House Divided (18 page)

He kissed my head as we walked toward the
elevator. “I thought I almost had her,” he lamented.

“Me too.”

But it looked like that wasn’t going to
happen anytime soon. Brady followed me back to my aunt’s house so I could drop
off my car, and then we headed out to get that adorable carrot top. As soon as
Brady parked in his brother’s drive, he took me in his arms and kissed me
slowly and deeply.

“So, we’re starting the evening with a
goodnight kiss,” I asked as soon as we came back up for air.

His eyes practically burned into mine. “No
darlin’, that was to tide me over while we’re with my niece. I still plan on a
very long goodnight kiss.”

“That’s very good news.”

He groaned in reply and then kissed me one
more time before we exited his truck.

Caroline didn’t know I was coming, so she
was surprised to see me when she opened the door. She bypassed her uncle and
ran straight into my arms. Brady pretended to be hurt, but I could tell it made
him happy. It made me happy too. Now if we could only get the adults in our
family to be so accepting.

Caroline squeezed my cheeks as I held her
in my arms. “Are you still coming to my class next week for show and tell?”

I tried to smile and talk through my
smushed cheeks. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

I looked over to Brady to find him
enjoying the scene. “Caroline, do you think it would be alright if I brought
your Uncle Brady with me?”

She shook her head vigorously yes. Her
momma came out and joined us. She also seemed very happy to see me, or more
like happy to see me with her brother-in-law. I’m sure she had visions of her
moving up the pecking order, where Brady’s parents were concerned. But
honestly, I think she was just happy for us.

I set Caroline down, and Brady scooped her
up as she giggled.

Kendra came over and hugged me. “I had a
feeling about you two.”

“Thanks for the chocolate covered
strawberries and hot chocolate,” I whispered in response.

She laughed. Brady looked over at the two
of us, wondering what was so funny. “It’s privileged information,” she
responded to his inquiry.

Brady didn’t press, he just turned his
attention back to Caroline. “Hurry and get your shoes on.”

She quickly obeyed and ran toward her
room.

Brady walked over and embraced me and
kissed my head.

When Caroline came back out, her eyes
widened when she saw me in her uncle’s arms. She stopped in her tracks and
cocked her head. “Are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

“I wished I could say wife, or at least
fiancé,” Brady whispered in my ear.

“We’re getting there,” I replied.

He winked at me, then he confirmed
Caroline’s observation. She was very excited and very loud. “I’ve been praying
for it all week, and I just knew it was going to happen!” she exclaimed.

The faith of a child. Maybe I should get
her to pray that our parents would all think it was a great idea. We could use
all the help we could get.

Caroline was her chatty, happy self as we
drove to the movie theater in Birmingham. She gave us a review of the Christmas
cartoon we were about to see. From the sounds of it, her friends were giving it
two thumbs up. I hadn’t seen a cartoon in years. I guess it was what I had to
look forward to when I had kids of my own. I loved being with Caroline; her
enthusiasm was contagious. The only drawback was she insisted on sitting
between us. Brady tried to talk her out of it, but she wasn’t having it. Brady
looked longingly at me from his seat. I just winked at him. We had survived ten
years apart. I think we could deal with two hours.

The best part of the movie, for me, was
watching Caroline’s reactions and hearing her laugh hysterically at the
silliest things. The more I was around her, and the more I thought about Brady,
the more my biological clock kicked in. I had been suppressing it for so long
because honestly, I never thought I would find anyone I wanted to have children
with, but now that my first and only option was available, it kind of set
things in motion. I had thought a lot this week about having a baby, and I
admit, I was thinking sooner rather than later. I wondered if Brady would agree.

Caroline gave the movie two thumbs up. She
also convinced her uncle we needed to stop for hot chocolate. He was definitely
a pushover. We stopped at a new little place in downtown Kaysville called
Macie’s. It was a cute little restaurant, and apparently they had great hot
chocolate and desserts. I wasn’t too thrilled to be out and about in Kaysville,
but I figured we might as well come out and prove all the rumors true.

Sure enough, when we walked in together,
it got quieter and we became the center of attention. Brady pulled me closer
and whispered that he loved me in my ear. I couldn’t help but smile when he
said that, but I really disliked that we garnered so much attention. It wasn’t
necessarily unkind attention, it was more like curiosity. In fact, some even
gave us tentative smiles.

