Finding Gracie's Rainbow Read online

  “That’s fine. I want to take you out to dinner on Friday.” Jackson looked over at Gracie, who was smiling at them. “Without Garrison.”

  “Don’t you think you should be taking Gracie out?” Annie was skeptical as she talked to him.

  “I asked her and she insists on having a chaperone.” Jackson smiled as he caught the look on Gracie’s face before turning back to his cousin. “So it’s up to you now.”

  “You’re forcing me to be a third wheel.” Annie looked at them. “I take it that you have a babysitter for the kids.”

  “Kim said she would be more than happy to look after both Bea and Garrison.” Gracie informed her after she had the kids wash up for supper. “If you don’t go, I won’t.” Gracie turned to Jackson, who had groaned when she said that.

  He stood and walked towards her. “You're playing this game a little too well.” He whispered when he started to grab the plates from her hand.

  “You started it.” Gracie said softly so Annie didn't over hear them talking. “You're such a liar.”

  “I will atone for that. You just lied, also." Jackson informed her.

  Gracie opened her phone and showed Jackson the text that Sammie had sent her. “Did I?”

  “No, I guess you didn’t.” Jackson read the complete text. “You were busy while I was talking to her.”

  “I just figured it out and wanted to cover our bases.” Gracie smiled at him as she followed with the silverware. “But how are you going to. . ?”

  “I have it all figured out.” Jackson looked up as Annie walked towards the table.

  “Have what figured out?” Annie asked after she inspected Garrison’s hands.

  “Our night out,” Jackson looked up as he placed a pair of tongs into the salad. “It’ll be fun.”

  “I’m sure it will. Why do you want a chaperone?” Annie asked before Bea started to laugh at her.

  “Because we always have a chaperone when we take Jackson on a date.” Bea watched her mother place some salad on her plate. “It's just a fact.”

  Gracie nodded as she finally sat down. “And since Bea is going to spend time with Sammie that just leaves you.” She addressed Annie before she held Bea’s hand to say the blessing.

  “So much for catching up on my reading,” Annie frowned after the blessing was said, and they started eating.

  “I could probably tell you what the book is about.” Gracie was smiling as she had seen the book that Annie had just bought.

  “I don’t know how. It was just released this week.” Annie looked up as Gracie stared at her.

  “Via Salem Publishing Plus by Gaige Forrester,” Gracie had sped the publication of the book up to get it on the shelves.

  “Don’t tell me anything about it, Gracie.” Annie watched Gracie pick the carrots out of her salad. “Why do you always pick the carrots out, why not just put them on the side?”

  “Habit.” Gracie had always loved carrots. She looked over at Bea, who had started to pick her own carrots out as Gracie laughed at her.

  “Like mother like daughter.” Jackson had been watching them. “Next time I won’t put the carrots in the salad.”

  “That shows how well you know us.” Gracie glanced at him as he frowned at her.

  “I know you well enough.” Jackson looked back at her with a smile.

  “Really? You think?” Gracie was about to have some fun as Annie saw the mischief come into her eyes. “Favorite movie?”

  “Too easy. Cinderella.”

  “Wrong, mister,” Gracie was smiling. “I’m not a child anymore.”

  “Then what is it?” Jackson was puzzled.

  “Steel Magnolias,” Gracie was finished eating as she looked over at him. “Let’s try another one. What is my favorite color?”

  “Pink.” He watched as she wrinkled her nose.

  “That is Bea’s. Mine is sunshine yellow.” Gracie put up two fingers on one hand and kept the other hand closed. “Want to try for three?”

  “Why not, I’m on a roll.” Jackson was determined to get one right.

  “What is my favorite flower?” Gracie glanced over at Annie as Jackson thought about his answer.

  “I'm going to guess a yellow rose.” Jackson really didn't know because it had never come up in a conversation. He watched as she put a finger up on her other hand. “Really?”

  “Yes, really,” Gracie stood and took her plate to the trash can to scrap out the food she didn't eat. “And since you didn’t strike out, I won’t ask any more questions.”

  “Thank you, I was starting to sweat there.” Jackson smiled as he looked down at Bea. “She’s tough, isn’t she?”

  “You should let her help you study for a spelling test.” Bea stood before she answered. “I ace them all the time.”

  “I bet.” Jackson helped clear off the table and was standing next to Gracie as the children took off to play outside again. He looked over at Annie, who had sat down to read the book that Gracie had been talking about. “I'm going to ride around the block to call Christian. Do you need anything from the store?”

  “Ice cream.” Gracie looked up from the sink as he talked. “You were so sneaky.”

  “And you loved it,” Jackson watched as Gracie narrowed her eyes as she thought.

  “I loved the fact that it wasn’t me this time.” Gracie smiled as she started to load the dishwasher.

  “So do I.” Jackson grabbed his keys and glanced over at Annie. “I’m going on an ice cream run. Do you need anything?"

  “No, I'm fine.” Annie had answered as she still read. She glanced up at Gracie after he left and put the book down, “A chaperone?”

  “Bea’s rule,” Gracie had walked into the living room; sitting after she glanced down at the book. “This is going to be tricky if we have to keep having chaperones when we go out.” Gracie was laughing as Annie looked at her. “She kept asking to take Jackson out on a date, and Jackson would call and ask her on a date. It was a game they played; now I have to follow my own rule.”

  “Who was their chaperone?” Annie picked the book back up after she had asked.

  “Yours truly,” Gracie stood and started walking restlessly around the room. “What other books do you have? I've read everything I have.”

