Finding Gracie's Rainbow Read online

  Gracie looked around her apartment in horror before she glanced back at her brother. Steven watched her as he was talking on the phone.

  “I have to ask, Steven.” Gracie said after he hung up while she massaged her temples. She could feel a headache starting to form. “How exactly did you get the money from Mark?”

  “I threatened him with the law. I can promise that I didn't lay one hand on him.” Steven hugged her after he walked to where she was standing. “Not to say that I didn't want to.” He looked at his sister’s belongings scattered around the rooms. “You don’t deserve this.”

  “Bea’s school, my car, and my apartment. Where is he going next? My office?” Gracie watched as police officers started to comb through her apartment. “Please tell me he doesn’t know where I work.”

  “I wish I could.” Steven shook his head. “I wonder what he was looking for.”

  “His money,” Gracie stared at him agitated. “The money is in my office with a bank deposit slip.” She sat down on the floor as she watched the police come out of her bedroom.

  “It's all clear, Mr. McBride, and we have some nice prints to run.” The police officer shook Steven’s hand before looking down at Gracie.

  Gracie looked up at him. “Can you do a run by on Salem Publishing Plus? He might try to go there next."

  “Who?” The officer looked at her as he asked.

  “My ex-husband, Mark Cameron,” Gracie took the hand her brother offered her and stood. She walked into Bea’s room and picked up the worn teddy bear her daughter slept with and sat down on the bed when she felt tears starting to sting her eyes. “I can do this.” Gracie stood back up and started grabbing clothes for her daughter before heading to her own bedroom. Steven was standing in the doorframe watching her as she picked out a couple of outfits.

  “Gracie?” Steven took the bag from her.

  “I'm fine, Steven, this is just a shock.” Gracie gave him a halfhearted smile as she stepped around the empty drawers lying on the floor. “This is going to take a month to clean.”

  “We’ll do it together.” Stevie squeezed her hand after she stood beside him. “Let’s go.”

  “I don’t want to tell Bea about this.” Gracie still held the teddy bear in one hand.

  “That might not be a good idea. She needs to be on the lookout.” Steven was still holding her hand as they walked out to his car.

  Gracie sighed in her frustration. “Is it okay if I get mad?”

  “I would love it if you got mad.” Steven laughed at her. “Would you like me to call Jackson?”

  “For what?” Gracie asked glancing over at her brother.

  “I don’t know. Maybe you want to kiss him.” Steven held the door open for her while he talked. “Men talk, Cinderella.”

  “You've got to be kidding me.” Gracie studied the teddy bear as she thought of her behavior from the night before. “You're not mad about that- are you?”

  “Should I be?” Steven asked after they pulled into his driveway. “And Jackson isn't mad either.” He grabbed Gracie's bag, and they walked into the house. Bea was asleep, curled up on the couch next to Paige.

  “That’s good because it was like kissing you.” Gracie whispered as she looked at Bea. She had convinced herself that it was brotherly so it wouldn't be a problem later.

  “That’s not what Jackson said. He enjoyed it.” Steven smiled when he saw the anger build in Gracie' eyes. He handed her the bag as he picked up Bea to carry her to bed. “Good night, Gracie

  “Night, Steven, and thanks again.” Gracie tucked the covers around Bea and handed her the teddy bear before putting on her pajamas.

  She tossed and turned as she thought about Mark showing up at the school. She finally gave up and left the bed. She walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of water as she watched Paige traipse into the room.

  “Are you having trouble sleeping?” Paige asked noticing the stress in her friend’s eyes.

  “You could say that.” Gracie sat at the table. “I keep thinking about what Mark said at the school.”

  “I haven’t heard any of that.” Page went over to the cabinet and pulled out some snack cakes. “Would you fill me in?” She handed one to Gracie

  Gracie told her everything as she nibbled on the cake. “He threatened to take Bea from me. I wonder if there's something mentally wrong with him.”

