32. Beau
Beau
T he minute Olivia finished eating, she picked up her plate and headed for the sink. “Gotta run. The chicks wait for no one.”
“Thanks for coming. I missed you,” Anna said.
Olivia turned and flashed her friendliest smile. “You’re never allowed to leave me again.”
The same possessiveness reared up inside Beau. Now that he’d spent a week with Anna, the thought of being separated made his stomach roll.
Good grief. He was in trouble.
As soon as Olivia left, a thick silence settled in the room. Beau hadn’t ever been inside Anna’s house, but it suited her. Even the dark night couldn’t mute the whites and light colors. Her home was as bright as her personality.
Anna grabbed both of their empty plates and took them to the sink. Still turned away from him, she wiped at her face with the dish towel.
Beau stood, pulled by an invisible force to her side. The makeup around her eyes was smudged, and he brushed his thumb over the soft skin of her cheek. “Have you been crying?”
“It was a moment of weakness. I probably look like a mess.”
Beau’s chest swelled. A twinge shot through him every time she talked about herself as anything less than perfect. “You’re so beautiful, you make the stars jealous.”
Anna covered her mouth, but a laugh escaped. “That’s very sweet but so untrue.”
Reaching for her, he pulled her to his chest where she belonged. “I don’t tell lies, Anna. I don’t like knowing you’ve been crying, and I don’t think you could ever look bad.”
She nuzzled closer to him. “I can’t believe you said that. No one would believe me if I told them you were a secret romantic.”
“If you tell, I’ll plead the fifth.”
She looked up at him with the most gorgeous eyes he’d ever seen. She was so beautiful it hurt. “I would never tell. And thank you for coming.”
“All you have to do is call,” he reminded her. It was true. He had five vehicles waiting at the garage, but nothing could have stopped him from seeing her tonight .
Her eyes glistened, and she blinked rapidly before whispering, “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
His hand rose on its own and brushed over her cheek. He was still living in some dream where he got to touch her now. A humming vibration shot through his arm from the fingertips that trailed over her skin. She leaned into his touch, and the tingling only grew stronger.
But the tightness in her jaw and brow said something wasn’t right, and he couldn’t shake the unease. “What’s got you upset?”
Anna sighed and took a step back, running her hands through her long blonde hair. “Mom. It’s no surprise that she’s still angry about the wedding.” Throwing her hands out to her sides, Anna huffed. “She wants me to go back to Dean!”
The blow hit Beau in the chest. He had no illusions that Dean was anything but an idiot, but what if Anna listened to her mom? What if she took the easy way out and went back to her ex because it was a sure thing?
Anna had always been looking for something, and she’d sacrificed a lot to make squares fit into circles when it came to Dean. Was that still what she wanted?
“I mean, she thought we would just set another date and make it happen. I don’t get it,” Anna said as she marched toward the living room .
Beau swallowed, trying and failing to be patient long enough for Anna to explain. “And what do you want?”
She stopped her pacing in front of the couch, and her shoulders sank. “I’m finished with Dean. Misty can have him for all I care. I’m never going back to him.”
Oh good. Beau’s lungs still worked. Their paralysis for the last fifteen seconds must have been a glitch. “What did you tell your mom?”
“What I just told you. It’s not happening. Then she gave me one week to patch things up with Dean and reschedule the wedding.”
“Or what?” Beau’s eyes widened. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Tell me about it.” Anna fell onto the couch, her perfectly styled hair billowed out around her. “She didn’t hear a word I said.”
Beau took the seat beside her, trying his best not to scare her off. “What can I do to help?”
Anna turned to him with a tired smile before letting her eyes drift closed. “Nothing. This is all I need.” She reached for his hand and squeezed it.
“Anna,” he whispered.
When she opened her eyes, the tension was nearly gone.
The heavy footfalls on the porch came a mere second before the front door opened, and Catherine Harris barged in .
Beau sat up quickly. He’d been so focused on Anna that he hadn’t heard her mother coming.
