Chapter 52 Annabelle
Annabelle
“Hey there, wake up.” James’s voice roused Annabelle, and she opened her eyes.
“Morning,” she said, pushing herself to a sitting position. “What time is it?”
“Six-thirty. What are you doing down here?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came down to watch TV.”
“You know that’s not good. You don’t want to develop insomnia. Studies have shown that screens are bad—”
She turned away so he didn’t see her roll her eyes.
“James, it’s way too early for a lecture.
Please.” She got up, pushed past him, and climbed the stairs.
Why couldn’t he just chill for once? As she got dressed, the dream came back to her in full sequence.
She could hear James’s shower still going in his bathroom.
She was grateful that the previous owners had had the foresight to attach separate bathrooms to the main bedroom.
She loved having her own space, and not having to chat with someone when she was first up.
Besides, James was meticulous and had to have everything in its exact place.
Annabelle had a tendency to let things pile up.
When she was dressed, she went downstairs and pulled out the ingredients to make pancakes.
Both girls loved them, and she wanted to do something special since she’d been away all weekend.
By the time they came downstairs, the delectable aroma filled the kitchen, and a plate was piled high with chocolate chip pancakes.
“Yummy!” Olivia shouted. “Thanks, Mommy!” She walked over to Annabelle and helped her set everything up on the table.
“Thanks, doll. Where’s your sister?”
Olivia sighed dramatically. “On her phone, where else?”
Annabelle laughed. “Do me a favor and let her know breakfast is ready.”
“Okay,” Olivia said as she skipped off to call her sister.
“Something smells good,” James said, smiling at her. “Wish I had time to stay.” His text tone sounded and he grabbed the phone from the counter and put it in his pocket without checking it.
“Listen, sorry for snapping earlier. You know how I am before I have my coffee,” Annabelle said.
“No worries. I should know better by now. But in the future, if you can’t sleep, try to read, or meditate. I’ve seen too many patients with sleep disorders that start out innocently enough.”
“I get it, but we’ve talked about this. You can’t compare us to your patients. Sometimes a sleepless night is nothing more than a sleepless night.”
“Message received.” James gave her a kiss and left.
Where were the girls? Annabelle walked to the hallway and called up the stairs. “Come on. We’ve got to leave in fifteen. The pancakes are getting cold.”
“Coming!” Scarlett yelled, then ran down the stairs and blew past her. Olivia walked down, looking at Annabelle with a frustrated expression. “She wouldn’t open her door until finally, I banged so loud, she had to. You should take her phone!”
“Okay, okay. She doesn’t need another parent.” Annabelle shooed her toward the kitchen.
“Thanks for making these, Mom,” Scarlett said as she poured some syrup on her pancakes. “I’m glad you’re home. I missed you.”
Annabelle smiled. “I missed you, too, honey. How about we watch that new Halloween movie Friday night?”
Scarlett nodded. “Great!”
The girls gobbled their pancakes. Annabelle picked at hers but couldn’t summon an appetite.
“Who are you texting this early?” she asked Scarlett.
Scarlett didn’t look up to meet her eyes. “Just Avery.”
“Not a boy?” Annabelle pressed.
Scarlett’s head shot up. “Nope.” She had the look of someone caught doing something wrong.
“How are things on Instagram? Better?”
“Yeah, it’s all good.”
Still, Annabelle couldn’t shake the feeling that Scarlett was hiding something.
—
She was about to go to her office after grabbing a coffee, when Riggs stopped her in the hallway. “Can you come by my office?”
“Okay, everything all right?”
“Yes,” he said, walking away. She followed him, annoyed.
She took a seat and he shut the door. “I know you just got back yesterday, but I need you to go to L.A. again.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Ellen has set up a series of meetings with some producers who are interested in adapting Chase’s podcast on female serial killers.”
Annabelle couldn’t believe this. “When are the meetings?”
“Thursday and Friday.”
That meant she wouldn’t get home until Saturday for all intents and purposes, even if she took a red-eye. So much for her Friday movie night with Scarlett and their sailing trip on Saturday.
“Is it really necessary for me to be there?”
“Chase requested that you go with him. We want to keep the client happy, right? Look, I know he’s been taking up a lot more time than expected. I’ve already talked to Michael. He’s agreed to pay you a bonus for all your hard work.”
“I appreciate that, but it’s not just about the money, Riggs. The reason I didn’t take the promotion was so that I wouldn’t be away from my family so much, and now I’m away more than you.”
“I can’t force you to go, but—”
She put her hands up. “I’ll go, I’ll go. But you need to let Chase know that I’m not at his beck and call.”
Riggs nodded. “I understand. I’ll talk to him. I’m asking you as a favor, go this time. He trusts your opinion, and he’s going to have to decide who to get into bed with. He doesn’t have experience with these kinds of folks. You do.”
“Yeah, but not as much as the L.A. office does. He’d be better off with Ellen.”
“Like I said, he trusts you.”
“Fine. I’ll make it work.”
“Thanks.” He turned toward his computer and started typing.
“I guess we’re finished,” Annabelle muttered as she got up and left.
She returned to her office and pulled up the calendar on her phone.
James wasn’t going to be happy about her being gone another weekend—especially with Chase.
She started to make notes on what she had to rearrange.
She was still on edge because of these terrifying dreams about Scarlett, but she was beginning to think those were all about her anxiety and not any sort of warning.
Instead of feeling irritated about the trip, she found she was actually looking forward to it.
The weather was getting colder here, and the sun was hardly making an appearance.
It would be great to be back in the sunshine.
She couldn’t help but wonder if a bigger part of her excitement had to do with going away with Chase again.
She thought about her dream on the balcony, with the two of them drinking wine.
That hadn’t happened last time; neither had the swim in the ocean.
Was this upcoming trip fated to be the turning point in their relationship?
But no, that was totally in her control.
She wouldn’t allow things to take a turn she would regret.
But a little voice inside her whispered, Maybe you don’t have a choice.