by Leger, Lori
“Scare tactics? God, Annie, you sneeze at a gnat, but yet you’ll swallow a camel in a second.”
“Oh whatever. I don’t even know what the hell that’s supposed to mean.” She slid the seatbelt across the front of her body.
He reached inside to grab the belt. “It means you’re too worried about losing your independence when you should be worrying about losing your life.”
She jerked the seatbelt out of his hand and snapped it. “You wouldn’t understand. Now move your arm, please, I need to go home. I have responsibilities.”
“God forbid you get home ten minutes late. Martin and Lewis might have a shit fit.”
“Say what you want but Martin and Lewis have both been there for me without fail.”
He leaned down so that his face was even with hers. “I’d be there for you too, if you’d let me.”
She stared silently, as though studying his features, before looking away.
“How about it, Annie, won’t you let me be there for you?”
“I’ve gotta go.” She reached for her door handle again.
“You know, if you keep pushing me away, one day I might just decide to leave you alone. Then how would you feel?”
Annie put a finger to her head, pretending to concentrate. “Hmm, let me see. At peace?”
The slam of her car door preceded the rev of its engine. As she pulled away, he waved, catching one last glimpse of her in her side view mirror. Her frown had him wishing he had Mel Gibson’s gift in that movie where he could read women’s minds. What he wouldn’t give to know what Annie McAllister was thinking right now. Would she miss him if he did stop paying attention to her one day? That was something to think about for another time, when he was sure she wasn’t in danger.
Tiffany greeted Drake at the front door with a hug. “Hey, little brother, who’s on your mind these days?” She grinned at him. “As if I don’t already know.”
He stepped inside and gave his sister a frown. “It’s the same little firecracker pain in the butt, all right, but not for the usual reason. Where’s Red?”
Red entered from the hallway. “I’m right here, what’s going on?”
“I’m thinking Annie may need some kind of protection. She told the guy her brother owned the club. Now, supposedly he didn’t believe her when she told him, but—”
“All he has to do is get a glimpse of me to figure it out. Hell, I’m all over the damn internet.”
From the looks of it, Red was obviously ready to jump on the better-safe-than-sorry band wagon with Drake. “I know I hurt him too bad to act on it the last few days, but he’s sure as hell had time to think.”
Red nodded. “If he’s as mean as he sounds, he could be pissed you kicked his ass rather than scared. Not that I wouldn’t have done the same thing,” he was quick to add.
“Maybe he was just passing through and he’ll run home to Arkansas, but I can’t see taking the chance, Red.”
“Me either. I agree with you, Drake. I’ll need to get her some protection.”
Tiffany walked over and laid a comforting hand on her husband’s chest. “Are you thinking of having someone tail her? Because she’s going to hate that—Annie is funny about her privacy and independence.”
“Babe, A little bit of investigating on his part, a few questions here and there, and he’d find her easily. If anything happened to her and I could have done something to prevent it, I’d never forgive myself. She’ll have to be inconvenienced until this guy is caught.”
Tiffany stood and rubbed her hands up and down her arms briskly, as though to ward off a chill. “You two are really scaring me.”
Drake paced the kitchen floor. “This is my fault. I’m responsible. If I’d called you, he’d be behind bars.”
Red rested his hand heavily on Drake’s shoulder. “I won’t blame you for taking care of my sister when she was suffering. She told me once that a migraine was like having a tank running around in her brain.”
Drake frowned as he remembered how she’d looked when she was in so much pain. “Even then she didn’t want me to call you.”
“She’s stubborn as hell, something you’ll have to get used to—if you’re serious about her, that is.”
“Annie Girl has no idea how serious I am about her.” Drake cocked his head at the look Red gave him. “What’s wrong?”
“You don’t call her that, do you?”
“She’s not fond of it, but I usually can’t help myself.”
“We don’t call her that since T.J.”
“T.J.?”
“Tommy Boudreaux, an ex-boyfriend. It was a high school thing, but pretty serious.”
