How could she have gone this long believing that for everyone but herself?
The floor creaked behind her. Anna turned to find Dad standing in the doorway in a suit without the jacket.
Hunter plodded over and sat by his side, panting.
Dad slanted a glance past her to the easel. “It’s beautiful. Reminds me of the ones you two used to paint together.”
She looked back at the abstract piece. “Except she’s not here to turn all my blunders into real artwork.”
Chuckling, Dad ruffled Hunter’s ears. “She had a way of doing that on and off the canvas.”
That she did.
The ache of missing her swelled throughout the entire room. Anna set the brush down, lifted the apron over her head, and cradled it to her lap. “Mom knew, didn’t she? That she was going to die?”
“No, sweetheart.” Face creased, Dad made his way toward the window. “But I think she knew the risks of the danger Michelli posed to our family.”
Hunter lolled on the carpet between them.
“I don’t get it. If she really believed she was in danger, why was she trying to ditch her security?” The moment she said it, Anna realized she’d been doing the same.
His chin sagged. “She wasn’t running from her detail, Annabelle.”
“Then what was she running from?”
Leaning against the windowsill, he stared outside as though looking back in time. “She thought she saw someone outside the house that night. John secured the area. But when he told her it was clear, she asked him to keep an eye on you girls.” A distant smile touched his lips. “You know how stubborn she was. Once she got a hold of something . . .”
“She never let go.” Must be where Anna picked it up from.
Hunter’s ears rose as if contributing his agreement.
“She called me at the office. Said she’d snuck out and was on her way there.”
“Why?”
A long breath redirected his eyes toward her. “To draw whoever was at the house away from you.”
Anna dropped the apron to the carpet. “What?”
“I told her to go back, but she wouldn’t listen. The second we hung up, I called John, called the cops, but . . .”
“It was too late.” Another layer around Anna’s secure world crumbled to the floor. Tears burned. “She died protecting me?”
The corners of Dad’s eyes crinkled above a heartfelt smile. “She died loving you, honey.” He pulled her into a hug. “Same as I would.”
And Evan, too. The sacrifices the people she loved had made for her were more than she could comprehend.
“You’re her greatest work of art, you know. You and Reese both.”
Tears soaked into his dress shirt under her cheek. And in the safety of a father’s embrace, Anna let go of the last of the pieces she’d fought so hard to hold together. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart.” He cleared a tremor in his throat, leaned back, and looked at her with his steel-gray eyes. “I’m sorry for holding you too tight. It was never because I didn’t believe in you and your talent as a dancer. It’s because I’ve wanted to keep you safe, close.”
“I know.” Evan was right about Dad, too. He wasn’t the enemy. He brought light to darkness just like Mom did, only in different ways. But both had the same starting point—the one Anna had missed. Until now.
Her eyes closed with a slow exhale. After spending five years striving to guard her heart, it shouldn’t have come completely undone in only two weeks. It made even less sense for the place she always thought had caged her to be the one to give her wings.
“I’m sorry for being so stubborn. For making it hard on everyone to protect me and for pushing you all away.” Was it too late? Did she still have time to make it right?
Dad squeezed her arm, smiled, and let go. “You almost ready to head out?”
“Yeah. I just need a minute to make a call first.”
He nodded his understanding. “I’ll be downstairs.”
Hunter wandered out after him, leaving a floating trail of dog hair behind.
Anna pulled her feet onto the stool and tucked them under her legs while grabbing the phone. Evan had been gracious enough to give her time and space. But the more that passed, the more certain she became that neither made sense without him.
With a shaky hand to her ear, she waited for him to answer. His voicemail clicked on instead. “Evan O’Riley. Talk to me.”
She slid her legs out from under her in a scramble to find her voice. “Evan, it’s me. I, um . . . clearly don’t know where to start.”
She laughed softly. “But I know it begins with I’m sorry. You were right. About so many things I had all wrong. To be honest, I’m still sorting through a lot of it, and I know it might be too late. But if you haven’t left Chicago yet, would you meet me at 1147 West Jackson Boulevard today? I have something I need to tell you. In person.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Promise
Evan pulled into his hotel after getting Mom settled at home and running his errands. While coming out of the elevator, he tossed the key to his new apartment in his hand, still reeling from the way everything had come together.
Around the corner, someone bounded straight for his legs. “Mr. Hulk!” Megan squeezed her bony arms around him. “I missed you.”
He looked from her to her mom a little ways down the hall. “What are you guys doing here?”
“You mean aside from appeasing my daughter’s nonstop request to see Mr. Hulk?” Smiling, Heather lifted off the wall. “Sorry to just drop by.”
He unwound himself from Megan’s precious hug. “It’s no problem. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it is, actually.” Heather approached in an outfit hanging from her gaunt frame. At least her sallow cheeks had regained some color and her eyes held a clarity he hadn’t seen from her before. “Everything’s good now, thanks to you.”
Evan deflected her misdirected praise. “You made the courageous choice, not me. And if there’s anyone to thank, it should be Anna.”
