by Sarah Gay
Dax, incapable of refinement, waved his hands over Mara’s plate, then his own, to protect their food from further contamination.
“Thank you, Trent. That was moving,” Annie’s father said with a smile as Trent took his seat. “Now, who’s ready for some of this bird? I have heard that turkeys are known to make this low rumbling, followed by a spitting sound to attract females. Interesting.”
“I’ve heard that as well,” Trent said with complete sincerity. “What strange creatures.”
As the formal meal concluded, the family retired into the den for dessert where Annie’s fire had reduced to sizzling embers, but continued to glow red hot.
“Should I put more wood on?” Annie questioned.
“I can help with that,” Trent said, walking into the breezeway toward the wood shed.
Annie followed, but before they reached the shed, Trent turned and kneeled in front of her.
Annie could not hide the shock and concern on her face. “What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
“Annie. I never had the chance to tell you how sorry I was for being a complete idiot. Will you please forgive me?”
Annie stood erect and still. He had never apologized for that horrible day, but nor had she given him the opportunity. “I forgive you,” she said, tears forming in her eyes.
“Thank you,” he said, standing tall, his head reaching six inches above hers. He leaned down and softly kissed her lips.
She no longer felt the betrayal and hurt, but the rage remained. As she allowed their kiss to linger, she realized that it wasn’t a feeling of rage, but vexation. The feeling of irritation persisted. She pulled away to examine him.
A look of hurt crossed his face. “What is it?”
“I just realized something.”
“That you still love me?”
“No. That it makes me angry to kiss you.”
His shoulders dropped. “I’ll do everything in my power to change that. Obviously, it’ll take a little longer for you to completely forgive me. I know now that we can get past this. We have taken our first step.”
“That’s not what I meant. I now realize that I’ve always felt a peevishness, a vexing sensation, while kissing you. I think that’s why I wanted to be a journalist.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Are you telling me that all journalists are angry?”
“No. Only the best ones. Then we broke up and I dated guys who…” her voice trailed off. Annie felt Paxton tug on her arm, his lips meeting hers. No, it was her passionately kissing him.
“Annie, where are you right now?” he said, looking disturbed.
“Where I should be. Trent, this isn’t going to work between us. Operation Halt is genius.”
“What?”
“Time to stop running,” she said, walking back to the house.
“But you’re running from me right now.”
“No. I’m walking away. There’s a difference.”
Chapter 17
The black vertical line blinked against the white screen. Annie rested her chin into her palm and sighed. One, two, three…twenty-seven, twenty-eight. That was it, twenty-eight pulses of the cursor before it remained a visible line. Annie set her laptop down next to her on the bed and looked out the window at the somber sky. The sun had not shone through the dense gray clouds in ten days, since Thanksgiving.
Trent had sent Annie a bouquet of roses the day after their heart to heart, but then he disappeared back to Austria. She almost wished for his company to dispel some of this gloom. She had wanted to contact Paxton, but thought it might be considered desperate, or a form of stalking, considering he had not responded to her letter. But perhaps he never received the letter. Annie had assumed that Tanya had been able to locate him and Kai.
Annie pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed.
“What took you so long? Do you need a ride from the airport?”
“I’m still in Wisconsin. How was your Thanksgiving?”
“I try not to think about family holidays. I just chilled with a few of the girls from work who are in the same boat.”
“Oh, sorry. Right, no family gatherings.”
“How was Thanksgiving at the Cleaver’s?”
“Good. My dad invited Trent over.”
“The ultimate scumbag?”
“Yep, but it turned out okay. I think I finally got some closure.”
“That’s so great, Annie.”
“I was wondering. Did you have an opportunity to drop off those letters?”
Tanya stammered, “I did, yeah. Unfortunately, they didn’t open them when I was there, so I couldn’t get their reactions. You know, I think that you got some really good material for your novel already, right? How is the writing going?” she said, hurriedly.
“Tanya, is everything okay? You seem anxious.”
“Everything’s great. I guess it must be this business meeting I need to be in in a few minutes. I need to go and prep for it right now. Can we chat later?”
“Sure,” Annie responded as the call ended abruptly from the other end.
So, he read the letter, as did Kai. Perhaps her apology would be ignored for a few years, as she had ignored Trent’s. But her mistake wasn’t as ugly as his. Was it?
Annie stomped to the den. She stood at the window, crossing her arms in self-reflection and pity. The window pane was icicled along the edges with a frosted swirl of shimmering snowflakes.
“Penny for your thoughts,” her mother said, coming to her side.
“It’s so dreary here. The sun hasn’t been out in days. How can you take it and not be completely depressed?”
“I just remind myself that when I have it this good, why try something new, like the Kringles. She spun Annie around by the shoulders. “You are looking in the wrong direction,” she said.
Annie followed her mother’s eyes to her dad, resting in his armchair, reading a book. Mr. Famous was asleep in his lap as a fresh fire crackled behind him. Annie then turned to contemplate the Christmas tree they had decorated together after Trent had left on Thanksgiving. The twins had teased her for hours that evening about her ex spitting all over their Thanksgiving feast.
