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Annie stepped onto the elevator. “You’re right. I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry.”
He took her hand, and a thrill rushed through her whole body at the simple contact of his fingers on hers. She licked her dry lips. Five years—that’s how long it had been since she’d been with anyone. How pitiful was that? After quitting her jobs and focusing on her writing career, dating had been wiped out of the equation.
She didn’t want to be fooled again. Not that every single man was like her ex. Far from it, but she didn’t want to put herself out there again. It had been hard to do so with Tara’s dad. He’d been so outgoing. He loved to party, and even though she hadn’t been part of that crowd, she had forced herself to do it for him. She had loved him enough to change. He’d not loved her, though.
She pushed those thoughts and memories out of her mind and focused on the now—of the elevator descending to the main floor, which it did.
They stepped out, heading to the doors. She rushed forward and grabbed the main door so that he could roll out easily. Once they were outside in the cold, feeling the icy wind on her cheeks, she breathed a sigh of relief. Caleb was right. It felt so good.
She looked down at Tara and reached inside the bottom of the stroller, into the bag. Pulling out the blanket she’d purchased online the other day, she tucked it around the little girl.
“Should I cover her face or her cheeks? Won’t she get too cold?”
“She’ll be nice and cozy. Don’t worry. Relax.”
“Relax. Right. I can do that. See. I can do this.”
She walked beside Caleb as they headed down the street. It had been a long time since she went for a walk. Long before Tara came into her world. Her life had been dedicated to her work for so long, because that was all she had lived for. There was nothing else to occupy her day, so she’d gotten up and worked. She rarely stopped to eat and worked until she passed out. The days rolled together, until she got the call for Tara. That had been a wake-up call.
This was the first time she had taken any real time for herself. Caleb had started to get her back into a routine.
“Take deep breaths,” Caleb said. “Feel that cold air on your skin.”
She did and it felt so good. They headed toward the local park. This was a place she’d never been.
“What day is it?” she asked, a little confused to see all the kids at the park already. It was a little before lunchtime.
“It’s Saturday,” he said.
“What?”
It was Saturday. The days had no meaning to her the past few weeks. Not that they had any real meaning before.
“Relax.”
“I am … relaxing.” She looked over at the swings and the climbing frame. The kids were all over the park, loving it from their laughter, and she couldn’t help but watch and soak it up. They all looked so happy and she was more than happy for them.
In fact, as they stood inside the gates of the park, Annie found herself calming down. With only herself and her mother for so long, she would often wish for a big family. Whenever her mother had been working, Annie had spent a lot of time on her own. They had lived in a small apartment, and she would look out the window, see other large families, or watch them on television or in movies, and it was what she always wanted. It was a dream she hadn’t given up on. Not really. It was just a dream she had put to sleep for now while she worked on her career.
“Come on,” Caleb said.
She looked at Tara who had that wide-eyed innocence she loved so much. The world was all new and exciting to her. She hadn’t been let down by those who loved her. Not abandoned by a dad who wanted to go out screwing his way through women like there was no tomorrow. She hadn’t known heartache. Annie looked at the little girl and knew there was going to be pain. Her parents had already been taken from her.
Don’t you worry, sweet girl, I am going to take care of you. I am going to love you, and I’m going to make sure you never feel pain.
She knew there would be pain she couldn’t control, but everything else she was going to protect.
Chapter Three
“You’re still helping this hopeless mother?” Ryan asked.
Caleb stared across the restaurant’s table at his best friend. “You wanted to have drinks and catch up, not be a bastard about it.”
Ryan held up his hands. “Dude, you’ve been helping this woman out for what, two months?”
“It’s been six weeks.”