Curious about his earliest competition, Drake wanted to know more. “Did it end badly?”
“Not badly, as in a big fight, or anything. He got a scholarship to UCLA for football. She planned to go to LSU, but applied to UCLA too, just to see if she could get in. When they both offered her full scholarships, she was forced to choose one. T.J. assumed she’d follow him to UCLA, but Annie chose LSU.”
“Pressure at home from your parents?” Tiffany asked, slipping an arm around her husband’s waist.
“Nah, if she’d have chosen UCLA the folks would have backed her. Hell, we all figured they’d get married eventually. T.J. was like a member of the family—the only guy she ever dated.”
“Dated seriously, you mean?” No way had a girl as hot as Annie McAllister spent many weekends without a date.
Red gave his head an adamant shake. “I mean dated, period. She pretty much stayed away from guys. Always said she didn’t want to end up like mom—with a passel of kids, no college education, and no career.”
Drake couldn’t picture it. “Was she one of those reclusive book geek type or something?”
“No, she was smart. But she was popular, too. Cheerleader all four years in high school, homecoming court all four years, homecoming queen her senior year, Senior class president, class favorites, Beta club, FFA Sweetheart, Ms. GHS … you name it, she was it. Look up the word ‘extrovert’ in Funk and Wagnall’s or Webster’s dictionary and it’ll say ‘Annie McAllister’.”
“I figured that. It’s why I’m having a difficult time believing she only had the one relationship.”
“She made a choice, man,” Red told him. “Until Tommy came along, nobody made her second guess that choice. They’d always been close friends, even before they became a couple. We liked him, and his family was crazy about her. It shocked the hell out of everyone when she turned down UCLA and they broke it off.”
“It was mutual?”
“Yeah, but he forced the issue. He said he couldn’t manage a long distance relationship, and wanted her by his side, not thousands of miles away from him. He forced her to make a choice, and she chose not to follow him. I don’t know exactly how it all came down. She’s never spoken about it to any of us.”
“I had no idea,” Tiffany groaned, wiping at her eyes. “That is so sad!”
Red pulled his wife close for a hug. “It’s okay, sweetie—it was a long time ago.”
Drake watched his sister retreat to her bedroom in tears. He turned to Red. “What the hell’s up with that?”
“Hormonal fluctuation,” Red explained. “If Dad and Jackson hadn’t both warned me about this, I’d be a wreck by now.”
Drake allowed himself a chuckle at the thought of his always collected sister breaking down into tears over something so trivial. “So what are we going to do about Annie?”
“I’ll get Sidney Graske, my P.I., on it. If she can’t do it herself, she’ll give me the name of the best in the business.”
Drake shook his head. “I won’t feel better about this unless I know she’s safe. I know she won’t like it, but she’ll be seeing a lot more of my mug for a while. By the time they catch that guy, Martin and Lewis may think I’m a permanent fixture in that household.”
“You’ve met the family pets?”
Drake’s reply came in the form of a low growl.
“That damn cat attacked me. Twice. And the bird ain’t happy unless he’s calling me a prick.”
Red burst into laughter. “You’ve got me to blame for that one.”
Drake sent him a glare. “I gotta tell you, man, there’s something fundamentally wrong with being verbally abused by a parrot. Then I went and ate one of his damn birdseed and bug cookies by mistake.”
Red finally caught his breath long enough to explain. “When Annie was a freshman in high school, her date for the homecoming dance sat out in his car and blew the horn for her to go meet him. I asked who the prick was and Lewis picked it up. What would you have done in that situation?”
“I would have gone out there and said it to his face.”
“Unnecessary. He’d already pissed her off by having her corsage delivered earlier that day. He was too cool to go inside and take pictures for Mom, or meet Dad. Annie met him at the car, threw the corsage in his face, and told him her bird had more sense than he did. She went by herself.”
“Doesn’t surprise me.” Drake shook his head and got serious again. “Man, I hope that guy had enough sense to haul his ass outta here, Red. I can’t stand the thought of her being in danger.”
