House Divided (8 page)

How many times had I said that to him? I
had tried so many times to get him to try it, but never succeeded. I would even
bribe him with kisses, but he would always steal a kiss and say, “Ellie, you
know you want to kiss me anyway.” And he was right, I always did. I’ll admit I
still did, but it was best not think about that.

He arched his eyebrow sexily. “If I do,
will you agree to the original terms?” I guess he remembered too.   

He really was too much. I just shook my
head no.

He laughed. “It was worth a shot.”

Caroline began to yawn; she’d had a long
day and had been a trooper. Brady paid for us and then scooped her up as we left
for home. On our way out, Mrs. Kellen came out and apologized for earlier.

“Don’t worry about it,” we replied in
unison.

She just smiled at the two of us and waved
her finger. “I still have hopes for the two of you.”

I wanted to say, “Don’t get your hopes up,”
but instead we quickly said goodnight and made our exit. All I knew was
tomorrow I was getting Aunt Lu to agree to her procedure, and then I was
getting the heck out of there.

Brady drove me home first; Caroline had
already fallen asleep. He helped me carry in my obscene amount of bags. I
thanked him kindly for his help and saw him to the door. I noticed a familiar
look in his face, it was the same determined look he gave me the night of
homecoming when he had announced to the world that we were together. I was in
trouble again. I tried to shut the door quickly, but he pushed against it.

“Ellie, please.”

“Please what?”

Without warning, he pulled me close and
ran his fingers through my hair. “Ellie, please give us another chance.”

I pulled away. “I won’t break the rules
again, Brady.”

“Dang it, girl! Hang the rules.”

“Brady, I broke the rules once and broke
my aunt’s heart, and then you left me for Amber.”

“Ellie, I thought my daddy was dying. What
did you want me to do?”

“I wanted you to at least wait a few days
before you fell into Amber Capshaw’s arms! Did you break up with me and drive
straight over there?”

“What about Nathan Nichols?” he fired
back.

“Who the heck is Nathan Nichols?” I said
confused.

“The guy you met in Huntsville at your debate
team tournament. You know, the guy you were seeing behind my back?”

I shook my head. “Brady Jackson, who told
you that?”

He started to answer, but I cut him off. I
couldn’t believe he would throw such accusations my way. “Better yet, how could
you believe that about me? I’ve never even heard of a Nathan Nichols. You
obviously didn’t know me at all. And you sure as heck didn’t love me the way I
loved you!” I slammed the door in his stunned face.

As soon as I heard him drive off, I
grabbed my car keys. I was driving straight to the hospital. I didn’t care that
it was late. Aunt Lu was having her procedure and I was going back to Atlanta.
I was going back to being Elle and to where nobody cared that my last name was
Eaton. And most importantly, I was getting away from Brady Jackson.

As I walked outside, I realized my car was
at the dang bank. Darn that Brady Jackson! I went back into the house, got some
comfortable shoes on, and threw on one of my old jackets. The bank was a couple
of miles from my house. I would just walk there and get it. I needed to cool
off anyway, and I didn’t have anyone to call in this town except Doris,
and I didn’t want to bother her. I had cut off all ties to everyone here except
my Aunt Lu. In hindsight, maybe that wasn’t the best way to go.

The more I walked, the more ticked I got.
How could he accuse me of cheating on him? I could guess who told him I was,
but how could he believe her? I knew I shouldn’t care, we were talking about
high school. It was a long time ago, but my aunt was right, I’d never gotten
over him. I could still feel the pain of watching him walk in the halls, hand-in-hand,
with Amber Capshaw and pretending like I never existed.

But I did get my revenge. Well, sort of.
That last semester was difficult, and the Eaton- Jackson feud hit an all-time
high. I would have graduated early if I hadn’t worked so hard to be the
valedictorian. When prom came and I was nominated for prom queen, along with
Amber and another girl from the Jackson side, I decided not to rescind my
nomination. I knew everyone was waiting for me to, even Aunt Lu. Every day she
reminded me of rule two. I didn’t tell her my plan, but I promised her I
wouldn’t be bringing home a crown.

