House Divided (27 page)

I did as my aunt asked. I don’t know what
improvement it made, if any. My eyes were still red and my skin looked ghostly
white. I threw on some jeans and one of my Auburn jerseys and I made my way
downstairs to the drawing room where my aunt sat waiting. The room was filled
with pink roses. I didn’t have to ask from whom. There must have been at least
ten dozen roses placed all over. I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t help it.
Why did he have to be so good?

“He loves you, Ella Lu.”

“I know. I love him too. But loving each
other was never our problem; it’s what it did to everyone else.”

She looked at me sympathetically as I sat
down in front of the tree, just like I had when I was younger. My aunt was
sitting on the chair closest. Sitting on the floor was no longer an option for
her. I had no desire to open gifts, but I wasn’t doing this for me.

We each took turns, like we always had,
unwrapping and admiring what we each had bought for each other. As always, my
aunt was generous and thoughtful with the gifts she had purchased me. She added
to my ever growing jewelry collection with a beautiful pearl necklace, and she
had even had some perfume I loved shipped in from Luxembourg.

We finished, and as I sat among the
unwrapped paper, the doorbell rang. I was afraid who it might be. I desperately
wanted it to both be Brady and not to be him. I missed him so much that I
physically ached, but I knew we could never be together, and being around him
would only make it hurt even more.

Doris
answered the door, and I
waited on bated breath. Hopefully it was just the florist again, but then I
heard Doris’ raised voice. “You’re not welcome here,” she said.

Surely she wouldn’t speak to Brady that
way. I stood up to see what the commotion was all about. Then I heard
her.

“That very well may be, but I’m not
leaving until I speak to Ella.”

I looked at my aunt, and she was frozen.
We both recognized the voice of Elizabeth Jackson. She had some nerve showing
up here. I went to tell her to leave, but she just walked right past Doris
and stood in the foyer. She turned to see us in the drawing room.

“Miss Ella, I’m so sorry,” Doris profusely
apologized.

“Please don’t apologize, this isn’t your
fault. We’ll see to her.” I glared coldly at the unwelcome guest.

Doris left, but I could tell she was
upset. We would talk to her later. For now, I was focused on the woman that
stood in my foyer. I could tell she was trying to maintain her air of authority
and importance, but she was definitely nervous. She and my aunt locked eyes.

I looked over at my aunt, who still sat
near the fireplace. “Are you alright?” I asked.

She didn’t say a word, she just kept
coldly staring at our unwanted visitor.

“What are you doing here, Elizabeth?” Normally I would use Mrs. Jackson, but she didn’t deserve my respect. I think
she thought about calling me on it too, but then decided it would be better to
let it slide. That was a good choice on her part.

“I need to speak to you,” she said.

“I have nothing to say to you. Looks like
you wasted your time coming over here. You can see yourself out.”

Her face reddened. “Don’t you dare talk
...”

“Elizabeth,” my aunt said with authority.
“I suggest that you don’t speak to my child that way.”

A panicked look suddenly crossed Elizabeth’s
features. “Please, I need to speak with you,” she said almost desperately.

“Why?” I couldn’t imagine what she would
have to say to me that would be of any value.

“I’m trying to save my family.”

There was part of her family I valued more
than anything, and wasn’t I staying away from Brady so that she could have him?

“Fine. Have a seat.” I motioned toward the
couch.

She tentatively walked in, all while
looking at my aunt nervously.

I sat down near my aunt, and we both
stared her down. She looked terrible, but I guess I would too if I had just
lost my husband. She turned around to look at all the roses. I’m sure she knew
who they were from.

My aunt and I waited for her to speak. She
was, after all, the one that called this little pow wow.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that Brady
and Benjamin both refuse to speak to me or come to their daddy’s funeral
because ...”

“Why would that make me happy?” I
interrupted her.

“Isn’t that what you want, for Brady to
leave his family for you?”

“Unlike you, I’ve never given Brady an
ultimatum. Both Brady and I never wanted to choose between us and our
families.”

She didn’t like me throwing that back in
her face, but I was sure as heck not going to let her place that blame on me. I
was only staying away from him so that he could have his family.

She didn’t acknowledge her wrong, she just
went forward. “Well regardless, Brady and Benjamin will have nothing to do with
our family until you’re a part of it.”

“So you’re here to ask me to be part of
your family?” I almost laughed at my words.

“I suppose I am,” she said coldly.

I shook my head at her in disbelief. “Why
would I want to after everything you’ve put me and Brady through all of these
years?”

“I did what I thought was best for my
family.”

“No. You did what you thought was best for
yourself.”

“Young lady, where do you get off talking
to me like that?”

“Elizabeth, if you really want to save
your family, and if I’m the key to that, the least you owe me is the truth.” I
looked over to my aunt. “You owe us both the truth.”

She got up to walk out. Just as I thought
she would, she didn’t care about saving her family. She only cared about
herself and how this would look. She made it to the foyer, and then she paused.
She surprised me when she turned around and walked back toward the couch she
had just recently vacated and sat down again. My aunt and I both looked at each
other. Neither of us expected this.

She looked a little weaker now as she sat
and stared at us. “Fine,” she said. “You want the truth, here it is. Imagine
having a husband that loves someone else, and the only thing he does love about
you is the sons you’ve given him. Now imagine one of those sons now loves the
child of the woman your husband loves.” She looked disdainfully at my aunt.

I held on to my aunt’s hand. She squeezed
tightly. I wondered what she was thinking.

“And not only does he love her, but he
wants to marry her before he even goes to college.”

“How did you know that?”

