Falling (BWWM Romance)

Chapter Four

The next morning, Ella leapt out of bed and went through a series of stretching motions before dressing in yard work clothes—a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. Today would be a light day at the studio. She only had a Pilates class to teach and from there she'd go to Bent Creek College for her accounting class.

But first she had to mow the grass. She couldn't put it off any longer. Although it was the second week in October, the weather continued to be pleasant which meant the grass kept growing. Even the leaves clung stubbornly to the trees, refusing to believe the season would change.

Ella walked into the living room and found her grandmother sitting in her favorite place in front of the bay window. The busy going-ons on Fulton Street seemed to keep her grandmother entertained during the long days Ella was away. As usual, the radio was tuned to her grandmother's favorite gospel station. It had been set on that station so long; Ella believed that if she tried to tune it to another station, it couldn't.

"Hey, grandbaby. How you doing? Come and give your old granny a kiss. I never see you anymore."

"I know, Granny Fanny. I decided to do my accounting practice test in the library." Ella dropped a soft kiss atop a wrinkled brow as dry and brown as nutmeg. "You were sleeping like a baby and I didn't want to wake you to say I was home."

Granny Fanny frowned, pursing brown lips together. "Sleeping like a baby? What you know about babies?" She sniffed, looking Ella up and down from head to toe. "Sleeping good and sleeping like a baby is two different things, Ella girl. Babies come into the world with their days and nights mixed up. Sleeping during the day and eyes wide open all night." Rearranging her long skirt, Granny Fanny cackled. "I reckon you got me figured just right."

Fanny walked through the small dining room to the refrigerator in the kitchen. Frayed and yellow artwork from when she was in elementary school held to its white surface with cat magnets. Granny crept up behind her wobbling on a cane. "I fried some catfish last night. Got some cornbread, too."

Good thing I have a high metabolism and dance everyday or I'd be as big as Granny Fanny. Ella stood by the microwave waiting for her meal to heat up. "I'm going to mow the lawn before my Pilates class today."

Her grandmother looked at her, the expression soft and full of love. "You'se a good girl, Ella, not like that trifling mama of yours that's for sure. I'm so proud of you, grandbaby."

Ella tapped her foot, listening absent-mindedly. She was used to her granny speaking of her mother in that fashion. She'd come to live with Granny Fanny ever since she was three-years-old and didn't remember much about her real mother. Her four older siblings disappeared long ago in the system and Granny Fanny claimed to have no idea where they were. Once, according to Granny Fanny, her mother begged to come back home on the pretense of turning her life around. Granny Fanny had relented and let her stay, but three weeks later, her mother was gone, leaving three-year-old Ella behind.

"Don't speak, too soon. Accounting is kicking me in the teeth and if I don't figure it out soon, I'll fail the class and I won't graduate in the spring."

Granny shook her head. "I don't believe it. You smart, it'll be that old accounting that'll get kicked in the teeth, you watch and see what I'm saying."

Ella frowned at the microwave, opening the door before the beeper could go off. She had serious doubts in that department.

Hunger satisfied, Ella went out to the old shed behind their small clapboard house. It took five tries to get the old mower running and once it finally got going, it roared like it could storm through a forest full of trees. Most of Granny Fanny's two-acre lot spilled out behind the house in thick rows of trees, leaving only a short section of yard in the back. Her routine was to mow this part first.