House Divided (5 page)

“Don’t look at me like that, Ella Lu.
They’re expecting you there this afternoon. I want this settled today.”

“Can’t they just fax me the paperwork?”

“Not in this case,” Mr. Howard
interjected.

I knew my aunt would refuse any procedures
until this was a done deal, but the last place in Kaysville I wanted to go was
that blasted bank; the one owned by Brady Jackson’s daddy.

Mr. Howard got up and looked at his watch.
“I have an appointment set for four p.m. with a Mrs. Gayle Wells. If we leave
now, we should make it in plenty of time.”

I hesitated, and then Aunt Lu gave me her
look. I just shook my head. I did not like this one bit. I kissed Aunt Lu on
the cheek and followed Mr. Howard out.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, sugar,” Aunt Lu
called out in her sweetest voice.

The whole drive over I kept praying that
Mr. Jackson wouldn’t be there. I didn’t know much about what happened in
Kaysville anymore, but I knew he was still alive because if he had died, my
aunt would have thrown a party. I also wasn’t ready to announce I was in town,
and I knew walking into that bank was going to do just that.

I pulled into the parking lot and checked
my hair and make-up. I added a touch more lipstick, took a deep breath, and
then met Mr. Howard in the lobby. I felt like, instantly, all eyes were on me.
I was an Eaton in Jackson territory. It was a reminder of why I had left and
meant to never come back. With my head held high, but nervous as could be I
walked to the receptionist desk with Mr. Howard.

“We have an appointment with Mrs. Wells,”
Mr. Howard informed the receptionist.

The young receptionist asked us to have a
seat. I felt lots of eyes on me, and I knew they weren’t staring at me because
they recognized my face from the back of my books. They were staring because I
was an Eaton, and a long time ago I broke the granddaddy of the rules. It made
my skin crawl.

After a few moments, the receptionist
walked over to us. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wells has left for the day, but Mr. Jackson
is expecting you.”

It was my worst nightmare. My heart began
to beat rapidly. I needed this to be done today so that my aunt would schedule
her procedure, but the thought of being in the presence of that man made me
feel ill. First he broke my aunt’s heart, and then he ripped mine out when he
made Brady break up with me. I had always wondered, though, if that was just an
excuse Brady used, because he took no time falling right into Amber Capshaw’s
arms. But regardless, they hated me.

Mr. Howard must not have been clued into
the Jackson-Eaton drama because he didn’t consult with me, and he answered for
both of us. “Perfect, lead the way.”

It wasn’t perfect. It was anything but.
The whole way back I kept reminding myself
, I’m not seventeen anymore, I’m successful,
and oh yeah, I have more money than the Queen of England
. I wouldn’t let
Mr. Isaac Jackson intimidate me.

There was only one problem, though. It
wasn’t Mr. Isaac Jackson I was meeting with. It was Mr. Brady Jackson.

Why didn’t my aunt tell me Brady Jackson
was the Vice President? She surely knew. I froze as we were shown into his
office. He, on the other hand, immediately rose and walked over to greet us.
His eyes were alight as he approached me. Mr. Howard’s hand was stretched out,
in anticipation of shaking Brady’s hand, but Brady paid no attention to him. He
came directly toward me. He looked amazing. His sandy hair had darkened, but
his eyes were just as blue. He didn’t look like a kid anymore; he looked like a
man now, an extremely attractive man.

“Ellie!” he sounded so happy to see me.

I wasn’t happy to see him at all. “It’s
Elle, Mr. Jackson.”

His face dropped, but he recovered
quickly. “Well, Elle, please have a seat.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jackson.”

He winked at me. “Maybe you forgot, but
it’s Brady.”

I would not be falling under the influence
of his country boy charm. I just sat down, along with Mr. Howard, and let him
take it from there. He explained to Brady why we were there and what we needed
to have done. Brady nodded and replied when appropriate, but the whole time he
looked at me and smiled that smile I loved so much. I mean the smile I used to
love so much. I hated it now.

Brady turned his attention toward Mr.
Howard. “I believe we have all the necessary paperwork in order.” He looked back
over at me with a genuine smile. “We just need your signatures, Ellie, I mean
Elle.”

Mr. Howard got up. “Perfect. I will leave
you to it then, Ms. Eaton.”

“You’re leaving?” Panic was definitely
setting in.

“Yes, I have another appointment. Don’t
worry, I think you’re in good hands with Mr. Jackson.”

Oh, no no. I am not in good hands. They are
the worst hands possible.

Brady looked at Mr. Howard. “I’ll take
good care of her.”

