Edge of Breaking Ch. 01

"Oh, absolutely. I mean, first you get your own apartment? And now? Now, your very own house? Sweetheart, these aren't little baby steps you're taking. These are huge steps," Lisa praised.

The movers were there, smiling, polite, professional. They were also on a tight schedule so made very quick work of it all.

"Oh, hey now, man! This is nice!" one of the men complimented as they began bringing the boxes into Gracie's home.

"Thank you," Gracie mumbled, feeling a panic attack coming on.

"Got your meds?" Lisa asked. "Why don't you go sit on the back porch; I'll take care of all of this."

Gracie sensed movement to her left. The October sun glittered through the cascading waterfall as the water tumbled into the kidney shaped pool.

"Don't know why you put a pool in; we both know you will never ever get in it," Lisa said, smiling.

"Uh huh," Gracie slurred; she'd taken two pills. "I went swimming at my apartment once."

"You, really? Wow, Gracie, that's wonderful," Lisa exclaimed.

"They gone?" Gracie slurred.

"Yes. And I took care of tipping them; boy they were quick, huh?" Lisa said.

"Why I hired them," Gracie said thickly.

"Come on, Sweetheart," Lisa coaxed. "Let's take a nap, okay?"

Gracie sluggishly checked her front door; securely bolted. Interior door from garage, also securely bolted. Robichaux Construction had said most people do not generally put a steel door going from garage to interior, did not put the expense of having reinforced door jamb, reinforced hinge screws. But BillyBobTaylor1964 emailed Paul Robichaux and demanded this precaution be taken.

After the back door, the two kitchen windows, the two living room windows that looked out onto the back yard had been checked, Lisa and Gracie checked the three bedroom windows. Gracie checked the two windows in her own bedroom and wearily nodded satisfaction.

"Gracie, he's in prison," Lisa said as Gracie made sure her curtains overlapped. "He's in Mumphrey; he's never coming to get you, you know that."

"But what about Uncle Jimmy?" Gracie asked.

Lisa did not have an answer about her younger brother that had tried to molest the much younger Gracie. Lisa never could forgive her brother, she never had forgiven herself for letting her brother babysit her daughter.

Lisa stayed the weekend. She did not leave Gracie's new house until Monday morning. Gracie also left her house, after checking that all doors were locked and sitting and waiting in the driveway to make sure that the garage door went down and stayed down.

Gracie backed onto the street, then looked over at 416 Cross Circle. A Davis Realty sign was in front of the beautiful home, announcing that it was for sale.

"Oh no," Gracie gasped. "Oh God, I knew it, I just knew it."

The sign was still there when Gracie returned home that afternoon. She looked sadly at the sign, at the beautiful home, then hit the remote for the garage door. She waited until the door was completely raised before pulling into the garage. Gracie made sure the door was completely down before getting out of her brand new Mustang.

She'd bought the car two days after Nancy had driven her Jeep. The Jeep was somehow tarnished; Gracie did not feel safe driving it any longer.

Gracie punched in the code for her alarm system and waited for the small light to go from amber to green. Even after it had gone green, she still hesitated a long moment before unlocking the door.

Susan had made lasagna, Gracie's favorite meal. Even though Gracie knew it was just bursting with carbs, carbs that would attach to, cling to her huge butt, she made herself a large plate of the leftovers, including a large wedge of garlic bread. From her breakfast nook, Gracie sat and watched the cascading waterfall.

There was no 415 or 419 Cross Circle; Gracie had bought those lots as well. She'd also bought 416 Antoinette Lane, the lot that backed up against her own plot of land. After dinner, after studying for an hour, Gracie stepped outside onto her back porch. It was a fairly warm day and the babbling of the waterfall beckoned to her.

"I'm going swimming. I like to swim, I have a swimming pool, I'm going swimming," Gracie decided.

The gate to the back yard was securely padlocked. Gracie tugged and wiggled and tugged at the gate, verifying that it could not be opened. Then she went inside, closed and locked her bedroom door, checked the windows, overlapped the curtains, and quickly pulled on her bikini.

"I should get a bathing suit like Nancy had, oh! Nancy! Why didn't, when did y'all lose the house?" Gracie thought, then moaned.

Again, she checked that the back gate was secured, divested her cover-up, draped the towel onto the railing of the deck, and cautiously made her way to the pool. With one last look around, Gracie dove into the pool.

"Cold, cold, cold!" she sputtered and began paddling furiously.

Within moments, she was tired and cold, so got out. She dried herself briskly, flung her wrap over her shoulder and dashed for the house.

"But I did it," she congratulated herself. "I did it! And momma said I wouldn't use my pool. Well, ha ha, Momma, I did it."

Gracie graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Through Nicole, Gracie ordered that the University of Louisiana at DeGarde mail her the diploma. She also received two certificates, awards for her perfect grade point average as well as being on the Dean's List for every semester.

"Not to mention, graduating in right at three years," Nicole praised. "Now what, Ms. Taylor?"

"I don't know," Gracie said seriously. "Oh! Those, where'd you get those boots?"

"These? God, I honestly don't remember," Nicole admitted. "I think I was in Myndee, no, no, I was at Missouri River State, so some place in Colfax, Missouri I'm sure."

"They comfortable?" Gracie asked, admiring the pale beige leather boots.

"Yes. I, well, my boyfriend? Got a can of saddle soap and buffed them, did it like five or six times until the leather was as soft as butter," Nicole said, posing the boots.

"I'm getting me a pair," Gracie decided. "Saddle soap?"

"Either that or mink oil. My boyfriend swore by saddle soap, but my brother? The big bad cowboy? Says mink oil's the best," Nicole agreed. "Good luck, Ms. Taylor."

"Thank you, Ms. Banks," Gracie said and left her attorney's office.

"What now, Ms. Taylor?" Gracie's attorney's question echoed in Gracie's mind as she stepped into the blustery December day.

"I don't know," Gracie actually said out loud.

She then glanced around, afraid someone might have overheard her. Gracie hurriedly hit the key fob for her car.

THE END of 'Edge Of Breaking' part one.

**Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure; I post them here for your enjoyment. I thank you sincerely for reading my stories.

I especially thank those that take the time to leave comments, good and bad, and those that take the time to rate my stories.

Have a swell day.