Red slapped him on the back. “I’m with you.” He cocked one brow at a curious angle. “Little sister got you in a bind?”
“She’s the first thing I think about when I open my eyes, the last thing I think about before I close them at night—and I dream about her, too.”
Red’s shoulders shook with laughter. “No mercy! I’d still be one miserable son of a bitch if Doc hadn’t married me when she did.” His expression sobered as he turned to Drake. “Tell me the truth, though. Do you love her?”
Drake was quiet for a minute as he weighed the question in his mind. “When I see any kind of future for myself, I see her in it, and the thought of her in any kind of danger makes me crazy.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “In my mind, I can still see that creep standing over her when she’s in so much pain.” He stopped to take a deep, steadying breath. “I believe I could kill him if he ever tried to hurt her again.”
Red grinned and nodded in understanding. “Yeah. You love her.”
Annie and Tiffany were perusing the mall’s food court when they heard someone calling their names. “Look who’s here!” Annie caught sight of Julia and Miranda several yards away.
Julia rushed up and gave her sisters-in-law a couple of hugs. “If we had known you two would be at the mall today, we could have come together.”
“We didn’t know until this morning. Besides, I thought your flight left at noon,” Annie exclaimed.
“The powers that be gave me another few days with my daughter.” Julia beamed at Miranda. “But we’re starving. Have y’all eaten lunch yet?”
“Nope, I’m trying to decide whether to have a slice of pizza or Chinese,” Annie said.
“I may have both. I’m eating for two, remember?” Tiffany said, at the look Annie gave her.
Annie shrugged. “I couldn’t care less if you order from every restaurant in this place. I’m not the one who’ll have to squeeze that butt into a pair of too tight jeans after your kid’s born.”
Tiffany waved her off. “I’m gonna keep running, just slow it down a bit. My doctor said I could, as long as I promise to stop if I’m not gaining enough weight.”
Within a few minutes the four women sat at a table in the center of the food court, each with a meal from a different restaurant.
Tiffany closed her eyes as she took her first bite of food. “Mmmm. This pizza is so good!”
“Are you having any cravings, yet?” Julia asked.
Tiffany pointed at the slice of supreme in her hands. “You’re looking at it, honey. I could eat pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Red’s worried about the baby being born with an Italian accent and smelling like a pepperoni.”
Julia laughed as Tiffany stuffed her mouth with another bite. “Enjoy it while you can. In a few more months, you won’t even be able to think the word, much less eat it—hellacious indigestion.”
Tiffany nodded. “I’ll get my fill of it before then.”
“Any morning sickness?” Annie asked her.
“Not yet, I’m hoping I’ll bypass that part of it, but I’m prepared, just in case. Red keeps buying boxes of saltines and bottles of ginger ale. Vivienne told me that would help when it started up.”
Annie snorted. “Well, if anyone should know, she should. I can’t even imagine being pregnant eight times. What was she thinking?”
Miranda looked at her youngest aunt in amazement. “I don’t know, but if she hadn’t thought what she thought at the time she thought it, you wouldn’t be here, little Miss Baby of the Family.”
“Here! Here!” Julia cried.
Annie waved her off. “Sure I would—I probably would have been born with a golden spoon in my mouth to some fabulously wealthy family.”
Tiffany beamed at her. “But you wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful.”
“Or loved,” Miranda added.
Julia grinned at Annie. “And speaking of love—how’s Tiffany’s delectable, hunk of a brother doing lately?”
Annie’s forkful of stir fry stopped in mid-air. “Don’t talk about love, there is no love! The man is a thorn in my side—no offense, Tiff.”
Tiffany swallowed another mouthful of pizza. “None taken, but you two would make a great couple. Drake has never acted this way about anyone else. You’d make your sister-in-law ecstatic by reconsidering.”
Annie shook her head in disgust. “You should be ashamed. I never thought you’d sink so low as to use emotional blackmail.”
