Second Chance Reunion

by Merrillee Whren

  “I sensed that you didn’t want to discuss Annie. You were hurting, and I didn’t want to make you feel worse. I love you both.” Jordan nodded.

  Ian wondered about his dad’s statement. “If you loved us, why did you suggest I give her that ultimatum?”

  Jordan lowered his head and didn’t say anything for a moment. When he finally met Ian’s gaze, Ian saw the sorrow in his dad’s eyes. “At the time, I thought it was the best thing to do. I thought it would give her a wake-up call, but I was wrong. I didn’t mean to cause you hurt, but I didn’t think things could go on the way they were.”

  Ian wasn’t sure what to say. They couldn’t go back and change things. They just had to move forward.

  “The news that Annie is making a go of it does my heart good, and I’ll put in a good word to the board about more funding for this ministry. I want to see Annie and you succeed.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “And maybe this opening with Annie will lead to bringing her family back into the church. You know they left after your divorce.”

  “Annie told me she hasn’t seen them in three years. She said they didn’t want anything to do with her.”

  “I wondered what happened with her parents. They showed up one day out of the blue about three years ago and blamed you and me and the church for Annie’s demise.”

  “What’d you do?” Ian wondered why his dad had never said anything. Probably the same reason they’d never talked about Annie. His dad was trying to protect him. Today’s conversation put a whole new light on his relationship with his father.

  Jordan grimaced. “I sat there and took their accusations. There wasn’t much sense in arguing with them. They said their piece, then left. I’ve been praying for them, too. So maybe you can talk to Annie about trying to reconcile with her parents.”

  “Dad, I don’t think we can dump this much stuff on her all at once.”

  “You’re probably right, but when you get a chance bring it up casually.”

  “Go slow, Dad. Don’t rush her.”

  Jordan grinned. “You still care about her.”

  Ian shook his head. “Don’t get any ideas about me and her. Our relationship is history—ancient history.”

  “Okay. I get the message, but I’ll be praying for you.” Jordan held up one hand. “I have one request. Instead of our lunch meeting next Friday, I want you to bring Annie to dinner at the house.”

  Ian’s heart sank as he swallowed a huge lump in his throat. Was that really a good idea, but how could he refuse his father’s request. “What if she doesn’t want to come?”

  “If you ask, I think she’ll come.” Standing, Jordan picked up the bill from the table. “I’ve got it today.”

  “Okay. Thanks again.” Ian wasn’t sure whether he wanted his dad to be right or wrong about Annie accepting the invitation.

  * * *

  Almost two weeks had gone by since Annie had arrived at The Village. She’d already had her first job interview, and she could hardly wait to talk to Melody about it. All had gone well, but Annie didn’t want to be overconfident. Sunlight glinted off the windows as she approached the administration building. The trill of a robin’s call sounded from a nearby tree. The beautiful weather and surroundings put a spring in her step. Her excitement bubbled over as she entered the front door.

  “Good morning, Lovie.”

  “Good morning to you, too. You sound chipper.” Lovie smiled. “Your interview must have gone well.”

  “It did.” Annie knit her eyebrows. “How did you know about my interview?”

  Lovie wagged a finger at Annie. “There’s not much that goes on around this place that I don’t know about.”

  “I’ll have to remember that you’re keeping tabs on everyone.”

  “You might say that.” Lovie grinned. “Are you settling in okay—meeting lots of people?”

  Annie stepped up to the counter. “I’ve met so many people. I’m beginning to lose track of everyone’s name. We should all be required to wear name tags like you.”

  Lovie glanced down and rubbed a finger across the little gold bar pinned to her blouse that sported her name. “Well, you’ll never forget who I am.”

  Annie chuckled. “Lovie, you’re the best. You always make me smile.”

  “Now don’t go braggin’ on me. I might get a big head.” Lovie patted her silver hair. “Who are you here to see?”

  “Melody and Ian.”

  “The dynamic duo. Those two are the busiest people I’ve ever known. You best be on your way.” Lovie waved in the direction of Melody’s office. “Have a good meeting.”

  “Thanks.” Annie shuffled down the hallway, nerves increasing the closer she got to the office. She didn’t mind meeting with Melody and wanted to share her news with her. Meeting with Ian was a different matter. His presence would make her nervous and uncertain. Annie knocked on the office door and, in a second, Melody opened it and ushered Annie inside. “How did your interview go?”

  Annie glanced around. Ian wasn’t there. She wasn’t sure whether to be happy or disappointed. Her emotions concerning Ian flitted from wanting him around to hoping she didn’t have to deal with him. “I think it went really well. Thanks for the interview practice. I was prepared to answer every question they asked.”

  “Did they say what the next step would be? A callback interview? What?”

  “They said they would get back to me by Friday at the latest, probably sooner. Although I think I did well, I’m glad it’s over. I’ll be on pins and needles until they call.” Annie let out a loud sigh.

  “I’m so excited the interview went well.” Melody sat on the chair behind her desk. “Have a seat. Ian will be here in a minute.”

  “Okay.” Annie sat on one of the chairs on the other side of the desk from Melody.

