* * *
Annie spent the rest of the evening burrowed beneath the comforter on the king-size bed in the honeymoon suite, her thoughts bobbing like buoys in the harbor during a storm. At least she’d had the strength to call Earl and ask him to visit Kevin, to say she was tied up at the Inn, but she’d be back at the hospital in the morning. She wanted to tell Meghan that Taylor was gone, but Annie didn’t have the strength to help her untangle anything. She wouldn’t even be able to help her brother, if he’d asked.
She didn’t recall what else Simon told her. Her mind kept sprinting from wondering if he’d only said what he’d said because he’d been trying to ease his guilt, make amends, or if he genuinely felt that she’d want to know.
Southern California had been Brian’s dream—an ideal reason to get away from his family, the expectations of his parents, the never-ending control levied on him by his know-it-all sister. He wanted to earn a postgrad degree in school administration that would put him on the path to becoming an elementary school principal. “The principal is your pal,” she remembered from a spelling lesson when she’d been young. She’d shared that with Brian when he’d shared his dream. They’d laughed as young lovers laugh, as if everything was bright and happy and going to go their way.
Southern California was about two thousand, six hundred miles away by air, nearly three thousand by car. It had been Brian’s dream to go; it became Annie’s dream, too. She knew she could teach anywhere: she wanted that, she wanted children, and mostly, she wanted Brian.
It had been a long, long time ago. And now, it was an odd coincidence—perhaps those really did happen sometimes?—that Brian had wanted to flee from his roots, yet Simon was the one who’d wound up doing that.
When her tears finally abated, Annie closed her eyes. The next thing she knew it was dark outside and someone was edging under the comforter, someone who carried an aroma of salty sea air mingled with a touch of furry dog.
“John?” she asked.
Then a rough little tongue tickled her face. Restless. Surely, the sweetest dog ever.
Annie laughed. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” She cuddled Restless, rubbing his fluffy ears and his belly.
“I figured you might want to throw me out, but you’d never say no to the mutt.”
She reached across the wide bed and said, “I would never throw either of you out.”
John climbed under the covers and moved close to her. “I love you,” he said. “And I think I love Bill, too.”
There was only one “Bill” in Annie’s world then. “Simon’s friend?”
“Yeah. I ran into him downstairs. He told me where to find you. My dad called and said you asked him to go to the hospital. Lucy insisted on going, too; my bet is they’ll stay there all night. Anyway, he said you needed some time alone.”
“I’m not alone now.”
“I noticed. You have a dog on your chest.”
“And you’re here, too. I’m glad.” She shifted Restless to the end of the bed and rested her head on John’s shoulder. Then she told him about her conversation with Simon. When she finished, she simply said, “So that’s why he’s been here.”
He stroked her hair and kissed her neck. “Are you okay?”
“I am,” she said and realized that she meant it. “But I’m ready for summer to be over. For life to begin again.”
“It will. Soon.”
She couldn’t yet tell him the details about Kevin, Meghan, Taylor. Not until . . . well, not until she had her own priorities in line. “But the end of the season also means Francine will be going back to Minnesota. Then I have the book tour. Six weeks. From the third week of September straight through October.”
“Maybe you’d like company?”
She raised up on one elbow. “You want to come on the book tour?”
“I’ve racked up a ton of vacation time. I can take at least a couple of weeks off. Where are you going?”
“Chicago, L.A., Bradford, Pennsylvania . . .”
“Count me in. I’ve always hankered a trip to Bradford. Where the hell is it?”
She laughed. “I’m not sure. But I think it’s cold there. And I know I’ll be awfully busy.”
“All night?”
“No.”