Tiffany grinned at her. “I can fight just as dirty as the next girl when the outcome is important to me. Your happiness, as well as my brother’s, is very important to me.” She jutted out her lower lip and placed a hand on her belly. “It would make your unborn niece or nephew so happy, Aunt Annie.”
Annie laughed and used her hand to shield her face. “Stop. That won’t work with me.”
Tiffany shrugged then stuffed another bite of pizza in her mouth.
Annie’s gaze landed on her other sister-in-law. “Okay Jules, since you’re the one who brought up the subject of love, how are the peace talks progressing between you and Chad, a.k.a. my idiot brother?”
Julia sobered immediately. “I haven’t spoken to him since the Christmas fiasco.”
After several moments of quiet, Annie placed her hand over Julia’s. “You do know he loves you, don’t you, Jules? He just has a hard time putting into words what he’s feeling.”
Julia looked into Annie’s eyes. “I, more than anyone, know that, hon. It’s not about love, I know he loves me. It’s about sacrifice. He’s never been willing to sacrifice a thing for me. I’ve done all the bending, and giving in, and sacrificing that I’m going to do. It’s his turn, and if he can’t find it in his heart, then I’ll sacrifice one last time, and I’ll let him go.”
Annie covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh Jules, is it that serious?”
Julia’s eyes filled up with tears. “He filed for a legal separation without saying one word to me, Annie. Those papers were delivered to me in the middle of a business meeting. Do you have any idea what that did to me? Do you have any idea how betrayed I felt? He couldn’t have hurt me more if he’d slept with another woman in our bed.”
The other three women remained silent as Julia wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
Annie spoke again. “Look, I know he hurt you, I know he’s a selfish jerk, I know he can act like a Neanderthal on occasion. But I also know that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to him. You can’t blame the rest of us for wanting to see the two of you back together.” She grabbed Julia’s hand in both of hers. “We miss you, and we miss having the both of you around as a couple. You two were so great.”
Julia sniffed loudly and dabbed at her eyes. “I know we were, and it breaks my heart that it has to be this way. But I
’m telling you, I won’t be the one to give in. It’s up to him. I’ve got a little over a year left to my original post in London. I haven’t told anyone yet, but I’ve been offered a permanent position there after the year is up.”
“Oh, Mom!” Miranda gasped, obviously hearing this for the first time.
Julia reached out for her daughter’s face. “Sweetie, I don’t expect you to understand this now, but one day, when you meet someone special, you will. If your father lets the year go by without sacrificing a little of himself, then I can’t see how I’ll be able to come back here and pick up the pieces to our marriage. It would break my heart to see him on a regular basis. If our marriage ends, I’ll take the permanent position in London.”
Miranda wiped at her mother’s tear-streaked face. “He’s a fool, Mom.”
Julia nodded. “I know, but I haven’t given up on him completely.”
“He’s adopted, he must be,” Annie exclaimed, hoping to lighten the mood. “No one else in our family is as stubborn as he is.”
Both Julia and Miranda turned to stare at her.
“What?” she asked.
Her niece snorted. “You and Dad run a close race, you know.”
Annie pushed her plate away. “Give it a rest, will ya?”
Drake approached the group just as they rose from the table. “How are all you lovely ladies doing today?”
“Hey, little brother, I’m surprised to see you here. I know how much you hate to shop.”
He gave his sister a grunt of distaste. “I put it off as long as I could.”
“Do all guys hate to shop?” Miranda asked.
“Red doesn’t mind it,” Tiffany said. “But, he always knows exactly what he’s looking for. He’s in and out of those places in under an hour.”
Annie cringed. “I hate the crowds, especially around the holidays. I’d do all my shopping online if I could.”
“One of many things we agree upon, Annie Girl,” Drake drawled.
“What brought you out of your man-cave to brave the mall? The promise of seeing someone special, maybe?” Miranda sent him a wink.
“Put a plug in it, little girl,” Annie hissed, her jaw tight with annoyance.