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The telephone rang. Deb waited for Annie to reach for it.
“Do you want me to take that?” she said, after the phone had rung three times
Annie shook her head. “Let the machine pick up. I’m not fit to talk to anybody.”
The answering machine clicked on.
“Hi,” Annie’s disembodied voice said. “It’s me, but I can’t take your call right now. Leave a message and your number, and I’ll give you a ring soon as I can.”
“Very onginal,” Deb said with a smile.
Annie smiled back at her, but her smile disappeared at the sound of Chase’s voice.
“Annie? Annie, it’s me. Please, babe, pick up if you’re there.”
“Speak of the devil,” Deb whispered.
“Okay,” Chase said, and sighed. “But I’ve got to tell you, it’s a problem. How does a guy find out why his ex-wife won’t talk to him, if she won’t talk to him?” Annie folded her arms. “He knows why,” she hissed to Deb.
“Here’s the deal,” Chase said, and cleared his throat. “I’m in Puerto Rico. I’ve got this new client... Hell, Annie, you don’t want to hear the whole story. The thing is, I’m flying back to New York tonight. Matter of fact, I’m at the airport down here, right now.”
“Fascinating,” Annie muttered. “Now he’s going to give me his itinerary.”
“I’ll only be in New York for a couple of days before I head back down to San Juan, and then I’m liable to be gone for a while. And I figured, if there was any last chance you’d see me again...”
“Sleep with him, he means,” Annie said, glowering at the telephone.
“I know I’ve said some of this before, babe, maybe a hundred times to that damn machine of yours, but I guess one last try can’t hurt, so here goes. Annie, I know we didn’t intend to get involved again. I know we went away together because I dug us into a hole with Dawn. But I thought—I really thought that night we spent together was incredible. And—”
“And we ought to try it again,” Annie said coldly. She tried smiling brightly at Deb but it didn’t work. Her smile trembled and tears glittered in her eyes.
“And I knew I didn’t have any right to ask you to take me back, Annie. That’s what I kept thinking, all the way back to Seattle. You’ve made a new life for yourself, and you’ve found a new guy, and I could tell you regretted what had happened, the minute you woke up that morning. You were so quiet, with that same shuttered look you had the last few years we were married.”
“Annie?” Deb said uncertainly. “Are you hearing this?”
“Annie,” Chase said, his voice roughening, “dammit, babe, I love you! If you really want the pansy poet instead of me, you’re gonna have to look me in the eye and tell me so. You’re gonna have to say, ‘Chase, I don’t love you anymore. What happened in that cabin was all pretense. I don’t want to marry you again and live with you forever...”’ Chase drew a ragged breath. “Dammit,” he said, “I’m no good at this! You want sensitive, stick with the poet. You want a guy who’s never stopped loving you, who’ll love you until the day he dies, you don’t have to look any further than me.”
“Chase,” Annie whispered, “oh, Chase...”
“The only lie I told you that entire weekend was when I said I was engaged to Janet Pendleton. Janet’s a nice woman. I like her. But I don’t love her. I told her that, a few days ago. I could never love anyone, except you.”
“Annie,” Deb said desperately, “pick up the phone!”
“They’re calling my flight, babe, but hell, I’m not getting on! I changed my plans. I’m gonna fly to Boston instead. I’ll be at your door in a few hours and I’m warning you, if you don’t open it when I ring that bell, so help me, I’ll bust it dow—”
Annie made a dive for the phone, but it was too late. All she heard when she picked it up was a dial tone.
“Annie,” Deb said, “what are you going to do?” Annie’s smile glittered. “Boston,” she said, “here I come.”
* * *
It was raining in Boston, too.
All flights, departing and arriving, were delayed, the soothing voice over the public address system kept repeating.
The terminal was jammed with weary travelers. Bodies were draped everywhere as people tried to snatch some sleep. There were lines at the ladies’ rooms, at the snack counters, at the newsstands. Babies screamed, irate passengers argued with overworked ticket agents and Annie noticed absolutely none of it.
