Gratitude
I took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. I stood in anticipation, waiting for the door to open. My hands were sweating and my heart was thumping. I rocked on my heels with my hands in my pockets, trying to keep calm. I waited and waited but no one came to the door. I sighed, turned around, and started to walk back to my truck.
"Honey Bee?" Her soft voice carried out to me.
I froze and slowly turned around. She was standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pink below the knee length skirt and a white blouse. A small smile lit up her wrinkled face.
"Hi, Nana." I gave a small awkward wave.
She opened her arms up to me and in a few strides I was in her arms. I held her tight to me and breathed in her perfume.
"Come on, Annabelle, lets get inside. I don't want the neighbors to think I've gone soft. Especially lil' Tommy Lovell, that nuisance is terrified of me and if he sees me huggin' my granddaughter he'll think I'm a big sappy wuss." She wiped at her eyes and ushered me in.
"I just made some cookies, you want one or five?" She teased.
My nana my come off as stern, uncensored, and intimidating, but underneath her gritty exterior, she really is just a stereotypical sweet old lady. She likes to scare the little kids and demands respect from the adults, but to me she is a harmless and caring grandmother. But I guess that she's always had a sweet spot for me, given that she treats me differently than my uncle's children. Probably because I've never been much trouble, whereas Kylie Sue has always been a bit of a scandalmonger.
We sat down at the round table in her kitchen. "No thank you." My stomach was already in knots from all that has happened today, I didn't need to add cookies on top of it.
She stood up anyways and poured me a glass of sweet iced tea. "Well you gotta have somethin'. " She said as she placed the glass in front of me. She rubbed my shoulders, "what's the point of grandparents if they don't give you money or food, right?" She laughed at herself and sat back down next to me.
"Nana, I'm really sorry I haven't come to see you in so long."
She shrugged it off. "It's ok, baby. I knew you wouldn't stay mad at me for much longer. You were never one to hold a grudge. But I guess now it's my turn to apologize." She took my hand in hers. "I'm sincerely sorry 'bout tellin' you that you should get a boyfriend. You don't need a man."
I gave a small laugh. "It's alright. I do agree with you about not needin' a man, but you were right when you said that I need to get out more. I need to move on from what happened two years ago. I just didn't know how much I was still holdin' on until recently."
"You've met someone, haven't you?" Her lips quirked up into a small smile.
"Umm." I didn't know what to say. I knew she, like everyone else, thinks I'm dating Landon. If I told her about Travis then she'll think I'm cheating on him. I could tell her that he and I aren't actually together, but would that be right? I already spilled the beans to one person today. It doesn't seem okay to do it twice.
"I know you're not with Landon." She said. A mischievous glint in her eye. "You don't act like y'all are a couple. And I remembered you tellin' me not too long ago that he liked Brittany. Plus, I went up to threaten him- like a stern grandmother is supposed to do- and he reassured me that you were just bein' a good friend." My jaw dropped. My nana threatened my "boyfriend"!And he didn't say anything to me about it! "So who is it?" She pressed. "Is it the cowboy- Tanner or whatever?"
"Travis." I blushed and was suddenly very interested in my glass.
"It is!" She laughed. "And I knew his name, I just wanted you to correct me."
My head shot up. "Nana!"
Before she could respond there was a knock at the door. She sighed, "that must be Jim."
"What's he here for?" I asked.
"He's supposed to be fixin' my kitchen sink again, but I have a feelin' he's gonna do more gossipin' than fixin'."
"But didn't he just fix that very same sink less than two months ago?" I asked remembering him being here the last time I visited.
"Uh huh. He's not a very good handy man. If your daddy weren't so busy all the damn time with work, I'd as him. And we both know that my eldest ain't gonna help his poor old mama none. So I'm stuck with Jim Harper." She stood up and smoothed her clothes out, taking her sweet time to answer the door.
"Howdy, Rose. Just you wait until you hear what I have ta tell ya."
She let out a loud sigh. "Just try ta fix the sink first this time, Jim."
They walked into the kitchen where I was still sitting, drinking my sweet tea. "Oh! Annie! You're here." He said surprised and looked at me with prying eyes.
"Yes." Nana wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me into her protectively. "Now don't just stand there. I've hired you to fix my sink, not to speculate why my granddaughter is in my house. So get ta work." He huffed but did as he was told.
"How is your parents, Dear?" She asked sitting down besides me.
"Fine. Daddy's been workin' extra hours at the hospital lately. They're really understaffed."
"Poor, Andrew. What's your Mama been up to these days? Still scrapbookin' like a mad woman?"
"Mm hmm. She's goin' on her annual scrapbookin' trip next weekend with a few ladies from work."
"Oh how nice. Where are they goin' this time?"
"Oklahoma City I think."
She smirked. I knew all this small talk was just to annoy Jim. He wanted to hear gossip and we weren't gonna feed him any.
"I want to get some goldenrod flowers for my garden but I'm gonna need some help plantin' 'cause of my back."
"I'll plant them for you if you go to the store and pick them up. I might even recruit some of the Bradshaws. Especially Sloan, you know how he loves diggin' in the dirt."
