When she came to, a paramedic she vaguely recalled from the night Sadie was shot was taking her pulse. “Zack,” she said feebly. “How is Zack?”
Sky whirled around, his face dark with fury. “He probably has a concussion, or maybe a skull fracture,” he shouted. “What were you thinking, Annie, letting him climb that ladder? I trusted you. I trusted you with my son. And you...and you...” He didn’t finish his sentence, because a medic said that if he didn’t hop aboard the aid car they’d go to the hospital without him.
The man working on Annie moved her foot a fraction, and her view of people hovering around got lost in a fog of pain. She had no idea how much time had passed when she surfaced again. Her sight remained fuzzy, but she was cognizant enough by then to realize she was in an aid car. A man spoke into her ear. “The E.R. doc said I could administer something for the pain, Ms. Emerson, but I need to know if you’re allergic to anything.”
Annie licked her lips. “Is Zachary all right?”
“It’s you I’m worried about. You’re gritting your teeth. I can alleviate your pain.”
“I don’t want anything. Is my ankle broken?”
“They’ll x-ray it at the hospital,” he said.
“It was a stupid, senseless accident.”
“Most are,” he murmured, taking her pulse again. “Let’s look in your eyes. Did you hit your head?”
“No, only my leg.”
The driver had pulled under the hospital portico and someone flung open the back doors. The paramedics couldn’t help jarring her as they slid the gurney out and that had her fading again. She kept trying to find out about Zack, but the doctor prodded and poked her ankle and ordered her sent to X-ray. It was when the transporters left her alone in a hallway outside the X-ray room that she had another encounter she could have done without.
Sky’s ex-wife burst out of a door marked Stairway. Spotting Annie, she shrieked, “You!” Annie was sure she said it with all the drama possible. “You ruined our vacation by letting my son fall off a ladder! It’s your fault! You should have never let him climb it.”
“How is Zack?” Annie’s mouth felt dry and her tongue thick.
“You should ask! At least now Sky sees how irresponsible you are. He’ll never let you near our son again.” The blonde looked around. “There are no coffee machines here. I obviously exited on the wrong floor.” She yanked open the same door and let it bang shut behind her. Even Annie’s pain couldn’t carry her away from self-recrimination. The accident was her fault. And it was her own fault that she’d lost something so right and good. Slowly, over time, love for Sky and Zack had sneaked into her heart. They were the family she wanted, but now could never have. Gran Ida used to say all things happened for a reason. It was true, or else why had Sky’s ex stepped out on the wrong floor? Life all came down to fate.
When a tech came to wheel her into X-ray, Annie knew what she had to do.
* * *
HER ANKLE WASN’T broken, it turned out, but she had torn ligaments. “I’m going to truss you up almost as if it was a break,” the doctor said. “It’s a serious injury, Ms. Emerson. Don’t bear weight on it for at least two weeks. If you don’t have crutches, get a pair. No driving. I want you on pain meds.”
“Please, before I go, will someone tell me how Zack Cordova is? A ladder I was on slipped and I caused him to fall several feet to the ground.”
The doctor murmured a few noncommittal words as he breezed out of the room, but a nurse took pity on Annie. “I shouldn’t share information about one patient with another, but you’ve been asking about him since you came in. Kids are resilient. He didn’t break anything. He has a bruise on his head and a slight concussion. No skull fracture. I know you asked about that.”
Annie felt only slightly relieved. Zack shouldn’t have been on that ladder. And here she faced another dilemma. She wasn’t sure how she’d get home. She could take a cab or call someone.... Weighing her options, she phoned Sadie Talmage. “Sadie...it’s Annie. You heard about the accident at Sky’s house? I’m in the E.R. I have a huge favor to ask. I need crutches and a ride home. You can say no if helping me will cause a rift between Koot and Sky.”
“Why would it?”
“Sky is furious with me and he has every right. I failed to watch out for Zack.”
“Don’t you be fretting, Annie. Even carefully watched kids get hurt. With three of my own who all played sports, we have adjustable crutches. I’m at the teen center, but I’ll have my daughter bring a set to the hospital. You hang tough, I’ll be there ASAP.”
