Brendan’s eyes lighten, and Annie’s grinning at the little one.
“You did good, B-man. Wish I could say the same.” Rising up, I start walking to the exit.
“Where in Canada are you headed?” Brendan calls over.
I huff, and shake my head. “Don’t worry. I know I’m going back in. You don’t have to send a search party anywhere to find me.” I’m about to step outside.
“I just wanna know where to avoid.”
My feet halt and I turn slowly around. Annie’s looking at me and I glance from her to Brendan, my mouth slackened. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Go before I change my mind.”
“Brendan…” I quietly whisper, struck hard with emotion. “Don’t play with me.”
He looks at me with his eyes hard and filled with the pain of everything he’s been through since she disappeared. It takes him a moment to speak, and when he does, his deep voice breaks a little, even as he tries to control it, to be a man. “If it hadn’t been for you, this would have turned out very differently.” He kisses the side of her head, closing his eyes to gather himself. Inhaling, he looks at me. “Tommy, I owe you.”
A seed plants itself in my chest and I can’t speak either at first: Hope. I scan around the place, because I can’t look at them. I’ll lose my shit if I do. “Wow. I don’t know what to say. What are you going to tell the cops?”
Annie answers. “I’m going to tell them it was your dad. I’ll tell them you saved me and that when I escaped the house, I ran and hid. That you gave me a phone to call Brendan. That I didn’t have the number memorized so I dialed the last number in the phone.”
“Rebecca’s,” I say, following her path.
“Yes, so she’s going to have to say you called her.”
Huffing with disbelief, I struggle for words. “I really don’t know what to say.”
“Goodbye is a good start,” Brendan smiles.
I smile with him and shake my head, overwhelmed. “Goodbye,” I mumble, growing excited. “Goodbye indeed.”
Turning to the exit, I stop, and pull out something from my pocket. Walking back, I hold it out to Annie. She squints at the glinting object and her eyes widen.
“My ring! How did you get that?”
Dropping it into Annie’s outstretched palm, I smirk. “I’m a thief, remember?”
* * *
I walk out into the golden light feeling like the sun is shining just for me. Rebecca’s still here, facing the cave, standing off to the side with her hair blowing, her eyes turned toward the Bay. Mark and his girlfriend are watching from the bottom of the hill, resting on the car, looking like miniatures of themselves.
“They’re letting me go free.”
Rebecca turns, her pretty eyes rounding instantly. “Really?”
I grin, rubbing my arms for warmth. For the first time, I can feel, and it is damn cold out. “Yeah.”
Rebecca blinks, dropping her gaze to the ground, thinking. “Where are you going to go?”
“Well, it’s not a secret, anymore, I guess. They both know.” I jerk my head toward the cave. “Canada.”
A sad smile curves her lips. “Oh. That’s great, Tommy.”
“You want to come?”
She blinks, staring at me. A laugh bursts from her. “I can’t!”
Grinning, I nod, and glance to the water. “Yeah. I figured. Well, I want to get a move on. Never know what the road has in store for me.” I step over to her, “Take care of yourself, Beautiful.”
Her eyes are sad as she watches me go. “Bye, Tommy,” she whispers as I make my way down the hill, my boots grinding into the crevices quickly.
The last time I did this trek today, I was entrenched in guilt and shame. Now, I’ve got a spring in my step like none I’ve ever known. That beater will take me as far as it can go. I’m going to have to drive up to a rural part of the border, maybe in Montana, so I can cross without alerting the patrol on either side. It’s not going to be easy, but I feel like I just might have luck on my side, for once. Maybe this whole doing the right thing nonsense has its perks. But I’m going to have to make money somehow. Let’s see how long this sticks.
At the bottom of the hill, Mark holds out his hand.
“You know what they were going to do?”
He nods. We shake hands. “Good luck, Tommy.”
“Thanks, Mark. Nice meeting you,” I say to his girl.
“Nicole,” she smiles, her eyes wary.