Aunt Lu took me to Atlanta, and we bought
the most beautiful dress money could buy. It was a cream, floor length gown
with an empire waist and gold beading on the bodice. It was a dress fit for a
queen. I went without a date, but I wasn’t planning on staying anyway. Halfway
through the dance, Principal Jerger got up to announce the court and who had
been elected the king and queen. It was no surprise when Brady’s name was
called for prom king. And to be honest, I wasn’t surprised when my name was
called either, I knew the odds were in my favor. The two girls from the Jackson side had to split the votes from their side.

Everyone else was shocked. There was a
gasp when everyone realized what had happened, but it was Amber’s and Brady’s
reaction I was most interested in. Amber looked like she had just been slapped.
Brady’s look confused me. It was the first time he had really looked at me in
months, and he looked almost happy. He even half-smiled at me. I icily glared
at him when I walked up to the principal and told her I couldn’t accept the
crown. I then walked off the stage and out the gym doors with my head held high.
Amber, by default, was made the queen, but she would always know she had lost
to me.

I went straight home that night and
cuddled up with Aunt Lu and cried and cried. Aunt Lu told me it wasn’t a very
Christian thing to do, but I didn’t know if she’d ever been prouder of me. My
little coup was talked about for the rest of the year. Grace and Andi told me
after I left that it looked like Brady was going to come after me, but Amber
grabbed hold of him. I guess they skipped the queen and king dance in all the
confusion. Admittedly, that gave me great delight. I knew it was nothing to be
proud of, but I wanted to show the Jacksons that they hadn’t beat me and that I
was worthy of a crown, but didn’t need one.

A few weeks later I was made valedictorian,
and a week after that, I left Kaysville to start the summer term at Auburn.
At first I kept in contact with my friends, but too many conversations centered
on Brady and what he was doing. I don’t know why they thought I wanted to know.
It just made my heart ache. Brady was more than just a high school crush. I
really did love him, and I’d never been able to get over that.

I made good time to my car. I didn’t know
if I had cooled off any, though. I was still upset that Brady had thought, all
these years, I had somehow been unfaithful to him. And now, after all this time,
he wanted to try again, after years of having to hear about him and Amber and
watch them on T.V. together. I didn’t care how much he said things had changed,
I knew his momma and daddy would never welcome me with open arms, and I
wouldn’t be surprised if they would do whatever they could to make sure we
would never be together. Not to mention I couldn’t break Aunt Lu’s heart again.
I didn’t care how much I loved Brady Jackson.

By the time I got to my car, I realized it
really was too late to visit my aunt, but I would be heading there first thing
in the morning, before church, and honestly, the way I felt tonight, I may just
skip church. I didn’t want to see Brady or his family or anyone from this town.
Ok, I would like to see Caroline, but that was it. That reminded me, I needed
to put a call into my office and have them ship me some books and dolls.

Just as I got home, my cell phone rang. I
didn’t recognize the number, but it was a local number. That was odd, but I
answered it.

“Hello.”

“Ellie, its Brady.”

The fool didn’t need to tell me who it
was. I knew his voice better than my own. “How did you get my number?”

“It was on the paperwork you signed.”

“So is this bank business?”

“Well, no.”

“Isn’t it illegal for you to use my
information for personal reasons?”

“Oh, come on, Ellie. Why do you have to be
like that? I just realized I left you at home without your car.”

“It’s fine. I walked over to the bank and
got it.”

“This late at night? By yourself? And in
the cold?”

“Maybe you didn’t notice, but I’m a big
girl now, and I can take care of myself.”

“Believe me, I’ve noticed.”

“Well, goodbye.”

“Wait, Ellie.”

“What, Brady?”

“Can we please talk?”

“I don’t think there’s anything else left
to say, Brady.”

“Ok, Ellie, but if you think I’m going to
let you walk out of my life again without a fight, then you have another thing coming,
so saddle up, Ella Lu Eaton.”

“Brady!”

“Goodnight, Ellie.” And just like that he
hung up.

He was on my ever living last nerve
tonight.
Well,
you
have another thing coming, Brady Jackson
. “And
by the way, I didn’t walk out of your life in the first place. You pushed me!”
I don’t know why I said that out loud, it wasn’t like he could hear me.