Brady asked for a booth. I knew he wanted
to sit by me, but Caroline wasn’t having it. We, again, sat across from him,
but he did hold my hand across the table. A young teenage girl came and took
our order. I think she was a little enamored with Brady. She seemed awful
nervous, and she kept staring at him. I couldn’t blame her. He was very
attractive and charming.

While we waited for our hot chocolate and
pie, Caroline gave me the lowdown on all of her classmates. She told me about
the nice kids and not so nice kids, who picked their noses and who her best
friends were. She was like the enquirer. If ever I needed to know anything, I
would have her investigate and report back to me. Brady and I laughed and
smiled frequently at her stories.

I tried to focus mainly on her and Brady,
but I still couldn’t help but notice the knowing glances. I hoped if we decided
this was where we would live that people would just come to accept us as a
couple, not an Eaton and a Jackson, but just a husband and wife that loved each
other. I honestly wished they would just look at us now and see how much we
loved each other and wanted to be together, and that there was nothing wrong
with it.

We did have a couple people brave our
table and ask how my aunt was doing. I was happy to report she was doing well
and would be coming home on Sunday. They seemed unsure about what else to say,
and they stared at our entwined hands. I noticed Brady enjoyed it. So much so,
he lifted my said hand and kissed it. One lady actually blushed. I wondered
what they would do if we kissed.

Caroline put it all into perspective for
us. “Uncle Brady, you sure like to touch Miss Ellie, a lot.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Brady smiled at her. “That’s because I
love her.”

“You love her? Does that mean you’re going
to marry her?” Caroline practically shouted.

Dead silence.

I looked over across the crowd, and people
were very interested in the reply. They weren’t rude enough to gawk at us, but
you could definitely tell they waited on bated breath to hear what the answer
was. Brady was more than happy to oblige.

He smiled at me wickedly and winked.
“Darlin’, nothing would make me happier,” he said just as loudly as Caroline.

I think I heard collective choking and
coughing. I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry because of the reactions.
I still couldn’t believe, after all of these years, we still got this kind of
attention.  I couldn’t believe all the heads close together whispering and the
furious texting that seemed to be going on. Brady mouthed he loved me, and I
returned the sentiment, but I shook my head at him. He knew what kind of
trouble he was stirring up.

We ate our pie and drank our hot chocolate
and then made a grand exit. Brady made sure to kiss me, mostly for effect I’m
sure, as he helped me with my coat. He really was a trouble maker, but I found
I really didn’t care when he was near. People could talk all they wanted.

Caroline was disappointed she wasn’t
having a sleepover at Uncle Brady’s. She thought the three of us should have
one together.

“I agree. I’m ready for a sleepover with
you,” Brady whispered in my ear.

I playfully smacked him.

He just laughed.

We dropped Caroline off, and Brady wasted
no time in finding my lips once we were back in his truck. We decided to go
back to my place, that way he could keep his word to my aunt and not keep me
“out” late. Brady started a fire in our family room fireplace, and then we put
on “While You Were Sleeping” and snuggled up to the glow of the firelight and
the Christmas tree decorated in white and promptly ignored the movie. This was
definitely shaping up to be the best Christmas season ever.

After several minutes of ignoring the
movie, Brady began to kiss my neck slowly and softly, which drove me crazy. He
knew what he was doing, and I fell right into his little trap. “Ellie, would
you do something for me tomorrow?” he asked between kisses.

“Anything,” I said without thinking.

He stopped kissing me and smiled a wicked
grin. I quickly realized my mistake. I was waiting to hear what I just got
myself into. I had visions of going to the courthouse. Then I remembered,
thankfully, they were closed on Saturday. Maybe Vegas?

He tugged on my hair as he kept me in
suspense. I think he enjoyed having me in the palm of his hands. His eyes
danced with delight in the firelight. “Will you have dinner with me tomorrow
night …?”

I laughed lightly and breathed a sigh of
relief. “Of course.”

“And my parents?” he added.

I quit laughing. Brady leaned forward and
put our foreheads together. “Please, darlin’.”