  “How are you feeling about Ian’s presence here? Why didn’t you tell me you and Ian had been married?” Leaning forward, Melody clasped her hands on top of her desk.

  Annie smiled wryly. “We’ve spent a lot of time together in the last few days. How come you didn’t ask me about it before now?”

  “You certainly know how to turn a question around.” Melody chuckled. “I kept thinking you’d tell me, but since you didn’t I thought before this meeting would be a good time to ask.”

  “I was pretty sure Ian had told you about us, but I wasn’t going to initiate that topic of conversation unless I knew for sure. He had the right not to talk about it if he didn’t want to.”

  “Okay. Back to the original question. How are you dealing with him being here?”

  Just as Annie opened her mouth to answer, a knock sounded on the door, and Ian entered the office. “Sorry I’m late. I was trying to confirm things with Scott Bartlett. He’ll be here after lunch to talk with Annie.”

  “Wonderful.” Melody motioned for Ian to sit.

  “It is.” Ian took the chair next to Annie. “Did I miss anything?”

  “Annie’s good news about her interview.”

  “Guess we haven’t talked since our last meeting.” Ian smiled at her. “It must’ve gone well.”

  “It did.” Annie’s stomach somersaulted. Ian had actually smiled at her. She couldn’t let that affect her thinking. She wanted him to be happy for her, but she had to keep everything in perspective. Nothing had changed between them. He was only here because Melody had asked him to come. The fact that Ian hadn’t spoken to her since the day she’d arrived here told Annie just how little he was thinking of her. Out of sight, out of mind.

  “Great.” Ian turned his attention to Melody. “Have the two of you talked about Annie helping us here?”

  “No, we were talking about her interview. I was waiting for you before I brought it up.” Melody pulled a folder from a drawer in her desk, then glanced
at Annie. “Ian and I have a request to make of you.”

  “What?” Annie’s voice wavered. What could they possibly want from her?

  Melody tapped her fingers on the folder as it lay on the desk. “Since you have financial consulting experience, we were hoping you’d come to our administrative meeting on Monday of next week. We’d like to hear your opinion regarding the financial state of The Village. We’re hoping you could help us streamline our operation and show us how we can make better use of our funds as well as finding more ways to raise money.”

  Annie remembered when a request like this had been a challenge—one she’d accepted with pleasure. She’d been good at helping companies and businesses, especially nonprofits get a handle on their balance sheets. Was she prepared to tackle something like that now?

  “I know we’ve kind of sprung this on you without warning, but we’re in need of some advice.”

  Annie had no idea what to say. They were asking for her advice. They weren’t looking at her as a recovering alcoholic or substance abuser. They were looking at her as an equal. Of course, Melody did the talking. Ian sat there taking it all in. Was he on board with this request, or was he only going along to please Melody? What difference did it make? This was a chance to prove herself, especially to Ian. She wanted him to respect her once again, but she had to keep the thought of loving him again far, far away. So why did the idea keep popping into her mind?

  “So what do you say?” Melody tilted her head. “Have we scared you off?”

  Annie took a deep breath. “I’ll sit in on the meeting, but I have to be honest. I don’t know whether I can help or not.”

  Melody nodded. “I understand. I think the more idea people we have reviewing the finances the better off we’ll be. Thanks for agreeing to attend.”

  “Thank you for inviting me.” Annie eased back in her chair, the tension draining from her body.

  Melody picked up the folder and held it out. “Maybe you’d like to look this over.”

  Before Annie could take the folder, Ian reached over and snatched it. “I know you have another meeting to go to, so why don’t you let me take this down to my office and go over it with Annie? Scott will be coming to my office to meet Annie, anyway.”

  A strange look passed between Ian and Melody before she finally smiled. “Sure. If that’s what you want to do.”

  “Yeah. That’ll work out best.” Ian stood and looked down at Annie. “Ready?”

  “Okay.” Annie stood and turned to Melody. “Thanks again for including me in the project.”

  Melody walked around her desk and gave Annie a hug. “We’re glad to have you. Keep me informed about the job.”

  “I will. Talk to you later.”

  “I’ll be praying for your upcoming meeting and your job.” Melody looked as though she wanted to say something else, but she stood there with what appeared to be a forced smile.

  Annie sensed friction between Melody and Ian. The uneasy feeling Annie had experienced earlier returned as she followed Ian to the door. She wished she had more time to spend with Melody, but it wasn’t going to happen today.

  They’d barely been here ten minutes, and already Ian was rushing off and insisting that she go with him. Understanding dawned. Melody’s request was definitely not Ian’s idea. He didn’t trust her to look over the finances without some supervision. The realization pierced her heart. But could she blame him? She’d stolen from him to fund her drug habit. She would not only have to earn his respect again, but his trust, as well.

  Chapter Four

  While Annie and Ian walked to his office, he didn’t say a thing. He didn’t look at her. He didn’t even acknowledge her presence. What was he thinking? She probably didn’t want to know.

  He opened the door and motioned for her to go in, still giving her the silent treatment. If he wanted this meeting, he needed to say something. Even if he didn’t trust her, and she had to prove a lot of things to him, she wasn’t going to let him treat her like some timid little mouse. She wasn’t going to jump when he said jump.

