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I refrained. Obviously.
She wouldn’t tell me what she was doing, where she was going—just that it was an urgent problem that she had to solve.
That I’d see her in a couple of days.
There was a weighted look in her eyes that told me something was wrong. That there was much more to this. With all the questions she was asking as we danced, I thought maybe she changed her mind from what she said last night. I asked her if I was moving too fast, talking about telling everyone at work about our relationship. That we could put the brakes on if that’s what she needed. But she insisted that wasn’t the case, that she was fine. That I stay. “You don’t always have to solve everyone’s problems, Liam.”
Her startling insistence shook me. I’m entirely perplexed by what on earth changed when everything between us last night had felt so right.
But she wanted to go, so I let her. I didn’t like it one bit.
When my mom died—when I realized I belonged in Atlanta with Luke and Lana Mae and Legs instead of in California with my baseball career—that was an easy decision to make. It made sense. Sure, breaking up with my girlfriend sucked. Dropping out of college sucked. But I knew it was right. The choice was simple.
But tonight, watching Annie drive away without an explanation, I realized that, for the first time in many years, my priorities have shifted. Everything in my life is not in neat, orderly, carefully-controlled boxes anymore.
I’ve allowed myself to feel. To experience love. And it’s like realizing that I’ve been living in the dark all these years.
I am where I’m at today because of Luke quitting his job and getting behind SITL, both with his time and with his money. I’m finally in a position that, if we secure this funding, I can pay him back. Give our staff job security for the future. Start investing in Legs’ future with a college fund for her—Lana Mae’s a single mom on a small salary, and I want Legs to have the brightest future imaginable. It’s a responsibility any good father figure would take for their daughter. And I love Legs more than life itself.
But I also love Annie.
Somebody finally flipped a light on, and everything is illuminated. Because of her.
“Hey!” Lana Mae’s voice carries through the night. “There you are!”
I look up to see my sister making her way towards me, wobbling on her heels as she navigates the gravel driveway.
She stops when she sees my face. “Liam, you okay? Where’s Annie?”
“She had to leave.”
She stares at me in puzzlement. “What do you mean, leave?”
I feel weirdly closed-off, like I don’t want to talk. Like all of the emotions I finally tapped into left me right along with Annie.
But they didn’t. They’re within me. And I know that, to move forward and grow, I have to not only be open and honest with Annie, like she’s taught me to do, but also with the other people in my life that I love.
“She went to the train station. She had an emergency or something.”
“An emergency? You let her take the train alone? What’s wrong with you?” Lana’s voice has gone up about two octaves with sheer indignancy.
“She didn’t want me to come, Lana. And I don’t know why she left in the first place.” I rub the base of my hand over my eye, suddenly exhausted. “I told her I wanted to tell Tim about us, and she got all weird and bolted.”
“Well what on earth are you still doing here, then?”
“It’s Luke’s wedding.”
Lana clicks her tongue in indignance. “No, I mean, why haven’t you gone after her?”
“I have to be here tonight. I need to be here for Luke, and for you and Legs. What if Dad goes at you again? I’ll need to fend him off.”
“Excuse me?!” Lana practically shrieks. She jabs me in the chest. “First off, I can fend for myself, thank you very much. Secondly, what kind of a man lets the woman he loves leave so he can be there for his SISTER?”
Well. When she puts it likethat.
“That’s not how it was. Annie wanted to do whatever this is alone.”
“And I’m sure she’s fully capable of doing whatever she’s doing alone. I don’t mean you need to be her knight in shining armor, this isn’t medieval times. But for the record, you don’t need to be mine, either. Or Allegra’s.”
