Post by Anabelle Grace Bryan on Apr 2, 2014 18:32:27 GMT -5
The lace on Anabelle’s sock was perfectly in place as her feet swayed back and forth in her schoolchair, not even long enough to graze the floor beneath her. “ Okay, class. Make sure to color inside the lines for our color by numbers project, alright?” the teacher announced to them. Anabelle brought her hand up, pushing her blonde hair out of her face since it continuously fell onto her paper and in her way. She didn’t think her mother would like if she accidentally colored her hair red, blue or pink, but the thought alone was enough to give Anabelle the giggles. But she looked over at the boy who was searching for a blue crayon. Everyone else seemed to be pretty busy with theirs so Anabelle hopped herself out of her chair, going over to him. “ Would you like to share my blue crayon?” she asked with a bright smile. “ I love sharing,” Anabelle said, looking down at the crayon before she broke it in half. Anabelle placed it on his desk, adding with a whisper, “ You don’t have to give it back,”. Anabelle gasped as she looked down at his paper. “Oh my goodness. Yours is so pretty,” she said, deciding to push her desk closer to his. “ I never thought of making the edges darker. That was very smart of you…. My name’s Anabelle Grace Hart. But my mommy and daddy call me Gracie,” she said matter of factly before she went to coloring. “ My name’s Hunter,” he said back as he watched her. Anabelle placed the remainder of her crayons so that they were set between their desks so he could take what he liked. Anabelle turned in her seat as she looked at Hunter, with a gleam in her eyes. “Hunter, do you want to share some apple cobbler with me at lunch? My mama packed extra for me.” And just like that… he had become her forever friend.
“It’s okay if you can’t find it! At least you’re trying!” Anabelle said as she did her best to jump over the rocks along the creek without getting her new dress dirty. Her mom greatly disliked dirt and messes, but if it were up to Anabelle she would roll around in the mud and clean herself off in the creek every day. She narrowed her eyebrows trying to keep track of the frogs. Hunter liked chasing them down and she liked the idea of reuniting them with their fellow froggy families. “ Hunter!” she gasped, pointing towards where the collection of frogs were hopping. Anabelle watched as he watched the frog, seemingly taking time to decide the best way to catch it. She looked over her shoulder at the little radio that they had brought along with them to come down to the creek for a bit. This was her favorite way to spend their days in the summer, and honestly she didn’t think her daddy would let her come down to the creek all by herself being that she was only eight. But Hunter was nine and somehow it added up that he was much wiser and that two of them together was better than one. “ I’m gonna turn it up,” she said, hearing George Strait coming from the speakers. As Anabelle turned on her toes, the water on the rocks must’ve made them that much more slippery. Her feet fell out from underneath her and the sting from the side of her head hitting the rocks pulsated throughout her entire body. “ Gracie!” she heard him yell out. But all she could feel was the dampness on her new dress, and knowing how disappointed her mama was going to be as the creek around her faded into black. Though it seemed like only moments had passed,it must’ve been quite longer. Because when she opened her eyes she was laying in a hospital bed with both her family and Hunter’s around her. “ Mama, I’m so sorry about my dress.” Anabelle said immediately, taking in the fact that it felt like someone had taken an axe to the side of her head. She cringed slightly, bringing her hand up to it but there was a bandage. When she turned to look at Hunter, he’d gathered some scrapes and bruises, probably from either carrying her back to the farmhouse or from running there erratically to get help. She gasped quietly looking over a small scratch beneath his eyes. “Oh Hunter..” she said sorrowfully. Anabelle put her hands at her side, looking at all of the parents around them. “ I bet Hunter’s hungry. I know I sure am,” she said, hoping that they would leave her and Hunter to themselves. To her surprise, though her request had seemed so rude to herself, both sets of parents left, talking to the nurse briefly. Anabelle smiled as she looked over at Hunter before turning her attention to the nurse. “ Way I see it is that this boy either carried me or found help. I think that’s pretty heroic enough to deserve some chocolate pudding…” Anabelle said. The nurse smiled slowly as she wrote out on forms. “ Well I think I would agree,” she said, ruffling Hunter’s hair before she made her way out to go get the young boy some chocolate pudding. “ I’m so sorry that you got scratched up, I feel terrible…” she said,shaking her head as she watched him. He was gonna have all the dessert she got at supper for the rest of the summer, she knew it. She owed him. But after he insisted it was alright, Anabelle bit the side of her lip, narrowing her eyes mischeviously. “ Did ya get it?” she asked hopefully. And just like that, he reached into his hoodie pocket to take out that same frog that she had been insistent he chase down. Anabelle took in a quick gasp before the sounds of her laughter could be heard down the hallways.
