Finding Gracie's Rainbow (44 page)

“
I guess not.” Jackson’s
voice was husky as he answered. He gave a thumb up to Sammie, who
smiled before she walked off the dance floor with her own
boyfriend. “So who is the new guy?”

“
I have no idea. What is
wrong with your voice?” Gracie asked as they walked back over to
the table and sat down.

“
I will tell you about it
later.” Jackson was smiling as Sammie walked over to
them.

“
That was beautiful,”
Sammie sat down next to Gracie. “Happy Birthday.”

“
Thanks, Sammie. Are you
going to introduce us to your boyfriend?” Gracie was looking
curiously at him.

“
This is Ed Maddox.” She
watched as Gracie turned to her sharply.

“
Ed? Are you any relation
to Carl?” Gracie asked as Christian studied him.

“
He’s my father.” Ed
answered before Gracie stood and walked into the house as Sammie
watched her.

“
Snap.” Jackson stood and
walked in after Gracie. “He might not be as bad as his
father.”

“
I know that.” Gracie said
angrily through clenched teeth. “That doesn't mean that I have to
be happy that she's hanging around with him.”

“
You aren't her mother.”
Jackson reminded her as he sat on one of the stools at the
bar.

“
You know what, Jackson?
I’m more than a little aware of that.” She walked to the
refrigerator and pulled out a soda. “If you don’t mind I need a
little me time.”

“
Fine, I’ll give you all
the time you need.” Jackson stormed out of the house as Gracie
watched him. “Don't forget that this is your party.”

Gracie glared at him before
she ran up the steps to her old bedroom and sat down in the window
seat looking over all the people that were in her parent’s back
yard.

Jackson looked at Sammie as
he walked back out of the house. “Your aunt should come with an
instruction manual.”

Sammie smiled, nodding, as
she looked up at towards the second story and saw Gracie sitting
there. “You would get bored if you figured her out, Jackson.” She
looked over at Ed and walked into the house up towards the
bedroom.

“
You know I've always
thought of you more of a sister than an aunt.” Sammie informed her
as she sat down on the bed and looked at her. “Your opinion means a
lot to me.”

“
I'm sorry, Sammie. My
temper seems to be on a short leash lately.” Gracie didn't look
over at her niece. “The smallest thing seems to set me
off.”

“
So is it his name or the
name of his father?” Sammie asked as she wasn't aware of all the
facts that were surrounding Gracie.

“
His father.” Gracie
finally turned towards her. “When you get older. . .”

Sammie started laughing. “I
turned seventeen yesterday. I think that I can handle anything that
you tell me.” Sammie stood. “As for Ed’s father, Ed hasn't seen him
since before he could walk, and his mother reminds me a lot of
Paige.”

Gracie glanced in her
direction and then at the closet door. “I'll be down in a minute,
and I'll apologize. Just don’t let him go anywhere.” A box with her
name on it caught her attention.

“
What about Jackson?”
Sammie asked as she started for the door.

Gracie didn't say a word
about Jackson as she opened the closet all the way. She took out
the box as she noticed that Sammie was still standing
there.

“
Jackson?” Sammie asked
with her arms folded in front of her.

“
He's a grown man, and at
this point I really don’t care what he does.” Gracie said as she
opened the box and looked into it. She took out a folded piece of
paper and noticed that rest was the manuscript that she was going
to look for later. She never noticed when Sammie actually left as
she started to read the first page. Gracie absently unfolded the
piece of paper that she was still holding and looked down at it. It
was the letter that she had written her mother ten years
ago.

She looked at her own
handwriting strangely before folding it up and carried it with her
as she headed down the stairs. She walked out the back door and
walked directly to Christian; handing him the letter before walking
off.

He watched her strangely
before looking over at Annie. “I'm not going to work
today.”

Annie had seen the glazed
over look on Gracie’s face. “Sorry, Detective, it seems like we're
both going to work today.” Annie followed Gracie after she motioned
to Kim. “I don’t know what just happened, but I have a feeling that
your sister just snapped.”

“
Oh, God, please not
today.” Kim saw Paige and waved her to come with them.

Gracie looked at all three
of them as they sat down at her table. She had already apologized
to Ed and was watching them with amusement as they watched her. “I
don't even want to know what this is about.”

“
Annie said you snapped.”
Kim was studying her sister.

“
Maybe that would be a
good thing, but no, I haven't snapped. . . yet.” Gracie glanced
over at Jackson.

Annie noticed that she was
frowning. “What happened with Jackson?”

“
I guess he didn't like
the fact that I wanted to be alone.” Gracie caught herself smiling
as Bea walked over to them.

“
I have a feeling that
it’s more than that.” Kim said as she watched Bea hugging her
mother. “But this isn’t the time or place to get into
that.”

“
I’ve gotten pretty good
at upsetting him.” Gracie stood. “Really good at upsetting a lot of
people.”

Paige stood and hugged
Gracie as Kim was watching Sammie and Ed.

“
It is so hard to believe
that she is a young lady.” Kim said as she brought her attention
back to Gracie. “We were both married not much older than she is
now.”

“
Well. . .” Gracie had
been about to tell her that she was never officially married but
changed her mind as she watched Christian. Puzzled, she looked over
at Annie. “I never intended for him to work.” Christian was talking
on the phone as they all turned around to watch him. “I think we
need to liven this party back up.”

Paige took the hint and
walked over to Chandler with another music CD as Jackson turned to
Steven and Dylan, who were looking just as confused as
him.

“
What kind of dancing is
this?” Steven asked as Dylan and Jackson walked with
him.