She laughed. "Oh, I'm sure Emily will be very pleased when you bring home her son covered in mud."
"Well then she'll just have to deal with it." I chuckled.
"How was homecomin' last night, Annabelle?" Jim blurted unable to contain himself any longer. "I heard you left the dance early."
"Yes." I said slowly. "Well I wasn't feelin' too good. But I had fun while I was there."
"I'm sure you did." He said, glee filling his obnoxious voice. "How was the dancin' with Travis Hillwood?" I wanted him to lift his head and smack his face on the pipes.
"Annabelle!" My nana cut in, saving me from answering his question. "What dress did you wear?"
"I bought a short light blue strapless dress. It was really pretty, it had a sparkles going up the entire dress and some bling at the top." I said still blushing from Jim's question.
"Cute! You'll have to send me pictures."
"I will. I actually have a few pictures on my phone that I can show you."
I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of the whole group all gussied up. She took the phone from my hands and held it away from her face then brought it super close. When she was done examining the picture she handed it back to me. "You looked very beautiful, Annabelle. It was a very interesting blue to choose. I wonder what drew you to that color." She smirked and darted her eyes back to my phone. When I looked down I saw that she zoomed in to Travis's face.
I blushed. "I just thought that it was a pretty color." I said looking into the very similar blue of Travis's eyes.
"Mm. Yes, I'm sure you love looking at that color. I also believe that you go out of your way to look at that color."
"What are y'all talkin' 'bout?" Jim asked from under the sink, very confused.
"Girl stuff!" Nana snapped. "Why don't you mind your own business, Jim, and fix my damn sink." He grumbled in reply.
I continued to show her pictures of our night. She continued to give sly looks and hinting comments on certain pictures. And Jim continued to get increasingly aggravated.
"There all done." He pushed himself from out under the sink. "Can I tell y'all somethin' now." He was like a little kid begging for a cookie after doing all their chores.
My nana sighed. "Since you've done a pretty good job keepin' your trap shut today, go ahead."
His face lit up with an over exaggerated smile. "You know how Ramsey and Brittany have a thing?" He asked. "Well maybe not so much anymore." He paused to get a reaction but we didn't give him the satisfaction. He huffed. "Apparently last night Ramsey took Kylie Sue aside and well... They were lookin' very inmate. Landon and Brittany stumble upon the two. Landon comforted her but apparently Brittany didn't seem all that upset. Anyways..." He looked directly at me. "They way Landon was holdin' her was similar to the way Ramsey was with his ex."
I didn't know what to do. Should I fake being upset? Should I look indifferent? Is the plan even still on?
"I think that's enough, Jim." My nana snapped. "You will not come into my house and purposely try to make my granddaughter feel upset. You don't even know what you are taking about. Now get out." She growled. "And don't even think that you are gettin' payed full price. You will be lucky if you get half of what you ask for, considerin' you did such a bad job on my sink last time that you had to come back and fix it less than two months after."
"You can't do that! I-I'll sue!" His voice shook.
"Actually I can. And you won't sue because you owe me." An evil look passed over her eyes. "Remember what happened your junior year of high school?"
Jim stiffened. "Yes ma'am. Free of charge." His voice came out hard and pained. "Have a good day," he voiced before letting himself out.
"Nana, that was so bad ass!" I exclaimed, highly impressed. "What did he do when he was a junior?"
"Dan convinced Andrew to have a rager over here when they were seniors. Jim came over and of course helped in trashin' the place. But he went a little over the top. He broke into my room, which Andrew had locked, and stole some priceless jewelry. I called the police when I discovered it missin', they found Jim's fingerprints. I told 'em I'd take care of the lil' rat 'cause his mama was a sweet lady and incredibly sick. I pulled Jim aside and told him that I knew it was him. Said he took the gems to pay for his mama's medical bills. I felt sympathy for him and allowed him to keep some of it. A week later he had a brand stankin' new jeep."
I gasped. "He sold your jewelry to buy himself a new car instead of helpin' his sick mama!" She nodded. "What a sick, twisted, incredibly selfish man!"
"He's always been like that and he ain't ever gonna change. I don't blame his wife for leavin' him. She'll do far better with his elder brother than with him."
"What happened to Mrs. Harper?" I asked.
"The church started a fund for her. She was able to pay off most of her bills and when she died a few years later the fund payed for all the funeral arrangements. Life insurance took care of the rest." She said looking down at her fingers. "Bless her heart. A sweet woman like that deserved better children, but I knew she loved 'em wholeheartedly anyway. Never thought they were at fault. In her eyes they were perfect angels."
She shook her head. "Enough with that. Tell me all 'bout Travis Hillwood."
"Nana!" I swatted at her arm and she laughed at my blush.
~•~•~•~
Sunday. The day of the Lord. The day of the week when all of the town gathered into one small poorly air conditioned building to gossip before another townsfolk got up in front of everybody else and read from the holy bible.
Today was the day that I would be faced with all of the rumors of homecoming. But today was also the day that I would give thanks.