“ Hey preachers’ daughter!” one of the boys called out from the locker room. “ I s’pose we better get to prayin’ so we can get out there and play some ball”. Anabelle came into the locker room, smile from ear to ear as she looked at each and every one of them, amped up for homecoming. But tonight was a big game for them tonight, too. There were scouts from all over that had come just to watch them. Anabelle reached down taking the coaches hand in one of her own and Hunter’s in the other. “ Dear God… Bless us tonight to be able to play at the best of our potential. Give our boys the strength to push through in the fourth quarter when Reggie has a habit of choking and offense goes to heck. Watch our boys backs so that no one gets hurt and thank you for all of the blessings that we continue to receive. In Gods’ name we pray… Amen.”[/b] she said, starting to open her eyes before exclaiming “ Oh! One last thing God.. Watch over Hunter as he carries this time while they all try their hardest. Thank you, amen.” she said, clapping her hands together before she turned to Hunter and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. Heck, he was the football team. Which is why during the entirety of the game she kept her eyes locked on him the entire time, it’s where all the action was. “ Good job!” she yelled out as she ran out to the field, jumping up on him again as she hugged him even tighter. “ I’m so proud of you” she said genuinely, kissing his cheek so that it stained his skin with her lipgloss. “ Hey Anabelle,” Reggie said as he headed over to them. ‘ I was thinking about that conversation we had the other day… about the stars out at my parents farm. And I think it’d be a good night to go look at them.” Anabelle’s eyes lit up, turning to Hunter. “ Can we go?” she questioned him, assuming that he would agree to go along with her. Cause who in their right mind wouldn’t want to look at a pretty sky of stars? “ You know what Gracie, let me talk to Reggie a minute” Anabelle smiled before waving to Reggie and walking a few yards away. She watched as him and Hunter talked for a few moments, before someone else caught her attention. “ Anabelle, I just have to know what your recipe is for those lemon bars you brought to the bake sale at church last week” one of the parents of her classmates said before she turned and smiled, going into great detail of how to make them, promising to just go ahead and write the recipe down and bring it to school for Annie to bring home. When Anabelle looked back over at Hunter and Reggie, Reggie was hunched over and holding onto his side before Hunter pat him on the shoulder and head over. “ Everything alright?” she asked out of concern. “ Oh, everything is just fine, Gracie. Reggie just got a stomach ache and is gonna head home.” Anabelle frowned as she watched him, wondering if there was anything she could do, but he was already heading off of the field. So instead she took in a deep breath and looked up at Hunter hopefully. “ You wanna go look at the stars by the barn?” she asked, smiling as he tilt his head towards his truck gesturing that they could go. Anabelle looped her arm around his , “ So did any scouts come talkin to you?” she asked. A smile came across Hunter’s lips, “ Well there’s some fish bitin”. Anabelle screamed out of excitement, taking no time to pause and jumped instantly on his back, holding onto him tightly.
Anabelle looked out at the front yard, trying to memorize that tracks that had been forever indented in the land from Hunter’s truck; same path, every time. She held onto the tire swing for just a moment before she looked over at Hunter in his graduation gown. Taking in a deep breath, she brought her graduation cap up and placed it on her own head. She knew their mama’s were going to want to take pictures, and she sure as heck knew that she wanted some, too. They both may have been going off to the same college, but that college town was bigger than the one they were in now and she didn’t want to lose him for a second. University of Texas was going to be good to them. Anabelle smiled as she sat in the swing for a moment, letting Hunter push her around. She curled up into the tire, picking her gown up so it wouldn’t trail along the dirt beneath her. “ I can’t believe we’re graduatin’ “ she said, looking up at Hunter with wide eyes. What if no one wanted to share their crayons with her at college? Anabelle moved so that she could stand up and wrap her arms around Hunter. She was already so proud of him ; he would accomplish more than any of them with all the talent he had. Anabelle picked up the bottom of her gown as their parents said goodbye and that they would meet them at the highschool. “ Race ya to the truck,” she said with a smile at Hunter before taking off.
Anabelle poured some lemonade into the Dixie cup as she looked around at all of the freshman moving their things into the dorms. It was the weekend before classes were supposed to start up and it just seemed like an absolute frenzy. She looked down making sure she had everything ; raspberries, blueberries,strawberries,mangos. With a quick nod to herself she went back to looking around at everyone. Hunter had already helped her put all of her stuff away, so she was just as good as settled. “Are you… are you selling lemonade? At college?” a man questioned her. Anabelle laughed, shaking her head, “No,sir” she said, placing her hands behind her back. “ Oh I’m definitely not old enough to be a sir.. But this is definitely a lemonade stand,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her as he walked closer. ‘ Yes” she nodded. “ But you’re not selling lemonade” he stated, though it had a hint of confusion to it. “ Well I figure everyone would be thirsty from moving in so I made some lemonade for everyone… I have fruit…” she said pointing down at the different trays of fruit she had checked on. “ You put a lemonade stand up. At college. On opening week.. with all the.. toga parties and stuff..” he said. Anabelle tilt her head slightly in confusion, not knowing what relation having a lemonade stand up had to do with parties being thrown. “ Well I don’t want folks goin’ thirsty,” she said before she smiled again, trying to remind herself to save some for Hunter. “ That would be a travesty… My name’s Collin. And if I were to call you.. I would call you what?” he asked. Anabelle smiled as she stuck her hand out. “ I’m Anabelle Hart,” she said, giving his hand a light shake. “Take some lemonade with you,” she said, offering a cup up before he took it, giving her a lopsided smirk as he headed away.
