Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2) Read online

  Kent knew from experience not to even attempt to talk to Larry before he was able to wake up a little more. So he jumped up and poured a cup of coffee then set it on the table across from his brother who was still glaring at him.

  Larry didn’t say a word. He just collapsed into the chair and leaned over his cup, holding it with both hands. After a moment, he turned the cup up and drank it all down in several continuous swallows. Kent just shook his head. How in the world could Larry drink hot coffee that fast?

  Larry still didn’t say anything. He stood and only took the single step necessary to be able to reach the coffeemaker. After pouring another cup and shakily taking it back to the table, he looked up at Kent and said, “You sure missed out on a lot of fun last night.”

  When Kent remained silent, Larry who usually couldn’t stand silence said, “What you got going today?”

  Kent knew from experience that if he said he didn’t have any plans then Larry would talk him into doing something with him that Kent rarely enjoyed. So he thought of something quickly.

  “I noticed that someone is moving into the house on the other side of Mrs. Anderson. So I thought I’d go down and greet my new neighbors and help them move in.”

  He purposely didn’t mention the fact that it was Grace moving into that house. He knew Larry would give him grief about it if he did.

  Larry didn’t react at first then he seemed to think about it for a moment. “Hey wait a minute. Didn’t I hear that Grace Livingston was moving into that house?”

  Larry surprised him but as Kent thought about it, Larry always seemed to know all the gossip going around town long before Kent ever heard anything.

  “It’s Donaldson now and yes she and her little girl are renting that place until they can find a place to buy. It seems that they looked all summer and couldn’t find anything they liked.”

  Larry was grinning now. Kent knew what was coming next and braced himself for it.

  “That sure should be convenient for you, having Grace living so close to you. You always did have a thing for her and I know you really got all bummed out when she married that guy from St. Louis. But now, she’s single again. Go for it Bro.”

  Kent chose not to comment on any of that. He knew that Larry would go on and on if he did. This way, he might stop soon.

  Kent also knew that the only way to get Larry off an attack like this was to turn the tables on him and thereby get Larry mad at him.

  “Larry, this is the third time in the past week that you’ve slept it off at my house.” Larry started to argue but Kent quickly continued. “You know I don’t mind you spending the night here once in a while. But Larry, you’re killing yourself with all the booze.”

  Larry kept looking down at his now empty coffee cup for a long time before he silently stood and left the kitchen. Kent could have predicted exactly what would happen next and it did.

  Kent went into the living room where he knew Larry would go next after he came out of the bedroom he’d slept in.

  After some shuffling sounds came from the bedroom, Kent looked up and saw Larry coming down the hallway. He was going to go out the door without speaking to Kent, but Kent stepped in his path to stop him.

  “Larry, you’re my brother and you know I love you, but man, I’m worried about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Larry stopped with his eyes on the door behind Kent. Finally, he looked at his brother. “I’m doing just fine. I don’t need you or Sheila or Mom and Dad or even my nosy apartment manager to tell me what to do with my life. Okay?”

  With that, he reached for the door handle and Kent stepped out of his way. Larry was out the door and in his car quickly, then gone.

  Kent closed the door and leaned his forehead against it for a long time. What could he do to help Larry? He’d tried everything he could think of over the years. Even Larry’s wife hadn’t been able to get him to stop drinking. She’d finally given up and divorced him and not too many people had really blamed her.

  After Larry left, Kent went back to the kitchen to have one more cup of coffee before going back to his bedroom to get dressed.

  He really did look forward to helping Grace move into her house. Larry was right. He had always had a thing for her and it really had hurt him when she’d met some guy in college, married him, and moved to St. Louis.

  * * *

  Grace stood at the curb next to the large rental van. She didn’t know what she would have done if Matt and Betty Sue hadn’t driven up to St. Louis and helped her pack. Then of course, Matt, the former truck driver, had driven the truck down to Strawberry for her. They had saved her lots of money. Now, they were helping to unload all of her and Brianna’s things into their new house.

  My, it sure was good to be back home with her family, finally. She looked for her daughter and found her trying to help Betty Sue carry a big box. Grace had to laugh. Ever since Matt and Betty Sue had announced that she was pregnant, Brianna had hovered around Betty Sue like a little mother hen.

  The funny part was that Betty Sue was six feet two inches tall and even at four months along she didn’t need anyone’s help for much of anything.

  But Brianna seemed to be enjoying herself and that was the important thing to Grace. Of course, Betty Sue went along with Brianna just as if she’d always been around small children, which she never had.

  Grace just knew that Brianna was going to love living in Strawberry. Brianna had never lived here before, but the little girl was sure looking forward to it for so many reasons. Grace was glad all over again that she’d finally made the decision to come back home and of course she was thankful that a teaching job had opened up here for her too.

  An added benefit of Grace teaching at the high school was that Brianna’s elementary school shared a large campus with the high school. Since Grace’s mom was the high school secretary, Brianna could come over to the high school office after school to be with her grandma until Grace finished for the day. Both Grace’s mom and Brianna were looking forward to having that time together.