“I know. I will.” She brought Megan in front of her. “But I needed to thank you, too. For helping to put Jamie away.” A hint of shame tinted her blue eyes. “I’m not used to having people root for me and Megan like you and Anna have. I’m used to them looking at me and only seeing one thing. After so long, it’s all I saw, too.”
“I know the feeling,” he said with more understanding than he wanted to admit. He’d accused Anna of settling, but he was the one who let his belief about himself limit his future. He scratched the back of his hair. “Guess that’s why we need friends who see past what we see.” Since being around Anna again, nothing had hit home harder.
Heather lifted her gaze from the carpet. “I’m starting to understand that.” She gathered Megan’s hair off her shoulders. “Corporal Harris got me connected with a support group. Things are still gonna be hard for a while, but . . . I think we’re gonna be okay.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Me too.” She offered one more smile and took Megan’s hand. “We should get going.”
Megan let go and flung her arms around Evan’s legs again. “Will you come to my dance recital next week?”
Man, this girl was trying to melt his heart. “Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
Heather pried her away. “Okay, kiddo, let’s go.”
Evan waved good-bye while trying to disentangle his heart from his vocal chords. He needed to call Anna.
Letting the door swing behind him, he made a beeline toward his cell on the kitchen counter, where he’d left it. Halfway over, a knock stopped him short. Megan had a little stubbornness in her, didn’t she?
He opened the door. “Okay, one more hug, but—” His hand slipped off the door’s edge.
“Sorry, Pipsqueak. I didn’t come for hugs.” Reese shifted in front of him. “But you could at least invite a pregnant lady out of the cold hallway.”
He b
linked until his voice caught up to the movement. “Uh, yeah.” He held the door open for her. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“The blank stare kind of gave you away.”
Chuckling, Evan waved off any unease. This was Reese he was talking to. The queen of telling it like it was.
He swiped a jacket from the doorknob and nudged his open duffel bag underneath the coffee table. “Excuse the mess. I’m checking out tomorrow, so I’m in the middle of packing up.”
“You heading back to Georgia?” She reclined against the side of the couch and folded her arms over her stomach.
“Actually, no. I just signed a lease on an apartment uptown, near my mom’s place.”
Now Reese was the one with the blank stare. “Wait, so, does that mean . . . ?”
He tugged on his ear. “It means I didn’t reenlist.”
Her hands slid down her coat. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I served my country for five years. It’s time to serve my family and pursue the things I gave up on when I shouldn’t have.”
“Things like . . . ?”
“I’m renting studio space in a gallery off North Lincoln.” He picked up his camera and sat on the desk. “Your sister did a pretty good job calling me out on being afraid of failure.”
Reese smiled as if having a proud mentor moment. “Then why have you failed to go see her?”
“That’s different.” He scrolled through the frames from their day in the park. “I’m not hiding anymore. I’m just trying to give her what she needs right now. She asked me to leave. Until that changes, I’m not gonna push.”
“Men are so slow.” Reese arched backward and tottered off the couch. “Let me give you the easiest lesson you’ll ever get on what women want. It’s three P’s, so you can remember it.” She held out one finger. “Women want to be pursued.” She extended another finger. “Provided for.” A third finger. “And protected.”
He almost bumped a stack of photos off the desk. “You sure you know your sister? ‘Cause I’m fairly positive those are the last things she wants.”
Reese rolled her eyes. “Trust me.”
He shook his head.
“Okay, look.” Crossing her arms, she countered his obstinate gaze. “I’m not gonna pretend I like the way you went about everything, but . . .” She swayed her head. “I understand now. And so does Anna.”
“Doubt that. And I’m not sure it’s fair to expect her to anytime soon.” He retrieved the key to the studio from his pocket and added it to the ring with the apartment key.
Reese crossed the carpet, sobering. “Evan, listen to me. You didn’t have anything to do with our mom’s death. Dad took her car to the Priority shop two days before the accident. And even if you’d been the last one to check her brakes, Michelli could’ve tampered with them any time after that. You can’t blame yourself.”
Another shop? He stared at her. “I don’t understand. Why’d she take it to me if she already had an inspection lined up?”
“My guess? She was probably looking for a way to talk to you alone. I think Mom was making sure she said everything she wanted to in case she lost the chance.”
He shouldn’t have missed the cues. “I should’ve known something was wrong. Should’ve told someone. Been more thorough.”
“You were just a kid, Evan. And trust me. All of us feel we should’ve been more vigilant. But there’s no point going down that road.” Her expression softened to a smile of concession. “What matters is she obviously knew you and Anna belong together and wanted to make sure you did, too. She believed in you and what you have to offer.” Reese squeezed his arm. “If you want to carry the weight of anything, carry the truth of that.”
He exhaled. “I’m trying.” But he’d already waded through too many mistakes. He wouldn’t risk making any more. As much as he wanted to make it right, he had consequences to deal with. “I lied to her, Reese. I ran away when I should’ve stayed. I walked out of two of her auditions.”
“So, don’t miss the next one.”
“What next one?”
“She’s at Hubbard right now.”
His jaw locked, right along with every muscle in his body. He darted a glance at his cell on the counter. Had she called to tell him? Would she want him there after everything?
