Chapter 32
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
MILES
“That felt intense.”
Annie’s laugh is high-pitched and breathy as she rubs her hands together in her lap. “That’s a concise way of putting things, yes.”
I take advantage of the fact that we’re sitting at a stoplight to reach over and cover her hands with my own. “Are you okay?” I’m sincerely not sure since she’s been silent for the past fifteen minutes we’ve been in the car.
She nods stiffly.
“You don’t have to be,” I point out. “I would understand if you wanted to be not okay after all of that.”
She unclasps her hands from each other so that she can turn her left hand over and press her palm to mine. She doesn’t say anything but the gesture is reassurance enough that she knows I’m here for her if she needs me.
We continue to drive in silence until Annie realizes I’ve bypassed the highway exit that would take us back to my apartment.
“Where are we going?” She sits up higher in her seat as her head swivels around as if our surroundings will answer for me.
I make an executive decision. “To my Uncle Luca’s place. You’re not going to be able to relax until you’ve talked to your mom. There’s no reason to go sit at home and torture yourself about telling her, let’s just get that part out of the way. By the time we get there, they should be home from the office.”
“Oh.” She lets out a soft whine. “Are we sure I have to tell her?”
“Pretty sure,” I say, my voice laced with sarcasm. I know Blue well enough at this point to know she won’t be able to handle not telling her. Her mom is her best friend.
“Okay then yeah, fine. Let’s get this over with.”
Blue takes comically deep breaths for the last stretch of highway we cover until we get to Luca’s exit. I don’t dare laugh out loud but I come close a few times. I think she’s overreacting. I don’t think Hannah is going to be happy considering everything I know now about the family dynamics, but I have no doubt she’ll forgive Blue no matter how upset she might be initially.
We time our arrival perfectly, pulling in right behind the Jeep Hannah and Annie usually share. Hannah’s eyes light up when she climbs out of the Jeep and sees that we’re the ones in the car behind her.
“Hey!” she shouts so loudly that we can hear her clearly from inside my SUV.
“Now or never,” Annie murmurs uneasily under her breath.
Before I have the chance to offer any reassurance, she’s climbing out of the passenger seat. I like that spark of independence in her, I realize I watch her with a small smile playing on my lips.
I trail behind as Hannah ushers Annie into the house, her mouth moving a mile a minute to give Annie a play-by-play of the two hours she worked without my uncle’s oversight.
Speaking of Uncle Luca…
He’s standing right inside the door when we walk in. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise as he looks from Hannah to Annie to me. “I didn’t know you two were coming by.”
“There’s a lot of things you don’t know after cutting out of work hours early.” Hannah flutters her eyelashes up at him. She’s so theatrical for someone who worked nights to get a business degree as a young mother. I have a hard time mentally reconciling the two sides of her in my head.
I can’t help but believe everything Annie has said about her mom. The adoring way she speaks so highly of the woman speaks volumes.
I respect Annie. I respect her opinions about things. And no one could ever be more shocked about that revelation than I am.
Uncle Luca’s scoff draws me back to the situation unfolding in front of me. “I left to take care of an errand. Do I need to remind you that I started working three hours earlier than you this morning? And that you showed up late today so that you could stop to buy a new sweater?”
“I couldn’t find a sweater this morning to match my shoes and you keep the office so chilly!” Hannah bounces on her toes as she talks. The shoes in question are shiny purple pumps. The sweater she’s wearing is neon orange.
Someone needs to explain Hannah’s concept of matching to me.
“I’m just saying I think we should call this one a draw.” Luca sighs wearily but there’s a spark in his eyes. He likes bantering with her, even when he’s getting the wrong side of this negotiation. I’m sure his lawyer friends would be horrified to see him getting such a raw deal—even in his own home.
Clearly, Uncle Luca has it bad for his assistant.
And I can’t even judge because I’m folding just as easily under the weight of my attraction to Blue. Luca and I are both goners.
Luca shakes his head at me. “I’m embarrassed you’re here to witness this.”
“You should be.” Can’t get too soft about giving my uncle shit or he might stop being able to recognize me.
“What are you two doing here anyway?” Luca gestures for us to join him in the front room.
Blue shoots me a nervous look as she follows him and her mom. I would tell her mom for her if I could but I don’t imagine that going over well for anyone.
Hannah plops down on the couch without a care in the world. She seems happy to have us here; I have a feeling the sentiment won't last. Annie and I are both too on edge to sit down. Luca must sense something serious is up because he doesn't sit either. He hovers behind the couch where Hannah sits, sticking close to her.
