A Jar of Hearts

by Cartharn, Clarissa

  “You can ask.” Anne grinned.

  “You sound happy with how things turned out. Quite the contrast from your last… um…. date.”

  “Dinner was wonderful and then I spent the rest of the night at James’ house.”

  “I assumed as much.” Julia smiled. “And I suppose your opinion of Mr Connelly has changed a tad bit?”

  “That he’s not the arrogant, scheming and deceptive bastard that I thought he was?” she asked with an arch in her brow.

  “Something like that.”

  “No,” Anne said, lifting Boots up to hold him against her chest.

  “No? Is that all you’re going to tell me?” the housekeeper asked with disbelief.

  Anne laughed. “What do you want to know?”

  “I presume you sat up with him the entire night playing snap,” she replied cheekily.

  “Oh, we played snap alright. Just not with cards.” The cat nuzzled its head into her neck and Anne cherished its warmth and softness. She was missing James, but was she close enough to drop in and see him again so soon? The fact still remained that she didn’t know him well enough to gauge when he would want to be left alone. She hated the thought of moving down the scale from love to cumbersome in his charts. The least she wanted was to be a bother to him.

  “Well, whatever he did, he should do it more often.” Julia sighed. “I haven’t seen you this happy in a very long time.”

  Boots meowed anxiously, obviously feeling smothered by the tight cuddles she was giving him and she finally let him off. “His girlfriend dropped by this morning.”

  “His girlfriend?”

  “Or an ex-friend with benefits as he described it. He said he never loved her.” She stopped and picked up an orange from the fruit basket. It citrusy scent rose to her nostrils and she wondered if it was that that was stinging her eyes.

  “Do you believe him?” Julia asked slowly.

  “I… don’t know. I know I want to, but sensibilities… They can be such a nuisance sometimes.”

  “Oh, honey.” Julia gathered Anne’s hands in hers. “If it helps, I’ve seen the man look at you. And when he does, it’s as if nothing else matters in the world. It’s just you and him. He has this longing in his eyes to hold you forever. I sometimes think he is madly in love with you. But I’m a romantic by nature and probably am imagining things.”

  “He said he loved me.”

  “He… did? Damn, that man seems to fall fast and hard. But it is not inconceivable. There are people like that who do exist. Love at first sight, fall in one glance kinda people.” She leaned back against the kitchen bench dreamily. “He’s so perfect and you are so lucky. I wish I’d find someone who could fall in love with me like that.”

  “When was the last time you were in a relationship?” Anne asked carefully. She hoped she wasn’t intruding. Julia would talk about many things with her, but love and boyfriends was a subject she tended to avoid.

  “Ashley’s father,” Julia put simply.

  “I’m sorry.” Anne bit her lip. That was definitely a memory Julia wouldn’t want to visit.

  “It’s okay. I was young and stupid. It didn’t help that he was stupid as well.”

  “You’re still young, Julia.”

  “And stupid?”

  Anne grinned. “Certainly not. Honestly, I think you are one of the bravest women I’ve met. How do you get on with your life and with a smile on your face each day while at the same time raising an intelligent little girl all on your own?”

  “Like the way thousands of good single mothers do.” She leaned closer to Anne and tenderly touched a wisp of her hair. “You’ll be a great mother too one day, Anne. Because when I see you, I think you may be the bravest woman I know.”

  “A toast then to us both for battling the world and winning?” Anne tilted her head to the side cheekily.

  “Let me grab a bottle from the cellar,” Julia replied excitedly, her footsteps clicking into the distance and then disappearing into the cellar room.

  A knock at the back door interrupted their jovial chatter.

  “Anne?”

  “James?” Anne mumbled.

  “Go on,” Julia urged. “He must be missing you already.”

  Anne smiled and worked her way to the door. “Hey, do you want to come inside? Julia just opened a bottle of red wine.”

  “I… uh… could you come out for a second instead?”

  She opened the door anxiously. His voice didn’t share their cheery spirit. He sounded tensed and melancholic. Could he perhaps have changed his mind about her?

  “Is everything alright, James?”

  But he was no longer at the door. She heard him descending the steps, breathing heavily.

  “James, you still there?” she asked worriedly as she walked towards him.

  She felt him grab her waist as he buried his face between her breasts.

  “I don’t know what to do anymore,” he said, his voice muffled by her skin.

  “What is it? Is it work?” She ran her fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him.

  He sighed. “Yes, kinda. I think I screwed things up, Anne.”

  “Come on, now. It can’t be that bad. Do you want to talk about it? We could sort it out if we rammed our great minds together.”

  “I don’t think we could,” he mumbled.

  “I am a businessman’s daughter and you may be surprised with what I may have inherited from my father. Still don’t want to talk?” she teased.

  “Let’s just stay like this for a while,” he replied instead, tugging her closer to him.

  “On the steps of my verandah? What will passersby think?” she said with a soft chuckle.

  “I don’t care. I have you and I never want to lose you again,” he whispered, planting his face further into her bosom.

  “Where is he, Casey?” Mark asked her through his phone.