I took a deep breath and walked into the already full building. I saw Bethany off to the corner bickering with her sister. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you know where your dad is? I need to talk to him." I said as I approached them.
A worried look passed over Beth's face. "Are you alright, Annie?" I smiled and reassured her. "If somethin' is wrong you know you can tell me, right? I'm always here for you."
Cheyenne scoffed. "Beth, chill. She said she's fine." She looked back at me and nodded to the office behind her, "he's in there."
I mumbled a quick thanks and walked quickly to the office. I knocked softly and poked my head in. Pastor Burns was pacing his office with the bible in one hand while he rehearsed his sermon. He looked up when I entered, "Annabelle Storm. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Sir, I was wonderin' if I could address everyone after the service?" I asked politely.
He raised his eyebrow. "May I ask why?"
"I saw the video. I just wanted to... Thank everybody, I guess."
He smiled. "You're more than welcome to give thanks when I'm done."
"Thank you, Sir." I said and quickly bowed out of the room.
I sat between Jenna and my nana. Every once in a while I would steal glances at Travis, who sat on the other side of Jenna, and catch him looking at me. I blushed under his stare and looked away. From the corner of my eye, I saw my nana smirking at me, letting me know that she saw the transaction.
We all bowed our heads as Pastor Burns lead us in our last prayer. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. It was almost time. My head spinned with what I planned to say. The butterflies in my stomach started their fluttering.
"-and in Jesus's name we pray, Amen." Pastor Burns closed his prayer and received a chorus of 'Amen's back. My head snapped up as I realized that I was so absorbed in my nervousness, that I totally tuned out Pastor Burns. "And as we close today," he looked directly at me. "Annabelle has asked if she may come up and talk to y'all. So without further ado, Annabelle, come on up."
Everyone turned in their seats to look at me. I gulped and slowly stood up. All eyes followed me as I walked up to the front and stood behind the podium, taking Pastor Burns place. I could hear my heartbeat pound in my ears, my stomach tightened and threatened to spill its contents. I blushed profusely as I looked out into the waiting eyes.
"Uh hi. I-I um," I stuttered then chuckled nervously. I looked at my nana, she smiled encouragingly. "Deep breath," she mouthed and did it herself. I closed my eyes, griped the podium, and breathed.
"I asked Pastor Burns to speak to all y'all today because very recently, yesterday actually, I discovered the reason why I was voted for homecomin' queen. I want to say thank you.
"You know, these past few years I've seen this town as self-servin', and judgmental, and only interested in gossip. But, this-" my voice cracked. "This was the least selfish thin' I've ever seen... And it was for me.
"Y'all all came together to help someone in the community. This act has reminded me how good you are and that this is what our town does. We all help and guide each other, without any of our own selfish reasons behind it.
"So thank you. Thank you for remindin' me how great all y'all are." Tears started pool in my eyes. "Thank you for makin' me your homecomin' queen. I'm very honored to have the title," I gave a light laugh. "I'm so thankful to be livin' here, to have grown up will all y'all, and to know that y'all will always be here for me. I love you guys." I wiped away the one tear that fell and tried to hold back the others. "So much."
As I was rubbing my eyes I heard one small slow clap. By the time I looked up nearly the whole congregation was on their feet a clapping. I let out a confused and embarrassed laugh.
Pastor Burns came back up and hugged me. He actually hugged me. I don't think he even hugs his own children very often.
When he pulled away I was wrapped up in another hug by Jenna, then Bethany, then Faith, then Brittany, and Evelyn, and Maddox, and Callie, and Mr Helburn. Next thing I knew, there was a long line of people waiting to give me a hug and encouraging words.
~•~•~•~
When the emotion fest had calmed down I walked out of church with my family. My nana was beaming with pride and my parents were holding me close to them. We stopped at the car, waiting for my dad to unlock it, I looked behind me and saw Mr and Mrs Dennison. They caught my stare and gave me a weak smile and wave. I'm sure the video must have been very hard for them to see, to remember their son's death. I mirrored them and turned around to gets into the car.
"Belle!" I snapped my head back around and quickly made sure that no one heard what he called me. Thankfully it seemed that no one did.
I looked back at him. "Hey what's up?"
"I was wonderin', if I could come by later and pick up my jacket from Friday night?"
I gasped. "Oh my God. I totally forgot 'bout that. I'm so sorry."
He brushed it off. "Don't worry 'bout it. So can I?"
"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Come over whenever. I'll be home." I said.
"Thanks." He pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "I'll see you later." He whispered into my ear, left a lingering kiss on my cheek, pulled away with a smirk, and then left me staring at his back.
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A/N:
Thank you for being so patient and waiting for this chapter! I'm sorry about the accidental update of it a few weeks ago, but here's the full completed version of the chapter now! And to my fellow Texans, I hope and pray that all of y'all are safe and well. All this rain and flash flooding is getting really old really quick. I pray that it stops soon. Anyways, now that it is Summer I should be updating more frequently, so fingers crossed. Thanks for all the votes and comments! Keep 'em comin'! Love y'all!
Madison