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“I don’t know.”
“At least there hasn’t been any more trouble.” Mandy looked at her with troubled eyes. “I just want you to know that I’d do anything to help you, if I could.”
“I know that, Mandy. But we’re fine—we’re safe. The important thing for you to think about is the exciting event coming up, when that baby of yours decides to arrive. So let’s focus on that.”
DESPERATELY WISHINGSHE’Dnever gone to the soda fountain with Clint Heath, Annie avoided Dad’s eyes. The look of disappointment on his face made her feel lower than dirt.
“She...um...made it up?”
Matt gave a snort of disbelief. “You think yourdoctorwould lie about something like this? She took the time to text me because she was very concerned about your health.”
“Maybe...” Annie thought fast. “She’s just desperate or something. And wants you tolikeher again.”
A look of pain flashed in Dad’s eyes, and it took a few minutes for him to speak.
He’d been a lot more quiet since he’d quit seeing Jolie, hadn’t been smiling or teasing her and Charlie at all. The change in him filled Annie with a sense of loss.
“You think an adult would lie about a man’s children in an effort to save a relationship?” Dad shook his head. “Shecaresabout you.”
Embarrassed, Annie studied the tips of her Nikes. “I—I just think it’s pretty crummy for her to go around spying like that.”
“She was simply driving down Main and happened to see you. The point is that you were with that boy again—the one who shoplifted. And you were acting irresponsibly. Annie, it’s foolish to risk all kinds of health complications just because you want to be like the other kids. You could choose a diet pop, and that wouldn’t make you unacceptable to any kids who were real friends.”
She could feel her dad giving her The Look, but she refused to meet his gaze. He was right. She knew better.
But when Clint had asked her to walk to the drugstore with him, she’d gone all tingly inside and had felt so special when he’d offered to buy her the malt.
“Jolie feels it’s time for you to be set up with a continuous glucose monitor. You would love it, I think. No more pricking your fingertips, and you’d always know exactly how you were doing. A good thing, right?”
She gave him a dubious look. “Maybe.”
“One other thing.” Dad gave a ragged sigh. “Your aunt Betty called today. She mentioned that you’ve written letters to some of your Chicago cousins, asking to stay with anyone who’d take you in.”
The letters.Annie’s heart sank.
It had been so long, she’d forgotten that she’d written them those first few weeks in Garrett Bluff. From the gravelly sound in Dad’s voice, her betrayal must hurt him a lot.
He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Do you want to go back and live with your aunt, Annie? Are you that unhappy here with me and Charlie?”
With as much trouble as she’d been, maybe hewantedher to go. Her eyes burning, she looked up at the hurt in his eyes. He looked...older, somehow. And as sad as she felt. “No, I want to stay here, with you. Always. I wrote those letters a long time ago.”
“Are you sure? I know it isn’t always easy, being a new girl in town.”
“It isn’t so easy for you to deal with me, either, I guess. Maybe things will get better?”
His answering smile seemed to light up his whole face.
MATT STOOD ATthe site of the Foster house and scowled as he studied the terrain. First Annie, and now this. It had been quite a day.
The Fosters’ basement should have been dug and poured already, but delays on the approval of the plans had set them back. Now the crew was scheduled for Monday...if the forecast for four days of heavy rain didn’t prove true.
Eight days had passed since Jolie had last been at his house, asking what was wrong. The cloudy skies didn’t begin to compare to the dark, overwhelming emptiness he felt inside.
The Maxwell attorney had made it crystal clear that Jolie would be disowned if she and Matt stayed together. Given Robert’s wealth and vast land holdings, how could Matt even consider letting that happen?
He’d struggled over what he had to do to prevent any attempts at reconciliation.
Then he’d delivered a killing blow that she would never forgive. Knowing how much she loved children, he’d implied that she wasn’t good enough to mother his.