  “Number 252. Two houses down Eric’s,” she replied.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered. “She moved next door?”

  “That’s right, Captain. Talk about twisted fates.”

  “You’re fucking right it is,” he said, staring at the house from inside his car. “I can’t believe they didn’t plan this.”

  “You sure they didn’t?”

  “Eric claims she magically popped around the corner. I guess I’m gonna just have to hop out and find out for myself.”

  He disconnected and sat hesitantly in his seat, still staring at the house through his dark tinted windows. The coincidence was far too eerie to not contemplate. How can a man be dealt the same cards again? It was as if life was deliberately throwing the pair together.

  He stepped out of the car and straightened his blazer. Eric had left the office in a fit of rage. It was then that he realized that he was fighting a losing battle when Anne was thrown into their plans. Eric would sacrifice himself for the sake of protecting Anne.

  He ran a hand over his hair, smoothening down any strays. Eric had worked two years on this case and in that time, he was the only one who had managed to come so close to Juan. If the bastard quit because he fell in fucking love, he’d put an end to the entire operation.

  He pressed the doorbell, reciting a script in his head. The door opened a tad bit.

  “Can I help you?” a brunette asked.

  She was pretty with a very feminine figure. But her deep set eyes and hard lines told him she hadn’t had an easy life.

  “Hi… um… I’m looking for James Connelly. I’m his friend, Mark Dane. He told me he was going to meet me here.”

  “Oh.” The woman smiled. “Yes, he is in the back. I’ll guide you through the house.”

  He stepped in through the door and was immediately confronted with the emptiness inside it despite the vastness of space. Other than the bare essentials, there weren’t any adornments which usually hinted the presence of women in the house.

  He caught sight of Anne and Eric embracing each other through a window and he sta
lled, their sincerity touching him slightly. He must be growing softer with age. The objectives of his mission must take priority over pithy emotions.

  The brunette coughed, interrupting the couple. “Someone’s here to see you, James.”

  “Me?” James asked with a frown. “Who…?”

  And when Mark stepped out from behind her, he darkened. Mark shifted uncomfortably. He was an uninvited guest and definitely unwanted. But so was Anne in this mission and he needed to deal with that first if he ever wanted to see the end of this operation.

  “Hey, man,” Mark said cheerfully. “You said you were going to be here, remember? Is this the beautiful woman you intended to introduce me to?”

  James narrowed his eyes. What was Mark on about? And why was here?

  “Yes, this is Anne,” he replied cautiously, deciding to play along. “And this is…” Did he come as himself or did he have a pseudo identity too?

  “Mark Dane,” Mark said quickly as he extended his hand.

  James put an arm around Anne’s hip, subtly digging his thumb into her side. Her face grew pale but she quickly extended her hand.

  “I’m sorry, Mark,” she said. “I can’t see so you’d have to grab my hand instead.”

  He clasped it with a chuckle. “Of course. It’s nice meeting you finally. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Well, it’s the first time I have met any of James’ friends, so it is awesome meeting you too.”

  “Honey, Mark and I have business to catch up on,” James said softly. “Is it okay if you gave us a moment?”

  Anne turned around and felt her way back into the house. James descended the steps and led the way towards the white picket fence separating the luscious green lawn from the pristine white sands of the beach.

  “It’s a wonder watching her maneuver her way like that. Are you sure she is blind?” Mark asked with interest.

  “Why are you here?” James asked curtly.

  “To talk some sense into you,” Mark replied. “But that’s not gonna happen, is it?”

  James shook his head. “You don’t understand. I didn’t have a reason to live until I found Anne. When I was a hitman, I didn’t care. I gambled and I was ready to lose if my time came to it. Sometimes… sometimes…” He turned towards the ocean, slapping the wooden paling of the fence. “I met Anne when I was seventeen years old and if I had the courage to speak to her then, my life would probably have taken another course. One both she and I would be proud of. I cannot lose this chance again, Mark.”

  “She’s your raison d’etre,” Mark mumbled.

  “My what?”

  “Raison d’etre. Your reason for living. It’s just something I picked up from one of my sisters.” He shrugged.

  “Sisters? It makes you sound normal. I never really imagined you with a family,” James smirked.

  Mark scratched his brow. “I know I can be cold and clinical sometimes, but that is part of my job. And right now, it is to tell you that the only way you can protect Anne is to remove your associations from her.”

  “And tell her what, Mark? What bullshit are you going to feed me this time? You killed off Eric and you don’t know the heck what that put her through. In fact, you don’t care. I’m not going to break her a second time.”

  “Then you should have kept the fuck quiet and minded your own fucking business,” Mark gritted. “For Christ’s sake… James, we were doing just fine until you decided to patch things up with her. Once the mission was over, you would have had all the time to resume a relationship with her.”

  “She was dying, Mark! I couldn’t sit back and watch her wither away anymore. This mission isn’t mine. She is! She is my priority! And that’s how it stays.”

  Julia looked out of her kitchen over at the two men and sighed.

  “What was that all about?” Anne asked her with a smile.

  “What?”

  “That sigh you just let out.”