“Don’t you think I knew why he was working
so hard that summer at Dillon’s farm? We didn’t want him working, but he said
he needed to earn this money. Then I found the ring in his sock drawer.”

“What ring?”

“Don’t play stupid with me. The ring you
sent back to him with all of his stuff!”

I started to cry. So that’s what was in
the burgundy box all these years. I remembered that summer, and how tired he
was from baling hay, but he was so happy. Now I knew why. I wanted to run up
and look at it, but I couldn’t leave my aunt alone with her.

My crying confused her.

“I never opened the box,” I said.

That surprised her
and
my Aunt Lu.
My aunt must have known about the ring too. It suddenly dawned on me that she
was the one who had gone through my hope chest.

“Well,” Elizabeth said. “I knew I had to
put a stop to it. He was too young, and I couldn’t have him tied to your family,
so I told him you were seeing someone else.”

“It was you! Why would you do that? What
did I ever do to you?”

She looked disgusted. “It’s not so much
what you did, but it’s who you are.”

She might as well have slapped me.

“You’re so perfectly beautiful and
talented, just like
her
.” She pointed at my aunt, who sat there
stoically. “I saw the way my husband looked at you when you were growing up,
and recently. Yes, he despised you too, but only because you reminded him of
what he had really wanted. But in the end, you won him over too.”

I wanted to say, “Bitter much,” but
honestly, part of me felt very sorry for her. Don’t get me wrong, I still
couldn’t stand her lying evil self, but I didn’t envy her one bit.

My aunt, who had sat quietly and with
dignity, finally broke her silence. “Elizabeth, if Isaac loved me, why?”

We all knew what she was asking. Elizabeth didn’t answer her for a moment. I wondered if she even would, but in the end, I
guess she figured she didn’t have anything to lose at this point. Coldly, she
looked at my aunt, “You had everything, and you could have had anybody you
wanted.”

“I only wanted Isaac,” she responded.

“He only wanted you too. He cried when he
found out I was pregnant. I was his drunken mistake.”

“Isaac never drank when we were together.”

“He was drinking because he thought you
were going to break off your engagement,” she snidely responded.

My eyes and my aunt’s both widened. We
didn’t even need to ask why or who had made him believe that.

My aunt shook her head. “I was your
friend, Elizabeth.”

My poor aunt had finally gotten her
answer. What a terrible answer it was. All these lies had caused so much pain
for so many years. I kept looking at the woman who was the root of it all. I
wondered if she had any regrets. Surely she had to. She certainly didn’t get
the life I think she had hoped the lies would give her.

Elizabeth
didn’t respond to
my aunt, but she turned and looked directly at me. “Despite what you may think,
I love my sons. They’re all I’ve ever had. I want Brady to be happy, and as
much as I don’t like it, you’re what makes him happy. I won’t stand in the way
of that happiness.”

Then, just like that, she got up and began
to walk out.

“Elizabeth,” I called. “If you ever try to
again, I won’t be the loser.”

She looked hard at me, but didn’t say a
word. She knew. She left, and both my aunt and I let out a deep breath as we
just sat there, stunned.

I took my aunt’s hands in mine. “His last
thoughts were of you. He wanted me to tell you he was sorry and that he loved
you.”

My aunt rarely cried, but her eyes began
to water. She took my cheeks in her hands. “Ella Lu, go to Brady, and don’t let
anything come between you.”

She didn’t need to tell me twice, but
first I ran upstairs and opened my nightstand drawer. I retrieved the little
burgundy box and opened it. There sat a pretty little round solitaire diamond
ring. It was much smaller than the one I wore now, but I think I may have loved
it more. I carefully took it out and placed it atop the shiny new engagement
ring. Then I noticed there was something sticking out from under where the ring
had been placed. I pulled on it and discovered a hand written note that had
been folded up.

Dear Ellie,

I’ve hated these last few months apart. If
ever you want me back, I’m yours. We can run away together and get married.
Somewhere where no one knows or cares about our last names. All you have to do
is wear this ring and I’ll know. I’ll look every day to see if you’ve changed
your mind. I’ll always love you.

Brady

I could barely see, I was crying so hard,
but I quickly grabbed my purse and shoes and the note. I had both rings
securely in place as I sped to Brady’s house. I hoped that’s where he would be.

I pulled up to his drive to find his
truck. I hoped that meant he was home. I exited my car and heard what sounded
like wood being chopped, so I walked around the back. My heart skipped a beat
or two. There was my country boy, chopping wood with a vengeance. He looked
great in his jeans and tight t-shirt. It was cold out, but he was sweating. I
almost didn’t want to interrupt him, he looked so good, but as he went to
retrieve the next log, I called out to him.

“Brady Jackson.”

He looked up and smiled that smile I loved
so much. He placed his ax in the stump that acted as his chopping block and ran
to me. I met him halfway. He picked me up and held me tight. “Ellie” he kept
saying over and over. He kissed every inch of my face and neck, all while
saying how much he loved me. “I love you,” I replied repeatedly.

When he finally set me down, I pulled out
the note he had written me so long ago. I showed it to him, and the ring. “So
what do you say, cowboy?”

He looked at me and grinned. “I say now.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him once.
“I was hoping you would say that.”

We didn’t run too far away, just to the
Birmingham courthouse. We knew better than to go to Kaysville’s. After
everything we had been through, we weren’t going to let anything else happen
that may get in the way of us being together. Sure, we knew there would be heck
to pay for eloping, but we really didn’t care. We had waited long enough. So
there we were: me in my Auburn jersey and he in his Alabama t-shirt. It seemed
fitting, and so perfectly southern.