Saying yes to Vegas would have been
easier.

I untangled myself from him and stood up.
“Don’t ‘darlin’’ me, Brady Jackson.”

He was too quick. He pulled me right back
onto his lap and laughed. “I love when you get all fiery.”

I just shook my head at him. He, on the
other hand, started kissing my neck again.

“Brady, you need to stop doing that.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to stay angry at you.”

He chuckled but didn’t stop, and I
thoroughly enjoyed him not listening to me for several moments.

I finally settled against him. “I thought
you loved me.”

He wrapped me tighter in his arms. “Ellie,
can’t you see that’s why I want you to do this?”

“Your parents hate me.”

“Your aunt hates me too, but that’s not
going to prevent me from trying to win her over for your sake.”

“Brady, I see your point, but you know
there are some differences.”

“Ellie, I realize that. But I also realize
you aren’t going to move forward until we can get our families on board at
least somewhat, and more than anything I want to move forward with you. Ellie,
I love you, and I’m ready to confess that before God and everyone.” He kissed
my cheek softly. “Darlin’, I’m trying to patiently wait for you to be ready
too. But is it so bad that I’m impatient to marry you and that I want to hurry
that process along?”

Why does he have to be so sweet and right?

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll have dinner with you
and your parents tomorrow night.”

He kissed me thoroughly in response, which
was good because I needed the distraction. I was all sorts of worried about
what I had just agreed to.

When Doris arrived early Saturday morning,
I promptly begged her to help me make a dessert for the coming evening’s dinner
at his parents’ home. I was finally going to enter their lair and I wanted to
do my best to win them over, just like Brady was doing for me. I owed it to
him. I had very low expectations, but darn it if I wasn’t going to do my best
for Brady. Doris was more than happy to help me out. I probably should have asked
her for cooking lessons long ago, but there was no turning the clock back now.

“I have just the recipe. It’s sure to
impress,” she promised.

I trusted her judgment, so we rolled with
it. She was going to help me make a lemon raspberry coconut layered cake. It
sounded way above my skill level (really anything was going to be), but she
assured me she would be with me every step of the way and it would be perfect.

It took us all morning, but boy did it
look pretty on the frosted glass cake stand when we were done. I hoped it
tasted just as good. Doris assured me it would taste even better. I took her at
her word and profusely thanked her.

“It’s my pleasure. I’m happy to help you
anytime,” she said kindly.

I thought I should probably take her up on
that, especially since I had been contemplating motherhood all week. I hugged
her tight, and then I quickly left to go see my aunt.

On the way to the hospital, Brady called
me and told me he would pick me up at six, and he reminded me that he loved me.
I reminded him that it was the only reason I was doing this. He had high hopes
for tonight. He kept saying last night that if his parents could just get to
know me, they would love me because he thinks to know me is to love me. But he
was awfully biased, and you just don’t erase over forty years of hate in one
night.

I ran up to my aunt’s room and found her
sitting in a chair. That made me very happy. She apparently had even taken a
short walk earlier, which made me even happier. I was so ready for her to come
home, and I knew she was too. I sat down next to her as she gave me a funny
sort of look.

“What?” I said.

“I’ve had some interesting phone calls
this morning about you.”

“Who would call you about me?”

“Let’s just say it sounds like you and
that Jackson boy put on quite a show last night at Macie’s.”

I couldn’t even say how annoyed I was that
people were tattle-taling on me. For crying out loud, I was an adult and we weren’t
putting on a show. It wasn’t my fault people were so dang nosy in Kaysville.

My aunt read the annoyance on my face and
smirked.

“I hope you don’t believe that,” I
replied.

“So, Brady doesn’t want to marry you and
you weren’t being affectionate?”

“Yes, that part’s true, but we weren’t
putting on a show. It’s not my fault the whole town finds us fascinating. It’s
ridiculous that we can’t even go out together and not have people stare at us
and talk about us.”

“Calm down, sugar.” She seemed amused.

I grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.
“I’m sorry. I’m just really stressed today.”

She enquired why, and I told her. She did
not seem amused anymore.

“I know,” was all I could say.

“I don’t like it, Ella Lu.”

