CHAPTER SIX
Annie climbed out of her car and waited for Benji to join her, then they walked toward the doors of the church together. She was aware of Dawn’s presence not far behind them, but she didn’t turn to look.
Once in the church’s foyer, she and Benji headed for the sanctuary. They veered off to the right, where they came to a stop, looking over the pews as they figured out where to sit.
“Hey, Annie.”
Dawn’s familiar voice announced her arrival as she joined them. Annie greeted her as she would a friend and gave her a hug.
She had actually become a friend over the years she’d guarded Annie, so it wasn’t much of an act. Dawn was also the reason that Annie and Benji had started attending that church and become Christians.
“Where do you want to sit?” Dawn asked.
“Can I sit with Amelia?”
Benji’s question came as no surprise, and Dawn had already said it was fine with her, as long as he was seated in front of them, so she could keep an eye on him. Andrew rarely joined them at church, showing up only if Annie and Benji were going in different directions after the service.
The older Benji got, the more challenging the security responsibilities became for Dawn and Andrew. Benji had a social life and hated being confined to the estate. He wasn’t allowed to have friends to the house, so he hated to stay on the property. Annie didn’t mind herself, but there were times when she also objected to being confined to the estate.
Sometimes, Annie could override Dawn and Andrew, but only after a discussion about the safety risks. Case in point was the invitation that Benji had been given to join Cole and his family on the lake a few weeks ago.
“Oh, wow!” Benji exclaimed, looking over Annie’s head toward the foyer. “Cole’s here.”
Annie’s heart skipped a beat as she turned around to see for herself.
Sure enough, Cole’s tall, fit figure was easy to spot over the heads of the people who stood between them and him. He was talking to someone, but as if sensing her gaze, he looked up and right at her.
Had he already known where she was standing?
He held her gaze for a long moment, then a smile spread across his face. Keeping his gaze on hers, he said something to the person he’d been talking to, then headed in their direction.
Annie took a deep breath as he neared, trying to calm the frantic beat of her heart. She hadn’t known he was coming to Serenity. He hadn’t said anything about it during any of their conversations over the past couple of weeks.
Ever since their first conversation, she’d been getting a text of some sort from him every day. At first she hadn’t known what to make of it, but she’d finally decided to just go with the flow. Sometimes, instead of a text, a video call request would pop up on her phone.
She hadn’t been sure why he’d stayed in contact with her, but she wasn’t complaining. So far, their conversations had been about their days. Hers were definitely more boring than Cole’s.
During those two weeks, he’d had two interviews on the sports network, filmed a commercial, gone to a children’s hospital to meet with sick children, and attended an awards show.
She hadn’t asked who had attended that awards show with him, and he hadn’t volunteered the information. In the past, she might have seen pictures of him attending such events. But this time around, she’d studiously avoided any reports on the show.
It was kind of fun to live vicariously through Cole, though. She’d worked on her sewing projects as he’d told her about visiting the kids at the hospital. It was something she would have loved to do.
Annie had broached the subject with Dawn, and though initially the woman had balked, she’d finally seen how important it was to Annie. Unfortunately, Jude—and then ultimately, her dad—had put a kibosh on that idea. Still, she hoped that one day she’d get the opportunity.
“Hey guys,” Cole said, his smile encompassing the three of them. “How’s it going?”
“I’m great!” Benji grinned back at the man. “How are you?”
“I’m doing really well.” Cole turned to Annie and Dawn. “How about you two lovely ladies?”
“I’m good,” Annie said.
“I’m good, too,” Dawn echoed.
“Glad to hear it.”
“I didn’t know you were coming,” Annie said as she noted his appearance. He wore a pair of dark jeans and a light green collared shirt. That shade of green looked lovely on him with his dark brown hair and eyes.
“No one did,” he said as he slid his hands into his pockets. “It was a bit of a last-minute decision.”
“How long are you here for?” Benji asked, giving voice to the question that had been on the tip of Annie’s tongue. It was probably better that he asked it rather than her.
“About a week. I’ve got to get back soon for training camp and the pre-season games.”
“That’s great,” Benji enthused.
“So, where are you three sitting?” Cole asked.
“Benji plans to sit with Amelia.”
“Well, do you two ladies want to sit with us?”
As if Annie would say no to that. Within minutes, they were seated in a row behind other members of the Halverson family. There were too many of them, however, to all sit in one area.
“How are you, Annie?” Skylar, Cole’s younger sister, asked.
Leaning forward so she could see past Cole a bit better, Annie smiled at the other woman. “I’m doing well, thank you. How are you?”
“I’m good.”
Before they could continue the conversation, the worship leader began to talk, welcoming them all to the morning service.
Dawn had first invited Annie to church three years ago, and that visit had changed her outlook on several things.
Becoming a Christian had helped her see that she needed to trust that God had given her the ability to use common sense rather than fear to view a situation.
She’d lived such a life of fear, allowing her dad to dictate how she lived. Annie had overcome some of that fear, but she had a big enough sense of self-preservation that she didn’t completely dismiss the safety measures her dad had put in place for her and later for Benji.