Reese angled in front of him. “Why are you still standing here?”
He jogged to his phone and then on to the door.
“Aren’t you missing something?”
He stopped over the threshold, peered back at Reese standing there with her hands on her hips, and hustled over to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. But that’s not what I meant.” She wriggled her keys from her coat pocket and waddled toward the door. “I’m driving.”
She had to be joking. He shuffled behind her at a snail’s pace. “I might have to carry you.”
“Don’t even think about it.” She swung a finger at him. “I know you’re all Mr. Buff now, or whatever, but I’m telling ya. This water weight is one match you don’t want to take on.”
His laughter echoed into the hallway as the door swung shut. The weight he could handle. Reese’s wrath? Maybe not.
Fortunately, all the swelling must’ve gone straight to her feet. And the gas pedal.
Only ten minutes later, she lined up her Audi with the curb in front of Hubbard Street Dance Center. Massive images of dancers decorated the top half of the building, and Evan could almost feel the creative energy flowing from inside.
He looked from the entrance to Reese.
“Go on,” she said. “I’ll be there in a sec.”
With a quick nod, he climbed out into the cold. But once inside, his internal thermostat spiked. Voices and footsteps clamored in the crowded entryway. Dancers, families, instructors. Years of training and anticipation charged the atmosphere with a palpable current. He sifted through the throng of people, the need to find Anna driving him to the front.
From the right, a side door opened and released the soft tenor of a song he recognized. He bolted to the door before it closed and slipped into the darkness cloaking the side of the stage. A spotlight flickered beyond the curtains. Bells.
The anxiousness that’d been ratcheting his pulse since he left the hotel faded at the sight of Anna coming to life on the floor. The music, her movements, the lyrics—it extended inside him to a place where fear finally yielded to truth.
When Mrs. Madison asked him to take care of Anna, she didn’t mean to protect her as a bodyguard. She meant to love her as a soul mate. And now, he might’ve ruined his chance of keeping the only promise that mattered.
The overhead lights warmed Anna’s skin and blinded her view to the panel of judges seated in the auditorium. Attuning herself to nothing but the music, she completed four chainé turns with her arms rising from lower second to a high V.
Her heart breathed with each extension she made, each glide across the floor. She held a sous-sus in fifth position, faced stage left, and stepped into an inside single pirouette.
She’d let go of the pressure to make callbacks, left her nerves at Dad’s house. Right now, none of that meant anything. The scene from her first audition played through her mind. But this time, as she faced Mom’s empty seat, Anna realized her responsibility wasn’t to change the world. It was to give all her heart to whatever she did and trust it to leave its mark, even if she never saw how. The beauty of art wasn’t in the outcome. It was in surrender.
Freedom whisked through her as she pliéd in a final close.
The judges might as well not have been here. Regardless of her scores, she’d danced with every part of herself. Nothing withheld. No walls. No fears. As she lowered her heels to the hardwood floor, Anna breathed a breath of release.
Offstage, she jogged into Mr. Jamison’s arms stretched open for her.
“You nailed it, Anna. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
Behind him, Evan’s fac
e came into view, Dad’s and Reese’s not far behind.
A backstage worker hurried over to Evan and twisted her head mic away from her mouth. “You can’t be back here.”
“He’s with me.” Relief and nerves rushed Anna toward him. “You got my message.”
He patted his pockets. “No, actually, Reese stopped by. Long story.”
Mr. Jamison cleared his throat.
“Oh, uh, Mr. Jamison, this is Evan.” She waved between them. “Evan, this is my dance instructor.”
“Your dance instructor.” Evan shook his head, an unreadable smile on his face.
“Yeah, why?”
“Nothing.” His grin turned into an almost self-conscious laugh. “I’m just a real idiot sometimes. That’s all.” In the silence, he rubbed his clean-shaven jawline. “Bells, listen—”
“You said enough the other night. It’s my turn to talk.” She tugged him off to the corner. The curtain brushed against her back and neck as she prayed for the right words.
“You shouldn’t have lied to me, Evan. And you never should’ve blamed yourself for what happened to my mom. But you’re not the only one who messed up.”
Anna bent her toes back and forth against the floor. “I’ve been so set on trying to carry out Mom’s legacy, I ended up missing the entire point of it. That’s why she went to you. Because she knew I’d need help figuring this out.”
The next dancer’s music cued up, and Anna pulled Evan farther offstage. “She made me promise to pursue my dreams, but she didn’t just mean dance. She meant you.” Anna looked behind him toward Dad and Reese. “She meant family. The people who anchor me. Because the truth is, I’d lose myself if I didn’t have you in my life.”
Evan held her gaze, deep breaths moving in and out with the same intensity as hers.
She rested a hand to his chest. The heart that’d always held hers thundered under her palm. “I’m not saying I have all the answers. I don’t know what life will look like with you in Georgia or overseas while I’m here. And I know there’ll always be another Michelli, another case. The dangers don’t stop. But I’m in love with you, Evan O’Riley. And I want to risk sharing that love with you every day.”
Arms of Promise Page 23