“Do you think I do? But I promised Brady.”
I looked at her thoughtfully. “Aunt Lu, he loves me and I love him, and we want
to get married. But I can’t do that until I know our families won’t tear us
apart again.”

“Ella Lu, who do think arranged you
meeting with him?” she said defensively.

“Aunt Lu, I’m not blaming you or accusing
you of anything. I know you’ll support me, and I know that’s a sacrifice you’re
making for my happiness. I can’t express how much that means to me. I just want
everyone to be happy. I can’t stand the thought of causing discord in our
families.” A tear escaped my eye. I wiped it away quickly.

“Ella Lu, you could never do anything that
would keep me away from you. You’re my girl, and we’re forever. As for being
happy about that boy and you, that’s a tall order. I know he makes you happy,
but I can’t forget all the sadness he and his family caused you these last ten
years. Someday you’ll understand what it’s like for a momma to watch her
daughter be in pain and not be able to make it better.”

I smiled at her through my tears. “But you
did figure out how to make it better.”

“So you’re saying I can only blame myself
for bringing that boy into our family.”

I laughed. “That works for me.”

I didn’t spend too much longer with her,
but I think we left things on a good note. I wanted to run to the Summit
yet again. I needed to get some personal Christmas shopping done, and I wanted
to look my best tonight. I still didn’t know what to get Brady. I mean, I knew
what he wanted, but I didn’t know if that would happen by Christmas. My aunt still
seemed determined to call him ‘that Jackson boy,’ and who knew what tonight
would bring?

I didn’t get any good ideas of what to get
Brady as I perused the stores, but I felt like I picked out the perfect gift
for Benjamin and Kendra. I got them a romantic getaway package, including hotel
and spa accommodations at a swanky hotel downtown, and I would throw in a
weekend of babysitting. I also picked out a few items for my Aunt Lu and added
several new outfits to my Alabama wardrobe. Then I rushed home to get ready.

I put loose curls in my hair and pulled it
up. I wore some tailored jeans that hugged my curves well. I knew my aunt
wouldn’t like the jeans, but oh well, I knew Brady would. I topped it with a
white shirt and tailored black jacket that accentuated my waist. I accessorized
with red jewelry and some gorgeous ruby red pumps.

I had ten minutes to spare, or at least I
thought I did. My doorbell rang just as I was walking down the stairs. I opened
it to find my ever handsome boyfriend holding a large bouquet of my favorite
flowers, pink roses. Before he stepped in, he looked me over and a mischievous
grin crept across his face.

“What’s that look for?”

“All I can say is, wow.”

He put the flowers in his left hand and
then he pulled me to him with his right and kissed me once. “You look amazing,
Ellie.”

I wiped the lipstick off his lips. “I know
I’m not a beauty queen, but do you think I’ll pass your parents’ test?”

“Darlin’, you’re a beauty, and hands down,
I’ll have the best looking wife in my family. And I couldn’t care less what my
parents think. I, for one, am happy you were never in one of those pageants.”

I loved hearing him say that. I smiled and
kissed him again. I might as well give up wearing lipstick, but I should stock
up on lip moisturizer. My lips weren’t used to all this action.

I led him back to the kitchen so I could
put the flowers in a vase. I also wanted to show him the cake I made with Doris.
He was super impressed. “Thank you, Ellie, for agreeing to go with me and for all
of the trouble you’ve gone through.”

“I suppose you’re worth it.” I grinned.
“But you have to promise you won’t leave my side the whole night.”

“I have no intention of leaving your side
ever.”

Yeah, I liked the sound of that.

I took several deep breaths as we walked
out with the cake in hand. Brady kept glancing over and smiling tentatively. I
think he felt guilty. I just hoped I could make it through the night without
embarrassing myself or tossing my cookies. I wasn’t sure how I was going to
eat; my stomach was in all sorts of knots.

It was a pretty quiet ride over. Brady
kept his hand on my leg and would squeeze it once in a while. I hated that it
was like this. For most couples, this would be a good thing, something to be
celebrated, but for us it was something to be feared and dreaded.

The Jackson mansion was all lit up in
thousands of white twinkle lights; it was quite lovely. My aunt used to have
the outside of her house professionally decorated for the holidays. I wonder
when she stopped. I guess I would have to ask her.

