two...used to be an item?”
“What did she say?” Annie wafted her hand in the air as Karrin drew a breath to explain. “No. Never mind. I don’t want to talk about this right now. I have to get home to James.”
She pecked Karrin on the cheek and hurried to the back door, relieved she was about to duck out without anyone else spotting her. But before she did so, she hesitated and listened to William shuffling papers a few yards away. Before her brain knew what her feet were doing, she found herself creeping closer until she was loitering in the office doorway. She was just as surprised as William was when he noticed her.
“What are you doing here? How’s James?” he blurted, jumping to his feet.
“He’s fine. It was a virus. He’ll be better with rest...and french fries.” She jostled her take-home container.
“Good.” William nodded, clutching the back of his neck. “He was holding his stomach... If I overreacted about it, Annie, I was only—”
“No. Actually I came back here to tell you...” She paused, admiring a sweetness behind his eyes that she hadn’t seen since before he’d returned to Chinoodin Falls. He had looked at her like that when they’d snuck out to Little Foot Mountain so many years ago, and she’d been in the topsy-turvy early stages of falling in love for the first time. She had been wearing a yellow sundress she’d bought specifically for their date, and he’d told her she had brightened his day. Lying beside him on an old afghan he’d had in his truck, he had run his fingers playfully down the front of that dress, delicately plucking at each tiny button in between peppering her lips with soft kisses. For years afterward, though it had fallen out of style, she’d hidden the dress at the back of her closet, unable to part with it or perhaps unable to part with him.
“What?” he asked, taking a step closer.
Annie bit her lip, trying to jar herself free of the memory. “Thank you for intervening with James.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“He shouldn’t have been sitting out there alone.”
“No.”
“He’s only a little boy, you know?” she whispered.
William’s eyes squinted in seriousness. “Yes, I know.”
Annie swallowed a lump in her throat. “When I think about it... I can’t stop thinking about it...”
“It wasn’t your fault, Annie. He’s okay now.”
“Sean just doesn’t...” She vigorously shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know what to do sometimes.”
“You mean with Sean?”
Annie opened her eyes to a dark look falling over William’s face. “He’s difficult.”
“Difficult?” William’s eyebrows shot up, and she knew it was no use dancing around her troubles with Sean.
“Well...you saw.”
He nodded. “I have a feeling I haven’t seen the half of it.”
“You want to know why I married him, don’t you?”
“Well...”
“I know you do.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“And what have you come up with so far?”
“From what I know about you—”
“What on earth do you know about me?” Annie sighed. “You’ve only been back a few days.”
“I knew you once,” he replied, his voice a low drawl like the morning sun warming over her. She lifted her face, searching his for any explanation as to why he didn’t know her that way now.
“And?” she mustered.
“I know you wouldn’t marry him for his money.”
Annie feigned a smile. “Is that what you’ve heard? And how do you know that? Women marry for money all the time.”
“Not you.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I’ve seen you with Betsy. You’re such a good mom, I know you wouldn’t put her in a situation like that unless...”
“What?” Her eyes glistened with hot tears she refused to shed. Not now and never in front of William. “Tell me.”
He brushed her on the arm, his weathered skin gentle as her nerves rose. She teetered on her feet, and he seemed to sense her light-headedness, steadying her. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Annie.”
She didn’t know if he meant by his words or his touch, and as her eyes fell to his perfect lips, slightly parted, she could only assume he wasn’t sure, either.
“You didn’t,” she said. She knew as his furrowed brow softened, he didn’t believe her lie.
“Annie, dear.” Joyce smiled, scooting past her into the office. “What are you doing here? Joe, Danny and Earl were asking about you. Apparently you are really goofin’ up their routine. How dare you miss two days in a row! The way they were talkin’, they were going to send a search party for you.”
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