And she was, or so it seemed to Annie, who’d been given a shot that made her drift in and out of sleep.
“Well, you don’t look like you’ll be swinging from ladders any time soon,” Sadie said cheerfully after she’d adjusted the crutches and had Annie test them.
“No, and maybe never again. Oh, Sadie, I ruined everything with Sky.”
“He’ll get over it. He hasn’t had Zack often enough to know that curious boys can find trouble even if you’re standing right next to them.”
As they exited the hospital, Annie was glad Sadie had left her car in the patient loading zone. Using crutches wasn’t easy.
Sadie helped Annie in, then pulled onto the street. “You’re going to have to direct all of your projects from home for a while. One of the men can haul the paint and supplies. You’ve done enough business at the hardware store in Louisville that they should allow you a revolving account.”
“If Sky and his ex don’t sue me over this and wipe out Gran’s fund, I’m going to hire Peggy Gilroy to oversee the painting. Aaron is heading up the factory co-op. You’re handling the teen center, so everything’s under control. I’m...going back to California, Sadie.”
“What?” Sadie nearly ran off the road.
Annie nodded tiredly. “Sky accused me of not being trustworthy when he counted on me to watch Zack. It’s true. I pressured myself to do more, faster. I hurt people I love. Your injury, Zack’s, mine―it all proves that I’m a social worker, not a miracle worker. I let my plans get out of hand.”
“No, you didn’t. Like I said, Sky will get over it. He knows Briar Run is coming back to life because of you. And the Stingers left because of you.”
“Sky’s son is the most important thing in the world to him, which is as it should be. Through my negligence he could have lost Zack. Nothing is worth that.”
“Sky bears some of the blame. Koot could have waited for Teddy.”
Annie wasn’t listening. Her mind was made up.
* * *
A LITTLE OVER a week after the incident, Sky called Koot into his office as soon as his lieutenant walked in. “Trouble?” Koot asked.
“What? Oh, no. Can you cover my shift tomorrow? Zack’s been at their vacation cabin all week. He’s scheduled for another X-ray tomorrow. Corrine’s in a bind and can’t bring him to town. Archibald took a horse to Sarasota to race, and Corrine forgot that his daughters promised their friends a sleepover at the cabin. She asked if I could pick Zack up tonight and take him for his X-ray tomorrow. She’ll meet me at the farm in the evening when she brings the girls back. I so seldom get Zack overnight I jumped at the chance. Uh...things are going better with Corrine.”
“I’ll cover for you if you don’t tell Sadie. She and half the town are mad at you for the way you’re treating Annie.”
“Annie let me down. Zack paid the price for her obsession with all of her renovations,” Sky said stubbornly.
“It was an accident, bro. Annie was hurt, too. Should Charlie have laid his ladder down when he stopped painting? Yeah. Should Rita have quit bebopping to Jay-Z and listened to Annie, who asked her to watch Zack for a minute? Double yeah. But it’s not Annie’s fault her paint bucket got caught, or her ladder fell against the one you both told Zack not to climb.”
“I don’t need lectures from you, bro. Annie’s injury hasn’t slowed her down. She’s still going on with all her pet projects. So, can you cover for me or not?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll cover. Sadie and I thought you two were falling in love. We thought you’d both met your soul mates.”
“I thought so, too,” Sky said, glancing away. “Annie didn’t care enough about us.”
That ended the men’s conversation, but Sky worried about a rift developing between him and Koot, and between him and Annie’s supporters. With a sale now pending on his house, he wondered again about leaving Briar Run. It was a shock to realize he didn’t want to go. But did anyone want him to stay? Everyone had sided with Annie—and darn it all, no one else knew how much he missed her.
* * *
WELL, ONE PERSON hadn’t sided with Annie. When Sky arrived to get Zack, Corrine followed him to the car, and as he put the boy’s overnight bag in the trunk, she said, “Zack keeps asking about that Annie person. I told him she’s why he had to stay in the house instead of playing outside with the girls. I don’t want Zack around her, Skylar. She’s not still working on your house, is she? I know you may have a buyer, but―”
“Annie’s crew finished my house,” Sky snapped. “She was injured, too, Corrine. She hired a commercial painting firm out of Louisville to take over, I guess until she recovers. Although she’ll probably need them to stay on after the glove factory reopens.”