“ But everything is concrete,” Anabelle said as she looked out of the window from their new apartment. Collin laughed as he dropped the last box. “ That’s New York. You did look at the pamphlets didn’t you? Did a little google search or something?” he questioned. “ But where are all the critters?” she asked, looking over her shoulder as she watched him. New York would be good for Collin, seeing as how he wanted to be in some type of filming industry. But as she looked out at all of the gray pavement, she could feel an ache in her heart. She wanted to be able to run out into the fields at her parents house, just lay in the meadows of flowers and listen to Hunter talk about fixin his truck. The honking and people yelling at each other, cold and isolating color of gray splashed upon every surface- it was just sad. And all her life Anabelle had lived by a certain rule of thumb - if nature didn’t like it, it probably wasn’t great. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a critter to be seen. This concrete jungle did not have nature’s seal of approval. “ Give it a chance. I have a feeling great things will happen here…for both of us,” Collin said, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. Anabelle looked back out at the city streets and how cluttered they were, scrunching her nose with uncertainty before she went to try and put some Johnny Cash on to make it feel more like home.
Anabelle looked all around Taboo, realizing that every piece of it was impressive. But as Logan repeated himself, “ So what do you think?” he asked with a lift of his eyebrow, paperwork in front of him. Anabelle shook her head as she looked back around the office. “ I think your mama must be mighty proud,” she said honestly. “ Thank you, she is. But I mean about signing here.. to get a recording contract. Would you be interested?” Anabelle smiled, looking at Logan as though he didn’t understand. “ I’m sorry, but the most singin’ I’ve done is for daddy’s choir on Sundays. And those people are so slap happy from lovin’ Jesus that they’ll sway to anything,” she said, nodding like they could all understand now. “ Anabelle I am offering you a recording contract because I believe you are talented. Would you like to make music?” he asked again. Anabelle thought for a moment, it wasn’t something she had put a lot of thought into. Did she want to make music? She tried to mull it over in her mind as quickly as possible. Things she wanted to do… get another puppy, make her mama another fruit and muffin basket, get a new stationary that seemed more peppy because her lavender one was getting a bit dull, she needed new needle and thread for her sewing kit and she was pretty sure she’d promised to fix the quilt she’d made for Hunter a few years back since it had gotten itself a tear. But now that this was sitting in front of her… she couldn’t help but realize all of the new people she could meet, that she could help, and get to know. “ I think I do,” she said happily, reaching her hand out to take a pen so that she could sign the contracts for Taboo. “ But I won’t sing about the devil.” she said, looking up at him with a serious expression before she went back to signing the paperwork.
“ Are they all here for me?” Anabelle said, wide eyed as she stared out at the audience from behind the curtain. “ First sold out show, baby girl.” her daddy said, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Anabelle dropped the curtain, wrapping her arms around her daddy and mama. This wasn’t what she had expected for herself, or what she thought her life would turn out to be. But now that it was within reach, she couldn’t help but see all of the benefits of being able to carry out this lifestyle. But the jitters, those didn’t go away. She was so worried about disappointing someone who had spent their hard earned money on a ticket just to come and hear her do something that she did in the shower for free. “ I love all of y’all” she said genuinely as the show wrapped up, touching her hands to her heart as she looked at all of the lights in the audience, each one representing someone who believed in her without even knowing her. And she had this fascination of wanting to get to know each and every one of them. Which she had always done all of her life; finding other peoples stories and lives so fascinating. ”First of many,” Logan said to her, as though it was more a foreshadowing than a promise. Anabelle smiled, wrapping her arms around Logan in a quick hug before she set off to change into something else.