Brady turned to me before we got out and
lightly brushed my lips. “I love you.”

“I know.” I replied. I felt like my heart
was going to beat out of my chest I was so nervous.

He touched my cheek. “Just be yourself.”

“I don’t know how to be anyone else.”

He kissed me gently again. “Thank goodness
for that, darlin’. Are you ready?”

“If I say no, can we leave?”

“Ellie, we’ll leave right now if you don’t
want to do this.”

I took a deep breath and looked into his
beautiful blue eyes, and I reminded myself who I was doing this for and why it
was important. I pictured myself dressed in white, walking toward Brady and a
honeymoon and endless nights of never having to say goodbye. I took one more
deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

He smiled and got out of the truck. I
handed him the cake and then he helped me out. He carried the cake in one hand
and held my hand with the other. They had a circular drive just like my Aunt Lu,
but instead of a large fountain in the middle, they had a pretty sitting area
with benches, trees and shrubbery. I’m sure in the spring and summer it had
arrangements of flowers too.

The house was bigger than ours, not that I
cared, but I’m sure they did that on purpose. It was made of red brick. They
also had white columns, but they were bigger around and taller. The house
looked like it had the main house and then two large wings.

Brady didn’t even knock. I guess it would
be silly to knock at your parents’ home, but I wanted another minute before I
had to walk in. Oh well. The entryway was well lit and large, but I was
surprised to see a very tall and full white Christmas tree decorated in red and
green in the middle. I always thought different colored Christmas trees were
tacky, and we obviously liked real ones in my family. I didn’t say anything. I
just kept smiling.

“I hate that tree,” Brady whispered.

Thank goodness
,
I thought. I figured he was more of a real tree kind of guy.

As we walked down the hall, I glanced at
all the family pictures that lined both sides. They all looked like they were
cut from cream cheese, perfectly smiling and posing. The pictures at our house
were of vacations and of us being silly and natural. Sure, we had a couple of
posed pictures, but those weren’t as fun. I kept a tight grip on his hand and
walked very closely to him. I’m not sure what I was afraid was going to happen,
but I had the feeling like when you walk through a haunted house, you never knew
what was going to jump out at you.

“Momma, we’re here,” Brady called out.

As we continued to walk back to the
kitchen, I heard his momma before I saw her. She was looking in their large,
commercial size refrigerator, “Brady, where are your manners? I taught you
better than to yell in the house.” When she stood up and looked over at us, she
didn’t look pleased. Or maybe that was the Botox. She definitely looked like
she’d had cosmetic surgery of some sort. She had light colored hair, the kind
you couldn’t tell if it was blonde or white. When we were younger, she was
blonde. She also had very shrewd, blue eyes, but they weren’t Brady blue. She
pulled out a pitcher of liquid and shut the door and walked toward the counter
we were near.

Brady set the cake down and put his arm
around me. “Momma, this is Ellie.”

She looked directly at him. “I know who
she is.”

I guess it was show time. “Hello, Mrs. Jackson.” I tried to keep it friendly and light. Maybe I should have said, “It is nice to
see you again,” but everyone would know that was a big fat lie.

All she said in reply was hello, and that
seemed hard for her. She looked me over from head to toe and seemed to take
issue with my red heels. She was very conservatively dressed in camel colored
pants and a black turtleneck with black flats. She looked very motherly, at
least in dress. Her facial expression was more along the lines of a serial
killer.

Brady motioned toward the cake. “Ellie
made dessert for us.”

“Well, I had some help,” I interjected.

She looked at me like I was inept. “Your
daddy and I rarely eat dessert, it’s unhealthy.”

I wanted to snap back, but I didn’t have
to. Brady was not pleased at all by his momma’s reaction. “Well then, let this
be one of those nights.”

She didn’t respond.

“Mrs. Jackson, is there something I can
help you with?” I forced myself to say.

“No.” she said quickly and coldly. She
turned to Brady. “Your daddy’s already in the dining room, why don’t you go and
see him.”

Brady led me into the hall that led to the
dining room. He paused to embrace me. “I’m sorry, Ellie.”

“I expected it.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“It is what it is, Brady.”

He kissed me lightly.

That’s when I heard a piano. “Is someone
playing a piano?”