Corrine sniffed. “I read in the paper how she supposedly arranged that. The TV news made her look like a saint. We should tell the reporters that we know better.”
Sky knew the news had broken once the Stingers disbanded. “Stay out of Annie’s business, Corrine. She’s done a lot for this town. And Zack’s doing okay. There’s no reason to wish Annie ill.”
“Huh! You see to it my son doesn’t get within a mile of her.”
“You seem to be forgetting again that he’s my son, too.” Disliking the turn their conversation had taken—especially since relations with his ex had been better―Sky told her when he’d return Zack to the farm, then jumped in his car and roared off.
“Daddy, I want to see Annie.”
Sky frowned at his son in the rearview mirror. “Did you hear your mom and me discussing Annie?”
Zack nodded. “Mama says Annie hurt me, but she didn’t. Annie was gonna come help me get down the ladder. I climbed it after you said I shouldn’t. Annie said I shouldn’t, too. Annie’s ladder fell. It was an accident, Daddy.”
“Maybe so, but we’re not seeing her. Hey, my house is all painted. I didn’t hang your birdhouse yet. We can hang it together.” That would distract Zack, and he could take it down when he sold the house.
“I want Annie to help,” Zack insisted. “She bought it for me.”
“Zack, we’re going to have an uncomfortable visit if you keep asking to see Annie.”
Sky noticed Zack had fallen silent. Another glance showed his son’s jaw stubbornly set. It jarred Sky to be viewing a mini version of himself. But Zack didn’t bring up Annie’s name again.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING Annie’s paint crew set up across the street, and Zack climbed on a chair to watch. “I don’t see Annie. Where is she? If she’s painting over there, she can come help us hang my birdhouse.”
“Zack, don’t climb on that chair. I don’t want you to fall again.”
The boy jumped down. “I’m going over and ask Miz Gilroy where Annie is.” Before Sky could grab him, Zack dashed out the door. Sky chased him across the street and felt a headache brewing when he saw Zack deep in conversation with Peggy Gilroy. She was gesturing and pointing down the street. Peggy was holding Annie’s notebook, and Sky’s stomach tumbled. “I’m sorry Zack is bothering you,” he said, finding his voice.
“He’s not. It’s good to see him looking chipper.”
“Yes, well, he has another X-ray today to be sure the concussion is behind him.”
“Annie got her ankle wrap off yesterday, but she still can’t bear weight on it. She’s packing all the same.”
“Packing?” Zack and Sky spoke together.
“You didn’t know she’s moving back to L.A.? She’s still footing the bills to beautify Briar Run, and I’m doing her job organizing the paint crews. Because someone stomped on her heart,” Peggy said pointedly.
“Who?” Zack asked, all wide-eyed innocence.
Sky gripped his son’s shoulder, turned him and crossed the street. Inside again, Zack kept pestering him to visit Annie, until Sky felt his frustration build. His frustration and his guilt. Peggy had planted that guilt, and Sky had always resented the feeling, even when he knew he was wrong.
“I’m going to take a shower,” he said. “You watch TV. We’ll have lunch out before your appointment.”
“We haven’t hanged my birdhouse.”
“Hung, and we’ll have time after your appointment.”
“We gonna do it with Annie?”
Sky blew out a tense breath. “Just you and me.” He stalked into the bathroom, and when he emerged fifteen minutes later, he felt a little better. “Zack, how about if we go to the café? You like their grilled cheese sandwiches.” He got no response over the blaring TV. Assuming Zack was engrossed, Sky went into the living room. Zack wasn’t there. Nor was he in the kitchen, or his bedroom or anywhere upstairs.
Frantic, Sky raced outside. That was when he noticed that the birdhouse no longer sat on the porch. His heart pounded like a jackhammer as he ran to the tree, terrified he’d find Zack trying to climb it. His fear only grew more intense because Zack wasn’t there or anywhere in the yard.