Mr. Howard rubbed his hands together and
smiled. “Excellent.” He looked at me as he exited. “If you need anything, Ms.
Eaton, you have my card and cell number.”

I do need something. I need to get out of here
.

Brady saw Mr. Howard out and asked his
secretary to bring in the paperwork that had been prepared for me. He came back
in and took Mr. Howard’s empty chair next to me. His secretary brought in a
stack of papers and handed them to Brady, and then she shut the door on her way
out. I felt trapped.

Brady looked at me and grinned. I didn’t return
it. I just wanted to get this over with.

“You look fantastic, Ellie.”

“Mr. Jackson, can we please just skip the
niceties and get on with it.”

“Please, call me Brady.”

I reached into my purse and got my pen
out. “Just tell me where to sign.”

He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment,
then he began to arrange the paperwork on his desk. There were signature tabs
on each of the documents. He directed me to sign at each tab.

I started signing the plethora of
documents.  I felt like that’s all I had done all day.

“How’s your aunt?” Brady asked as I
signed.

I didn’t even bother to look up at him as
I wrote out my signature for the hundredth time that day. The sooner I could
get out of there the better. “Feisty. She’s driving the doctors and nurses crazy.”

Brady laughed. “How long will you be in
town?”

I gave in and looked over to him. He
hadn’t changed much, other than he was even more handsome, but he still had
country boy charm written all over his face.  He looked at me sincerely.

I turned back to the paperwork. “Hopefully
not long.”

“Are you staying at your aunt’s house?”

“What is this, twenty questions?”

He reached over and lifted the pen out of
my hand. “Come on, Ellie, can’t we just talk?”

“Why do you insist on calling me Ellie?”

“You used to like it.”

I took my pen back. “That was a long time
ago.”

He tugged on my hair. “It wasn’t
that
long ago.”

He was starting to get on my nerves. This
was business. “Do you treat all of your customers like this?”

“No, but you’re my most beautiful
customer.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr.
Jackson.”

“Please, Ellie, you’re killing me with the
Mr. Jackson.”

I finished signing the last document. “I
think that will do it.” I got up quickly to leave.

“Please don’t go yet.”

I turned back around. “Why, Brady? If I
remember right, you’re still a Jackson and I’m still an Eaton, with no titles
or crowns, and this is still against the rules.”

“Things have changed, Ellie.”

I edged closer to the door. I didn’t know
what that meant, things had changed, but I knew one thing that hadn’t changed,
and that was I still loved him and I could never have him. I needed to get away
from him. 

“Thank you for your help,” I said as I
reached for the door.

He was standing now too. “My niece loves
your books. She would love to meet you,” he quickly blurted out.

That caught me off guard. His nieces would
be way older now than my target audience of four- to eight-year-olds. That is
unless he was married and he was talking about his wife’s side. I admit I had
already looked at his left hand to see if there was a ring there and there
wasn’t, but maybe he was just one of those guys that didn’t wear one. I hated
thinking about him married, but look at him, he was a catch to be sure. I was
sure he was already married.

“That’s really sweet, I’ll have my office
send some signed copies to the bank for her,” I said all flustered. Then I made
a quick exit. As I marched through the bank, the stares continued. I felt like
yelling, “Don’t worry, Brady and I didn’t do anything against the rules.” I
hated this town.

I sped through town and got to Aunt Lu’s
house, which was technically mine now, just in time for her three freshly cut
Christmas trees to arrive. She had also ordered fresh garland for all the
mantles. I let the men in and showed them where to set up each tree. It was
going to be a long night of decorating. Each tree had a theme. The one in the
foyer was always decorated in orange and blue, the one in the family room was
decorated in all white, but the one in the drawing room was my favorite, it was
decorated with ornaments from around the world.

Doris
was off, so I had the
house to myself. Once again, I was alone with my thoughts, and of course they
centered on that darn Brady Jackson. My aunt was going to get an earful from me
tomorrow. She could have at least given me a warning I might see him. And why
did he have to be so dang nice to me? Ex-boyfriends should be cold and indifferent.
They shouldn’t look fabulous in their suits and ties, and they shouldn’t call
you Ellie, and they shouldn’t be perfect.

I changed out of my suit and rummaged
through my old closet. I hadn’t really packed anything appropriate for tree
decorating. Everything I brought was too nice to get tree sap on. I was
grateful my aunt never threw my old stuff away and that I could still fit into
my jeans from high school. I guess there were some perks to not having any kids
yet. I slid on my old jeans and threw on an old Auburn jersey and then made my
way to the attic to begin pulling down box after box of decorations. I don’t
know why she insisted on decking out the house, she rarely entertained anymore.
I’m sure she would just say, “Because that’s what southern women do.”