  Grace just smiled to herself. This move was exactly the right thing for both of them to be doing at that time. She, for one, had really needed the change from living near Randy’s parents. They had been trying to tell her how to live her life a little too much, especially how to rear Brianna. Her own parents didn’t even do that, at least they hadn’t before.

  Her big brother stopped next to her on his way back to the truck. She noticed that Brianna had gone into the house with Betty Sue.

  He looked down at her and smiled. Grace was tall at five ten but her brother towered over her at six feet seven. Even her dad was six feet five. She and her mom, who was a couple of inches shorter than Grace, always had to look up a long way at both of them. Then Betty Sue had come into their lives last December and just made it even worse. But that was okay since Grace dearly loved her new sister-in-law.

  “I sure hope you don’t change your mind down the road and move back to St. Louis. Because I’m mighty glad you’re back in town Gracie.” Matt grinned down at her knowing that she didn’t like that nickname at all and only tolerated it from a few special people but never in front of others. He flipped her long blond hair back over her shoulder playfully.

  She grinned back up at him. “Matt, I have never been more positive about anything in my life.” She swatted at his hand. “I just know that Brianna and I will love living here.”

  Matt ran his hand through his light brown hair and snorted. “Yeah. I’m sure she will. She’ll have her grandparents as well as Betty Sue and me to spoil her all the time now. What kid wouldn’t love that? On top of that, she’ll love being next door to Mrs. Anderson too. She’ll be like another grandma to Brianna.”

  Grace giggled at that and watched as her daughter came out of the house holding Betty Sue’s hand. They stopped when they came up next to Grace and Matt.

  “Mommy, can I go to my room and start putting my things away now?”

  Grace reac
hed down and hugged Brianna. They had made sure that everything of Brianna’s went into her bedroom first and Matt had already put her bed together. “Sure you can Sweetheart. If you need help with anything just come get me okay.”

  Brianna squealed and took off for the house with her long blond hair streaming behind her.

  Grace called out after her, “You can let Butterball out of his carrier now but make sure to keep your door shut so he’ll stay in your room. Okay?”

  “Okay Mommy.” Brianna went on into the house.

  Just then, a car pulled up at the curb and when Grace looked that way, she saw her parents coming up the driveway next to the truck. Well, her family was complete now. Everyone was there and it felt absolutely marvelous, in fact it couldn’t be better.

  Grace’s parents both came up and hugged her, then her mom leaned back and looked into her eyes. “I would imagine that you could use some help getting your kitchen organized.”

  She waved her hand toward the others. “I’m sure they can get all the rest of the things out of the truck.”

  She grabbed Grace’s hand and headed up the drive but Brianna coming out of the house just then stopped their progress.

  “Grandma, Grandpa.”

  With that, the little girl flung herself up as high as she could into her grandpa’s arms. That was sort of tradition for Brianna with both her uncle and her grandpa. They were so tall and broad that it had become a game for Brianna to see how high she could jump into their arms.

  Soon, after Brianna went back into her room and Grace’s dad began helping Matt and Betty Sue, Grace found herself sitting at the kitchen table with her mom.

  Grace took a good look at her mother. Linda Livingston was still pretty at fifty-six. At least Grace thought so. Her mom still had mostly blond hair but there were some gray streaks starting to show now. She always thought of her mom as being so full of energy. She’d had to be when Grace and Matt had been growing up. With such a large older brother, Grace had quite naturally been a rather rambunctious tomboy. But being the high school secretary had certainly kept her mom on her toes over the years.

  They were still sitting at the kitchen table when Grace heard a sound and looked up. She was shocked to see Kent Jackson standing there with a tentative smile on his face.

  Wow, Kent Jackson. She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t seen Kent much for quite a few years. She’d only talked to him on the phone a few times last December when she was trying to enlist his help in getting Matt to straighten out his life. Oh, and they’d both been at Matt’s wedding in February but they had barely more than greeted each other then.

  To say that it was a shock to see him standing there in her new kitchen was quite an understatement. Her first thought was that he looked good, really good. He hadn’t changed much since high school. Sure, he was a little taller and had filled out a little but all that was to be expected with maturity. Oh yes, Kent had matured all right and he’d done it quite well too.

  She didn’t know what to say. Finally, her mom whose back was to the doorway, noticed that Grace had grown quiet and turned around to see why.

  “Oh hello Kent, how are you today. Have you come to help? Everyone else is in the backyard setting up Brianna’s swing set if you’d like to help them.”

  He didn’t move and didn’t speak either. He just stood there staring at Grace so hard that she began to blush, even though she fought it.

  “Hi Kent. It’s good to see you.” Well that sounded lame. But what else could she say to him? She didn’t really know him anymore.

  Kent finally seemed to come out of his own daze. “You look nice Grace.” Then he blushed too.

  Grace’s mom looked from one to the other and a knowing look came over her face. “I think I’d better go out there and make sure those men are getting that new swing set put together right.”

  With that, she was gone, leaving them alone, still staring at each other.

  Finally, Grace mentally shook herself. “Kent, I guess you know that I’ll be teaching at the high school this year.”

  He grinned. “Yes, I heard and I’m looking forward to it.”

