Chapter 41 Grace
GRACE
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Hu Gh: ONCE AGAIN, MY FREEDOMS ARE BEING IMPEEDED ON. WE NEED TO BAN DECAF COFFEE!!! I CAN DO WHAT I WANT.
Comments:
Tammy Jane: That was your eighth cup! Touch some grass, old man!
Henrietta Brown: Tammy, touching grass doesn’t always help. Marjorie touches it all the time and she never calms down.
Marjorie Brown: Shut up! There are cops in this group.
Kerry Winsor: @SherriffMike Finch
Marjorie Brown: KERRY!
SherriffMike Finch: I have other things to deal with. Can you people leave me alone?
“I don’t understand how picking a simple yellow color can be this stressful.
” I stared at the wall as if it were offending me.
Over the last couple of months, I’d put off working on the nursery.
With only six weeks left until my due date, it was time.
The small bed was pushed into the corner, and Virginia sighed and looked again.
“I still like the one on the right.” She crossed her arms. “Though, it’s very bright.”
“It’ll be too bright on all the walls.”
Virginia hummed and nodded.
We’d been at this ever since Virginia had arrived hours ago. She’d offered to come and stay for a few days, and now that Dean slept in my bed with me, we had the room. First, we worked on cleaning out most of the nursery, leaving only the bed and a nightstand.
This was one of the last things left on our list of things to do before the baby.
My house was finally presentable again because of Dean, and I already couldn’t wait to show it off to the girls.
The yard was mowed and in shape, and inside, all cracks had been repaired and painted over, and anything that was left on the floor was put up and organized.
It finally felt like a home, not just a house. Most days, I woke up thrilled that Dean came into my life.
This was the main thing still bugging me.
I was about to go back to staring at yellow swatches when my phone went off. I figured it would be from the girls or Dean, but a name I didn’t expect to see flashed on the screen.
Brooke
Hey! It’s me. I’m performing at a sing off out in Nashville and I would really love it if you could make time for it. I’ve been really wanting to show you all I’ve been working on. I hope to see you there!
I stared at it. We hadn’t talked much since her half apology. I was still on the fence about how I felt about her, but I figured she would show up one day and we would see how it went.
The last thing I ever expected was for her to invite me to something.
All this time, her life in Nashville seemed separate from her life here. She would come here to tell me about it, not ask me to see anything.
She didn’t reach out. She showed up.
This was a change for her.
Had anything else changed?
I wanted to go see.
But the bar was in Nashville. That was three hours away, and I didn’t want to even think of driving that far by myself.
“Let’s take a break,” Virginia said. “You seem lost in thought.”
“S-sorry. I was thinking about something else.” I forced myself to look at the paint samples on the wall and still wasn’t sure which one I liked better. “But I should take a break, you’re right.”
“It’s dinnertime anyway. Dean should be back in about an hour.”
“Do you really think traffic will be that nice to him? He’s coming from Knoxville.”
Dean had been splitting his time working for Wren and Clyde. The only jobs he took were in Knoxville, but it was over an hour away, and that led to some late nights.
Between the maintenance on my house and his job, he’d hardly slowed down.
Dean had told me he wanted to have savings so he could take time off and help with medical bills.
I hated that he had to consider it, but even I could see the money would be helpful.
I would have done the same thing, but I could only work so many hours before my body demanded I sit.
“Could you try to show me how to make a pasta sauce again?” Virginia asked. “I’m determined to figure it out.”
“Yeah, of course.” Cooking was mainly practice, though Virginia needed more help than I expected. Still, I enjoyed spending the time with her, especially when Dean was at work all day while the shop was closed.
We moved to the kitchen where I got everything we would need.
My pasta sauce recipe was an amalgamation of many different ones, but I made sure to slow down and tell her why I was doing what I was doing.
She’d seemed focused, but when she asked me if she could substitute tomato paste for tomato sauce, I knew she would need more time.
The front door opened as I was draining the pasta, and Dean appeared in the kitchen.
“Baby, what did I tell you about leaving the front door unlocked?”
I shook my head and accepted a kiss from him. “I was home all day, so it’s fine.”
“You forgot to say hello,” Virginia reminded him.
“I have to lecture her first.”
