Finding Gracie's Rainbow (23 page)

“
Just call Kim, Jackson.
She usually has Sammie walk down with them.” Gracie looked up as
Annie walked in the door.

Annie looked at the cup of
coffee in her hand. “I thought caffeine was illegal after
supper.”

“
It is.” Gracie tried to
look up at her, but it hurt her eyes too much.

“
Then why the coffee?”
Annie looked over at Jackson, who was smiling.

“
Addison and her boss
twisted her arm and made her drink three daiquiris.” Jackson stood.
“Our Gracie isn’t a drinker. I'm going to walk up to get Garrison
and Bea.”

“
Not yet, I don’t want Bea
to see me like this.” Gracie downed the rest of the coffee. “Kim
knows I was going to be late.”

“
They're on their way,
Gracie.” Annie took the cup from her to refill it. “Garrison
watches for my car.”

Gracie looked over at
Jackson. “Did I tell you that. . .?”

“
That I'm really great
guy. Yes, twice,” Jackson looked at her with amusement.

“
No, that I love you.”
Gracie watched as two Jacksons stared at her. She rubbed her eyes.
“Why are there two of you?”

Jackson was frowning at
her. “You're worse than I thought.” He watched as Annie smirked
while handing Gracie another cup of coffee.

Bea looked at her mother
skeptically after she walked into the house with Sammie and
Garrison. “What’s wrong with you?” She took note of the coffee her
mother was holding.

“
Too much fun,” Gracie
smiled at her. “How was work?”

“
Work?” Bea looked over at
Jackson, who was trying very hard not to smile. “She's acting like
Uncle Steven when he has beer.” She looked back at her mother. “Are
you drunk?”

“
Just a tiny bit,” she
closed her eyes. “When will I stop seeing doubles?”

Sammie was watching Gracie.
“She’s funny when she. . . “

“
Hush, Sammie.” Jackson
looked at her seriously. “I'm sure that this is probably the only
time anybody will see this.”

Annie tucked Bea into bed
for Gracie at the same time she had Garrison go to bed. She walked
back into the living room and sat down in a chair to watch a little
television.

Gracie looked over at
Jackson. “Will you take me to bed now?” She saw the startled look
in his face and laughed. “I really didn’t mean for it to sound like
that.”

Annie broke out with
laughter as she heard what Gracie had asked Jackson. Jackson stood
and glared at his cousin as he held out a hand for Gracie to take.
He walked her into her bedroom and watched as she collapsed on the
bed, snoring the minute her head hit the pillow. He pulled the
covers over her before walking out and shutting the door. He walked
down the hall, and into the kitchen where Annie was washing a few
dishes. Annie smiled at him. “She is so not going to remember any
of what she said tonight.”

“
And I wish I was drunk
enough not to remember what she said tonight.” Jackson was frowning
as he remembered everything that Gracie said. “I hope she doesn’t
ask any questions. She's going to have a major
hangover.”

“
She has Excedrin in her
purse.” Annie informed him as she sat the coffee maker up for the
next morning.

“
Which is in Addison’s
car.” Jackson added. “I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight.
Somebody’s going to have to take her to work tomorrow.”

Chapter 11

Jackson woke when he heard
cabinet doors opening and shutting in the kitchen. Watching from
the couch, he saw Gracie fumbling around. “Looking for
something?”

She physically jumped up as
she heard his voice. “I have a headache.” She bit her lips as she
realized that the only thing she was wearing was her slip. “I
didn't know that you were here; excuse me while I put on some
clothes.”

Jackson stood and walked
into the kitchen to turn the coffee maker on. He pulled some tomato
juice out of the refrigerator and poured a glass for Gracie to
drink when she came back. He handed her the glass while noticing
that she was holding an unlabeled pill bottle in her
hand.

“
That doesn’t have a
label.” Jackson took if from her.

“
But I know what it is.”
Gracie grabbed it back from him as she swallowed some of the
juice.

“
It’s not going to help
that hangover.” Jackson stated as he sat down at the
table.

“
It has to work because I
have to work.” Gracie opened the bottle growing agitated that
Jackson was watching her. “Why are you here?”

“
To take you to work. I'm
assuming that’s where your car is.” Jackson was studying her eyes.
“Do you remember anything from last night?”

“
Hardly,” Gracie mumbled
as she finished the tomato juice. “I'm going to kill Addison this
morning.”

“
No, you’re not.” Jackson
was smiling at her. “She didn’t twist your arm to make you
drink.”

Gracie stared at him. “So
am I a mean or a funny drunk?” She stood to wake Bea up for
school.

“
Neither, you were a very
affectionate drunk.” He watched as she turned to face
him.

“
I don’t even want to
know.” Gracie opened Bea’s door and smiled as she saw her daughter
cuddled with the teddy bear. “Good morning, Princess.” She watched
as her daughter turned over and moaned. After laying out Bea’s
clothes, she walked back into the kitchen. “Bea’s birthday party is
Saturday. I'm assuming that she invited you.”

“
She did.” Jackson
answered while he nursed a cup of coffee. “I accepted.”

“
I'm calling a family
meeting afterwards.” Gracie informed him as she threw some Poptarts
in the toaster. “You and Annie need to be here.”

Annie had walked in with
Garrison as she caught the last bit of conversation. “Here for
what?”

“
Gracie is calling a
family meeting after Bea’s party.” Jackson hugged Bea as she came
into the room showing surprise that he was there.

“
That’s fine. How is the
head this morning?” Annie asked as she turned towards
Gracie.

“
Split in half.” Gracie
looked around for her briefcase and purse. “Where did I leave my
things?”

“
Addison’s car and your
keys are there, too.” Jackson watched as Bea sat down to eat. “Are
you ready to go, Gracie?”