  “You know, if I told Steven everything you swore me to secrecy, Steven would've beaten him to death already.”

  “Then we should be grateful that he doesn’t know.” Gracie looked at her very appreciative to have a friend like Paige. “What Steven doesn’t know. . .”

  “Will hurt him.” Steven finished for her as he walked into the kitchen looking angrily at Paige and Gracie. He saw the look Gracie had shot him and gave it right back to her. “I think it's time to spill it.”

  “No, Steven,” Gracie was irritated as she stood. “It's the past and it’s over.”

  “Is that really the game you want to play?” Steven glared at her. “Don’t you think. . .?”

  “What I think is that there are some things big brothers don’t need to know.” She started walking back to the spare bedroom when Steven walked in front of her. “We weren’t even in the same state when all this was going on anyway.”

  “When was it going on?” Steven looked at Paige then. “You can either tell me or Paige can tell me, but one way or the other, I'm going to know what was going on.” He picked up the phone and dialed a number walking into the other room, so they couldn't hear him talk.

  “Great- Did he just call Mom?” Gracie sat at the table as she looked over at Paige in disbelief.

  Steven walked back into the room as he looked down at his sister. “Have you made a decision?”

  “Fine, Steven.” Gracie looked at him angrily as Paige frowned at her husband. “You win. I'll give you all the details.”

  Steven listened to her as she talked growing angrier as he heard all the details. “Mom didn’t even say anything.”

  “What were you doing a week after Bea was born?” Gracie asked, hardening herself as she talked so that tears didn't sting her eyes. “I believe that you and Paige were getting married. That’s why nobody told you about what was going on.”

  Gracie was still angry when she saw Steven get up to answer the door. Expecting her parents, she was taken aback when Jackson walked into the house. “Cute, Steven, I'm going to bed.”

  Paige stood and grinned at Steven after she saw Jackson. “Finish your cake, Gracie.”

  Jackson glanced at her before turning his attention to Steven. “What is going on, and where is this emergency, Steven?” He looked at his friend who was glaring at his sister.

  “Steven wants to kiss you.” Gracie threw the cake into the trashcan looking at her brother angrily. “Good night.”

  “I thought we were keeping our affair secret, Steven.” Jackson looked at him after watching Gracie throw the cake away. He heard her laugh as she walked down to the spare bedroom.

  “Ha, ha.” Steven looked at his friend. “I was looking after your interests.” He sat back down at the table. “I found out that she thought kissing you was like kissing me.” He grinned at the look Jackson gave him. “FYI.”

  “Really?” Jackson walked down the hall and stopped Gracie before she opened her bedroom door. “How are you feeling, Gracie

  She looked up and tried to focus as the hallway was dark. “Are you asking as a doctor? Because if you are, you can wait.”

  Jackson reached for her hand. “I kiss like your brother. Is that really what you think? Because if you are, then I'm thinking I want a second opinion.”

  “Not from me,” Gracie wiggled away from him. “So go home or find out from one of your one-nighters.”

  She opened the door and shut it softly behind her so as not to wake Bea.

  Jackson smiled at the door before he turned around to walk back to the kitchen. “My interests?”

  Paige looked at the both
of them as she spoke. “I have a feeling that I'm missing something here.”

  “She kissed me the other night.” Jackson smirked before he took the cake that Paige offered him. “So Steven here calls me in the middle of the night because of some emergency, and now I'm eating a Hoho snack cake with you guys at one o'clock in the morning."

  “I thought we were getting her healthy before we started setting her up on dates.” Paige looked over at Stephen.

  “Blind dates?” Jackson asked as he finished the snack cake. “I'm going to love to see this.” He stood. “I'm going home now, and next time, Steven, make sure there’s an emergency before you call me.” He slapped Steven on the back.

  “Maybe that was a bad idea,” Steven looked at the clock. “I guess we had better get some sleep. This has been quit a day.”

  “She kissed Jackson?” Paige asked as they walked to the bedroom. “The only guy she ever dated was Mark. How old is Bea?”