  “The new Nora Roberts book came out, and I bought it last month. If you haven’t read the first two books in the series though, you'll be missing out on something.” Annie informed her.

  “What is the series?” Gracie asked trying to remember the last time she had read a book that wasn't work related.

  Annie told her and Gracie shook her head. “Do you have those?”

  “Of course, I do. I like to zone out with a good book.” Annie stood and walked to her room. “Takes me out of everyday life.”

  “The fantasy world, I remember it well. I used to live there a long time ago.” Gracie knew what she was talking about.

  “You still do, there were just a couple of twists thrown into your life to make it interesting.” Annie smiled as she walked back into the living room with the whole series in her hand. “The last book of the series hasn’t come out yet.”

  Gracie glanced up from reading as Jackson walked through the door with the ice cream, and she started to laugh at him. “Who is going to eat all of that?”

  “We are if you two think that you can stop reading long enough.” He had watched as Gracie had been laying down on the floor reading as he came in. “Was it good?” He whispered as she stood and walked into the kitchen to help him.

  “Was what good?” Gracie looked at him in bewilderment as she unpacked the ice cream. “What were you thinking, Jackson?” All the ice cream was chocolate.

  “I wasn’t thinking. I was talking.” Jackson started to pack the ice cream into the freezer. “Aren’t you going to ask?”

  “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to.” Gracie held out one of the ice creams as Jackson started to reach for it.

  “He'll be there, but he doesn’t know why.” Jackson was
smiling at her as he spoke very softly. “Annie has been set up.”

  Gracie smiled at him before talking loud enough for Annie to hear them talking again. “I'm going to get burned out on chocolate ice cream.”

  “I have read Nora Roberts.” Jackson saw the look on Gracie’s face as he admitted that. “She is very detailed.”

  “Wow.” That was all Gracie said as she started to open the box of cones that Jackson had brought with the ice cream. She fixed Bea and Garrison a cone and took them outside as she imagined Jackson reading a Nora Roberts novel.

  After Annie had taken her book to the bedroom and the children were in bed, Gracie put down her book and looked at Jackson. “So tell me about Christian.”

  “Christian is great guy. He was brought up by his grandparents because both his parents were in the military. Something had happened to them. I can’t remember what.” Jackson sat down on the couch beside her. “He has no brothers or sisters. He graduated from NC State with a degree in child psychology and then decided that he wanted to be a detective.” He glanced as Gracie pushed for more information. “He was married once, but she left him because she fell in love with one of his best friends. It took him awhile, but I think that he's finally over her.” He paused as Gracie looked over at Bea’s door. “He buried himself in his work, so he wouldn’t think about it. This happened just over three years ago.”

  “So we just sat her up with somebody that has been scarred.” She stood as Jackson watched her.

  “You’ve been scarred, and she's been scarred.” Jackson looked at her seriously. “The thing about scars is that they eventually heal.”

  “Or we hope they heal.” Gracie picked up her book again, and Jackson took it from her.

  “Something else is on your mind.” He looked at her tenderly.

  “Every heroine in these books ends up falling in love, and they all live happily after ever.” Gracie mumbled as Jackson stared down at the cover.

  “But they have to go through a lot of things to get to that point, Gracie. I’ve read this one.” Jackson looked back up at her. “They achieved and so can you.”

  “Where are the heroines who go through what Annie and I have gone through?” She stood when she saw Annie’s door open.

  Annie waited to see if Jackson could answer Gracie’s question before she offered any input. “Those books don’t exist because the heroines who have gone through what we have don’t want to read about their own lives.”

  Jackson turned around and looked at his cousin. “I'm glad somebody could answer that.” He stood and smiled. “I really should go.”

  Gracie walked off to the kitchen and pulled a container of ice cream out of the freezer before walking over to him. She handed him the ice cream, and after he had said good night to his cousin, Gracie walked out the door with him.

  “You know, I'm really starting to miss my car.” Gracie said as they walked out to the driveway.

  “Have Kim to drive you to the office tomorrow.” He put the ice cream in his car before he turned around to Gracie. “I can’t wait to see the look on Annie’s face when she realizes that she was set up.”

  “I hope it goes better for her than it did for me.” Gracie still remembered the blind dates that Steven had set her up on and shivered. “Are you sure Christian is good guy?”

  “I'm positive. Now kiss me good night before I have to clean melted ice cream off of my seat.” Jackson smiled as Gracie tilted her face to his.

  Gracie walked back into the house and went to peek in on Bea as her light was still on. She sat down on the bed as her daughter looked up at her. “What’s the matter, Princess?”

  “What if I have another nightmare?” Bea looked at her mother while she hugged her blankets tightly to her.

  “What if you sleep with me again tonight?” Gracie answered with another question. “We’ll have a slumber party, and we'll get a good night’s sleep. How does that sound?”

  Bea slid out of her covers and took her mother’s hand as they walked towards the back bedroom.

  Chapter 15

  Addison was watching the monitors and noticed Gracie walking over to her car with Bea and a little boy that she didn’t recognize.

  Salem was watching her and walked over to stand beside her to see what she was watching. He touched Addison on the shoulder and motioned for her to call Gracie as he needed to talk to her.

  Gracie looked up at the camera puzzled after her phone started to ring. “I thought I was on vacation.”

  “So did I, but Mr. Foster wants you to come in before you leave and bring the children with you.” Addison was watching her from the monitor while she spoke.

  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.”