“
Club dancing, the kind
Addie and I are used to.” Dylan was laughing when he saw Addison
waiting for him. “Somebody mind grabbing Christian?”

Jackson walked over to his
friend and pushed him into their group. Christian flipped his phone
shut and looked over at Jackson as he slipped the letter into his
pocket.

“
What is going on?”
Christian asked as Annie walked up to him.

“
Gracie doesn't want you
to work.” Annie smiled at him as she looked around at the other
couples.

“
She could have just said
that.” Christian said as he listened to music. “Aah, normal
dancing. Do you know what she just handed me?”

“
Not a clue,” Annie
watched as Gracie sat down at a table with Jackson.

“
The letter she had
written her mother and there is blood on it.” Christian watched
Annie seriously as he looked over to where she was staring.
“Jackson is starting to lose patience with her.”

“
I wish I could tell him
what was going on. Gracie isn't going to open up about it.” Annie
was worried about the toll of the investigation on the relationship
between her cousin and her friend.

“
Stop thinking about that.
You know that we aren't supposed to interfere.” Christian mumbled
while they continued to dance.

“
I can’t sit here and
watch her push him away. Do you realize how long Jackson has had
feelings for her?” Annie looked him straight in the eyes as she
asked.

“
I can just about guess.”
Christian frowned as he studied her. “I'm wondering why I am still
investigating this. Usually as soon as they find you that you're
too involved, they will yank you from the case.”

“
You didn’t know anybody
but Jackson.” Annie sat down, and he followed her. “I, on the other
hand. . .”

“
Live with the victims,”
Christian glanced over at Jackson as he finished her sentence for
her.

Jackson looked over at
Gracie after they had sat down to watch the others. “So have you
had enough of your ‘me’ time?”

“
Harsh,” Gracie said as
she finally looked at him. “You've changed over the last couple of
weeks.”

“
I ain't the only one.” He
was looking at her through narrowed eyes as he talked. “By the way,
I hope you remember the special dance, just in case we win this
morning’s competition.”

“
What special dance?”
Gracie was looking at him puzzled.

“
The one we were supposed
to dance ten years ago.” Jackson watched as friends and family sat
down around them.

“
That was a long time
ago,” Gracie looked around her and watched as her parents stood. “I
so do not wish to win this.” She said as Jackson half
smiled.

“
The music will remind you
if we do.” Jackson was watching the expression cross her
face.

“
You could remind me
later.” Gracie didn't like to be put on the spot. She glanced over
at Paige, who was sitting close enough to hear the
conversation.

“
You might as well put
your dancing shoes back on. I heard the judges talking to your boss
already.” Paige was smiling at the both of them.

“
This contest has been
fixed, and I demand a redo.” Gracie was serious as she watched her
father confer with Mr. Foster.

“
Have you got the proof
that it was fixed?” Steven was laughing at his sister. “You looked
in top form to me.”

Jackson was smiling as they
were called. “You made the dance up so. . .”

“
I don’t remember it,
Jackson.” Gracie was pulling him back. “Forfeit, I can't do
this.”

“
We aren't forfeiting.”
Jackson turned to her as the music started. “Now close your eyes
and remember.”

She opened her eyes and
found herself dancing, keeping up with Jackson’s steps.

“
Told you.” Jackson was
smiling down at her.

“
Yes, you did.” Gracie
looked at him seriously after the dance ended. She watched as Salem
walked over to them with his wife.

“
Your family sure knows
how to celebrate a birthday.” Salem smiled as he shook her hand and
then Jackson’s. “I’ll be back week after this to help at the
office.”

“
What for?” Gracie asked
before thinking. “Are you going to fire me?”

“
No, but you will be
busy.” Salem walked off smiling as Gracie looked over at
Jackson.

“
Did you hear that,
Jackson? I'm going to be busy in two weeks.” Gracie started
frowning as she sat down.

Jackson looked over at
Christian and back at her. “I heard.” He needed to find a way to
distract her so that the party wouldn't be ruined. “I'm going for
some water. Would you like something?” Gracie shook her head as he
walked off.

“
Help.” Jackson mumbled
under his breath as he got closer to the rest of her
family.

“
What is up?” Dylan asked
as glanced over to where Gracie was sitting by herself.

“
Somebody reminded her of
the trial before he left.” Jackson watched the looks going around
the tables. “We need to take her mind off of that.”

“
So take her out.”
Christian watched as he grabbed two bottles of water. “Nobody is
going to be upset if you two cut out early.”

“
I think that I'll do
that.” He smiled as he took the water to the table. “Let’s go catch
a movie.”

“
Whatever,” Gracie stood
and walked to her parents to thank them for the party and then
walked off with Jackson.

Chandler and Janet looked
at each other puzzled before looking at their other guests and
walking towards them. “Is there something we should know?” Chandler
asked as he noticed that Steven was watching his sister
leave.

“
Not that we know of.”
Steven answered his father as Sammie and Ed walked over to them
with Bea.

Bea was walking next to Ed,
smiling as he teased her. Ed sat down and looked at Steven. “If I
am Mark’s second cousin, does that not mean that Bea and I are
related?”

“
Yes, it does.” Steven
looked at his youngest niece. “You are third cousins.”

“
That’s so cool.” Bea
laughed at Sammie. “See, you are too dating my cousin.”

Steven laughed at them, as
he thought about Gracie. “Such a small world.” He murmured as Paige
studied him.

Chapter 20

Gracie tried to busy
herself the next week with her work. She had finally finished the
manuscript that Simone had given to her. She smiled as she thought
about calling Carolyn about Gaige Forrester’s new offer. She had
purposely given Simone that story because she knew the author’s
work.