  “Eight.” Steven answered her as he thought about what she had just said. “I think it's high time for her to get back into the social circle.”

  “I’ll start making a list tomorrow of available men.” Paige smiled as she slipped into their bed. “What about Jackson?”

  “Not with my sister!” Steven looked at her hard. “I know his reputation. He loves the one-night stands.”

  “Then I don't understand why you just called him over.” Paige sat up in the bed and looked over at Steve. “Care to explain?”

  “For fun, I guess.” Steven kissed her good night and turned off the light.

  “That isn't funny, Steven McBride.” Paige turned over on her side. “That's not something you do to your best friend or your sister.”

  “I won’t do it again.” Steven answered as he stifled a yawn. “Get some sleep.”

  ~

  Gracie was holding the Friday morning staff meeting when Jackson called the office. It went to voice mail before Addison could grab it, and they all heard what Jackson said before Gracie could mute the speaker.

  Addison was smiling as Gracie glared at the phone. “So are you going to give him a second opinion?”

  “Staff meeting, Addison,” Gracie frowned while she pointed towards the table. “And I don’t believe in giving second opinions.”

  “Too bad, he's cute.” Addison walked back to the table while Gracie stared at her.

  “Go for it.” Gracie said as they sat down beside each other. “He’s available. Too bad you’re married. Now let’s get back to business.”

  Addison stayed in Gracie’s office after the meeting and looked at her boss. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “What’s on your mind?” Gracie sat down behind her desk.

  “When is the last time you've taken a vacation or had any kind of fun?” Addison looked worriedly at her as she asked. “And when is the last time you actually went on a date?”

  “Never, I can’t remember, and before I was married.” Gracie answered all of her questions at once. “Where are you going with this?”

  “Nowhere, I guess. The doctor looks like he would be fun.” Addison saw the amusement in Gracie’s eyes.

  “Addison, the doctor is a friend of my brothers, as you have well known.” Gracie pushed a paper towards her. “Now it really is time to get some work done.

  Addison stood after she picked up the document that Gracie had pushed to her. “He wanted a second opinion on a kiss. That sounds like it would be fun to me.”

  “Well, when he calls back you can offer your services to him.” Gracie was laughing at her as she pointed to the door. “And I would love to hear what Dylan says about his wife kissing another man.”

  “Touché.” Addison walked out of the door with a smile on her face. She made a U-turn when she saw who had walked in. “Dr. Carter just walked in so I will offer him my services.”

  “Do that. And, Addison, I'm not available to see him today.” Gracie looked down at her desk when she spoke.

  “Really? I know for a fact that you have no appointments until after lunch.” Addison saw the serious look that Gracie shot her. “Fine. I'll send him on his way.”

  Addison knocked on the door after Jackson left and walked into the office shooting daggers at her boss.

  Gracie looked up at her. “Didn’t he want that second opinion?”

  “Yes, I'm sure he does, but not from me.” Addison threw some papers on Gracie’s desk as she spoke. “He wanted to drop off these.” She watched as Gracie’s expression went from amused to uptight. “And these,” Addison put a bottle of vitamins next to them.

  “And why did he want to drop off these?” Gracie picked up the papers and tossed them into the trashcan beside her desk.

  “Anorexic?” Addison studied her boss. “I thought we were friends, Gracie.”

  “Friends don’t whine when they have a little trouble.” Gracie stared out the windows of her office. “Shit!” She grabbed the money and bank deposit out of a drawer and handed them to Addison. “Okay, friends do whine. Take this to the bank. Hide it in your skirt and then take it to the bank.”

  “What?” Addison watched Gracie’s face turn white as a ghost.

  “Mark is here, and there's fixing to be trouble.” Gracie was visibly shaking as she talked. “I have to get rid of him.”

  “What does he want?”

  “The money I just handed you. It’s Bea’s money.” Gracie looked at her with panic in her eyes. “He hasn’t seen you yet so walk out the other door. Quickly!”

