Page 64 of Don’t Open Your Eyes

“Thanks again for rearranging your schedule to accommodate my trip. What’s going on?”

“The girls are in their rooms. Parker’s at my feet, and I’m about to watch a crime drama on BBC.”

She was suddenly homesick. “Wish I was there.”

“Me too, babe. Only one more night.”

“My meeting tomorrow goes until four, so I’ll have to take the red-eye. I’ll get in at seven a.m.”

“I’ll be there.”

When Annabelle ended the call, she sent a text to each of the girls telling them good night, and then called room service and ordered a glass of wine and a scallop entrée. While she waited, she sorted through her work emails. She got up when she heard a knock on the door, expecting room service. When she looked through the peephole, she was surprised to see Chase. She opened the door.

“Hey, what’s up?”

He was dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt and was beaming from ear to ear. In his hands he held a bottle of champagne. “We just hit half a million subscribers!”

She broke out into a wide smile. “Seriously?”

“Yep! I just found out. You have to have a celebratory drink with me.”

She was about to answer when she saw the room service cart coming toward them.

“I’ll wait on the balcony,” Chase said. Before she could respond, he walked past her.

After the food was left, Annabelle stood still, indecision filling her. Another dream coming true. But what could she say to him? She took a deep breath and joined Chase outside. He’d already poured a glass for each of them, and he handed her one.

“Thanks for everything you’ve done to help. This is a dream come true. Cheers.”

“Cheers,” she said, touching her glass to his and taking a sip. Her eyes lingered a moment on his mouth, and she found herself wondering what it would feel like to kiss him. She brought the glass to her lips and took a gulp, forcing herself to look away. They sat down in the chairs facing the beach, and she was overcome once again with that same sense of déjà vu. She tried to shake it off. “Congratulations. It’s quite an accomplishment.”

“Thanks, I can hardly believe it myself. This should help with the adaptation discussions.”

“Definitely! Your family must be thrilled.”

A cloud came over his face. “My son is psyched, but Tara doesn’t really get it. The only comment she made was that she hoped this didn’t mean I’d be gone all the time now.”

Annabelle didn’t know what to say. Was this the classic “my wife doesn’t understand me” schtick? “I’m sure she’ll come around. And it is hard when someone has to travel a lot.”

“I’m sorry. I must sound like a real jerk; I don’t mean to complain about her. Do you ever wish you could go back and change things that you had no idea at the time would have such a profound effect later?”

She thought back to that last year in college. She blew out a breath and turned to him. “Like what?”

“All I ever wanted was a family. Maybe it’s because growing up, I didn’t have much of one. Like your situation, my dad took off when I was young, and it was only my mother and me. I always dreamed about having a big family.”

“I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you say anything before?” she asked.

“I guess I didn’t want to sound like I was comparing my heartache to yours.”

She took another sip of her champagne. “I’m sorry you went through that too. Do you ever hear from him?”

“No. I don’t even know where he is. And I have no desire to.”

“I get it,” she said.

“I feel like you get a lot of things about me. It’s the strangest thing, but I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

Annabelle was tempted to tell him that she’d dreamed about him, but hesitated. “I know what you mean. It does seem like we’ve known each other in a past life or something.” She forced a laugh. She didn’t believe in past lives but didn’t know what else to say.