“ I need you,” she had said to him. That tall, pretty eyed, tan, hard working man in front of her had seemed surprised by her statement, even moreso when she had offered for him to come on tour with her. There she’d been, standing in small country bar in her tank and shorts after giving away her Hunter jersey to some fan of his. “ That boy’s life is about to be changed. He’s somethin’ “ she said as she watched him, placing her chin in her hand as he played onstage, causing all the girls to swoon over every perfectly delivered lyric he sang. But the thing about it was, in that moment, she didn’t realize how much that boy would change her life. That was the day she’d met Luke Bryan. That was the day she found out what true love was and how it completely took over everything in your mind and heart. It’s just he looked so good up there on the stage. In the sense that he looked really comfortable and like he knew what he was doin. Anabelle moved her eyes from the guitar to his hands and arms, they were so tan and toned. Not to mention he looked like he was in really good shape; he’d probably do well on a tour and not get exhausted. Anabelle smiled as settled back in her seat next to Hunter, watching the man that would forever change her life.
Being out in the land and breathing fresh air was one of Anabelle’s favorite things. And when Luke had promised to take her out hunting, she couldn’t have turned that down. But upon his proposal, she realized that all along he’d never intended for them to get hunting. And the only thing that got taken down was Luke when she tackled her body into his excitedly at the proposal. The man she was gonna marry was layin down in the dirt with camoflauge on, dirt in his hair and the perfect smile that she could spend the rest of her life lookin’ at. If anyone thought they had gotten engaged quickly, they sure as heck thought the marriage was quick seeing as it happened just a few days later. On that very same field, Anabelle picked some of the flowers from the field. Going over to Luke’s sister she braided her hair softly, placing the flowers in her hair so that the delicately seemed to nestle along her frame. “ Promise you’ll take care of him” she had said. Anabelle did her best to smile, knowing that Luke wasn’t the only man that she was referring to. She nodded slowly, having to clear her throat and push back tears as she responded. “We will,” she said, moving so that she could hug her new sister in law with all the love she had in the world. She could still see him now, standing in that field as her daddy conducted the ceremony. He was all bright eyes and smile, that tall drink of water being the most handsome she’d ever seen him in her life. Though, she said that every day - that each day was the most handsome he had ever been. But it was in that field, as he placed that wedding ring on her left finger that she knew her soul could quit searching, she’d already found the one man for her in this entire world.
If Luke had been as handsome as ever on that day, and you could tell in his eyes how happy he was ; the same could be said about the day his sister died. Every sadness in the world could be seen through those beautifully pained eyes. Anabelle wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing the side of his hair every chance she got. She didn’t know what to say to make any of this better – because the fact of the matter was, that it wasn’t going to be. And deep down, she knew that making pies and trying to get fixins’ ready for him wasn’t going to fix anything either , but it was all she knew to do. How can you give something to someone when all they want is impossible. She couldn’t make his sister healthy, if there was anything she could’ve done even up to giving her own life to spare hers, she would’ve done it without hesitation. He’d given her this whole life and new family to love and accept as if it had been hers all along. The least she could do was love them back with as much as they had seemed to love and accept her. And just like that, she was gone. His sister just taken away with what didn’t seem like enough time to accept it.
Anabelle looked across the table at Wes, his first night in his new permanent home with Luke and herself. She couldn’t even begin to understand the pain,confusion, anger, just uncontrollable deep sadness that he felt inside his little body. But if she knew anything at all, it was that these two needed to be together. They needed each other, the ability to accept this depended on it because neither Wes or Luke could do it without one another. And she knew she needed to be very careful about how she approached things, doing her best not to step on any toes or make it seem like she was ‘trying to take his mothers’ place’. No one could ever do that, and no one would. He was a boy who had lost his mother, and the consolation was to live with his uncle and aunt. The only thing that her and Luke could do, was make the best of it for Wes and make sure that he never went without anything. Their family had expanded a bit quicker than either of them anticipated, but neither of them doubted for a moment what their new responsibilities should be.
Each of these moments flashed in Anabelle’s mind as she sat there in the bathroom, legs folded on top of the toilet seat, just staring blankly at the wall. Every moment, good and bad, had led her to this. She had a good life, a great one even. She had a husband that she couldn’t love more if her life depended on it, Wes had taken such a fierce grip on her heart as well. But ever since she could remember she had always wanted a baby, to be a mother in every sense of the word. So when she finally snapped out of her thoughts, a quick rundown of how she had gotten to this point, she looked over at the counter, the pregnancy test sitting awkwardly in the otherwise ‘girlish’ bathroom. Anabelle took in a deep breath, reaching for the test before saying one last prayer, one last hope that God would give her the one thing she desperately wanted. But when she looked down, she felt her heart sink down into her stomach. Negative. Anabelle closed her eyes, dropping her hands into her lap before she leaned forward and pushed them into her hair, clinging her fingertips against the roots of the blonde strands. Maybe she had done something wrong, maybe God was punishing her. Anabelle squeezed her eyes as tightly as she possibly could, trying to muster up anything bad that she had ever done in her life, trying to find a way to beg for forgiveness right here in this bathroom. She could feel the hot tears stinging down her cheeks, sniffing quickly as she tried to push them away. “ Baby, we’re back” Luke’s voice echoed throughout the house from downstairs. Anabelle cleared her throat, doing her best to quit crying before she threw the test away and looked at herself in the mirror, quickly rinsing her face off so that it wasn’t evident that she’d been crying. She smoothed her shirt out, making sure she looked presentable before she came downstairs. “ How was the creek?” she asked with a bright smile, knowing that they had been anxious to get outside with the weather warming up. “ Did ya catch a frog?” Anabelle said, leaning down to give Wes a hug and a kiss before standing up and looking at Luke. “ Well y’all get washed up, I got dinner ready in the oven,” she said, smiling at him as she stood on her toes to give him a kiss.
