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Chapter Nineteen
Anne
My night was horrendous. Ted, the bouncer Andrew hired, worked out great. It meant I could hide in my office all night and do what? Think about Andrew.
I didn’t need more free time to do that. What I needed was to be so busy I didn’t even have time to pee.
There was a knock on my office door, and I said, “Come in.”
“Hello, Ms. Worth. Everyone is gone and the place is locked up tight. Are you ready for me to escort you to your vehicle?” Ted asked.
“That won’t be necessary,” I said.
“It’s part of my duties,” he replied.
“Did Andrew tell you I need watching? Because I can tell you I’ve been walking myself to my car since I was sixteen. I even open my own door. Go figure. I don’t need a man to take care of me. I can do it myself.” Even got a vibrator, so I don’t need him for that either.
But I still missed him. Even as frustrated and angry I was, I missed him.
“I have never spoken to Andrew Heart. I was sent by his brother Clark.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I mean, I assumed Andrew had hired you,” I stammered. “Let me grab my purse and I’ll meet you at the front door, if that’s okay?”
“Take your time,” he said, and left my office.
Ted really was the right man for the job, and surely didn’t deserve me biting his head off. He might think I’m crazy, but my emotions were a rollercoaster and I needed off. But there was no stopping it. One minute I was angry, the next crying and fighting the urge to reach out to him, and then empty, as though everything I was, he took when he left.
Grabbing my purse, I headed to meet Ted, who was waiting patiently at the door. As promised, he walked me to my car and waited until I pulled out of the parking lot. I looked in the rearview mirror, worried that he’d actually follow me all the way home. Thankfully, he didn’t. I hated being monitored or hovered over. I liked taking care of myself.
On the way home, a herd of deer bolted from between the trees and dashed in front of my car. I applied the brakes, dimmed my headlights, and rolled to a quiet stop so as not to startle them. In the dimness of my car’s fog lights, I watched as each deer made it safely across the street.
And that’s how you do it, Andrew.
I closed my eyes and rested my head on the steering wheel. Was everything going to remind me of him? Was this a torment I’d be facing for the rest of my life?
I lifted my head and turned my headlights back on. The last thing I needed was some patrolman thinking something was wrong. They wouldn’t be able to help me. Not unless you can arrest him for breaking my heart.
I needed to go home and get some sleep. I was mentally and physically exhausted. But I had a feeling that sleep wouldn’t come easily. With any luck, Aunt Trixi wouldn’t be waiting up and I could slip into my room without any conversation at all.
I had no such luck. As soon as I walked into the cabin, she rushed over to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just tired. Going to bed,” I said.
“You need to eat something. I called the club and Sugar said you spent your entire night locked away in your office.”
“I had work to do,” I said. Didn’t do any of it, but I had plenty to do.
“And now you have food to eat. I made your favorite,” she said.
I didn’t even know I had a favorite. “I’ll reheat it when I get up.”
“I called him!”
My heart stopped and I snapped, “You did what?”
“You heard me. I called Andrew,” Trixi said.