“Nicole. Right. I heard that earlier. Nice gams. Just kidding, Mark. Take care.”
Nicole’s voice purrs as I walk away, “I think you’re forgetting someone.”
I turn around to see Rebecca running awkwardly down the hill, her shoes in her hands and a scared look in her eyes. “Tommy!”
“Well, well, well. Merry Christmas to me,” I mutter, watching her.
Mark and I share a look like we’d have given each other in the old days, when we ran into a girl at a party who was a take-home prize. Rebecca Wells, elegant and sophisticated philanthropist, clamors down the dirt, hitting the pavement and stopping to wipe her feet off, and slide them back into her pumps. She throws her head back, her long hair flying as she grins at me.
“Can I still come?”
“Fuck yes, you can come. Again and again and again!” I laugh, walking to meet her. She flies into my arms and I spin her around and kiss her hard on the lips. “We better get out of here before these squares change their minds,” I say loudly enough for all to hear.
Mark shakes his head and she and I jump in the beater, with her waiting for me to open the door first, of course. Women. Gotta love ‘em!
It’s the beginning of a whole new life.
Can’t wait to see what happens.
A leopard can’t get rid of his spots, after all.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Brendan
My body is a blanket of warmth for those I love.
I hum Silent Night, rocking us very, very gently. “He’s perfect,” I whisper into her hair, looking at our son.
“He is a very special baby,” she whispers back. “That’s why you needed a very special entrance, isn’t it, my little Jacob?” She’s got her finger under his tiny hand, caressing the soft, pink skin. Jacob’s eyes are closed, but he’s wriggling around, very awake. “Brendan?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“I’m so glad it didn’t snow.”
Chuckling, I nod. “Me, too. I think it’s about time we get you to a hospital.”
Annie sighs and leans her head back, tucking her nose up into my neck. “I’m beginning to like it here.”
“Liar,” I chuckle.
She laughs into my skin. “I’m afraid of going down that hill, if you must know the truth. I’m sore and tired.”
Tightening my arms around her, I stop rocking. “I will carry you. Mark will take Jacob.” At the look in her eyes as she unburies her face, I repeat, “I really want to make sure you’re okay. We need to go somewhere where people know what they’re doing.”
She sucks her lips into her mouth and nods, looking down at him again. “He’s finally in my arms. I don’t want to let him go.”
“I know the feeling.”
She looks up at me and closes her eyes for a kiss. I press my lips to hers and feel the sweet waves of being with her again spread throughout my body.
“Merry Christmas, Brendan.”
I kiss her nose and murmur, “Merry Christmas, my love.” Jacob tries very hard to open his eyes and one squeaks open the tiniest bit to look at us. “Hey buddy!” I whisper. “Want to see the great big world that’s waiting for you?” He closes it again, and I laugh. “Fair enough. I have to say, this is very primitive man/woman of us. Having our baby in a cave. A fistfight. No drugs.”
“Grrrr.”
Reaching over for the pillow we brought, I wedge it behind her and slip out. “I’ll be right back.” Walking out to get Mark, I’m just in time to see Rebecca and T
ommy climbing into a cracked-out Dodge Colt, circa 1980-something. Waving Mark up, I watch the car drive away. Mark runs up the hill, his pace slower than it was when we first got here.
“What the hell was that?”
He laughs. “Worst decision of her life.”
Shaking my head, I marvel at it. “Wow. Okay then. Ever hold a baby?”
His eyebrows nearly fly off his forehead. Dryly, he asks, “Say what?”
“I have to carry Annie down.”
“No no no…I’ll carry Annie, you take the baby. If I drop that baby–”
“If you drop my wife!”
“I’ll jump off that bridge right there. I know nothing about holding a baby.” He walks in with me following, my objections ignored as he heads for her. “I’m carrying you down, Annie. Sorry, but I need Brendan to carry Jacob.”
She nods, not happy about having to be moved. “Okay, Jacob, Mommy does not want to do this. Just so you know.” She hands him to me and Nicole appears in the entrance, out of breath.