  “I just can’t believe we have two fine looking specimens standing in our backyard.”

  “Yeah? How is he? Mark Dane?”

  “Tall, muscular with a silvery set of soft hair.”

  “Sounds handsome.”

  “He is.” She frowned. “But it doesn’t seem like it is all well between them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They seem to be having a disagreement of some sort. They certainly didn’t look happy seeing each other.”

  Anne lifted her brow. “James was a little upset earlier. I wonder if it had something to do with that.”

  “I don’t know. I would be the wrong person to ask anyway. I haven’t been around the opposite sex in a long time to know how they feel and why they behave like the way they do.” She shook her head. “I should get on and start dinner before Ashley comes home.”

  “Is it time already? That was fast.”

  “I know. The more she’s grows up, the more I begin to miss my little girl.”

  “She is still your little girl, Julia. You just miss her following you around like she used to.”

  Julia let out a puff of air. “That is it, isn’t? Oh, what do I do?”

  “Have another child?” Anne teased.

  “You need a man for that. And he is the last thing I need right now. I need to focus on Ashley and make sure she goes to college, get a great job and not repeat the same mistakes I’ve made.”

  Anne smiled. “Is there something I can help with in the kitchen?”

  “No. I was just going to fix a quick meal of pasta. Will that be okay for dinner?”

  “How about I whip up some grilled steak ratatouille and saffron rice?”

  “Something fancy,” Julia whistled. “Why not? What do I do?”

  “Nothing, other than pass me the ingredients,” she said as she washed her hands.

  “Anne?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Is there something wrong?”

  “Why do you ask?” Anne said, wiping her hands dry on a towel.

  “The little frown that keeps niggling at your brow. Anne, if there is something you want to talk about, you can tell me.”

  Anne threw the towel aside in frustration. “There are things James does that continue to baffle me.”

  “Like what?”

  “He reminds me of Eric. Just little things…”

  “Tell me, what is it?”

  “This morning I asked him what he would like for breakfast and he said Orange juice and toast, of course. Of course? It was like he was thinking that I should know what he ate for breakfast. He then added that there was yoghurt and berries for me in the fridge. How would he know that about me?”

  Julia shrugged, slightly perplexed about it as well. “Perhaps, he found out from Ashley.”

  “Then how does that explain what he did just a few minutes ago. I didn’t know Mark had extended his hand for a shake and he tactfully thumbed me on the waist to tell me that. No one knew that other than me and Eric. It was something he came up with because he was always worried that I would feel awkward amongst his friends.”

  “I don’t know, Anne. If I were to analyze those, I would say they are just random stuff. It’s like when you find someone else biting their nails like you do. You feel a connection but you also know it is a common habit.”

  “But the thumb, Julia,” Anne insisted.

  “He probably didn’t know how else to tell you that Mark wanted to shake hands with you. Besides, why then is everyone calling him James in San Diego? He’s just a different guy who happens to be similar to Eric in more ways than one. He’s a doppelganger. It may also be why you were attracted to him so instantly.”

  Anne sighed. “I suppose. I guess I am over-thinking these things.”

  The voices of the men in the hallway caught their attention and they quieted immediately in case James heard any of their discussion.

  “Anne… Julia, we need to talk,” he announced rather sternly.

  CHAPTER 24

  “What’s going on, James?”
Anne asked as they settled in the living room.

  “Julia, did you close up everything?” Mark asked.

  “Yes, I checked upstairs,” she replied worriedly.

  “I closed up the back door and the windows downstairs. You are sure there is no one else in the house?” Mark asked again.

  “No… I mean yes, there is no one.” Julia licked her lips.

  “James?” Anne said with a little annoyance. “Why are we being holed up?”

  Mark nodded a go-ahead and James cleared his throat. “Mark is an undercover FBI officer. He is investigating a major gang syndicate and we believe…” He knelt down beside Anne and took her hands in his. “Anne, we have reason to believe that you may have become entangled in it.”

  “What are you talking about? I don’t know any gang members, neither do I have any affiliations with them! This is ridiculous!” She tried to pull her hands away from him but he held them tightly.

  “Anne, you do. It is Avanna,” he said.

  “Avanna?” Her face grew ashen and stiff as the realization of his words sunk into her.

  “Avanna is the sister of the leader of The Pachecos gang.”

  “So when she said she was going to kill me, she could have really meant it,” she mumbled.

  Julia let out a short gasp; covering her mouth immediately in case Anne had heard it. But the terrified look in her eyes was enough to tell James that both women were shaken to their core.

  “Yes,” James said, shifting uncomfortably. For heaven’s sake, this had to be the right decision. “I’ve had members tailing me since this morning and I think Avanna may have had something to do with it.”

  Anne nodded. “So if Avanna is a gang member, Mark is an undercover FBI agent, then who are you? What were you doing with Avanna when you clearly knew who she was?”

  James looked up at Mark for direction.

  “James is an undercover agent as well.” Mark coughed. “But he’s working more closely than I am.”

  “Like infiltrating the gang,” Anne said slowly.

  “Yes.”

  Her eyes reddened, her body visibly trembling from the revelation.