Chapter 45 Annabelle
Annabelle
My mother and I are shopping for baby clothes. She calls me over.
“Look how darling this is. We have to get it for Scarlett.”
She’s holding a toddler dress with yellow sunflowers on it.
I smile at her. “Very pretty. What size is it?”
Suddenly there are sunflowers popping up behind her. They shoot up from the floor and multiply as I watch. Despite their sunny appearance they seem menacing to me. “Mom, look. All these flowers are appearing.” I point.
She doesn’t answer me, but her eyes get wide and she puts a hand up to her mouth as though she’s seen something horrible. She drops the dress on the floor.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
She backs away, shaking her head.
“She’s in trouble. Big trouble. You have to stop her,” she tells me.
“What do you mean? She’s only a baby.”
“No, no! He’s lying. You can’t trust him.”
I’m confused. I don’t understand who she’s talking about.
She disappears, and now I’m swimming in the dark.
Someone’s pool. Not ours. Where am I? I try to reach the other end but no matter how fast I swim, I don’t move forward.
Why can’t I move? I struggle, splashing, thrashing, but it’s no use. “Help me! Help me!”
Annabelle’s eyes flew open. Her shirt was wet with sweat, and her pulse was racing.
Just a dream, thank God, just a dream. It seemed so real.
Her mother, it was so good to see her, but then, the warning.
What did it mean? She grabbed her phone to see what time it was.
Six a.m. Nine at home. She pressed the contact for James.
“Hey, I was getting worried when you didn’t answer my text, but I didn’t want to call too early,” he said.
“I just woke up. Everything okay at home?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. Girls got off to school, and I’m in my office. How’s everything there?”
She grabbed the bottle of water on the nightstand and took a long swallow. “Fine. Chase’s panel is at ten, so I’ll be there most of the morning, then I’ll head over to meet with some folks at the L.A. office. What time is Scarlett leaving with Avery?”
“Right after school. You’re not still worried about that, are you?”
“No more than normal. I mean, I’m always concerned for her safety. And she’s never skied before.”
“She’ll be fine. She’s athletic. And she’ll have lessons. It’s good for her to explore new things.”
“I guess. I still wish she wasn’t going.” Annabelle didn’t know why she was belaboring the point. Maybe she wanted to make her position known in case something happened, as wrong as that felt.
“It’s going to be fine. You’ll see. And we’ll all be home together Sunday night. I miss you. It’s very lonely without you here.”
“Miss you too,” she said automatically, even though she honestly didn’t. “Well, I should go. Gotta get ready.”
She hung up, a feeling of disquiet lingering. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, brushing her teeth while the water warmed up. Her text tone sounded, and she was surprised to see a text from Chase.
If you’re up, want to meet for an early breakfast?
Smiling, she picked up the phone and typed back.
Getting in the shower now. Meet you in half hour downstairs?
Three dots appeared and she waited for the message, but they disappeared and a thumbs-up emoji appeared next to her message.
She wondered what he had been intending to say.
For some reason, she suspected it had to do with her getting in the shower.
She imagined some of the flirty responses he might have written.
What was wrong with her? She was being ridiculous.
And completely inappropriate. They were both married, here on business, nothing more. She wasn’t looking to have an affair.
She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about Chase that made her feel more like herself.
She’d been living with an ache in her heart ever since that terrible loss all those years ago.
James couldn’t understand. He thought that he and the girls should be enough to fill the void.
But they weren’t. They could never be. And she couldn’t make him see that.
So she suffered in silence because it wasn’t something she could share with him.
—
When Annabelle got to the restaurant, Chase was waiting at a table. She took a seat across from him. “Good morning,” she said.
“Morning. How’d you sleep?”
“Tossed and turned a bit, and—”
“Still worried about Scarlett?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Guilty.”
“I wish I’d known; I wouldn’t have asked you to come. I feel really bad.”
“No, no. It’s okay. Let’s focus on you. I’m going to Facebook Live your talk—I cleared it with the conference head, and she’s fine with it.”
“I’m more comfortable behind the mic than the camera,” Chase said, grimacing.
“Trust me, folks are not going to be disappointed when they see how good-looking you are.” She put her hand to her mouth and felt the heat rise to her face. “Did I really say that out loud?”
He was staring at her, those blue eyes twinkling, the dimple by his smile drawing her eyes to it. “Um, thank you?” He chuckled.
“What can I say? Social media is a visual medium, it’s my business to know what’s going to sell. It can’t be news to you that you’re good-looking.” What was wrong with her? She was trying to recover, but only digging herself a deeper hole. She had never behaved this way with a client before.
“Well, thank you, Annabelle. And if I may, I’d like to return the compliment.”
She put a hand up. “Not necessary. We’d better finish breakfast and get a move on.” She took a deep breath, trying to effect a professional air. But when she looked at him, her thoughts were anything but.