“You’re lucky she likes you,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Never forget your manners.”
Dean sighed. “Hello, baby. Please lock the door.”
“No,” I said as I stuck my tongue out.
Dean shook his head and muttered about how unbelievable I was before going to wash up for dinner.
“By the way, how often is the store closed?”
“Two days a week,” I replied. “Though, I’ve been sneaking in a few more since all of this happened.”
The third trimester had taken its toll on my energy. Things like bending down were more difficult, and running a shop was hard.
“People’ll get over it,” Dean said.
“You know, my last client back in Shady Acres canceled her service. I could maybe help out on a more permanent basis.”
“You absolutely don’t have to.”
“But I want to. I was thinking about living here anyway.” She said it casually, but I felt like I’d been gobsmacked.
“Wait, seriously?”
“I don’t know where I’ll live, but it’s the plan.”
“You can stay here!” I said it immediately. “I have the space.”
“Until the nursery is built,” she said softly. I deflated at the reminder. It felt like no one lived here, and I had an extra room that was never used.
It was too bad it was Brooke’s.
I wondered if she would even notice if I did let someone use it. After all, she was barely here.
But then I remembered her inviting me to one of her shows and I felt bad. She was trying. It was in her own way, but I saw it.
“I’ll only stay until the nursery is done. Then either a house will sell or I’ll get an apartment.” She looked a little green at her own suggestion.
“We’ll figure it out, just like with everything else.”
Virginia smiled gratefully and then turned to her son. “Dean? Didn’t you have something to mention to Grace?”
“Oh, this should be good,” I said. Dean and I talked about almost everything, but there were times when he didn’t know how or what was appropriate in relationships.
Since Virginia was around, he would ask her.
Most of it had been small stuff, like if things we were doing were too fast, or how not to start a fight while setting a boundary.
“You didn’t have to say it like that.” He sighed. “I just need to stay in Nashville for a few days.”
“Oh,” I said. I couldn’t pretend that I loved the idea of him being gone for days at a time, but he still had an apartment there, and I knew this was coming. “When are you leaving?”
That was when he winced. “I need to start getting things figured out to permanently move here before my lease ends. So, tomorrow?”
“He forgot about all of this,” Virginia added. “I promise he didn’t keep this from you that long.”
But I wasn’t mad. I was thinking about something else that was also tomorrow.
“What if I go with you?” I asked.
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Dean, she wants to spend time with you.” Virginia said it like it was obvious. And while she was halfway correct, I did have another reason.
“Is that why?” Dean asked.
“I do want to spend time with you, yes. But there is a thing I wanna go to out there. Brooke reached out and invited me to a show. It’s late tomorrow night, and if we leave early enough, we could make it.”
“She reached out?” he asked.
“Yes, which she never does. I might be reading into things, but this might be her way of asking to catch up.”
“But you’re thirty-four weeks pregnant. Is it fair of you to drive all that way to see her?”
“Not really. I wasn’t sure I could swing it on my own, but since you’re going, I could make it work.”
I would understand if Dean said no. I knew it wouldn’t be because of me. He hated Brooke, and I didn’t blame him for that.
But Dean had said he wouldn’t stand in the way of me trying with her, so I had hope.
“I’m fine with that on one condition.”
“Tell me your terms.”
“If it’s anything about what happens in the bedroom, at least let me leave the room,” Virginia said immediately.
My cheeks burned. “No, I highly doubt it’s that.”
“Mom, why would I even—no!”
“Just kidding. I like to see the two of you squirm.” Virginia laughed and took another bite of her food. I shook my head. I had a feeling she knew what Dean and I got up to, no matter how quiet we tried to be. Normally, she didn’t mention it.
Now I knew I might die of embarrassment if she did.
“The condition is that you do something for yourself in Nashville.”
“Will you have time for that?”
“I’ll make time for it.”
“Your conditions are steep,” I said with a sigh. “But I think I can handle doing something for myself.”
“And it can’t be food related.”
“What? But I’ve heard Nashville has great food!”
“It does, and I’m taking you to those places anyway. It needs to be something fun and for you.”
I had to think about it for a moment. “There are a few plus-sized thrift shops I could go to there.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Dean said. “We’ll be doing that.”