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Thanksgiving went by without a hitch.
Annie cooked a delicious turkey breast even without drying out, which she put down to the abundance of gravy she’d made to serve alongside. The vegetables were not bad either, and because it was the two of them, she even gave the green bean casserole a try. There was way too much food, but the fun part was the next few days of using it up. They actually worked together to finish off the last of the turkey and veggies in different dishes.
The next holiday was Christmas and Annie didn’t know how to even start asking the questions. Ryan and Katherine had invited them over for Christmas, but Caleb said he’d get back to them.
Her apartment hadn’t been truly lived in for the past week, which was why she was taking Tara there now. She used the elevator to take Tara to her room because pulling it up the stairs didn’t appeal. She no longer worried about people stopping her in the street. When they assumed Tara was hers, she didn’t dispute it, but accepted it. When Tara was old enough, she would tell her the truth.
The elevator stopped on her floor and she pushed the stroller toward her door. Sliding the key into the lock, she entered her apartment and saw the mail had been posted to her. This rarely happened. The landlord only did this when the mailboxes downstairs were overflowing. She pushed Tara over the mail. Some of it had been pushed aside by the door. Placing a lock on the wheel, she bent down and picked up a bunch of letters.
Closing the door, she started putting each letter into piles. The ones she recognized as bills were placed on the counter and she’d deal with them now. The advertisements went into a different pile to be recycled. She had three different letters and stopped when she came to one. The handwriting she recognized from years ago.
Tara paused.
It was her ex-fiancé’s writing. She’d recognize it anywhere.
Annie looked at Tara. “I have no idea what’s going on,” she said.
Tearing into the envelope, she pulled out the letter. She opened it up to find two letters—one from her friend, one from her ex. Annie took a deep breath and quickly folded them up. “I … I can’t.” She shoved them into Tara’s bag and quickly moved around her apartment, doing what she needed. The letters had unnerved her. They were gone. Why was she getting mail from them?
By the end of the day, Annie had her answers. Tara’s parents had some requests and the letter was to be mailed exactly three months after they had passed away. They had made plans, and that was freaking scary. Not only did she find out the answer to the letters, she took the rest of the afternoon to pay all the bills and deal with the remaining mail.
By the time she got back to Caleb’s apartment, Tara was restless. She pushed her into the main living room and took her out of the stroller. “I’m so sorry that took so long, baby girl.”
Annie fed her, rubbed her back, and then sat with her in the sitting room while she laid and wriggled on the play mat Caleb had purchased for his apartment. She couldn’t look away from the little girl.
Caleb said he had a few meetings to attend and wouldn’t make it back until late. Their food was already in the oven, keeping warm. She’d cooked a pasta bake for them. Annie hoped the pasta wasn’t too dried out by the time he arrived home.
She stared down at the letters wondering what an earth could be inside. Being the guardian of Tara was a shock. This was even more so.
With all the wriggling, Tara wore herself out, and by the time Caleb arrived, it was close to nine. Annie had showered and changed into some lounge clothes.
She moved toward him. “Evening, honey,” she said.
Caleb laughed. “That is the best greeting I’ve had all day.” He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hard. “I’ve missed you all day long. Did you go to your place?”
“Yeah, I did. Had a lot of bills to pay. I checked through my fridge. Got rid of everything that was off, and brought the rest of it here.”
“Yeah, there’s something I wanted to ask you about that,” Caleb said.
“Er, before you ask me whatever it is, I … this was among the letters.” She’d taken the letter to the kitchen.
Caleb took it. “I don’t recognize the return address,” he said.
“It’s from Tara’s parents,” Annie said. “There’s two letters and I … I haven’t read them. I’ve opened them but I’ve not read them.” She nibbled her lip.
“Why haven’t you read them?” he asked.
“What if they plan to take Tara away from me?” She shook her head. “I can’t. I love Tara. Would they be that cruel?”