Though she wasn’t super active in the church, she’d volunteered for a few things, and she supported it financially through the substantial monthly allowance her dad gave her.
She hadn’t made any close friendships in the church, partly because it was just too complicated to explain her situation to anyone. Over time, Dawn had become a close friend, though she was always careful about what she shared with her that her dad might object to. She had no idea if Dawn reported everything back to him or not.
Thankfully, she was also close to her step-mom. Though, again, she didn’t tell her everything. Because while she wasn’t sure what Dawn told her dad, Annie was pretty confident that her step-mom, Elizabeth—or Betsy, as her dad called her—would definitely share things with her husband.
Over the time she’d been attending church, Annie had learned the songs, and her Bible contained a lot of highlights and notes from sermons over the years. But she’d never sat next to a man for any of those services—just Benji—let alone one she admired and had a teeny, tiny crush on.
Sitting beside Cole did a real number on her focus, but she did try her best to pay attention to the pastor’s sermon. She appreciated the way the older man directed them to the scriptures as a guide for living their lives in a way that honored and glorified God.
It had all been very new to her when she’d started attending church, but she’d soaked it up like a sponge. Though Annie had tried to talk to her parents about what she’d discovered, her dad hadn’t been interested in what she had to say.
Elizabeth had been more open to what Annie had to share, and she’d recently become a Christian herself, though she didn’t attend services with them yet.
Thankfully, they hadn’t been opposed to Benji attending with her. He was more involved at the church, which is where he’d started to hang out with Amelia.
They were in the same grade at the high school, but according to Benji, it wasn’t until they were both attending the youth group at the church that they’d gotten to know each other better.
When they stood for the singing, Annie accidently bumped into Cole’s arm. He glanced down at her and smiled, before angling himself so she had a bit more space, though he was slightly turned in her direction. Standing, the differences in their height, and just their sizes in general, were very apparent. She suspected that Benji would be close to Cole’s size once he was done growing.
On her other side was Dawn, while Benji stood next to Amelia in the row in front of them. Layla and one of the other guys from the basketball team were also with them.
Annie liked to keep Benji in her sights when they were out together. Not just for safety’s sake, but also to make sure that he behaved. Since he was often left unsupervised by their parents, Annie took on the role of surrogate parent.
So far, he was behaving as he should, and he was treating Amelia in a way that made Annie proud of him. He was everything to her, and her feelings toward him were an odd mix of sisterly and parental love.
She’d been ten when he was born, and she’d spent a lot of time helping to care for him since she was tutored and around him for a large portion of each day.
When the service ended, Cole turned to Annie. “So, what are your plans for the afternoon?”
“I didn’t really have anything planned,” she said. “I usually wait to see what Benji wants to do and if he needs me to drive him anywhere.”
“Then may I make a suggestion?” Cole asked as they followed the others up the aisle to the foyer.
Last time he’d invited them for something, it had been to join him on a pontoon boat on the nearby lake. So, it wasn’t a big surprise when he extended the same invitation.
The weather wasn’t super hot now that they’d moved closer to fall, but it was still a nice day to be out on the water.
They did have boats of their own. One was a speedboat. Another, a large pontoon. Her dad tended to buy them things that he thought they’d enjoy without asking them if that was the case.
When it came to the boats, they were things better used with groups of friends, and neither of them had those, so the boats were rarely put to use.
“Of course Benji is invited as well,” Cole said. “And Dawn too, if she’d like to come along.”
Oh, Dawn would definitely go with them, but first, Annie needed to decide if she wanted to go.
“I’m not really one for swimming in the lake,” Annie told him.
“That’s fine. Last time, my one sister never got in the water either. It’s still nice to hang out on the lake.”
Annie glanced back at Dawn, who was following them into the foyer. “Can I let you know?”
“Sure thing,” Cole said with a nod. “You’ve got my number.”
“What time do you plan to leave the marina?”
“Probably in about an hour.” He glanced at his watch. “How about one-thirty?”
“Sounds good,” she said.
“And don’t worry about food. We’ll have plenty.”
“Okay.” She turned to look for Benji and found him standing with a small group of young people that included Amelia and Layla. “I just need to pry Benji away from his friends for a conversation.”
Benji didn’t put up too much of a fight, but Annie knew he’d beg to go with Cole and the others once it was just the two of them.
“We can go, right?” Benji said as Annie drove them out of the parking lot. “You let me go last time, and we don’t have any other plans for this afternoon.”
“But what if I wanted to play board games with you?”
Benji gave a huff of laughter. “We can do that tonight.”
“Okay. You can go.”
“You don’t want to go?” he asked, a frown on his face. “I thought you’d like to hang out with Cole.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “I’m just not sure it’s super smart for me to hang out with him like that.”
Benji didn’t respond right away. “But you hardly ever go out. And you could use some friends. You’re always on your own except for me and Dawn.”
Annie hoped he didn’t see her wince. There was a downside to him getting older and more mature. He could now dissect her and her life, which he was doing with increasing frequency.
“I’m fine,” she assured him.
“I know,” Benji replied. “But there’s no reason you can’t come out on the pontoon with us. I went last time and nothing happened.”