Her mother continued, “When I’m feeling down, I find that turning to my place of refuge and sustenance will often aid in changing my perspective. I remind myself how lucky I am. I remind myself to be appreciative for what I have, and what I love.”
“So, stop feeling sorry for myself? Is that it?”
“Not exactly,” her mother said, smiling. “I think it’s time, sweetheart,” she said, touching her husband on the arm.
“Let’s go boys!” Dad shouted, putting down his book, as a startled Mr. Famous jumped from his lap.
“What?” Annie questioned.
“Hockey time!” Cam yelled from the hall.
“You want me to play hockey. I haven’t touched a stick in two years. And that was just messing around,” Annie objected.
“Come on, Sis. Mara is coming as well.”
“Mara can skate circles around me. Wait. Will you let me skate with a disability?”
“Okay, the rest of us will only use one arm,” Dax interjected.
“You’re on,” Annie said, running to the closet to suit up.
Her mother was smarter than Annie gave her credit. Annie’s mood had improved significantly after her first pass around the oval rink. Feeling the ice beneath her feet reawakened a sense of competition and excitement. The indoor ice rink had just received a fresh coat of paint. The blue and white walls resembled a cement home on the steep cliffs of Santorini, Greece, but without the fresh air and navy blue waters.
“Okay, Sis. Let’s go,” Cam shouted, as he flung a puck across the ice at her.
She advanced it, weaving past her father and passing to her mom, who completed the pass and shot it past Dax, attempting to make a goal. Mara protected her territory by deflecting the puck with her one arm.
Annie felt a bit infantile and unfair watching everyone skat
e around with one arm behind their backs.
“No more handicaps,” she said, “I can take it.”
Her dad smiled, “That’s my girl.”
“Now you claim her. I thought she was my girl?” her mother said.
“Only when she pouts,” he responded, blowing his wife a kiss.
Just as Annie’s team was about to make a second shot at goal, another player came onto the ice and relieved Mara from her position as goalie. His helmet didn’t look familiar, perhaps he was one of the twin’s friends. Annie contemplated how to put the puck past this guy. She signaled for Cam to get open, but Mara was already in front of him. Mara was an amazing skater, and Cam wasn’t about to take down Dax’s girlfriend.
Annie had no choice. She had to take the shot. She rolled the puck from the head to the heel, then up to the toe of her hockey stick. She flicked it with her powerful forward motion, flinging it just above the new goalie’s right shoulder. His attempt to capture it in his glove proved unsuccessful. Annie spun in circles, celebrating her unexpected accomplishment.
“Where did you get this guy? I just took him down,” Annie said, mimicking a rapper’s voice and arm motions.
“Why don’t you tell us. He came here for you,” Cam said with a laugh.
“I guess that I’m a little out of practice,” the goalie said, removing his helmet. Paxton raised his arms in the air, “Good surprise? Or bad surprise?”
Annie’s heart nearly pounded out of her chest with elation. She ripped off her helmet, flinging it to the hard ice. Her skates slid across the frozen water at record speed, until she was close enough to skid to a hockey stop.
He leaned down, with a look of satisfaction on his face, just before she wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on him that he would remember until his last drooling day.
His hands found her lower back, raising her up, slightly off the ice, and met her intensity. She could feel the quickening of his heart through his trembling lips. His sweet breath warmed her cheek.
The fresh Santorini air swirls Annie’s hair into perfect curls. The bell on the chapel’s tower rings the hour of service as Annie steps to the edge of the balcony. The setting sun casts a rose-colored glow across the achromatic city, transforming it into a warm pink that splashes into the deep blue below. The ocean breeze brings with her the fragrance of saffron, the delicate native flower symbolizing the island itself, recherché and exquisite.
“Something tells me she likes him,” Dax said above the roar of the music, now blasting to welcome in the hour of open skating.
Annie released her grasp and settled back down onto the ice. She had to restrain herself from embracing him again, just to breathe in his evergreen scent.
“I take that as a good surprise,” Paxton said.
“Exquisite,” Annie responded with the blink of her eyelashes. “How did you find me? It was Tanya, wasn’t it? That’s why she seemed so covert on the phone.”
“I’ll explain everything when we get to someplace warmer, like your house. I’m freezing.”
“Tell me about it,” she said with sarcasm.
“I will. I have a lot to explain,” he responded seriously.
“And I have a lot to apologize for,” Annie said, pulling a skate off.
“I should be the one apologizing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” he said, looking to the floor.
Chapter 18
Annie settled into the deep, leather massage recliner in the den and set the control to the lowest setting. The rolling balls worked their way slowly up Annie’s spine, resting on the back of her neck. Her eyelids grew heavy as she breathed in slow, steady breaths. The warm bath she had taken upon returning home from the hockey match soothed Annie’s sore muscles, several of which had not been used in over a year.
Paxton entered the room, and sat across from her in her father’s armchair.