“It’s okay if you can’t find it! At least you’re trying!” Anabelle said as she did her best to jump over the rocks along the creek without getting her new dress dirty. Her mom greatly disliked dirt and messes, but if it were up to Anabelle she would roll around in the mud and clean herself off in the creek every day. She narrowed her eyebrows trying to keep track of the frogs. Hunter liked chasing them down and she liked the idea of reuniting them with their fellow froggy families. “ Hunter!” she gasped, pointing towards where the collection of frogs were hopping. Anabelle watched as he watched the frog, seemingly taking time to decide the best way to catch it. She looked over her shoulder at the little radio that they had brought along with them to come down to the creek for a bit. This was her favorite way to spend their days in the summer, and honestly she didn’t think her daddy would let her come down to the creek all by herself being that she was only eight. But Hunter was nine and somehow it added up that he was much wiser and that two of them together was better than one. “ I’m gonna turn it up,” she said, hearing George Strait coming from the speakers. As Anabelle turned on her toes, the water on the rocks must’ve made them that much more slippery. Her feet fell out from underneath her and the sting from the side of her head hitting the rocks pulsated throughout her entire body. “ Gracie!” she heard him yell out. But all she could feel was the dampness on her new dress, and knowing how disappointed her mama was going to be as the creek around her faded into black. Though it seemed like only moments had passed,it must’ve been quite longer. Because when she opened her eyes she was laying in a hospital bed with both her family and Hunter’s around her. “ Mama, I’m so sorry about my dress.” Anabelle said immediately, taking in the fact that it felt like someone had taken an axe to the side of her head. She cringed slightly, bringing her hand up to it but there was a bandage. When she turned to look at Hunter, he’d gathered some scrapes and bruises, probably from either carrying her back to the farmhouse or from running there erratically to get help. She gasped quietly looking over a small scratch beneath his eyes. “Oh Hunter..” she said sorrowfully. Anabelle put her hands at her side, looking at all of the parents around them. “ I bet Hunter’s hungry. I know I sure am,” she said, hoping that they would leave her and Hunter to themselves. To her surprise, though her request had seemed so rude to herself, both sets of parents left, talking to the nurse briefly. Anabelle smiled as she looked over at Hunter before turning her attention to the nurse. “ Way I see it is that this boy either carried me or found help. I think that’s pretty heroic enough to deserve some chocolate pudding…” Anabelle said. The nurse smiled slowly as she wrote out on forms. “ Well I think I would agree,” she said, ruffling Hunter’s hair before she made her way out to go get the young boy some chocolate pudding. “ I’m so sorry that you got scratched up, I feel terrible…” she said,shaking her head as she watched him. He was gonna have all the dessert she got at supper for the rest of the summer, she knew it. She owed him. But after he insisted it was alright, Anabelle bit the side of her lip, narrowing her eyes mischeviously. “ Did ya get it?” she asked hopefully. And just like that, he reached into his hoodie pocket to take out that same frog that she had been insistent he chase down. Anabelle took in a quick gasp before the sounds of her laughter could be heard down the hallways.