Sky charged across the street. “Peggy, have you seen Zack?” Sky tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice.
“Not since he left here with you. Is he missing?” She set down her paintbrush.
“Yes.” Overwrought, Sky spun one way, then the other. He raked a hand through his hair. “I left him watching TV while I showered. He’s gone and so is his birdhouse.”
“Kids get away fast, even when you think you know what they’re doing. Oh, before you caught up to him earlier, he asked me where Annie lives. I didn’t give him directions, but I said a couple of blocks over on Rose Arbor. Would he try to find her, even though you and Annie are on the outs?”
“Possibly.” Sky tugged at his ear. “Thanks,” he called back, dodging a car and digging out his keys as he ran to his cruiser. Peggy’s words about how quickly a child could get away from an adult rang in Sky’s head as he tried to keep to the residential speed limit, his whole body bathed in sweat. Joy rose up to clog his throat when he spotted Zack trudging across the intersection at Wild Rose and Rose Arbor. Sky would never have believed his five-year-old son could walk so far lugging a birdhouse.
He honked three times to get Zack’s attention, and stabbed a finger toward the curb. He knew by the slump of Zack’s shoulders that he felt trapped, which made Sky queasy. He loved his son with all his being. Didn’t Zachary know that? Out of nowhere, it dawned on Sky, He felt the same about Annie. He couldn’t let her leave town. He wanted her in his life—in their lives, he thought as he pulled up next to Zack.
Squealing to a stop, Sky jumped out. His son stared at him, eyes narrowed as he squinted into the sun. His body language was something Sky understood. “I guess you’re on your way to see Annie,” he said.
The boy bobbed his head.
“Climb in. I’ll take you.”
“For real?”
“One thing you can always count on, Zack, I will never lie to you.”
“But I love Annie, and you don’t like her anymore.”
“That’s not true. I didn’t think I did, but I do...lo-love her.” Sky set the birdhouse next to Zack’s booster. The way Sky’s heart ached each time Annie’s name surfaced told him all too
clearly how wrongheaded he’d been. “I asked her to watch you and I felt she let me down, Zack. You have no idea how afraid I was, seeing you lying so still at the foot of that ladder.”
“I ’splained what happened.”
“I know, and I believe you. We have a couple of hours until your appointment. Maybe it’s enough time for me to set things straight with Annie.”
“You gotta ’pologize,” Zack said earnestly, meeting his dad’s eyes in the mirror.
“I will,” Sky promised, and within minutes he’d stopped in her driveway.
* * *
ANNIE TOOK SOME time to answer the repeated knocking at her door. She balanced on crutches, aware that her face registered shock as she scrutinized her visitors through the wrought iron of her security door.
“I’ve come to apologize,” Sky said without hesitation. “I was wrong to blame you for an accident.”
Annie averted her eyes. “You were right to blame me. I’m going back to L.A.”
“You can’t go,” Zack cried. “Me’n Daddy love you. He knows my hurt head wasn’t your fault. I want us to be ’nother family, like Mama has Papa Archibald and his girls. Please.”
Annie blinked away tears as she studied Zack. They dribbled down her face when her eyes met Sky’s, so blue and steady. “I want to believe you,” she whispered.
He made a fist with his right hand and tapped his heart. “It’s true. You can’t go. Please...forgive me. A while ago, I―I lost Zack. He...just vanished and I couldn’t find him. I saw how easy it was to lose track of him. He...decided to walk here to ask for your help hanging his birdhouse. He could have been kidnapped or hit by a car on my watch, Annie.”
“You have to know I would never have let him climb that ladder, Sky.”
“I do. I hurt you and I’m sorry. You saved this town, and I’m so proud of you.”
“But...I heard that you accepted an offer to sell your house.”
“I’ll rent until we settle...us. Annie, you can’t let strangers finish what you started—finish our neighborhood. No one can do your plan justice but you. Stay, please, for me. Will you stay if I help you restore the park...so that next spring when the roses bloom, it’ll be the perfect spot for a wedding? Our wedding...”
Annie's Neighborhood (Harlequin Heartwarming) Page 23