by Aubree Lane
Alan froze. He dropped his arms to his side and stared at her for an excruciatingly long minute. Then he picked his jacket up off the sofa and headed for the door. “Feed yourself. I think you need a little time to recuperate from the devastating blow you just received. I’ll bunk with Nathan.”
And he left. Just like that.
• • •
“You’re up,” was all Alan said before shoving his phone back into his pocket. He slipped into the driver’s side of his car and waited. A moment later, a car pulled up alongside his. David and Marissa got out. Marissa headed for Annie’s apartment, and David slid into the passenger seat next to Alan.
“You’re a good man,” David said when he was settled.
Alan shook his head. “If she had given me any indication that she wanted to make a go of it, I would still be in there, and I would have never called you.”
David reached over and patted his shoulder. “Like I said, you’re a good man. We all saw how hard you were trying to make her jealous by spending so much time with Lena. You didn’t have to do this. You could have stayed out of it and been there to help Annie pick up the pieces of another failed relationship. But you didn’t. You put her happiness first.”
Alan stared blindly out the windshield into the darkness. “Yeah, that’s me. Saint Alan.”
• • •
“This is yummy. Why did Alan make all this food if he wasn’t going to stick around and enjoy it?” Marissa asked.
She showed up unexpectedly with a bottle of Annie’s favorite chardonnay. Annie had been hesitant about letting her in, but since she now had wine to go along with her food, she momentarily yielded on her No Marissa stance and allowed her to come in and ply her with alcohol. Annie swallowed and rubbed her hands on the napkin in her lap. “I’m pretty sure I scared him away.” She took a sip of wine and washed down the last morsel of decadence she could possibly fit into her tummy. “I just found out that all the time we spent together, we weren’t dating. We were just two friends hanging out.”
Marissa held her fork poised out in front of her face. Both it and her head shook in the negative. “I could have told you that,” she snickered. “Did you really think you guys were dating?”
Annie took back her earlier thoughts. She actually was that slow. “You and Alan make me feel like I need a therapist worse than Terence.”
Marissa pursed her lips together.
Annie choked on her wine. “You do think I need a therapist!” she cried with the emphasis on the do.
Marissa assumed a calm motherly tone. “Don’t get your back up. You and I both know you didn’t have an easy childhood and with that poor excuse of a stepfather, it’s a wonder you turned out as well as you have. Needing help in this one area of your life is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Annie was horrified. “And why haven’t you told me this until now?”
“Until now you didn’t have anyone worth keeping.”
The sweet sympathetic smile on Marissa’s face made Annie want to scream. Poor screwed up Annie. Was that what Marissa had been thinking all these years?
Annie suddenly pictured herself as the crazy old cat lady. Alone, with nothing but her strays to keep her company, until she was too old and feeble to care for them any longer. Then after giving them all that love and devotion, her starving little kitties would turn on her and use her dilapidated body as cat food, putting an end to her sad, sad, pitiful life. In much the same way, her best friend had stabbed her in the back. Someday soon, she and Marissa were going to have it out.
Annie sat up a little straighter. “I happen to want things to work out with Terence, but I’ve come to realize how important my work is. I honestly can’t see myself walking away from everything I’ve worked so hard for just to be with a man.”
“Who said you had to?”
The smug look on Marissa’s face was simply too much. “Marissa, will you please try to keep up.” Annie stretched her arms out wide. “Terence here,” she said waving her right hand, “Annie here,” she countered with the left. She ran a finger between the two imaginary points. “No matter how you look at it, it’s not going to happen.”
Marissa burst out laughing. “You need more help than I thought.”
Annie stretched her arms out wider and waved both hands frantically. “Do you not get the visual?”
Marissa grabbed Annie’s hands and brought them closer together. “No one said it would be easy, but if you and Terence want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to meet each other in the middle.” She folded Annie’s hands into the prayer position. “Get the visual?”
She wanted to. Annie had been bouncing off the walls wanting to fly off and live the love adventure with Terence. Yet, she was unable to because she felt she would give up too much of herself. The confusion left her feeling lost and uncertain about which way to turn or where to go. The result was that nothing was working out. If she didn’t get it together soon, Terence would be gone and Annie H. Designs would be a thing of the past.
She had it right once. She tried to tell Terence they had a lot to work out before they could commit to each other, but he hadn’t wanted to hear it. He made her believe they could get by on faith and that everything would work out in the end. But their relationship wasn’t working, and he didn’t even know it.
She hadn’t done her part either. She hadn’t talked with him about what was bothering her than he had with her. That had to stop.
Marissa was still holding Annie’s hands.
Annie stared into Marissa’s eyes and let herself remember every single word Hannah told her. It was time for that confrontation. Annie let cold hard steel seep deep into her bones and said, “I know what you did. I know how you lied and kept me and Terence apart for months.”
Marissa’s jaw dropped. “Annie, I’m sorry. It was supposed to be a joke.”
“A joke! You could probably be disbarred for what you did. You not only lied to me, you gave inaccurate information to your client. Part of me knew it was bull that Terence and I couldn’t see each other until after the custody hearing, but I trusted you. So did Terence. Just tell me why you did it. Was it to stop a relationship between us from forming so your father could take Erika away from Terence without any qualms?”
