Small Town Love

Chapter Two

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

Grace groaned and threw her hand out, fumbling around in the dark for the off button on her alarm clock. It took several long blaringly loud seconds for her to find said button and once silence and peace had been restored to her tiny bedroom she flopped onto her back and covered her face with her arm.

Five in the morning came way too early, especially when you had been up until two with a grandmother who seemed convinced her husband, who had worked nightshift in the coal mines and had been dead for fifteen long years, was going to be coming home in the night. Ester Collins was a eighty-three year old woman and her dementia was steadily getting worse.

Some days she was fine and she was the grandma that Grace could always remember her being and then some days she seemed lost in the past or she would suddenly be a small child again and get herself into trouble. Grace had been told by more than one person that she needed to put her grandmother into a nursing home but the thought of doing that always brought tears to her eyes.

Her grandmother had raised her from the age of five when her mother had changed her mind about parenthood one day and taken off. Ester had been mother and grandmother to Grace. She had taught her how to ride a bike, how to bake cookies and how to knit (though Grace was pretty well hopeless at the latter). Ester had helped her through her heartbreaks as a child and had always been there with a warm smile and a kind word when Grace had needed it. And now that her grandmother needed her, Grace was going to be there.

Grace blew out a long breath and forced herself to rise from the bed. She ran her hand through her unruly auburn hair and shuffled across the worn carpet of her bedroom and out onto the cool hardwood of the hallway. She didn’t turn any lights on for fear of disturbing her sleeping grandmother and daughter as she made her way to the kitchen and clicked on the coffee pot she had prepared the night before.

As the scent of her brewing caffeine boost filled the air, Grace went back to her room and turned on the morning news while she took her morning run on her treadmill. Then she showered, dressed in her jeans and t-shirt and had her first sips of coffee warming her blood by six.

She walked down the hall to her daughters room and knocked gently on the door before stepping inside. She stared down at her peaceful sleeping angel and thanked God yet again for her. She smoothed her blond hair from her brow and kissed her slumbering head.

“Mama?” Cadence whispered groggily and Grace smiled.

“It’s time to wake up, baby girl. We have to get you ready for school.”

“But I’m still sleepy.” Cadence mumbled as she rolled away and buried her nine year old face in the pillow. Grace laughed lightly and climbed into the bed, kissing her daughters hair and wrapping her arm tight around her.

“That’s because somebody stayed up late watching that princess movie on TV. I told you that you would be tired in the morning and you said you wouldn’t be.” Cadence turned her head and smiled brightly, though her eyes still weren’t open more than a crack.

“I’m not sleepy.” Grace laughed and tickled her ribs causing her to squeal and squirm in an attempt to get away from her.

“Well come on then, gremlin, we have to get you ready for school.”

“Mommy, can I have moo moo milk with my breakfast?” Cadence asked as Grace helped her from the bed.

“Of course you can.” Grace took Cadence to the bathroom and helped her shower and dry her hair. While most nine year olds could do these things themselves, Cadence was different. She had been born with what the doctors called mild mental retardation. Grace hated those words and instead simply chose to say her daughter was special. At the age of nine, Cadence had the mental capabilities of a five or six year old. The doctors were hopeful that she would improve with time, perhaps even get to a sixth grade level but Grace wasn’t too concerned about that.