I stomped up the stairs and took a long,
hot bath. As I lay there soaking, I tried not to think of that fool. Who did he
think he was, telling me to saddle up?
Well, cowboy, you better hold on to
your hat because I have no intention of losing this rodeo.
I didn’t care
how sweet and charming he was, not to mention incredibly gorgeous, I would
not
be falling for that again. I wasn’t fifteen anymore.

I tossed and turned a lot during the
night, but I woke early. I still hadn’t decided if I would go to church, but I
wore the dumb dress Brady found attractive just in case. I didn’t want to upset
my aunt by walking in not properly dressed for the Sabbath. Growing up, as more
and more people wore casual clothing to church, I was never allowed to. Aunt Lu
would always say, “If you can’t dress up for God, then who can you dress up
for?” I took extra time on my hair. I curled it and pulled it up in a romantic
upsweep. I don’t know why. Maybe part of me wanted to show Brady Jackson what
he missed out on, but he’d probably just look at me and think,
I’ve had
beauty queens
. At least I could articulate why I’m proud to be an American.

I knew these weren’t good thoughts to have
as I contemplated going to church. It was probably a good indicator that I
should spend more time in church. Brady wasn’t the only one that needed to
repent, but at least I wasn’t a liar (ok, unless you counted at the hospital,
but that was for a really good cause). I still couldn’t believe Brady would
believe those lies about me. Hadn’t he known how much I’d loved him? I don’t
think I ever even looked at another boy the whole time we were growing up. Even
now, I still had a hard time not comparing the men I dated to him.

It took me no time at all to drive to the
hospital. It was something I missed about my home state. Atlanta traffic was
the worst. Even on Sundays there was traffic there.

Though it was early, my aunt was up, which
didn’t surprise me; she was a creature of habit, and getting up early was one
of her many habits.

“Ella Lu. What are you doing here this
morning? You’re going to miss church.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“What’s wrong?”

I sat down next to her and laid my head in
her lap, just like I used to when I was growing up. She immediately began to
stroke my hair, but I could tell she was trying not to mess it up, even though
I didn’t care if she did.

I told her all about my day with Brady and
Caroline, I even told her about what Brady said about not letting me go again
without a fight. I began to cry. I expected her to get upset and go off on that
Jackson boy, but she didn’t. She didn’t say anything, which was really
unusual for her. I lifted my head to look at her. She looked sad. She reached
up and placed her hand on my cheek.

“Aunt Lu, please have the angioplasty. I
love being with you, but I need to get back to Atlanta. It was a mistake for me
to ever come back here. Not to mention, I’m worried sick about you. I don’t
know what I would do if I lost you. You’re the only person that has ever loved
me.”

I was surprised to see her eyes water.
Aunt Lu wasn’t one to get emotional. “My sweet girl, I think you’re loved more
than you know or want to admit right now.”

“What does that mean?”

She ignored my question. I hated when she
did that.

“I have a bargain for you,” she said.

“Ok?”

“I’ll schedule my procedure for tomorrow
if you agree to stay here through the holiday season.”

What? What kind of a bargain is that?

“Why do I feel like everyone is
blackmailing me lately? It’s like a conspiracy.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Ella Lu.”

“Why do you want me to stay here?”

“I have my reasons, Ella Lu.”

“Care to clue me in?”

“Not at this time. So, do you agree?”

I sat all the way up. “You know you’re not
playing fair.”

“There’s nothing fair about life, Ella
Lu.”

“Fine, I agree.”

She clapped her hands. “Now that that’s
settled, it’s time for you to get to church.” She handed me her cosmetic bag.
“Hurry and fix your make-up, sugar. You’re going to be late.”

“I don’t want to go to church.” I sounded
like a kid again.

“Nonsense, sugar. You go and hold your
head up high and show them what being an Eaton is all about.”

I fixed my tear-stained cheeks and eye make-up
and reapplied my lipstick. I turned back toward her for her approval.

“You’re radiant, as always. But remember,
you’re more than a beautiful face, Ella Lu.