If only it were just security reasons holding her back. “I know.”
“Then you need to come with us. You’ve been talking to Cole online, so there’s no reason why you can’t spend time with him on a boat. So, are you going to come?”
“I suppose I will.”
“Yay! That’s great. We had a lot of fun last time.”
“I’m not getting into the water. Not a chance.” She knew that Benji frowned, even without her looking at him. “I’m not a fan of swimming in anything but a pool. There are fish in that lake.”
That made Benji laugh. “Yep. But they’re probably more scared of you than you are of them.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not getting into the water, so you better not pester me about it.”
“Okay. I won’t.”
When they got back to the property, Annie pulled her car into a spot in the small parking lot next to the security building. Benji jogged the short distance to the main house, while Annie waited for Dawn to pull in next to her.
“So, are we going out on the water?” Dawn asked.
“I don’t want to,” Annie said.
Dawn scoffed. “Oh, but you do want to. You’re just scared to hang out with people.”
“No, I’m not,” Annie protested.
“So, are you going to go?”
“We’re going to go,” Annie told her. “And you’re coming with us.”
“Of course I am.”
“How are you going to hide a weapon in a swimsuit?”
Dawn chuckled. “Like you, I won’t be going into the water.”
“Is Andrew going to come too?” Annie asked.
“I’d like him to,” Dawn said. “Would that be an issue with Cole?”
“I don’t think so. When you guys first met him, I introduced you as boyfriend and girlfriend, so I don’t think it would be a problem.”
“Then let’s get our stuff together.”
“I’ll drive to my place, then come back to pick up Benji.”
As she drove to her house, she pondered what to wear. She wasn’t a big fan of tight-fitting or revealing clothing, which was the main reason she wasn’t going to be wearing a swimsuit. But also, the majority of her clothes had been bought taking into account that she was often hiding a weapon.
When she got to the house, she spent longer than she should have deciding what to wear. In the end, she settled on a maxi sundress that had a square neckline and loose, flowing sleeves that covered her upper arm almost to her elbow. It might not be as casual as some on board the boat might be dressed, but she’d be comfortable.
Since both Dawn and Andrew would be present, she didn’t strap on her gun. She would have it in her bag, though.
She packed a small duffle with a couple of towels, as well as some sunscreen. After tucking her purse into the duffle as well, Annie went back out to her car and drove down to pick up Benji.
After coordinating with Dawn and Andrew, they headed for the marina that Cole had said they were meeting at. It was a little bit of a drive, since their place was on the opposite side of Serenity from where the marina was located.
Annie told herself that she was just hungry when her stomach got a little queasy as she pulled into a spot in the parking lot at the marina. It was the same spot where she’d dropped Benji off last time, so she knew they were in the right place. as soon as they parked, they got out of the car.
Andrew and Dawn joined them on the grass in front of the cars, then they made their way over to where the boats were docked. At one time, their own boats would have been in the marina, but they had both been in storage for awhile now.
“Hey!” Cole called out as he strode toward them, Amelia at his side. “Glad you all could make it.”
“Do you remember Andrew?” Annie asked as she gestured to the man.
“Sure do,” Cole said, holding his hand out to Andrew. “Glad to have you along.”
Benji and Amelia were already making their way to the docks, so the rest of them followed the duo.
“I’m glad you decided to come with us this time,” Cole said once they were on board the pontoon.
“Benji wouldn’t let me say no.”
“I’m glad of his ability to convince you to do something when my charm failed.”
Annie tried not to take what he said seriously. To someone like Cole, who was used to being the center of attention, she knew that he probably turned the charm on without even thinking about it.
By the time they cast off, several more people had shown up.
“Are we eating first?” Aiden asked. “Or swimming?”
“Let’s eat,” Cole said. “I’m starving.”
And with that, they emptied out the coolers that sat on the table in the center of the covered area of the pontoon. In addition to Benji and Amelia, Layla was there with her boyfriend, and there were also two other teens.
Skylar and Aiden were both there, along with Lexi and Wilder. The one couple that Annie didn’t know well were Kayleigh and her husband, Hudson. Though Kayleigh was similar in height to Annie, she had a figure that Annie could only dream of.
And even though she didn’t have a swimsuit on, she had no problem wearing clothes that showed off her shoulders and legs. Annie felt a moment of envy, but she pushed it to the side, reminding herself as she often did, that she was fine just the way she was.
God had made her perfect, and in judging herself, she was questioning God. Kayleigh was also perfectly made. Just how God wanted her to be.
Once she had her food, Annie settled on one of the bench seats next to Dawn. Andrew was on Dawn’s other side, where he was talking with Hudson. Benji sat beside Amelia, who had Lexi on her other side.
Annie was a bit surprised when Cole sat down beside her. She was still a little mystified by Cole’s interactions with her, and his apparent enjoyment in talking with her.
She wasn’t going to actively push him away, but Annie figured that once the basketball season was back in full swing, he would just naturally drift away.
That was hard to think about, but it made sense. And since she was prepared for it, it wouldn’t really bother her. Life would return to what it had always been, but she’d have the memory of the few great moments she’d spent with Cole.