  “When I get back, we’ll talk.” Addison walked out the back door and towards the parking lot where she saw Jackson talking on the phone. She walked over to him and told him that Gracie had an unexpected opening, and that he should really go back to the office before she jumped into her own car and took off.

  Jackson was talking to Steven on the phone as he had taken notice of the panic that was on Gracie’s secretary’s face. “Steven, something doesn’t feel right here. I’ll call you back.” He walked into the office when he saw Gracie being lifted up by the throat. “Oh, man.” Steven was still on the phone as Jackson had forgotten to hang up. Jackson looked at one of the employees and had her call 911 before he tried to open Gracie’s office doors. “This is so going to hurt in the morning.” He mumbled stepping back to Addison’s desk and taking a running start to the doors; throwing his cell phone down before he crashed into the glass.

  He grabbed Mark as Gracie was fighting to breathe.

  Gracie slumped down on the floor while she watched. She felt like she was watching a movie while Jackson was fighting with Mark. The police officers came into the office to take over. She watched as Steven walked into her office and sat down next to her as Jackson gave his statement to the police. She watched him bleed and closed her eyes.

  Addison walked back into the office and took in the whole scene as she fought to maintain her composure. Jackson pointed her out to a police officer while the paramedic looked over his cuts.

  “Are you Addison?” The officer asked as he walked up to her.

  “Yes, sir,” Addison put the deposit slip down on her desk.

  “I need to ask you some questions.” He noticed that she was looking for her boss. “She'll be alright. They just left with her to go to the hospital.”

  “Hospital?” Addison told them everything she knew before she saw Kim walk into the office looking around until she spotted Steven and Jackson.

  Steven looked at his sister as he walked out of Gracie’s office followed by Jackson. Kim looked over the cuts that covered Jackson and then down at the broken glass. “Gracie?”

  “She’s at the hospital. I called Mom, and they're on their way there as we speak.” Steven looked at Kim as he answered. “Gracie is pretty bad off. I need to call Terry and tell him that Paige is going to pick up Bea.”

  “Can you have Paige pick up Sammie, too?” Kim started to walk out the door. “Which hospital?”

  “The MK,” Jackson answered wincing as he pulled his shirt off
some of the cuts.

  ~

  Gracie woke and looked around the hospital room, listening to the hums and beeps before she saw her mother. She watched as her mother cried while her father stood by her.

  Gracie tried to talk, but all that came out was a moan.

  Janet looked at her. “Oh, baby girl,” she whispered as she sat down in the chair next to the bed and took the hand that didn't have an IV. “Don’t try to talk, it’ll hurt you.” She couldn't help but to look at the hand prints that were on Gracie’s throat.

  Gracie whispered. “Bea?”

  “Paige has Bea with her.” Janet answered after she watched Chandler leave the room.

  He walked to the waiting area where Kim and Steven were waiting for news. “She's awake now.” He saw the relief spread over their faces. “The first thing she did was ask about Bea.”

  “Bea is her life, Pop.” Kim spoke as she stood.

  “And I'm grateful for that.” Chandler looked over at Steven. “Where is Jackson?”

  “He went home.” Steven followed Chandler and Kim down the hall. “I forgot to thank him.”

  “We all did.” Chandler walked into Gracie’s hospital room.

  Kim stared at her sister as she saw the swollen eyes and the bruises on her arms and throat. “Oh, my,” she started crying as Chandler hugged her.

  “Pull it together, Rev.” Chandler whispered to her as Gracie watched.

  Gracie looked over at Steve. “Thank Jackson for me.” She whispered as he walked towards her.

  “You can thank him.” Steve kissed her on the cheek.

  Gracie shook her head as she put a hand on her throat. She closed her eyes before Steven could say anything else.

  Steven looked at Kim and his parents before walking out of the room. He told them that he was going home before the door shut.

  Chapter 3

  Paige heard Steven as he walked into the apartment and looked up at him wanting to ask about Gracie.