Annie takes a deep breath, her shoulders tensing up as she plants herself in front of her mom.
"I have to tell you something and I don't think you're going to like it."
Hannah's smile wavers. "Is this like that time when you were nine and told me you didn't want to be a horse jockey anymore? Because I was disappointed but then when you grew over five feet, I got over that!"
"This isn't like that." Annie's serious tone is at odds with her mom's humor.
Hannah sits up straighter and frowns. Her gaze flickers briefly to me like she's searching for a way to blame me for things without even knowing what's coming yet. "What's going on?"
"Miles took me to visit my grandparents. I met them. I met your parents," Annie chokes out.
"You did what?" Hannah's sharp gaze jerks back over to me.
"No, no." Annie waves her hands wildly in front of her. "It wasn't his idea. He just drove me there so I didn't go alone."
Hannah stands up and barks out a humorless laugh. "Okay, so you just decided on a random weekday to go visit your grandparents—a couple of complete strangers who chose to be strangers—without giving me so much as a head's up text?" Her voice is so shrill that I wince at the rising pitch.
"I didn't plan to go. I just woke up and I... I wanted to see for myself what's been missing all these years. I know they chose to be strangers but I needed to see if they regretted that choice. I needed to know if they wished they knew me!"
I can see Hannah's face shuttering. I knew this news would upset her but I might have underestimated how much. Barbie doesn't look so plastic to me now. She looks human and vulnerable.
"And did you get what you were looking for?" Hannah's voice cracks.
Annie licks her dry lips, her voice cracking to match her mom's as she says, "Yes. More than what I was looking for actually. They took responsibility and they want to talk to you too, Mom."
Hannah doesn't look reassured by hearing that. I'm not sure if the way her face twists means their desire to speak with her does more to help or hurt Annie's case. Luca steps forward to rest a hand lightly on Hannah's shoulder. She doesn't seem to notice his touch.
"For the love of tacos and Betty White, kid, what were you thinking?" Hannah shakes her head, curls flying wildly around her face. "You don't just get to wake up one day and say 'Gosh you know what, I should shake my mom's whole life up right now while she's already hanging on by a thread' because that is not how this works. I am the mom. You are the kid. You don't get to make the big, life-altering decisions for us."
Annie scrunches her nose. "I'm not a kid."
"Then why are you suddenly acting like one?" Hannah leaps up from her seat and points her finger at Annie. "There are better ways to ask for attention if that's what you're looking for. I should have known something was up when this happened." She gestures from Annie to me, her lip curling up at one side.
This is only going to get ugly.
"That's enough," I snap, stepping forward to take Annie by the elbow and tug her to my side. She moves easily into the protective crook of my arm.
Hannah rolls her eyes at me. "Stay out of this, Romeo. This is none of your business."
"This is very much my business, Law Office Barbie."
I'm making Annie my business.
Luca breaks through the tension with a strangled growl. He strides forward to stand between us, his gaze moving from Hannah to Annie and me. His gaze is sharp, his mouth pressed in a firm line as he sizes up the situation.
"That's enough," Luca says with a sharp tone of finality. "Annie, your mom has a lot to process. I think you should go for now."
She starts to protest, "But?—"
"He's right, Blue." I tug a strand of her hair and look down at her fondly. She's handling this tension better than I expected. My less-fake-by-the-minute girlfriend is strong as hell. "Let's give your mom some breathing room before someone says something they can't take back tomorrow."
Annie pouts up at me but nods reluctantly anyway.
Hannah still looks like she wants to go another round of light verbal sparring, but Luca nudges her back a step. "We can all talk again tomorrow," he says. "Tell your daughter you love her, Hannah."
With pursed lips, Hannah peers around Luca to look at Annie. "I do love you, Annie. I just don't like you very much at this exact moment."
"The feeling is mutual," Annie grumbles. I elbow her gently until she adds, "I love you, too."
With things temporarily on ice to be dealt with later, I'm left to practically drag Annie out of my uncle's house while he blocks Hannah from following us to the door. Once we step outside, Annie huffs and glares at me.
"I can't believe you're making me leave."
"Trust me," I laugh, "you weren't going to win your mom over to your side tonight. Let Luca work his magic with her, he'll help her to see reason. If there's one thing that man's good at, it's getting people to do the right thing."
I would know. He seems to have worked that exact magic on me.