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No one refuted her this time. She walked to the cottage and went inside to get Stevie. Feeling like an outsider with the closest friends she had, Annie knew it wasn’t true. She was just paranoid and upset, thanks to Beverly.
Back outside, Stevie riding on her hip, she expressed her feelings. “What if Beverly didn’t do it? What if Steve and his girlfriend are responsible?”
“It will be straightened out once we get the report from CPS,” Dave said. “They’ve talked to everyone and will make the determination. It’s not up to us, thank heaven.”
“Well, I for one am over it,” Annie said. “Chris, will you take me home?”
“Sure. Come on, buddy,” he said, taking Stevie from Annie and swooping him up in the air. “Thanks for everything!”
Annie didn’t waste any time getting to the car. Chris glanced over at her, buckling Stevie into his seat. “Calm down, Annie. You’re about ready to explode.”
“If there’s anything that will make a woman go wild, it’s telling her to calm down.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you. About all of this.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.” She got into her seat and buckled her belt, turning around to see that in less than a minute, her son had nodded off. “My kid is sleeping already. Let’s get him home and into bed so this isn’t just a nap.”
She wanted to be alone. Wanted Chris to go to his own house, but that wasn’t possible, and she couldn’t ask him to leave. Taking a deep breath, she had to find a way to cope. And then Chris said something that would solidify her decision.
“That was quite a display you put on for my brothers back there this afternoon.”
Closing her eyes, she put her head back against the seat. Was that a reasonable comment? She decided to let him go with it. She smiled and didn’t respond. He could see it in the dim light of the dashboard.
“I was embarrassed for you.”
There, he’d said it. She’d embarrassed him.
“There was no need to be embarrassedfor me. I knew what I was doing and it felt wonderful. If you were embarrassed, that’s another thing altogether.” She turned to him. “Did it embarrass you, Chris?”
“Yes, honestly, it did.”
“Maybe our age difference is going to be an issue, which is too bad because that is the one thing we can’t do a goddamned thing about.”
She saw the telltale tick in his jaw.
“I’ll stay at the house tonight.”
She looked at him again. “Wow.”
So what she wanted to do, but had decided was too unreasonable, or crazy even, he’d decided to do.Go for it, asshole.There wasn’t anything she was going to say. He was in charge now, making all the decisions. She’d be willing to let everything that bothered her go because she didn’t know if she was being unreasonable. But all she had to do was swim in her underpants, and he was going to leave.
They went the rest of the way in silence. When he pulled into her driveway, she got out and unbuckled Stevie, grabbing his diaper bag and her purse.
“I’ll help you.”
“No, don’t bother. Please, be on your way.”
“We should talk.”
“Ah, no, we shouldn’t. You’ve said your piece, now leave.”
“You’re being unreasonable, Annie.”
“Deal with it, Chris. Goodbye.”
She managed to get the door unlocked with a sleeping toddler on her shoulder and two heavy bags while he watched. Biting her tongue seemed to be the wisest way to end the evening and she did just that. She closed the door quietly, instead of slamming it and telling him to fuck off, which she did under her breath.
Once inside, she locked the door and made sure all the shades were closed. Little Stevie was sleeping in his clothes. And after she got him tucked in with shoes off, she closed his bedroom door and went straight to the fridge for wine.
