a blue sweater over it. I didn’t know what to say to him. I just sat
there, wiping away my tears, feeling foolish.

“I’m sorry to startle you. I knocked and
knocked and no one answered, but your door was unlocked.”

“So you thought you should just let
yourself in?”

He gave me a crooked smile. “Well, how
else was I going to see you?”

I stood up and closed the lid to the
piano.

Brady braved entering and came toward me.
“Do you remember the first time you played those songs for me?”

Apparently he’d been standing there quite
a long time.

“You may be surprised what I remember
too.”

I had to play them for him in the school’s
choir room since I couldn’t invite him home and my aunt would have had a fit if
he came to one of my recitals. I remembered after I finished playing he hugged
me tight and told me he loved me. 

The tears started to escape again. Brady
edged closer to me and drew me to him. I didn’t have it in me to fight him. He
pulled me close, and I rested my head against his chest and cried. He stroked
my hair with one hand and held me with the other. “I’m so sorry, Ellie.”

“You promised me you would always come
back for me, but you didn’t,” I said through sobbing.

“I know, Ellie. I should have. But, I’m
here now. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“Brady, how could we ever make it work?
Too much has happened and not enough has changed.”

He reached up, placed both of his hands on
my face and pulled just enough away from me, so he could look into my eyes. I’m
sure I looked like a mess. As he wiped away my tears with his thumbs, he
smiled. “One thing that has never changed is that I love you and have loved
only you.”

I wanted to ask if that was true, then why
did he get engaged to Amber, but his lips found mine before I could say
anything. For a moment, all was right with the world. His kiss started off
gentle and tentative, like he wasn’t sure it was ok, but when I responded, he
deepened the kiss and his hands found their way through my hair and then down
my back where he could pull me closer. I don’t know how long the kiss lasted,
but it was longer than I had ever remembered kissing anyone, including him.
When we were both breathy, he abruptly stopped and he sweetly kissed my
forehead. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you, Ellie.”

I lightly laughed. “I might have an idea.”

He lifted me up off my feet. He looked so
happy. Like the Brady I remembered, but the more attractive, grown-up version.
“Will you come with me somewhere?”

“It’s kind of late.”

“I know, but we need to talk, and I want
to show you something.”

How could I refuse him? “Ok.”

He kissed me briefly again, before setting
me down.

“You should probably change first.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise, just go put on some
jeans and a warm shirt.”

I began to walk away and up to my room to
change, but he pulled me back and dipped me back and kissed me again. I
couldn’t help but grin.

“Sorry, darlin’,” he said. “I’m just
making up for lost time.” He pulled me back up. “I do love you, Ellie.”

I didn’t say it back. I wasn’t quite ready
for that. He was right, we needed to talk. It didn’t upset him, in fact I think
he knew I wouldn’t say it back. “I love you enough for the both of us,” he
said.

I walked away feeling better than I had
felt in forever. I walked up the back hidden staircase to my room, not sure
what was going to happen, but I found I didn’t really care at the moment. I
changed into some of the new jeans I’d purchased the previous day, but I threw
on one of my old Auburn sweatshirts. It kind of seemed fitting.

I came down the front staircase to find
him waiting for me in the foyer. When he saw me, his eyes lit up. I loved that.
He met me at the last step. Even with me being on higher ground, I was still
shorter than him.

He wrapped me up. “Are you ready to go,
darlin’?”

“Yep.”

“Do you have a warm coat you can wear?”

“No, I left it in Atlanta, but I can go
see what my aunt has.”

“That’s ok, you can borrow mine again.” He
winked.  “I loved that it smelled like you when I got it back today.”

“Yeah … well, I kind of slept in it last
night.”

He kissed me once. “I like the sound of
that.”

He led me out to his truck, but he didn’t
take me to the passenger side, he took me around to the driver’s side, like he
used to when we were younger. I would just slide in and sit right next to him.
He gave me that country boy smile when he opened the door. I was so on to him,
but I slid in and sat in the middle.

After he climbed in, he grabbed me again
and kissed me hard. I had a feeling he would be doing that a lot tonight. He
tugged on my hair. “You look good there, Ellie.” Then he took off like we were
on fire.

“So are you going to tell me where you’re
taking me?”

He reached down and held my hand. “All in
good time.”

We made small talk on the way to our
destination. “How’s your aunt today?”

“She’s a little better, but still weak. By
the way, the flowers are absolutely beautiful. Are you hoping to butter her
up?”

He laughed deeply. “Well, I’m just hoping
someday she’ll call me by my name.”

“You have your work cut out for you
there.”

He shook his head in acknowledgement. 

I noticed we were heading out toward the
lake. As we neared the Jackson mansion, I tensed a little. Surely he wouldn’t
do that to me. I was relieved when we sailed by the turn to his parents’ house.
I noticed Brady looked at me briefly as we drove by. Then we drove by his
brother’s place. We wound around the lake and turned on a little road that was
almost covered by pine trees. I probably would have missed it if I was driving
myself. The road wasn’t paved, but it looked well-traveled and maintained. It
was also lined by trees. After about a quarter of a mile, I could make out a
clearing and a home. I could also see the lake and a fire burning. Brady looked
over at me and his face was engulfed in a huge grin.

“Is this your place?”

He shook his head yes. As we neared it, I
could see the house was a log cabin. I couldn’t help but smile. Brady had
always said he wanted to live in a log cabin, and this was a beautiful cabin
made with cedar logs. There was a large front porch made of stone and wood, I
even noticed rocking chairs on it. It looked newly built.

As soon as he stopped the truck, he looked
at me. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s very you.”

“I’m still working on it, but at least
it’s livable now.”

“How long have you been working on it?”

“A couple of years.”

He opened his door and helped me out. He
reached back in and grabbed his long gray wool coat. He wrapped it around me.
It kind of swallowed me up. He grabbed a hold of my hand and led me to his
backyard that edged the lake. Even at night, it was beautiful. The moon
reflected off the still lake. There was a large stone fire pit near the water’s
edge with a fire already blazing inside.

I looked up to Brady. It didn’t seem like
something he would do, leaving an unattended fire for so long.

“Benjamin,” was all he said.

“So this was a coordinated plan.”

He just winked and walked me over to the
fire pit that I bet he built himself. “I’ll be right back. You stay here and
keep warm.” He kissed me briefly before he left me.

I turned and watched him walk back toward
his house. He walked up the steps to his porch, which was quite large. It
looked like a porch made for parties. Boy did he look good. He was definitely
blessed in the physical department. He came back down quickly, carrying
blankets and a basket. I wondered if that was Benjamin or Kendra’s doing. When
he returned, he laid out a large colorful patchwork quilt and set out the
contents of the basket. It looked like a thermos of what I would guess was hot
chocolate, then there were my favorite, chocolate covered strawberries. He also
pulled out an iPhone speaker and he hooked his phone up and put on some George
Strait. He walked back to me, looking more than pleased with himself. He led
me to the blanket and invited me to sit down as he joined me.

“It looks like Kendra’s been busy too.”

He laughed and grabbed the extra checkered
quilt, which was quite large. He wrapped it around both of us, and I leaned
against his shoulder. He kept his arms around me. I was more than warm on this
chilly December night.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Brady
Jackson? Because I’m still not that kind of girl.”