He’d seen Catherine Harris before, but they’d never been officially introduced. Actually, she’d given him plenty of glares over the years.
She could throw dirty looks all day long. Nothing was going to make him cower to this woman.
“Mom.” Anna jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
Catherine let out a maniacal laugh. “Are you kidding me? I own this place,” she seethed, pressing a manicured fingernail to her chest. “The question is, what is he doing here?” She turned her finger to Beau.
“This is Beau Lawrence,” Anna said, moving to his side. “I invited him over for dinner.” Her chin was held high, and her voice didn’t shake.
“Do you think I’m an idiot?” Catherine asked, glaring at Anna. “I know you were with him last week. I know he went on what should have been your honeymoon.”
Uh-oh. Surely, that wasn’t something Anna wanted her mother to find out about. How had word gotten out?
Catherine chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “Do you seriously have the nerve to pretend like this is perfectly normal? How long have you been sneaking around with him? ”
“I have not been sneaking around with anyone. I was faithful to Dean. He was the one who cheated.”
“And so what? That’s what men do!”
Beau squared his shoulders, ready to set things straight. “No, that’s not what men do. Good men are faithful and?—”
“Who said you could speak? I’m talking to my daughter,” Catherine spat.
Beau allowed himself half a second to rein in his irritation at the interruption. “You’re not talking to her like she’s your daughter. You’re treating her like a criminal, and I don’t like it.”
Catherine huffed a small, humorless chuckle. “This conversation is private, and you’re not allowed on my property. Leave now, or I’ll call the police.”
“Mother! Stop talking to him like that!”
Catherine shot a glare Anna’s way. “You shut up and listen. This is my estate, and he is never allowed here again. Is that understood?”
Anna’s jaw dropped open, and she stammered, “What?”
The look on Anna’s face said it all. She’d been given an ultimatum—her family and her home or him. She’d lost everything last week, but apparently she had more things she cared about to be stolen.
Anna reached for Beau’s hand and squeezed tight. Keeping her gaze firmly locked with her mother’s, she begged, “Don’t do this. Let’s talk about it.”
“There’s nothing else to talk about. I won’t watch you throw your life away.”
“I’m twenty-eight. I stayed here because you wanted me to. I’ve been obedient to you my whole life, but this has to stop.”
Beau’s jaw tightened. Anna was finally speaking for herself, but what would she lose because of it?
Was she standing up for herself, or was she standing up for him?
Catherine took one more step toward Anna, keeping her icy glare on her daughter. “You stayed because you have no business running your own life. You can’t do anything without me.”
“What makes you think that?” Anna asked with shoulders pulled back. “I graduated from law school. I’m a successful attorney and a business owner. I manage my life just fine.”
“You can’t even associate yourself with decent company!” Catherine spat. “Olivia is a chicken farmer, and her brother is no better,” she said, pointing at Beau.
He’d been called a lot of things in his lifetime, but to be compared to his sister wasn’t a bad thing. Olivia was one of the best people he knew, and Anna was better off with a friend like Liv.
Beau loosened his hold on Anna’s hand. If he stuck around much longer, he’d tell her mom exactly what he thought.
“If he goes, I go too,” Anna said .
Beau’s heart sank. Anna’s entire life was burning, and she’d be the one left in the ash when all was said and done.
Catherine’s nostrils flared, and her lips pressed tight together for a mere second before she stepped to the side. “You can go with him. Find somewhere else to live.”
There it was—the blow he’d been dreading. Catherine hadn’t listened to a word Anna said, and she never would. Anna had a million problems sitting on her shoulders, and he’d just become another.
Pulling his hand, Anna marched for the door. “I’ll be back to get my things later.”
“Don’t you dare walk away from me!” Catherine shouted.
Anna’s hand shook in Beau’s as she grabbed her purse from a hook by the door with the other. “I’m not going back to Dean, and you’re not listening to me.”
Beau grabbed the knob and shut the door behind him as they walked away from her family and her home without looking back.