I supposed to know her?”
“I hope not.” Annie hiccuped. “She’s rich. Gorgeous. Smart.”
“I hate her already.” Deb put her hand under Annie’s chin and urged it to rise. “Are you sure?”
“He told me so.” Annie sat back, dug a hanky out of her cleavage where she’d stuffed it after the ceremony and blew her nose. “So I told him I’m marrying Milton.”
“Milton? As in, Milton Hoffman?” Deb rocked back on her heels. “My God, you wouldn’t!”
“Why not? He’s single, he’s dependable and he’s nice.”
“So is a teddy bear,” Deb said in horror. “Better you should take one of those to bed than Milton Hoffman.”
“Oh, Deb, that’s not fair.” Annie got to her feet. “There’s more to a relationship than sex.”
“Name it.”
“Companionship, for one thing. Similar interests. Shared dreams.”
“And you can have enough of those things with Milton to make you forget all the rest?”
“Yes!” Annie’s shoulders slumped. “No,” she admitted. “Isn’t that awful? I like Milton, but I don’t love him.”
Deb heaved a sigh as she stood up. “Thank you, God. For a minute there, I thought you’d gone around the bend.”
“Not only am I sex-obsessed—”
“You’re not. Sex is a big part of life.”
“—but I’ve used poor Milton badly. Now I’ve got to call him up and tell him I didn’t mean it when I introduced him to Chase as my fiancé.”
“Wow,” Deb said softly. “You certainly have had a busy day.”
“A messy day, is what you mean.”
“Don’t kill me for saying this, but maybe you should rethink things. I mean, I know he’s getting married and all, but maybe you do still have a thing for your ex.”
“I wouldn’t care if he were living in a monastery!” Annie’s eyes flashed. “I do not have a ‘thing’ for Chase. I admit, I’m upset, but it’s because my baby’s gotten herself married.”
“You know what they say, Annie. We only raise children to let go of them once they grow up.”
Annie tucked the hanky back into her cleavage, picked up the champagne bottle and headed for the kitchen.
“It’s not letting go of her that upsets me, Deb. It’s that she’s so young. Too young, I’m afraid, to make such a commitment.”
“Well,” Deb said, folding her arms and leaning against the door frame, “you were young when you got hitched, too.”
Annie sighed. “Exactly. And look where it led me. I thought I knew what I was doing but it turned out I didn’t. It was hormones, not intelligence, that—” The phone rang. She reached out and picked it up. “Hello?”
“Annie?”
“Chase.” Annie’s mouth narrowed. “What do you want? I thought we said all we needed to say to each other this afternoon.”
Across town, in his hotel room, Chase looked at the boy standing at the window. The boy’s shoulders were slumped and his head was bowed in classic despair.
Chase cleared his throat.
“Annie... Nick is here.”
Annie’s brows knotted together. “Nick? There? Where do you mean, there?”
“I mean he’s here, in my room at the Hilton.”
“No. That’s impossible. Nick is on a plane to Hawaii, with Dawn...” The blood drained from Annie’s face. “Oh God,” she whispered. “Has there been an accident? Is Dawn—”
“No,” Chase said quickly. “Dawn’s fine. Nothing’s happened to her, or to Nick.”
“Then why—”
“She left him.”
Annie sank down into a chair at the kitchen table. “She left him?” she repeated stupidly. Deb stared at her in disbelief. “Dawn left Nick?”
“Yeah.” Chase rubbed the back of his neck, where the muscles felt as if somebody were tightening them on a rack. “They, uh, they got to the airport and checked in their luggage. Then they went to the VIP lounge. I upgraded their tickets, Annie, and bought them a membership in the lounge. I knew you wouldn’t approve, but—”
“Dammit, Chase, tell me what happened!”
Chase sighed. “Nick said he’d get them some coffee. Dawn said that was fine. But when he came back with the coffee, she was gone.”
“She didn’t leave him,” Annie said, her hand at her heart, “she’s been kidnapped!”
“Kidnapped?” Deb snapped. “Dawn?”
“Did you call the police? Did you—”
“She left a note,” Chase said wearily. Annie heard the rustle of paper. “She says it’s not that she doesn’t care for him.”
“Care for him?” Annie’s voice rose. “People care for—for flowers. Or parakeets. She said she loved Nick. That she was crazy about him.”
“...not that she doesn’t care for him,” Chase continued, “but that loving him isn’t enough.”
“Isn‘t—?”
“Isn’t enough. She says she has no choice but to end this marriage before it begins.”
Annie put her hand over her eyes. “Oh God,” she whispered. “That sounds so ominous.”
Chase nodded, as if Annie could see him.
“Nick’s beside himself, and so am I.” His voice roughened with emotion. “He’s looked for her everywhere, but he can’t find her. Dear God, If anything’s happened to our little girl...”
Annie’s head lifted. As soft as a whisper, the front door opened, then closed. Footsteps came slowly down the hall.
“Mom?”
Dawn stood in the doorway, dressed in the going-away suit they’d bought together, the corsage of baby orchids Annie had pinned on the jacket’s lapel sadly drooping. Dawn’s eyes were red and swollen.
“Baby?” Annie whispered.
Dawn gave Annie a smile that trembled, and then a sob burst from her throat.
“Oh,