“I can sense you staring at me,” Annie said, casually.
“Can you also sense what I’m feeling?”
“Admiration, joy, elation. I could keep going,” she said, opening one eye.
“A spell of anxiety, actually.”
“Then, come sit here,” Annie said, standing to pull Paxton to the massage chair. “Enjoy,” she said, setting the control to deep massage.
“This is really relaxing,” he said, cringing in apparent pain.
“Hey, where is Charlie? I didn’t think you ever left him.”
“He’s back in California. Can’t handle the cold. It causes inflammation, aggravating his condition. I’ll never be able to live anywhere this cold.”
Annie smiled. He was looking better and better. She would never have to live in the Arctic again.
Paxton sat up tall and said, “Annie, Kai is my cousin.”
“Your cousin? That doesn’t make sense,” Annie said, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I knew that you were dog training him from the beginning.”
“You knew? Did Kai?” she said, fear rising in her chest.
“Yes, he knew.”
“But how?”
“He’s the son of my dad’s twin. You remember me saying that my dad started, and then sold a dot com company with his twin brother?”
“Not, how is he your cousin? How did he find out? Wait. How did you know?” Annie said, slightly confused. “What exactly do you know?”
“It goes a little further back than that,” he said, then paused.
“Go on.”
“Do you remember me telling you how my great-grandfather served in the second world war?”
“Yes, like my great-grandfather.”
“What I didn’t disclose is that they served together at the end of the war. My great-grandfather was leading a group of soldiers into what could have been the final fight for all of them. The war had ended, but the Nazis were commanded to drop any, and all enemies. They were instructed to fight to the death. Our great-grandfathers’ platoon encountered a group of Nazis, but my great-grandfather recognized an old German friend amongst the soldiers. It was a reunion that saved the lives of each and every one of those soldiers that day.”
“Our great-grandfathers were friends?” Annie said with excitement.
He took in a deep breath. “That’s how I met your dad?”
“My dad? My dad met you? When?”
“In July. I went to Milwaukee to visit my great-grandfather for his birthday.”
“One hundred and three, right? But you met my dad?”
“Your father came to visit my great-grandfather as well. I’ll let him explain that.”
Annie’s hands began twitching with anger. “Don’t think you’re done explaining.”
“I’m not,” Paxton said, rubbing his forehead. “We got to talking. He seemed to like me, and my story. He said he had a daughter in Sonoma, then showed me a photo of you that he carries around in his wallet.”
“So, you started stalking me?”
“He asked me to look you up, but said that you were dating some jerk, and that you weren’t an easy catch.”
“You were stalking me.”
“I prefer to call it good investigative work. But looking back, I can see how you could define it that way.”
“And my father was in on this.” Annie said, the anger rising in her voice.
“Which brings me to the thing that I am most shameful about.”
“I don’t think I want to know.”
“The morning that we first met, at the café, I overheard you talking about the dog training project with your agent, and recognized Kai’s card. He’s such a nerd. Who carries around business cards anymore?”
“So, you knew the card was Kai’s?”
“Yes. I felt out the situation by mentioning to you a classic movie that Sandra Dee, not Audrey Hepburn, starred in, If a Man Answers, based on a wife who trains her husband like a dog.”
“You may want to stop there.”
“I planned the whole th
ing with Kai, before you even spoke with him on the phone. I explained to him that you were the girl that I had been looking for. That I was interested in you. I begged him to work with me on this one. That’s another thing I’m not proud of— I asked him to overact his social awkwardness.”
“So, it was all an act? I was a play toy? From the beginning?”
“I’m sorry, Annie. I feel terrible. I needed a way in, and found an opportunity.”
“I was an opportunity?”
“That’s not what I meant. I started falling for you with that first kiss at the café. I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me back. Not the way you did.”
Annie’s face flushed with embarrassment. But the embarrassment soon turned to anger at how she had been set-up. “Did you plan that kiss as well?”
“Planned? I wish I could say no. I overheard you talking on the phone to those beastly journalists, before your first training session, and knew where, and when, you decided to meet them.”
“Father!” Annie shouted.
Her dad entered the room with caution.
“Operation Halt? You brought him here, didn’t you?”
Her father nodded his head.
“Am I that difficult? Do you really think you need to have a guy tail me around the country to get me married off?” Annie turned to Paxton. “Did he have to pay you?”
Annie’s father looked from Annie to Paxton. “You haven’t told her much about yourself. Have you?”
“I’m leaving for California in the morning,” she said, stomping out of the den to lock herself, and Mr. Famous, in her bedroom.
Annie dug herself deep under the floral covers, and replayed in her mind the first interactions she had with Paxton and Kai, nothing noteworthy. It was those second interactions that were the most telling. Paxton’s kiss, and Kai’s awkward greeting. “Wait a second, he actually mentioned to me that he wanted me to train him like my dog, that I gave Mr. Famous royal treatment. How could I have been so stupid?”
“Annie, can I come in?”
Annie opened the door to her mother holding a box wrapped in floral paper.