Marissa gasped. “I didn’t know Erika was my sister then. I didn’t know any of it. I was just angry because you stole Terence away when you knew what I had planned. Annie, please, you have to believe me.”
“I don’t see how I can. I don’t see how I can trust any of you any longer. I think you should leave, Marissa.”
Marissa shook her head. “Annie,” she pleaded. “Listen to me. I tried to tell you the day we told you about Erika, but it would have been too much. Please don’t look at me like that. I know I was wrong. It was a stupid thing to do. I shouldn’t have—”
“You should leave,” Annie repeated coldly.
Marissa held Annie’s hands in a vise grip, and her eyes begged for understanding.
Annie shook her head in disgust. She saw it all too clearly now. Once the poor pitiful Annie did something the blessed Marissa didn’t like, she would squash her like a bug. Annie knew what she wanted and what she had to do. She jerked her hands out of Marissa’s grasp. “I got the visual. Now it’s your turn to listen. Terence and I won’t give Erika up without a fight. I’m going to sell Annie H. Designs and help Terence with all the legal expenses. Thanks for helping me see what was truly important.”
Marissa was about to argue, but Annie pointed to the door. “Goodbye, Marissa.”
Chapter 22
“I don’t understand why we have to be so secretive,” Annie said to David just before she dove into the club sandwich he ordered for her. They sat outside a small cafe on the wharf. A flock of noisy seagulls hovered nearby in anticipation of an easy meal. Annie hoped the gulls would stay close to the small family whose children had just run down to the beach with the order of fries they purchased specifically for the purpose of feeding them.
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Annie had lived in San Diego her entire life and had been the victim of too many gull droppings landing on her head to feel anything but contempt for the flying scavengers. She watched the kids excitedly toss a fry up into the air and the gulls snatch it out of the sky. The birds flew in closer and surrounded the children. Their parents remained at their table outside the cafe and watched their two kids from a safe distance. One brave gull landed in front of the smallest boy who was dressed in calf-length purple board shorts. The bird had picked out his prey. He reached out his long white neck and pecked at the boy’s bare feet. The boy jumped back and threw all his fries at the bird. Twenty gulls attacked the fries in the sand. The kids fearfully ran back up the weathered beaten steps and their parents laughed.
Annie considered the relationship between the kids and the birds and thought about Terence. The gulls now related humans with food and they weren’t above insisting that they be fed. Annie now understood the wisdom of Terence’s words about how feeding the fish down at the Mahi Wreck was all well and good until someone lost a hand, and vowed never to feed another wild creature again.
Annie turned back to her sandwich. The inner turmoil she suffered the last few days had zapped her appetite. The last decent meal she had consisted of the fried ravioli, which Alan prepared for her. But since that night, no one had heard from him, and Annie was getting worried. Worried enough to get David involved.
• • •
“I told Marissa I was going upstate today,” David explained. “The last thing I need is to get caught lying and keeping secrets from my wife.” He watched Annie as she devoured the food in front of her. At least some things never change, he thought.
A piece of bacon fell from her sandwich and Annie snatched it up and shoved it into her mouth. “Why did you do that?” she asked. “You’re just updating me about Alan. You could have told her that.”
“I don’t discuss every aspect of my work with her, besides, we have more to discuss than just Alan.”
That caught her attention. David smiled when the fry she was about to eat dropped out of her fingers and onto her plate. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “So, spit it out.”
And just like that, Alan was forgotten. David felt sorry for the guy. Annie genuinely didn’t care for him. “Let’s get down to business. I think you’re going to be surprised by what I have discovered. In her own weird, warped way, I think Hannah was protecting Erika from Alexander.”
“That’s what she said,” Annie interrupted him. “But first things first, I need to know if you found Alan and if he’s okay. Don’t get me wrong, I want to hear about Hannah, too, but I’m worried something might have happened to my friend. So spill it, David. How’s Alan, and why did he disappear like that?”
David nodded, the concern he saw in her eyes was genuine. Annie cared for him after all, just not the way he cared for her. “Alan is fine. He and his mother are staying at an aunt’s house. He asked me to tell you he is not going back to finish the job at Lena’s.”
What David intentionally left out was that Alan had also flat out refused to work for Annie ever again, but that was a moot point if she was serious about selling out and moving to Hawaii.
Annie closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I was pretty sure he was okay when you didn’t burst into my office with some horrible news, but then part of me worried that you had something serious to tell me and Marissa was making you feed me first.” She lifted her soda glass and sucked on the straw. “I finally began to breathe again, when you said Marissa didn’t know about our lunch.” Then she raised a questioning brow. “Hannah said she stopped Alexander from hurting Erika. What’s that all about?”
David scratched his neck. The distressing part of their conversation was about to be revealed. He was uncomfortable with what he was about to say. In his line of work, he dealt with all kinds of people. Some were good, and some were bad. The majority were somewhere in between. Most of what brought clients to their firm was because a bad decision had been made, and their actions were at least forgivable, if not defendable. One thing David couldn’t fathom was how someone could hurt a child. The moment he found information pointing in that direction, that client would instantly be dropped. Furthermore, if their client was a child who had been molested, the firm went into overdrive in order to protect the kid as much as possible. It was a hardline that no one at the firm would dream of crossing.