“You guys need help?” Mark cocks an eyebrow at her. “What, like I was going to stay down there?”
Together we gather up all evidence of our having been here. I’ve got Tommy’s duffel bag over my shoulder with the wet things in it; we’ll chuck this in a dumpster, forever forgotten. Jacob, still swaddled in the towel, is firmly in my arms as I make my way down the hill. “I’m glad I’ve done this climb a million times before now.”
“Don’t I know it,” Mark agrees, Annie cradled in his arms. He’s 6’4” and strong as an ox, so I only look back two or three times to make sure she’s okay. Nicole’s behind the four of us, carting down the last articles we’d brought.
When we’re all tucked into the car, Nicole remembers something. “Hey. Weird. We didn’t need a cab after all. Rebecca’s not here.”
Mark and I share an incredulous look at that unexpected turn of events and I start the car, backing up at a nice, safe speed. The sun has finally gone down and while we can’t see it, its presence is still felt in the light gray sky. The fog is rolling in off the water, creeping up the base of the bridge, and Annie looks out the window at it as we begin the journey back.
We ride in silence, everybody tired. About halfway across the Golden Gate, Annie’s voice is happy. “New memory, honey.”
In the rearview mirror, I meet her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“For the fog. It was foggy the night Jacob first opened his eyes. Reframing the memory of fog.” She smiles.
I twist in the seat. “Did he just open both his eyes?!”
Mark hits me in the arm, his voice happy. “Watch the road, Papa.”
Laughing, I do as he says, but not without muttering out of the corner of my mouth. “Shut it.” And to myself, “I can’t believe I missed that.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Annie
Jacob…you are my Prince. Brendan, my King.
“Under the circumstances, I’d say you’re very lucky, Mrs. Clark.” The obstetrician places Jacob into my adoring arms. “He’s doing fine; a very healthy baby. We’d like to keep him here for a few days.” She slips her hands in the large pockets of her lab coat.
I frown to Nicole, who’s sitting in the weird little chair they have in every room. “Without me?”
Patiently the doctor informs me, “We usually keep newborns here with us for a couple days to ensure everything is okay. And in this situation, with the unusual birthing he went through, I’m sure you understand.”
“Mmmhmm. Nicole, where’s Brendan?”
She rises from her chair. “Let me go check.”
Returning a moment later with Brendan, I can tell by his face that she already told him they want to keep Jacob here. “But it’s Christmas,” he tells the doctor.
She nods and glances to me. “I know. But you two can go home.”
Brendan walks over and looks down at our son’s sleeping face. He reaches for my hand and asks the doctor, “Everything okay with Annie, then?”
Mark walks in and joins Nicole standing by the wall. The doctor addresses all of us, switching focus to include everyone in the group. “She needed a few stitches where there was some tearing. And two on her lip, but other than that, the bruises will fade. Nothing was broken.”
Everyone quietly exhales. Including me, but mine is more of a sigh as I stare at my son’s face, so perfect and rosy, the baby hairs making him appear as though his skin was made of dandelions.
Brendan says, “What if we took him home for a couple hours and then brought him back?”
I glance up to see the doctor’s answer. She blinks, never having considered that option. “Well, that’s never been done before.”
I laugh, “Sounds like us, then.”
Brendan’s staring at her, hoping she won’t say no. Nicole and Mark entwine fingers, their faces hopeful also. The doctor couldn’t be in a tighter predicament. If she says no, it’s like she’s ruining Christmas. But she frowns and we all relax our shoulders, disappointed. “I don’t see why not. As long as you bring him back in a couple hours. Or three. I guess that would be okay.”
Brendan lets out a loud “Yes!” And Nicole lets go of Mark’s hand to clap enthusiastically, her happy smile trained on me. I’m tired, so my reaction is more subdued, but I do love the idea of having the little guy see the tree on actual Christmas Day, his birthday.