“ Hey preachers’ daughter!” one of the boys called out from the locker room. “ I s’pose we better get to prayin’ so we can get out there and play some ball”. Anabelle came into the locker room, smile from ear to ear as she looked at each and every one of them, amped up for homecoming. But tonight was a big game for them tonight, too. There were scouts from all over that had come just to watch them. Anabelle reached down taking the coaches hand in one of her own and Hunter’s in the other. “ Dear God… Bless us tonight to be able to play at the best of our potential. Give our boys the strength to push through in the fourth quarter when Reggie has a habit of choking and offense goes to heck. Watch our boys backs so that no one gets hurt and thank you for all of the blessings that we continue to receive. In Gods’ name we pray… Amen.”[/b] she said, starting to open her eyes before exclaiming “ Oh! One last thing God.. Watch over Hunter as he carries this time while they all try their hardest. Thank you, amen.” she said, clapping her hands together before she turned to Hunter and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. Heck, he was the football team. Which is why during the entirety of the game she kept her eyes locked on him the entire time, it’s where all the action was. “ Good job!” she yelled out as she ran out to the field, jumping up on him again as she hugged him even tighter. “ I’m so proud of you” she said genuinely, kissing his cheek so that it stained his skin with her lipgloss. “ Hey Anabelle,” Reggie said as he headed over to them. ‘ I was thinking about that conversation we had the other day… about the stars out at my parents farm. And I think it’d be a good night to go look at them.” Anabelle’s eyes lit up, turning to Hunter. “ Can we go?” she questioned him, assuming that he would agree to go along with her. Cause who in their right mind wouldn’t want to look at a pretty sky of stars? “ You know what Gracie, let me talk to Reggie a minute” Anabelle smiled before waving to Reggie and walking a few yards away. She watched as him and Hunter talked for a few moments, before someone else caught her attention. “ Anabelle, I just have to know what your recipe is for those lemon bars you brought to the bake sale at church last week” one of the parents of her classmates said before she turned and smiled, going into great detail of how to make them, promising to just go ahead and write the recipe down and bring it to school for Annie to bring home. When Anabelle looked back over at Hunter and Reggie, Reggie was hunched over and holding onto his side before Hunter pat him on the shoulder and head over. “ Everything alright?” she asked out of concern. “ Oh, everything is just fine, Gracie. Reggie just got a stomach ache and is gonna head home.” Anabelle frowned as she watched him, wondering if there was anything she could do, but he was already heading off of the field. So instead she took in a deep breath and looked up at Hunter hopefully. “ You wanna go look at the stars by the barn?” she asked, smiling as he tilt his head towards his truck gesturing that they could go. Anabelle looped her arm around his , “ So did any scouts come talkin to you?” she asked. A smile came across Hunter’s lips, “ Well there’s some fish bitin”. Anabelle screamed out of excitement, taking no time to pause and jumped instantly on his back, holding onto him tightly.
Anabelle looked out at the front yard, trying to memorize that tracks that had been forever indented in the land from Hunter’s truck; same path, every time. She held onto the tire swing for just a moment before she looked over at Hunter in his graduation gown. Taking in a deep breath, she brought her graduation cap up and placed it on her own head. She knew their mama’s were going to want to take pictures, and she sure as heck knew that she wanted some, too. They both may have been going off to the same college, but that college town was bigger than the one they were in now and she didn’t want to lose him for a second. University of Texas was going to be good to them. Anabelle smiled as she sat in the swing for a moment, letting Hunter push her around. She curled up into the tire, picking her gown up so it wouldn’t trail along the dirt beneath her. “ I can’t believe we’re graduatin’ “ she said, looking up at Hunter with wide eyes. What if no one wanted to share their crayons with her at college? Anabelle moved so that she could stand up and wrap her arms around Hunter. She was already so proud of him ; he would accomplish more than any of them with all the talent he had. Anabelle picked up the bottom of her gown as their parents said goodbye and that they would meet them at the highschool. “ Race ya to the truck,” she said with a smile at Hunter before taking off.
Anabelle poured some lemonade into the Dixie cup as she looked around at all of the freshman moving their things into the dorms. It was the weekend before classes were supposed to start up and it just seemed like an absolute frenzy. She looked down making sure she had everything ; raspberries, blueberries,strawberries,mangos. With a quick nod to herself she went back to looking around at everyone. Hunter had already helped her put all of her stuff away, so she was just as good as settled. “Are you… are you selling lemonade? At college?” a man questioned her. Anabelle laughed, shaking her head, “No,sir” she said, placing her hands behind her back. “ Oh I’m definitely not old enough to be a sir.. But this is definitely a lemonade stand,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her as he walked closer. ‘ Yes” she nodded. “ But you’re not selling lemonade” he stated, though it had a hint of confusion to it. “ Well I figure everyone would be thirsty from moving in so I made some lemonade for everyone… I have fruit…” she said pointing down at the different trays of fruit she had checked on. “ You put a lemonade stand up. At college. On opening week.. with all the.. toga parties and stuff..” he said. Anabelle tilt her head slightly in confusion, not knowing what relation having a lemonade stand up had to do with parties being thrown. “ Well I don’t want folks goin’ thirsty,” she said before she smiled again, trying to remind herself to save some for Hunter. “ That would be a travesty… My name’s Collin. And if I were to call you.. I would call you what?” he asked. Anabelle smiled as she stuck her hand out. “ I’m Anabelle Hart,” she said, giving his hand a light shake. “Take some lemonade with you,” she said, offering a cup up before he took it, giving her a lopsided smirk as he headed away.
