STateSTateThe next day, Luke was gone before Grace woke up. Somehow still exhausted, she got up and began to make breakfast. Her two kids slowly trekked down into the kitchen by following the smell of bacon, eggs and sausage. This was one of Grace’s favorite moments of the day. Her sleepy kids would sit patiently at her table, not talking but smiling at their mother. Then just as Grace laid down the food, Luke would enter the kitchen quietly and watch his family. It was also one of his favorite moments of the day. He never failed to take them by surprise. Usually Sarah would shout, “Daddy!” and they would all smile at him. Grace would give him a kiss and their breakfast would commence.
State Of Grace: The Sequel
Chapter 2
Luke returned to the fields as Grace pulled out with the kids in the back of their truck. Sarah and Nick waved good-bye to their dad. Nick was in kindergarten and Sarah had just started preschool that fall. After Grace dropped them off, she drove to Cambridge, the town’s richest and newest neighborhood. Her best friend from high school moved there when she married a fancy lawyer.
May groaned when she saw Grace jump out of the truck. “You’re so big!” she shouted as she gave her friend a hug.
“Thanks?” she laughed as she returned the hug.
“I’m so jealous,” began May, “I want kids so bad but you know David, he’s not ready for them yet. But soon I hope! He really means well I just know he’s so busy at work and then there was this new case last week that had him up until midnight!” She stopped and looked at her friend. Grace was smiling into her coffee. Her arm was resting over her belly protectively.
“Is it everything you dreamed it would be?” May asked.
“Did I dream that I’d marry Luke Taylor and have two wonderful kids and another baby on the way?” she laughed.
“No… that you live the perfect life for Grace Parker? It is perfect,” sighed May.
“Aren’t you happy, May?” she asked, now concerned for her friend. May smiled and gestured around her. They were seated at a marble counter top in a huge kitchen that was right out of a magazine. May’s house was huge and seated on a high hill at the end of the neighborhood. All her neighbors were rich doctors or lawyers who commuted to the city to work.
“I have everything a girl like me needs, Gracie, but I need babies to fill it with love. David and I can’t do it alone.”
“Sounds like you two need a vacation!” said Grace. May smiled but Grace knew her husband would never take the time from work. “How about a bonfire at the Taylor’s instead?” This May agreed to. The girls set plans for Saturday night and Grace left her friend in better spirits. Since she was in town, she did some errands before it was time to pick up Sarah and then Nick. Since she was so close to the high school, she decided to pick up Teddy as well.
He was standing alone in the crowd of kids, watching for the bus that took him out of town and into the fields. The kids around him wore boots and jeans, some flannel shirts, a lot of hats and no one looked really dressed up. Grace looked down at herself. She could blend in with the high school kids but her nephew looked so out of place. He wore a golf shirt, khakis and sneakers. Normal enough for a regular high school kid but this was Alabama and he just didn’t fit in.
Suddenly, Grace realized what the problem was that brought Teddy to walk through acres of wheat fields on a Thursday night. He didn’t belong here.
“Mommy! Mommy, look its Teddy. He looks sad,” said Nick. He was sitting in his car seat and was excitedly looking around at all the big kids. Sarah was singing a little song to herself. Luke found her songs hilarious and delightful but she was too shy to sing in front of other people.
Teddy spotted their truck and hopped in. “Thanks for picking me up,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “Let’s go get ice cream,” she said. The kids cheered and Teddy half smiled.
Amenah
*Yours Truly*
_Jannette
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