  Annie stood in the middle of the room. When he looked at her with those intense gray eyes, her resolve weakened.

  “It’s okay to sit down.” He wasn’t ordering her to sit, but it sure seemed like it.

  Annie stared at the nearby chair. This was silly. He was only being polite. Why was she making it into something it wasn’t? She hated feeling dependent on Ian. For some reason Melody didn’t make her feel that way, even though Annie depended on Melody for all kinds of help. Maybe it was the sisterly relationship that had developed in the short time she’d been at The Village.

  Annie finally settled on the chair. “I thought you said the other attorney wasn’t coming until after lunch. What are we doing in the meantime?”

  Ian put the folder on his desk, but he didn’t sit in the chair behind his desk as Annie thought he would. Instead, he sat in the chair next to hers and turned it until he was facing hers. “We’ve got some things to discuss.”

  “What things?” Annie swallowed a lump in her throat as she also turned her chair until they were sitting face-to-face. Was he going to bring up her long-ago transgressions?

  Ian stared at the floor as if he was gathering his thoughts. When he looked up, the uncertainty in his eyes surprised her. That was not the Ian she had always known. He’d been confident, sometimes even cocky. He’d known what he wanted, and he went after it. She’d always liked that about him.

  “I had a meeting with my dad last Friday, and I told him you were here.”

  Oh, great. Annie wondered whether Ian’s dad had given him another ultimatum to pass on to her. During Ian’s recovery from his accident, Annie had actually felt close to Jordan Montgomery. He seemed to care about her, but she’d come to believe it was an act. Annie stared at Ian. Did he want some kind of reaction from her? What was she supposed to say?

  “Annie, are you afraid of what I’m going to say?”

  Was she? “I don’t know. This whole situation with you and me is very awkward.”

  Ian smiled wryly. His shoulders relaxed as he settled back in his chair. “That’s for sure. I feel like I’ve been walking through a minefield since you got here.”

  Ian’s honesty surprised Annie. “That pretty much describes the situation. So what did your dad say?”

  “He thinks Melody’s idea to have you on the finances team is a good one.”

  If Annie hadn’t been gripping the armrest of her chair, she would have fallen out of it. Her mouth hanging open, she stared at Ian. She shook her head to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. “He really said that?”

  “He did.”

  “But you have your reservations, right?”

  “I can’t say that I don’t, and I’m sure you know why.”

  Annie nodded. “But I’m not that person anymore.”

  “I’d like to believe that, but I trusted you before, and you let me down.”

  Annie hung her head. That was the awful truth. Feeling his scrutiny, she finally looked up. “I did. More times than I want to admit, but this time I’m going to get it right. If I don’t, I’ll lose my kids forever. I can’t let that happen.”

  “I’ll be with you every step of the way if you show me you’ve changed for good.”

  “I’ll show you.” Her heart raced while she returned Ian’s gaze. She wouldn’t look away or let him intimidate her. But she certainly couldn’t let him know how he made her feel—that after all this time he still made her heart race when she looked at him. How could she ever show him that she was different without letting him see those feelings?

  “Good.” Ian reached over and retrieved the folder from his desk. “We can go over this in a minute, but first I want to tell you what else my dad said.”

  “Okay.” Annie braced herself for the worst a
s Ian started to talk.

  “Besides his agreement with Melody, he wants me to bring you to dinner Friday night.”

  “Dinner?”

  “Yeah, you know that evening meal.”

  Annie let out an exasperated sigh. “I know what you mean, but I don’t believe this.”

  “Surprised me, too.”

  “I suppose I should go.” Annie narrowed her gaze. “So how do you feel about having me inflicted on you from multiple corners?”

  “You should, and I’ll live.” Ian gave her a wry smile and got up to sit behind his desk. “Now let’s go over the stuff in this folder.”

  “Sure.” As Annie scooted her chair closer to his desk, she didn’t know what to make of the dinner invitation or Ian’s willingness to issue the invitation or the fact that he hadn’t disputed her question about being plagued with her presence. She couldn’t dwell on it, or these thoughts would drive her crazy. Everything about the situation with Ian gave her conflicting messages.

  Her emotions.

  His reactions.

  Any idea that even hinted at reconciliation with Ian was lunacy. She had to quit hoping for the impossible.

  Ian opened the folder, his strong hand resting on the pages inside. After a momentary hesitation, he shoved the folder at her. “Here. Take a look.”

  Annie took the pages and leafed through them. The situation here at The Village became quite clear. This ministry was in financial trouble. The expenditures far exceeded the income. How could she possibly help? What would happen to her if this place suddenly closed its doors? Everything she wanted depended on this place.

  Annie looked up. “You need more than my help. You need a miracle worker.”

  Ian nodded. “We have one. We just have to let Him work.”

  “Faith. I’m still working on that.”

  “Me, too, actually.”

  Annie didn’t know what to think of Ian’s admission. Was he only trying to make her feel better because her faith was a work in progress? She had to quit trying to decipher his motives. She should concentrate on the pages in front of her. “Can you tell me what’s been happening here?”