“ But everything is concrete,” Anabelle said as she looked out of the window from their new apartment. Collin laughed as he dropped the last box. “ That’s New York. You did look at the pamphlets didn’t you? Did a little google search or something?” he questioned. “ But where are all the critters?” she asked, looking over her shoulder as she watched him. New York would be good for Collin, seeing as how he wanted to be in some type of filming industry. But as she looked out at all of the gray pavement, she could feel an ache in her heart. She wanted to be able to run out into the fields at her parents house, just lay in the meadows of flowers and listen to Hunter talk about fixin his truck. The honking and people yelling at each other, cold and isolating color of gray splashed upon every surface- it was just sad. And all her life Anabelle had lived by a certain rule of thumb - if nature didn’t like it, it probably wasn’t great. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a critter to be seen. This concrete jungle did not have nature’s seal of approval. “ Give it a chance. I have a feeling great things will happen here…for both of us,” Collin said, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. Anabelle looked back out at the city streets and how cluttered they were, scrunching her nose with uncertainty before she went to try and put some Johnny Cash on to make it feel more like home.
Anabelle looked all around Taboo, realizing that every piece of it was impressive. But as Logan repeated himself, “ So what do you think?” he asked with a lift of his eyebrow, paperwork in front of him. Anabelle shook her head as she looked back around the office. “ I think your mama must be mighty proud,” she said honestly. “ Thank you, she is. But I mean about signing here.. to get a recording contract. Would you be interested?” Anabelle smiled, looking at Logan as though he didn’t understand. “ I’m sorry, but the most singin’ I’ve done is for daddy’s choir on Sundays. And those people are so slap happy from lovin’ Jesus that they’ll sway to anything,” she said, nodding like they could all understand now. “ Anabelle I am offering you a recording contract because I believe you are talented. Would you like to make music?” he asked again. Anabelle thought for a moment, it wasn’t something she had put a lot of thought into. Did she want to make music? She tried to mull it over in her mind as quickly as possible. Things she wanted to do… get another puppy, make her mama another fruit and muffin basket, get a new stationary that seemed more peppy because her lavender one was getting a bit dull, she needed new needle and thread for her sewing kit and she was pretty sure she’d promised to fix the quilt she’d made for Hunter a few years back since it had gotten itself a tear. But now that this was sitting in front of her… she couldn’t help but realize all of the new people she could meet, that she could help, and get to know. “ I think I do,” she said happily, reaching her hand out to take a pen so that she could sign the contracts for Taboo. “ But I won’t sing about the devil.” she said, looking up at him with a serious expression before she went back to signing the paperwork.
“ Are they all here for me?” Anabelle said, wide eyed as she stared out at the audience from behind the curtain. “ First sold out show, baby girl.” her daddy said, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Anabelle dropped the curtain, wrapping her arms around her daddy and mama. This wasn’t what she had expected for herself, or what she thought her life would turn out to be. But now that it was within reach, she couldn’t help but see all of the benefits of being able to carry out this lifestyle. But the jitters, those didn’t go away. She was so worried about disappointing someone who had spent their hard earned money on a ticket just to come and hear her do something that she did in the shower for free. “ I love all of y’all” she said genuinely as the show wrapped up, touching her hands to her heart as she looked at all of the lights in the audience, each one representing someone who believed in her without even knowing her. And she had this fascination of wanting to get to know each and every one of them. Which she had always done all of her life; finding other peoples stories and lives so fascinating. ”First of many,” Logan said to her, as though it was more a foreshadowing than a promise. Anabelle smiled, wrapping her arms around Logan in a quick hug before she set off to change into something else.
“ I need you,” she had said to him. That tall, pretty eyed, tan, hard working man in front of her had seemed surprised by her statement, even moreso when she had offered for him to come on tour with her. There she’d been, standing in small country bar in her tank and shorts after giving away her Hunter jersey to some fan of his. “ That boy’s life is about to be changed. He’s somethin’ “ she said as she watched him, placing her chin in her hand as he played onstage, causing all the girls to swoon over every perfectly delivered lyric he sang. But the thing about it was, in that moment, she didn’t realize how much that boy would change her life. That was the day she’d met Luke Bryan. That was the day she found out what true love was and how it completely took over everything in your mind and heart. It’s just he looked so good up there on the stage. In the sense that he looked really comfortable and like he knew what he was doin. Anabelle moved her eyes from the guitar to his hands and arms, they were so tan and toned. Not to mention he looked like he was in really good shape; he’d probably do well on a tour and not get exhausted. Anabelle smiled as settled back in her seat next to Hunter, watching the man that would forever change her life.
