House Divided (6 page)

Brady whipped out his mobile phone, dialed
the local pizzeria and placed an order. He ordered my favorites, ham and
pineapple pizza and their homemade cinnamon sticks. Why did he have to be so
sweet? I felt his gaze on me the whole time.

“Please deliver it to the Eaton’s place,”
I heard him say, and then he paused. “Yes, I said the Eaton’s place.”

I cringed. I knew things hadn’t changed.
They were probably calling his momma and daddy right now, and they would
probably be calling him soon to tell him to leave and to get their
granddaughter as far away from me as he could. I looked over to him, and he
just smiled like everything was ok. But it wasn’t ok. There was no turning back
now, what’s done is done. The whole town would know by tomorrow I was in town
and was already fraternizing with the enemy.

I took Caroline to the foyer and showed
her all the blue and orange ornaments, boy was she excited. She looked around
and grinned. “Is this the floor in your books that Aunt Calliope and Jane slide
on?”

I shook my head yes. “Uh huh.” I smiled at
her. “Do you want to try?”

She quickly took off her shoes. I held her
tiny hand and then we ran and slid, just like Aunt Lu and I had done when I was
her age.

She giggled as we slid and then stopped.
“Again,” she said loudly.

We did it again, but this time Brady came
out in the foyer at the wrong moment. We slid right into him. I grabbed onto
Caroline to save her from falling onto the hard marble floor, and Brady held
onto me to save me from the same fate. I got a familiar, warm and fuzzy
feeling.

He held me tight and pulled on my hair.
“Ellie.”

I pulled away immediately, even though
every part of me wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms. This was wrong.
I wouldn’t break the rules again. I backed away and quickly agreed to
Caroline’s request to do it again. Brady just stood motionless for a moment. I
could feel his stares. I was grateful his niece was with us. It kept me from
doing something I would regret, like falling right back into his arms on
purpose.

We slid a couple of more times with Brady
joining us, but I made sure to keep Caroline between us. The further I stayed
away from him, the better. After our fun, we began decorating the Auburn tree. I smiled at the razzing Caroline gave her uncle about how much better Auburn
was than Alabama this year. They had just recently creamed Alabama in the Iron
Bowl. It was so weird to hear a Jackson say, “War Eagle” not just once, but
several times over. Of course Brady had to throw in a few “Roll Tides” to which
Caroline and I both rolled our eyes at. I wasn’t sure that particular phrase
had ever been used in this house.

Soon the pizza arrived, and I let Brady
answer the door; I wasn’t in the mood to see anyone from town anyway. I’m sure
they were shocked to see a Jackson open the Eaton’s door. We ate picnic-style
in front of the fireplace. Brady started a fire while we girls ate. During our
picnic, Caroline told me all about herself. She liked to draw, play soccer, she
loved my books of course, and she wanted to grow up to be a waitress at Sonic
because then she could roller skate all day. And she loved her Uncle Brady
because he was the best uncle ever. I had no doubt he was. I was surprised she
didn’t talk about the pageants I’m sure she had already been in. I bet her
momma and grandma had already begun her schooling on how to be a beauty queen.

As we ate, I looked at the scene before
me, and oddly this was the most fun I had had in a long time. I hadn’t laughed
and smiled this much in forever. Brady had been more than my boyfriend, he had
been the best friend I had ever had, and tonight I felt like I had that back,
even if it was just for the evening. We finished dinner up and went right back
to work on the Auburn tree. The white tree in the family room was next, because
I saved my favorite for last.

Before we started on the drawing room
tree, Caroline had conked out. It was awfully late. Thankfully, it was Friday
night and not a school night.

I looked at the sleeping angel and wished
for things I shouldn’t. “You should probably take her home. I can finish the
last tree by myself,” I told Brady.

He insisted on staying, so I got Caroline
a blanket and wrapped her up on the couch. He called his brother to tell him he
would just keep her for the night. He didn’t mention where he was. That didn’t
surprise me.

Brady helped me carefully unwrap the
delicate ornaments, and he helped me string the lights. We kept touching each
other’s hands in the process, and I was feeling plenty warm.

“So, what’ve you been doing these last ten
years?” he asked.

What did I say to that? Unfortunately, I
had spent too much of that time trying to get over him. “You know, graduating
from college and traveling, and of course writing.”

He had just hung a handcrafted nutcracker
that my aunt had purchased in Russia when he turned to look at me. “I’m so
proud of you. When your first book came out two years ago, I wasn’t surprised
at all. I remember all the short stories you used to write and read to me down
by the river bank.”

Oh … I did too, but I couldn’t respond to
that. It was too painful. “How did you end up at the bank?” I asked to try and
divert the conversation. And I was actually curious. I don’t ever remember that
being part of his plans.

“Well, after I broke my leg, the NFL was
out of the question.” He looked at me as if to confirm that I knew about his
injury. I think everyone in the state knew about that injury, but I’ll never
forget seeing him hurt and how I ached.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get your dream of
playing in the NFL.”

He shook his head slightly. “The NFL
wasn’t my dream, just my favorite career choice.”

His tone and admission surprised me. He
sounded like he had come to terms with it, but I could tell there was some
regret there.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Benjamin
convinced me to come work for him, so I ended up with a Master’s degree in
finance.”

“Speaking of Benjamin … Is it ok if I ask
how he ended up back here and married to an Auburn graduate?

The sparkle in Brady’s eyes returned.
“Well, let’s just say Miss Teen USA emptied their bank account and ran off with
the Miss Virginia organizer.”

Ouch.

“Benjamin moved back over seven years ago
and took over my daddy’s position at the bank. His wife, Kendra, used to be my
physical therapist.”