We promise, assuring the doctor that we’ll be back. Brendan excuses Nicole from the duties of helping me up, taking me in his strong arms and lifting me and the baby to place in a wheelchair. Rolling me out of San Francisco General, I look up at Brendan, his hands pushing the chair out the electronic doors. “We spend too much time here.”
* * *
When we get to the penthouse, I ask where the car is. “I didn’t even think of it when we were driving across the Golden Gate. Why are we in a rental car?”
“I’ll tell you later, baby,” Brendan says, as he picks me up to carry me.
“I can walk!”
“No. I’m sorry, but no.” He smiles into my eyes and says, “Get the door!”
Mark runs up and Nicole grins as she follows him in a nice natural pace. With the baby and I cradled in his strong arms, Brendan walks up the stairs to our building like the proudest papa you ever saw.
We all chat in the elevator about New York, about how things have been for them now that they live together. Mark and Nicole share a story with us about running in the rain to go to their favorite brunch place and falling into a huge puddle they didn’t see because everything looked wet and gray. They couldn’t tell when things got deeper. “It was disgusting,” Nicole laughs, looking at Mark.
He grins. “So gross. We didn’t get brunch.”
“Wait a minute!” I cry out. “Is that an engagement ring? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nicole grins and holds it out for me to admire. “You’ve been a little busy, Annie.”
Shocked and deliriously happy for them, I shake my head. “Never too much going on that I can’t be happy for people finding love.”
The doors open and Brendan waits for Nicole to walk out first. She runs out, excited by the secret being out. Mark tosses her his set of keys. “I’ll make us some dinner,” she says with a wink.
“Oh, that sounds nice,” I murmur, looking at Jacob, our bodies bouncing a little with Brendan’s footsteps.
“SURPRISE!!!”
My head shoots up, startled by the joyous cacophony of cheering voices.
Everyone is here. My mom and dad. Brendan’s mom and her boyfriend. Laura, Dan, Manny, and Taryn. A handsome man standing by Taryn’s side. Barb and her son. Bobby and his staff. Margaret and Joe. My widened eyes land on a surprising trio: Mercedes and Manny’s mother and father. And then on a woman I only know from photos; Brendan’s sister. She walks over to me as Brendan sets me down. “I thought it was about time I flew home to meet the woman who landed my brother.”
Laughing, with tears in my eyes, I look around all the happy fa
ces, everyone talking and laughing, coming forward, taking turns meeting little Jacob. My mother and father are the last. They don’t speak at first when they hug me, having been very scared. It’s all over their faces, the pain and the gratitude, like they can’t believe they’re looking at me in person.
I can’t speak either. I hand my son to my mom and choke, “Merry Christmas, Mom!”
“Oh, look at our little Christmas miracle,” she whispers holding his swaddled body, now wrapped in the coziest of baby blankets. “Hello Jacob, I’m your grandmother! Get ready to be spoiled! Very, very, very spoiled.”
Brendan takes my hand and brings me to sit by him on the couch. Everyone’s still looking at me, and I catch a couple people wincing at the bruises on my face. Glancing quickly around the apartment, I see the dining table has been brought into the living room, and it’s covered with food, a lot of it in Tupperware. Everyone pitched in. The coat rack is overflowing, and some coats are collapsed on the floor in an abundant heap. There are presents under the tree now!
And behind all of these people who are kept in my heart, is our very first Christmas Tree, the lights glowing warmly on everyone.
I whisper, “I got my wish.”
“What’s that, Annie?” Laura asks, smiling widely.
“Our first Christmas surrounded by the people we love.” I turn my head to gaze at my husband. “Thank you!”
His eyes are liquid and he laughs, leaning in to kiss me. “We’ve got a couple hours with him.”
“And they’re going to be the best two hours of my life. Well, what are you all staring at? Let’s eat!”
Everyone cheers and spreads out to let the holiday celebration commence. I snuggle into Brendan and my mom lays our son into Brendan’s arms. I wave Manny over because he’s got tears in his eyes.
Capturing Hearts: Hearts Series Book 4 Page 15