It took me an hour just to get all the
boxes out and placed in the appropriate rooms. By then, my stomach started
growling. I hoped Doris left something in the fridge for me. She knew I was an
awful cook. On my way to the kitchen, the doorbell rang. I turned around, and
for old time’s sake, I slid across the marble entry way in my socks on the way
to the door. It made me smile, but then I opened the large Mahogany door and I
wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Brady,” I sighed. “What are you doing here?”

He looked me over in my old jeans and
shirt, he probably recognized them. Then I realized he had the cutest little
ginger-haired girl with him.

“Well, I was telling my niece that her
favorite author was in town, and she insisted that we come over and meet her.”

I looked down at her sweet little
expectant face. I was being blackmailed again, this time by what I would guess
to be a five year old and her uncle.

I smiled at her. “What’s your name,
sugar?”

She grinned widely and revealed a missing
front tooth. She was darling. “I’m Caroline Jackson.”

Oh, so she wasn’t from his wife’s side, but
that meant one of Brady’s brothers had had an oops. Brady was the baby by a
long shot. Did that mean that Brady wasn’t really married? Not that it
mattered, we couldn’t be together regardless. There were rules after all, and
he had proven Jackson men couldn’t be trusted.

“Well, Caroline Jackson, would you like to
come in?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I loved her manners. “You can call me Miss
Elle.”

“But Uncle Brady said you liked to be
called Miss Ellie.”

I gave him the evil eye; he in return gave
me that country boy smile. I sweetly looked at her. “Did he now?”

She shook her head yes. I led them into
the drawing room.

She sat down with her uncle on the velvet
covered couch and I took the chaise.

Brady looked way too happy sitting there.
He just kept staring at me.

“So, Caroline, what else has your uncle
told you about me?”

Excitement broke out across her sweet face.
“He told me that you are the nicest and prettiest person he’s ever met and that
you like Auburn just like me and my mommy.”

“Sugar, did you just say Auburn?”

Confused, I looked at Brady. Surely I
heard her wrong, no Jackson liked Auburn.

“Yes, Miss Ellie. War Eagle!” she replied
to my ever living surprise.

Brady looked down lovingly at Caroline,
and then he looked at me with that same sweet gaze. I had to remind myself I
hated him.

“Ellie, Caroline’s daddy is Benjamin, and
he and her momma were married just over six years ago. Her momma’s name is
Kendra, and she’s an Auburn graduate.”

Whoa, that was a lot to take in. I
wondered what had happened to Miss Teen USA, the one Benjamin had been married
to. And why in the world was he married to an Auburn woman?

“Do your parents know?” I tried to keep
the edge out of my voice when I asked.

Brady laughed. “Of course they know. I
told you things have changed.”

I doubt they had changed that much. She
was probably like Miss Universe or something, so they made an exception, and I
guarantee her last name hadn’t been Eaton.

I turned my attention back to my little
admirer. “How old are you, Caroline?”

“I’m five and I’m in kindergarten and
Uncle Brady says I go to the same school you went to.”

“You live in Kaysville?”

She shook her head yes. I looked at Brady
again.

“Benjamin is the President of the bank
now.”

Maybe I should have talked to my aunt more
about Kaysville.

My stomach then picked the inopportune
moment and growled loudly. How embarrassing. “Excuse me. I was just about to
get something to eat when you came over.”

“You can cook now?” Brady teased.

I’m sure he remembered my disastrous
attempts at trying to make him cookies a time or two. Of course he was sweet
enough to eat them and pretend he loved them.

“No … I was hoping Doris left something
for me.”

Brady looked at me sweetly. “I was going
to take Caroline for pizza after we left here. Come with us.”

Caroline’s face lit up as she jumped up.
“Please, please, please!”

I looked at her sweet face and then at her
uncle’s and then I remembered Eatons and Jacksons don’t mix. “I wish I could,
but I have three trees to decorate tonight.”

“Aww,” Caroline sighed.

Brady’s handsome face mischievously
grinned. “Caroline, I think we should order pizza and help Miss Ellie decorate
her trees. What do you think?” he asked her.

No, no, no.
Brady Jackson was not going to be helping me do anything.

She ran over to me. “Could we?” she asked
so sweetly and innocently.

I looked at Brady, who was still grinning
mischievously, and then I looked back at that sweet, toothless grin.
I will
not let them stay, I don’t care how cute she is. I will not succumb
. “Of
course, sugar.”

She wrapped her tiny little arms around me,
and I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. Brady winked at me as I smirked at
him. I still hated him.