“You let an Auburn woman touch you?”

He peeked around the tree and looked at my
jersey. “I’m actually partial to Auburn women.”

“And yet you chose one from Alabama?” I
shouldn’t have said it, but part of me wanted him to know how much he hurt me.

“Ellie …”

The tree was done by then. “I’m sorry,
Brady, it’s late.” I looked over at Caroline. “You should probably get her back
to your momma and daddy’s”

“I have my own home, Ellie. You should
come out some time and take a look, you would love it. It’s out by the lake,
and I have a tire swing.”

I looked at him thoughtfully, the offer
was so tempting. “I don’t think so, Brady. I’m only here until my aunt gets
better. Thank you for tonight. I wish you the best.”

“I’m sorry, Ellie.” He reached out to tug
on my hair, but I stepped back before he could.

Dejected, he turned and walked over to
Caroline. He began to remove the blanket.

“Don’t worry about the blanket. I don’t
want her to get cold.”

He picked her up, and I rested her shoes
on top of the blanket.

“Please tell Caroline when she wakes up
how much I enjoyed meeting her and I hope she has a Merry Christmas.”

“I will.”

“I hope you have a Merry Christmas too,
Brady.”

He looked at me with downcast eyes. “Merry
Christmas, Ellie.”

I watched him walk out the door, and I
watched as he gently placed Caroline in his truck and buckled her in. She
didn’t even stir. I remembered when we used to daydream together about all of the
kids we would have. We even named them. It seems so silly now.

Brady turned and waved to me. I waved back
and shut the door. I leaned against it and slid down and sat on the floor and
cried. I needed to get out of Kaysville as soon as possible. Aunt Lu needed to
have her angioplasty and recover soon. If not, I was in real danger of never
being able to recover from Brady Jackson.

The next morning I dressed carefully once
again. It was another reminder of why I needed to get out of this place. I
loved my Aunt Lu, but I would have preferred sweat pants and a sweatshirt on a
Saturday instead of a cashmere sweater, jeans, and heeled boots. I knew she
wouldn’t like the jeans, but I was feeling a little rebellious, and she
deserved it for not warning me about Brady.

When I entered her room, she was all
propped up like the Queen of Sheba. She was something else. She smiled at me,
but then looked at my jeans. “Jeans, Ella Lu?”

“Good morning to you too,” I said as I
kissed her cheek.

“Did you get the Christmas trees
decorated?”

“Yes, Aunt Lu and I signed all of the
paperwork at the bank and they have the power of attorney. So, will you please
schedule your procedure now?”

“What about the Christmas gifts and
cards?”

I reached for her hand and squeezed it
gently. “Aunt Lu, I will get all of those things done, but you’re a ticking
time bomb, you need to have that procedure scheduled. Please do this for me.”

She squeezed back. “All in good time, Ella
Lu.”

What did that even mean? This was serious.

“How did it go at the bank yesterday?”

I didn’t like the way she just dismissed
me and changed the subject, but I knew there was no sense in pushing her.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Brady Jackson
was the Vice President there?”

Her eyes gleamed. “Did you see him?” She
sounded almost excited about that prospect. That was very odd.

“Of course I saw him.”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened? I signed
the paperwork like you asked me to. What was supposed to happen?”

“Well, it’s been a long time since you’ve
seen each other.”

I wondered if I should tell her about him
coming over. I supposed I better, I’m sure it would get back to her anyway. I
sighed heavily. “Honestly, he brought his niece over unexpectedly to the house
last night and we had dinner together and they helped me decorate the trees.” I
looked over to see her reaction, which was quite the opposite of what I expected,
but I quickly threw in, “But don’t worry, I know the rules and we won’t be
seeing each other again.”

She looked at me thoughtfully and didn’t
say a word, but it was like I could see the gears in her mind working. She
really was behaving oddly this morning.

“Did you know about Benjamin and his
wife?”

She wickedly grinned. I took that as a
yes.

“You know you should have warned me.”

“I remember someone once telling me she
never wanted to talk about Kaysville,” she chided me.

I just shrugged my shoulders. I knew she
was right.

“What are your plans for the day?” she
asked.

“My plans are to stay at the hospital with
you.” Why was that even a question?

“Nonsense, child, it’s Christmas time and
there are things to be done, and you sitting here isn’t going to help me one
bit.”

That hurt a little. “You don’t want me
here?”

“Ella Lu, I love you more than air, but
there is shopping and preparations to be done. Oh, and I need you to go to the
bank today and make a deposit for me.”

I looked at her, dumbfounded. “Why didn’t
you give it to me yesterday?”

“It slipped my mind.”

She reached for her purse and handed me a
fairly large check. Who carries that kind of money around in their purse?

“Aunt Lu!”

She just smiled. “You better hurry, the
bank closes at one on Saturdays, and I also need you to get twenty brand new
one hundred dollar bills for some of the cards I’m sending out.”

“Anything else?” I couldn’t keep the sass
out of my voice.

“You’re going to church tomorrow, right?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Ella Lu, the Good Lord expects you in
church.”

“I didn’t bring church clothes.” Like that
settled the matter.

“Well I guess you better pick some up
while you shop today. But make sure you go to the bank first.”

“You do realize I’m an adult, right?”

She smiled at me patronizingly. I just
took the dang check out of her hand and kissed her goodbye.

Have I mentioned how much I hated being in
Alabama? Two days in a row at that dang bank! I walked in, and once again all
eyes were on me. I walked up to the youngest teller; I was hoping she wouldn’t
have clue who I was. I had already noticed some of the unkind glances of some
of the older women. I wanted to yell again, “Don’t worry I’m not in here to
touch your precious Brady!”