And because she was Anna, she offered to thank him right proper for his service.
And because she was Anna, when he asked her to be careful around his kidneys, she did him one better.
She made his whole body feel better.
So better, he thought she might’ve found a missing piece of his soul.
Mamie was right. His collard greens were toast, and he was pretty sure Anna Grace had labeled his turnips.
And he didn’t mind a lick.
Jules wasn’tat work Friday.
She wasn’t in Saturday either, which both surprised Anna and gave her some hope.
Jackson was out hunting. Anna was sad not to spend the weekend making sure he was okay, but relieved that they were still on the I-have-my-own-life end of the dating spectrum.
Not that working on a Saturday qualified her as having a life.
But with Jules out so much lately, Anna was catching up for Jules’s catching up. They both needed the job security, so Anna declined Kaci’s suggestion to practice Thanksgiving pies while Lance put in a Saturday at his squadron. Because Anna had work to do.
Her classes were dragging this semester, so she was glad to have an excuse to come in and double-check the color coordination on files from the last couple of weeks. She needed everything sorted for the October report, whichhadto go out Tuesday despite missing a few key points from Jules. Anna was comfortable running tests on her own, though the newness had worn off, taking the excitement with it. But she still enjoyed the filing.
Compared to school, it was fun.
But not as fun as spending Sunday organizing a kitchen for one of Lance’s new lieutenants. She couldn’t believe they paid her to sort and file their lives. She enjoyed the extra boost to her bank account, especially with Christmas coming, even if she felt guilty about the lost study time. It was hard to keep her heart in biochemistry when her label maker was humming.
Jules finally came back Tuesday morning. She brought a gush of chilly air more appropriate for a Minnesota January than a Georgia November, but she stopped in Anna’s cube to hop on the desk and screw with her organizer. “Why didn’t you and Neil do counseling?” she asked.
Anna blew out a breath she’d been holding since Thursday. “He was a prick.”
It was true.
Her ex-husband was a prick. She laughed, then shrugged. “I don’t think he ever loved me. I think he loved what I could do for his life.”
Jules chewed on the cap of Anna’s favorite orange highlighter. “Did you love him?”
“Yes.”
“Martyr.”
Anna shrugged. “I did. But I loved myself too, and I couldn’t love me for both of us. So when he decided enough was enough, I realized I could keep loving me for both of us, or I could love me for me.”
“You are truly sickening.”
“It’s a gift.”
Jules plunked the highlighter into the small space reserved for the staple remover. The marker clattered to the floor. She dropped her gaze. “Brad wants counseling. He’s—well, frankly, I think some fucked-up version of Rodney’s ghost came to pay him a visit, and now he’s found Buddha or some shit like that.”
“Brad’s good for you, Jules.”
Jules shoved her shoulder. “Shut up, Pollyanna.”
“The Brad you married? He’s good for you. You should do it.”
“I know.”
“You should do it for him too.”
