House Divided Read Online Free

everywhere we were. Brady made a point of being as affectionate with me
as he could in school, but that didn’t deter her. Maybe it wouldn’t have been
so bad, but she had this squeaky voice and the IQ of a rock. I thought , no
wonder Brady’s momma needed to coach her , I could only imagine the answers
she would give to the judges. One of my aunt’s favorite sayings was, “You can
fix ugly and you can fix dumb, but you can’t fix stupid.” The quote seemed to
fit her.
    Brady had a stellar football season, and
there was no doubt that on signing day, he would be choosing his beloved team. Alabama
was salivating for him. I was still on track to be the valedictorian. For just
a moment, life seemed perfect; then December came and the unthinkable happened,
at least in my mind.  First Brady’s daddy was diagnosed with lung cancer, which
wasn’t a huge surprise; the guy smoked like a pack a day from what Brady said.
Of course Brady was upset, and I was upset for him. Sure, I didn’t like the guy
and he didn’t like me, but I would never wish that on him. I still remember
when Brady told me.  He drove me out to old Tate Farm, and we parked in the
middle of the empty cornfield. He had brought blankets and hot chocolate, and
we wrapped up and sat in the back of his truck. He began to cry, which was
unsettling; I had never seen Brady cry before.
    I just held onto him. “I love you. I
promise it will be ok.”
    He held me tighter. “I love you, Ellie.”
    Under the circumstances, I wanted to get
Brady something for Christmas that said I love you and I’ll always be there for
you. I wanted to ask my aunt for her opinion because she was an amazing gift
giver, but that would be like pouring alcohol in an open wound. Eventually I
felt like I came up with something that conveyed what I felt. I couldn’t wait
to give it to him. We had planned on meeting at the old tire swing late
Christmas night after we spent the day with our families, but I had a surprise
Christmas evening when our doorbell rang and it was Brady. He had never been to
our home. He knew the rules, but maybe because it was Christmas, or maybe
because his daddy was sick, or maybe because she knew what was coming, my Aunt
Lu let him stay, because she thought it would be better for me to be at home
when it happened.
    I was so thrilled that Brady was in my
home that I didn’t notice he wasn’t acting like himself. I pulled him into our
drawing room where the fireplace was lit and the twelve-foot high Christmas
tree sparkled in the dimly illuminated room. Under the tree sat my wrapped
present for Brady. I retrieved the present and sat in front of the fireplace on
the floor. Brady sat next to me, and before I could say a word, he pulled me to
him and kissed me like he never had before. It was like a man kissing a woman,
not a boy kissing a girl. I could barely breathe when he was done. His
breathing was ragged too.
    “Well, Merry Christmas,” I said. That was
present enough for me.
    He smiled that country boy smile I loved
so much, but it was then I noticed it didn’t touch his eyes like his smile
always had.
    “What’s wrong, Brady?”
    He pulled on my hair, like he always had.
“Ellie …”
    “Brady?”
    He took a deep breath and looked at me
with his baby blues. “We can’t be together anymore,” he quickly blurted out.
    I just shook my head. Surely I had heard
him wrong, but I knew I hadn’t.
    I backed up, and he scooted closer. The tears
welled up in my eyes and in his. “Please, Ellie, just listen to me.”
    “My name is Ella,” I replied bitingly.
    “Ok … Ella. I’m so sorry, but being with
you is tearing my family apart, and with my daddy so sick … I … I have to … I
have to do this for my family. Can you please understand that?”
    I was speechless. I loved him. I had
broken my aunt’s rules and heart for him. And he, he was the one who
pursued me and who had to shout it to the world that we were together.
How could he just end it