  Now what could she say? She said the first thing that came to her mind. “Have you met my daughter Brianna yet?”

  When he shook his head, she said, “Well, why don’t we go out back so you can meet her.”

  Chapter Two

  Kent had found out last December that Grace would be coming back to Strawberry this summer. And ever since then, he had been wondering what it would be like to be around her again, after all the years she’d been gone, especially since he would now be working with her.

  But right then, he felt like kicking himself. He was acting like a lovesick teenager. But man, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Sure, she’d been a beauty in high school. But now? Now she was unbelievable. Seeing her had tied him up in so many knots that he couldn’t speak, move, or even think. He was even having trouble breathing.

  As he followed her out through the sliding doors, onto the patio, and on into the backyard, Kent couldn’t help but remember Larry’s words. His brother knew him all right, too well in fact. But the question was this, was he still in love with Grace?

  He wasn’t so sure he wanted to know the answer to that question yet. He did know that he didn’t want to be. Being in love with Grace Livingston hadn’t gotten him anything but heartbreak before, so why should he set himself up for more pain?

  He made a decision. He would get through this day somehow and then he’d have to try to avoid her at school. That was the only way he could think of to preserve his sanity. Or was it to protect his heart? Otherwise, he’d run the risk of walking into another brick wall. And he didn’t think he’d be able to survive that happening to him a second time.

  As soon as they approached the group standing around a newly erected swing set, Kent felt a little more comfortable. After all, his old friend Matt was there. He knew that Matt would smooth things over for him.

  Matt looked up and grinned. “Hey Kent. You’re just in time. All the big and heavy stuff is still on the truck.”

  Kent grinned back at him as Matt and his dad both came over and shook his hand. He was relieved that he didn’t have to try to think of something to say to Grace anymore. Out of the corner of his eye, he was sure that Grace looked just as relieved as he was.

  “Hey man, how come I haven’t even seen you once since my wedding? And that was six months ago.”

  Kent was finally glad to have a topic that he could at least join in on without coming across like a lovesick fool.

  “Well, Matt, I’d say that you’ve been plenty busy since then with your school and all. By the way, congratulations on finishing. Are you going to work for somebody else for a while or try to start your own heating and cooling business right away?”

  Matt laughed a booming laugh and slapped Kent on the back just soft enough to keep from knocking him down.

  “Hey, you know, I’d been leaning first one way and then the other until Trish told me that I could use a storage shed that’s at the back of her property between the diner and the motel. It even has a garage type door. And since we’re living in the motel manager’s apartment that would be a perfect place for me to make into a shop. So, I guess that’s what I’m going to do.”

  His new wife, Betty Sue, spoke up then. “Yeah, he just wants to be close to me because he thinks he needs to protect me.”

  Matt didn’t laugh and his face grew serious “But Honey, after the way your ex-husband came to town and kidnapped you last December, you can hardly blame me. Now can you?”

  She slapped him playfully on the arm and then a sad look came across her face. “No, but Dave won’t be bothering me ever again.”

  “Yeah, but running that motel, you’re bound to come up against some rough people from time to time.”

  She laughed then and Kent was beginning to feel like a spectator at a sporting event.

  Matt’s dad, the preacher, stepped up next to
Kent just as Matt and Betty Sue concluded their discussion with a kiss.

  “Well Kent, are you ready for school to start Monday?”

  Kent grinned up at the big, gentle man. I sure am. In fact, I always am. I love teaching.”

  Linda Livingston stepped up then and added, “Kent’s one of our best teachers too.”

  She turned to Grace who was standing a few feet away. “But our Grace will be giving you a run for your money for best teacher there now.”

  They all laughed and Kent couldn’t help noticing that Grace blushed and avoided his eyes when he looked directly at her. Interesting.

  Grace’s daughter came running out the patio door and started jumping up and down shouting. “My new swing set! It’s all done. I want to swing on it now . . . please.”

  She jumped on one of the swings and Matt quickly stepped over behind her so he could begin pushing her. Her squeals were soon drowning out any attempts at conversation nearby.

  Grace leaned toward Kent shyly. “If you hadn’t figured it out yet Kent, that’s my daughter Brianna.”

  He felt a sudden sadness at seeing Grace’s little girl who was about the same age as Michelle would be. He had to get his mind off that subject quickly or his anger would get the best of him again.

  He turned back to Grace and tried to keep the anger out of his voice. “She’s a beauty just like her mother.”

  Grace blushed again and Kent was sure he’d said too much. Now what? He was saved from further embarrassment when Betty Sue took over pushing the little girl and Matt came toward Kent. “Well, I’ve rested enough now to tackle the heavy stuff. How about you Kent? You ready?”

  Kent stayed busy the rest of the morning helping to unload the truck. He was surprised at how much Betty Sue could do. Granted, she was the tallest woman Kent had ever seen but she was rather thin. She had worked together with Matt while Kent had worked together with Henry Livingston.

  Kent had been a little apprehensive at first because he knew the guy would dearly love to get Kent into his church. But he’d been surprised when his best friend’s dad didn’t even say a word about church all morning.