Page 42 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
“Thanks for coming. Let’s sit down.” Brindle pointed to the bleachers, eyeing Grace with a curious expression. As they walked across the room, she said, “I guess Oak Falls really is good for the soul, like Mom says. You look amazing, like you’re…I don’t know. Refreshed? Happy?”
“That probably has more to do with Reed than Oak Falls,” Grace said as they sat down. “I helped him with the porch this morning.” She felt her cheeks burn with the memory of what else she’d helped him with.
Brindle gasped, her eyes filling with amusement. She leaned closer and whispered, “Grace! Did you have anooner? At Mom and Dad’s?”
Grace laughed softly and admitted, “Mom and Dad went for atrail ride.” She’d never shared her sex life with Brindle and had no idea why she was now, except that she was so happy with Reed she wanted the world to know—about her happiness, not their intimacy. That had just slipped out.
Brindle let out a tempered squeal and hugged her. “I’m so proud of you!”
“Stop!” She pushed her sister away with a smile. “We’renottalking about this,” she said firmly.
“Well,you’renot, but oh my gosh, Gracie!”
“No, Brindle,” she said with a glare. “You are not speaking about it either. I don’t want to hear about this from Morgyn or Sable or anyone else.”
Brindle sighed. “Fine! You are no fun at all.” A smile lit up her eyes as she leaned closer and whispered, “But you totallyarefun! This is so good! I’m happy you’re not an ice queen.”
“Ugh!Can we work please?”
Brindle’s expression softened. “I didn’t think you were an ice queen. That was Sable. I’m just glad you proved her wrong, because, you know. You’re always so proper around us, and I’d be sad if you missed out on taking advantage of our parents’ make-out session.”
A laugh slipped out before Grace could stop it. “Thank you.I think.”
Brindle gazed out at the kids with a look of admiration. “These kids are so smart, Gracie. They’ve got the whole play darn near perfectly memorized, and we’re still a few weeks out.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“These are my third and fourth graders, but we have kids from first and second grade in the play, too. They’re rehearsing in one of the classrooms with two of the high school volunteers. The play’s an hour long, and it’s too much for them. They get restless, and I want this to be fun for all the kids. I think the only way to find a happy medium is to cut it back to thirty or, at the most, forty minutes. But I tried, and it’s like I’m married to every word of the story.”
She handed Grace the script, and Grace skimmed over it. “I’ve never heard ofBeans, Buttons, and Bullies.”
“Nat wrote it. She’s in my English class at the high school, and she’s so creative. I remembered the story you wrote for the elementary schoolers when you were in high school. You said Ms. D really inspired you to take your creative writing seriously. I thought I’d borrow that tactic.” She did her signature Brindle-happy shrug, wrinkling her nose and smiling, and said, “I think it’s really working. She’s already writing another play. She wanted to take your class, but it interfered with our rehearsals.”
Grace was impressed and strangely touched by her sister’s interest in helping her students succeed. She had worried about Brindle going into teaching, as teaching was a challenge for anyone and Brindle had never been a particularly focused student. Even in college Brindle was a wild child, and Grace had told her there was no place forwildin a teacher’s professional life. Brindle had sworn that teaching was her calling because she felt she could relate to kids of all ages—and she’d proven herself many times over. Her students loved her because she was down-to-earth, but she was also firm enough to demand respect. Grace was happy to see that attitude had carried over to the drama club.
“Maybe I can find a way to mentor Nat long-distance,” Grace offered. “In fact, I’d like that.”
“Really? She’d be thrilled. Thank you. I’ll introduce you after we’re done. Do you think you can rewrite the script?”
Grace watched Nat, who obviously patterned her behavior with the students after Brindle, as she was every bit as supportive toward them. “This is Nat’s script. I think you should discuss rewrites with her.”
“I did, but she said she didn’t know where to start.”
“Looks like the mentoring can start today. Can you spare her for an hour?”
“Absolutely! Let me go get her.” Brindle jumped to her feet and hugged Grace. “I can’t thank you enough. It’s so hard to find kids who look beyond partying, and Nat’s really excited about this project.”
Grace had to laugh. “Says the girl who never met a party she didn’t like.”
Brindle held her finger over her lips. “Shh. They don’t need to know that.”
“You do realize this town’s got ears in the ground, right?”
“Yes! But they know better than to comment on it, and I’ve gotten really good at being discreet with my personal life.”
Grace arched a brow.
“Okay,morediscreet,” Brindle said softly. “Besides, there’s only been Trace on and off for a while now. But don’t tell him that. The man’s ego is bigger than his…” She glanced at her students and said, “Heart.”