Being out in the land and breathing fresh air was one of Anabelle’s favorite things. And when Luke had promised to take her out hunting, she couldn’t have turned that down. But upon his proposal, she realized that all along he’d never intended for them to get hunting. And the only thing that got taken down was Luke when she tackled her body into his excitedly at the proposal. The man she was gonna marry was layin down in the dirt with camoflauge on, dirt in his hair and the perfect smile that she could spend the rest of her life lookin’ at. If anyone thought they had gotten engaged quickly, they sure as heck thought the marriage was quick seeing as it happened just a few days later. On that very same field, Anabelle picked some of the flowers from the field. Going over to Luke’s sister she braided her hair softly, placing the flowers in her hair so that the delicately seemed to nestle along her frame. “ Promise you’ll take care of him” she had said. Anabelle did her best to smile, knowing that Luke wasn’t the only man that she was referring to. She nodded slowly, having to clear her throat and push back tears as she responded. “We will,” she said, moving so that she could hug her new sister in law with all the love she had in the world. She could still see him now, standing in that field as her daddy conducted the ceremony. He was all bright eyes and smile, that tall drink of water being the most handsome she’d ever seen him in her life. Though, she said that every day - that each day was the most handsome he had ever been. But it was in that field, as he placed that wedding ring on her left finger that she knew her soul could quit searching, she’d already found the one man for her in this entire world.
If Luke had been as handsome as ever on that day, and you could tell in his eyes how happy he was ; the same could be said about the day his sister died. Every sadness in the world could be seen through those beautifully pained eyes. Anabelle wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing the side of his hair every chance she got. She didn’t know what to say to make any of this better – because the fact of the matter was, that it wasn’t going to be. And deep down, she knew that making pies and trying to get fixins’ ready for him wasn’t going to fix anything either , but it was all she knew to do. How can you give something to someone when all they want is impossible. She couldn’t make his sister healthy, if there was anything she could’ve done even up to giving her own life to spare hers, she would’ve done it without hesitation. He’d given her this whole life and new family to love and accept as if it had been hers all along. The least she could do was love them back with as much as they had seemed to love and accept her. And just like that, she was gone. His sister just taken away with what didn’t seem like enough time to accept it.
Anabelle looked across the table at Wes, his first night in his new permanent home with Luke and herself. She couldn’t even begin to understand the pain,confusion, anger, just uncontrollable deep sadness that he felt inside his little body. But if she knew anything at all, it was that these two needed to be together. They needed each other, the ability to accept this depended on it because neither Wes or Luke could do it without one another. And she knew she needed to be very careful about how she approached things, doing her best not to step on any toes or make it seem like she was ‘trying to take his mothers’ place’. No one could ever do that, and no one would. He was a boy who had lost his mother, and the consolation was to live with his uncle and aunt. The only thing that her and Luke could do, was make the best of it for Wes and make sure that he never went without anything. Their family had expanded a bit quicker than either of them anticipated, but neither of them doubted for a moment what their new responsibilities should be.
Each of these moments flashed in Anabelle’s mind as she sat there in the bathroom, legs folded on top of the toilet seat, just staring blankly at the wall. Every moment, good and bad, had led her to this. She had a good life, a great one even. She had a husband that she couldn’t love more if her life depended on it, Wes had taken such a fierce grip on her heart as well. But ever since she could remember she had always wanted a baby, to be a mother in every sense of the word. So when she finally snapped out of her thoughts, a quick rundown of how she had gotten to this point, she looked over at the counter, the pregnancy test sitting awkwardly in the otherwise ‘girlish’ bathroom. Anabelle took in a deep breath, reaching for the test before saying one last prayer, one last hope that God would give her the one thing she desperately wanted. But when she looked down, she felt her heart sink down into her stomach. Negative. Anabelle closed her eyes, dropping her hands into her lap before she leaned forward and pushed them into her hair, clinging her fingertips against the roots of the blonde strands. Maybe she had done something wrong, maybe God was punishing her. Anabelle squeezed her eyes as tightly as she possibly could, trying to muster up anything bad that she had ever done in her life, trying to find a way to beg for forgiveness right here in this bathroom. She could feel the hot tears stinging down her cheeks, sniffing quickly as she tried to push them away. “ Baby, we’re back” Luke’s voice echoed throughout the house from downstairs. Anabelle cleared her throat, doing her best to quit crying before she threw the test away and looked at herself in the mirror, quickly rinsing her face off so that it wasn’t evident that she’d been crying. She smoothed her shirt out, making sure she looked presentable before she came downstairs. “ How was the creek?” she asked with a bright smile, knowing that they had been anxious to get outside with the weather warming up. “ Did ya catch a frog?” Anabelle said, leaning down to give Wes a hug and a kiss before standing up and looking at Luke. “ Well y’all get washed up, I got dinner ready in the oven,” she said, smiling at him as she stood on her toes to give him a kiss.