“
I guess so.” She kissed
Bea before she walked out the door with Jackson.

They were at the office
when Gracie finally gathered up enough courage to ask Jackson what
was on her mind. “We didn’t do anything last night did
we?”

“
You don’t remember?”
Jackson walked over to her door and opened it for her, “Seriously?
I think that I should be offended then.” He started to laugh at the
expression on her face. “No, Gracie, we didn't do anything last
night."

“
Oh, I'm relieved." Gracie
looked around for Addison’s car.

“
You sound disappointed.”
Jackson whispered in her ear while they stood propped up against
his car.

“
I’m not.” Gracie said in
a determined manner. “Although I am curious as to why you said I
was an affectionate drunk. Did I kiss you?”

“
Not even a kiss,” Jackson
waved as he spotted Addison getting out of her car. “I think that
I'm going to let you be curious.”

Gracie made her way over to
Addison’s car, frowning as she tried to remember anything from last
night. She felt her head throbbing thinking that the hangover made
her headaches seem a little trifle.

“
You have sick days,
Gracie.” Addison watched as Gracie took out her briefcase, purse,
and keys. She could see that Gracie wasn't her normal
self.

“
I do, but I think that
I'm going to make you suffer as much as I am right now.” Gracie
started walking towards the building. “And if my head ever stops
hurting, I'm going to enjoy it.”

Addison laughed at her as
she fumbled with the key to unlock the building. “Want me to do
that?”

Gracie contemplated as she
glanced at her laughing. “What in the world for?” She pushed the
door open and they both walked in. “Did I act strangely last
night?”

“
You were fun last night.”
Addison walked over to her desk and sat down. “What happened after
Jackson took you home?”

“
He says nothing
happened.” Gracie walked softly to her office. “Do I have
appointments this morning?”

“
No, the only thing Mr.
Foster wants you to do is finish the ending for the story. He wants
it by Tuesday.” Addison informed her before she shut the office
doors.

“
Great. Why is every
deadline we have scheduled for Tuesdays?” Gracie walked into her
office closing all the blinds before sitting down at her desk.
Addison had followed her in and sat down in front of Gracie’s desk.
“Is that the only day he works?”

“
Somehow I doubt that.”
Addison stood back up and walked over to start a pot of coffee. “So
you are telling me that absolutely nothing happened last night
after Jackson picked you up.”

“
That is what he says.”
Gracie tried to smile as she sat down at the desk and started her
computer. “I really don’t remember a thing.”

“
I bet Dylan will be able
to tell me everything I want to know.” Addison was smiling at her.
“I still can’t believe you drank three of them.”

“
Did you say three?”
Gracie raised her eyes as she looked over at her friend in shock.
“It's no wonder I feel so bad. I don’t drink.”

Addison stood and laughed
before she walked back towards the door. “You could have fooled the
pope last night, girl.” Turning around she added. “I haven’t seen
you have that much fun since you were little.”

“
Funny.” Gracie frowned as
she logged on to her AOL to check her mail. Addison left the office
as the phone rang and Gracie answered it. It was Mr. Foster making
sure that Addison had given her the message about the book. After
she answered him, she hung up the phone and swiveled around in
circles in her office chair. Before making herself dizzy, Gracie
loaded the CD that had her story was stored on and started to read
it to refresh her memory. Before she realized it, it was lunchtime
and Addison walked in the office to let her know she was going to
the cafeteria.

Gracie glanced up and
nodded as she mumbled. “I'll be down in a minute.” She glanced back
at her screen and started reading again. She was laughing when
Addison walked into her office carrying a tray from the cafeteria
thirty minutes later.

She glanced at the clock.
“Sorry,” Gracie watched as Addison sat the tray down.

“
What are you reading?”
Addison peeked at the computer after Gracie sat down at the
conference table. She looked over at her friend after she read the
page that was showing on the screen. “Is this a new
book?”

“
It’s actually mine.”
Gracie picked at the salad, pulling the carrots out and munching on
them. “I couldn’t remember the story to write the ending, so I had
to start reading it at the beginning again.”

“
Are you going to make me
wait until it comes out in the stores or are you going to be a
friend and let me read some now?” Addison sat down at the table
with her.

Gracie smiled at her. “I
haven’t thought about it.” She stood. “I might read some more this
weekend and try to write an ending.”

“
There’s no try, Gracie.”
Addison reminded her. “You signed the contract and now you have to
fulfill the obligations.”

“
And I needed you to
remind me of that.” Gracie walked over to her desk before glancing
back at her. “Right now, I need to concentrate on Bea’s birthday
party. I was only working half a day today. Remember?”

“
I was wondering if you
thought about that.” Addison watched as Gracie ejected the CD and
shut down her computer. “When are you going to tell your
family?”

“
Tomorrow after the
party,” Gracie placed the disc into her briefcase. “If it's slow
here, and all the work is caught up; you can leave
early.”

Gracie was smiling as she
walked into the school to pick Bea up early. She hadn’t told Bea
that she was going to be there just in case something had happened
at the office to alter her plans.

She was watching the door
as she stood there talking to Terry when Bea walked in with a big
smile plastered on her face. She was laughing at something Terry
had said about Steven as Bea walked up them.

“
Surprise,” Gracie said as
she took Bea’s backpack from her. They were walking out of the
building as Gracie smiled down at her. “I think I forgot to tell
you Happy Birthday this morning.”

“
I thought you had
forgotten. Jackson did, too.” Bea was skipping as they walked to
the car while she held Gracie’s hand.

“
Well, the rest of the day
is yours.” Gracie unlocked the car and threw the backpack into the
back seat. “Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it.”

“
Really?” Bea was looking
out the car windows as they drove along.