“This is all conjecture on my part,” David continued. “I don’t have any proof, but the evidence suggests that Alexander molested Hannah from a pretty young age.” He pulled some papers out of his folder. “These are her medical records. Hannah was treated for chronic bladder infections from the age of eight throughout her childhood.”
Annie passed on the documents in lieu of finishing her lunch, so he returned the papers to his briefcase and gave her a brief summation of what he uncovered. “Teachers repeatedly reported that they suspected child abuse in some form. Hannah exhibited all the classic behaviors, but the reports were ignored. Alexander had deep pockets, and he was well-respected. It was a different world back then, and at that time, he had the power to have an investigation on him squelched.” He paused taking a bite of his sandwich. With his mouth full of sourdough and roast beef he went on. “Then things start to get interesting. Erika is born. Everything appears normal until a few years ago when, I believe, Erika reached an age where Alexander began to take notice. Hannah suddenly sends Erika to visit Terence for entire summers when she had previously denied him all access. Then one day she runs into Larry and drops the bomb that he’s Erika’s father. She quits taking Erika to school, and the school starts reporting Erika as truant. It’s almost as if she wanted the authorities to get involved. I think she was trying to get Erika taken away so Alexander wouldn’t be able to get to her.”
Annie thought it made sense. It would explain how Hannah outsmarted Alexander. If Hannah had been able to get social services involved, Alexander would be forced to leave Erika alone or risk prosecution this time. Hannah turned on her father, just like Annie’s imaginary cats, only Hannah had ample reason for her treachery while her cats were just a bunch of ingrates.
“There’s more. Are you ready to hear it?”
“No, but go ahead,” Annie replied shaking her head. “Poor Hannah.”
“Hannah used the money you gave her as down payment on a house in Montana. Her mother, the one everyone thought was dead, is alive and well. She runs a battered woman’s shelter in the same town. With a husband like Alexander, it’s not hard to figure out where that career choice came from. It looks like Hannah is about to spend some time with her mom.”
“Wow, this puts Hannah in a whole new light, and it makes my childhood seem like a walk in the park. I guess I’ll have to relinquish my title as most abused.”
“About time, don’t you think?”
• • •
Annie leaned back against the hard wooden chair and considered David’s last statement. If he said something like that to her a few weeks ago, she would have been livid. She still didn’t care for it, but today she was able to respect, if not appreciate, the spirit in which it was meant. “I’ve come to realize my past sometimes makes me do some pretty stupid things. I think it’s time I changed that.” She smiled. “Anything is possible. I mean look at us. Who would have thought we’d be getting along so well?”
“We are under no legal obligation to keep Hannah’s secret, we could tell Larry and Terence.”
“This from the man who failed to tell his wife we were having lunch together.” Annie shook her head. “I can’t stop you, but Hannah has worked hard to keep this a secret. If we tell, we would be adding to the list of people who have betrayed her. I think she’s suffered enough. We should let Hannah have as much time as she needs with her mother. She’ll tell everyone when she’s ready. It is more important for you to find out if Hannah was able to protect Erika. That little girl might need our help in more ways than
one.”
• • •
“Agreed. I’ll handle it.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “One more thing before I go. You need to talk to Marissa.”
Annie lowered her eyes. “No. Let it go, David.”
“I can’t. Annie, it was a joke gone sour. As a matter of fact, it was all my idea to pay you back for abandoning the kids. They hate staying at my mom’s,” he lied, hoping to get his wife out of the dog house. It was a small sacrifice. He and Annie had been at odds for so long, what did it matter if it continued? His wife was miserable and he had to fix it.
Annie didn’t buy it. “A joke lasts for a day or two. It doesn’t ruin my entire vacation and last for months afterward. David, she lied to her client! That’s serious.”
David leaned back. “Technically, she only lied to you. She never said anything to Terence.”
“Oh, well then, all is forgiven,” she spat back sarcastically. “Using me as her mouthpiece makes everything hunky dory. I’m no longer angry at all.”
He was getting nowhere. David got up and hugged her goodbye. “I’ll let it go for now, but this is eating her up. She loves you, and you aren’t exactly blameless.”
Anger flared in Annie’s blue eyes. “I did you a favor when I kept Marissa away from Terence.”
David nodded in agreement. “And you can’t imagine how grateful I am that you did. But you didn’t do it for me, did you?”
Annie pointed her index finger at him and was about to let loose with both barrels, but David cut her off. “I’ll let you know what I find out about Erika.”
He hated what was next on the agenda. He was going to have to track Hannah down and dredge up all the dirty little secrets of her past.
• • •
David spent the rest of the afternoon helping Jack with his second grade homework, which took all of five minutes, and playing dress up with Sandy. After dinner, he cleaned up the kitchen and was now able to snuggle up next to Marissa and watch one of the final episodes of their favorite sitcom. The busy two career couple had not been able to catch much of the popular series last season, and their DVR was loaded with at least eight episodes of this year’s additions.