Текст книги "Native Affairs"
Автор книги: Doreen Malek Owens
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Текущая страница: 29 (всего у книги 37 страниц)
“Heath isn’t trash.”
“I don’t care what he is, young lady, he is not for you. I know his father. I know his family. A worse bunch of layabouts, substance abusers and mendicants never lived. And you have taken up with the very flower of the next generation.”
“You can’t stop me from seeing him.”
“Oh, I beg to disagree. I know where you’ve been going, who you’ve been spending time with—”
“You’ve been spying on me?”
“You’re my child, Ann, I have to look out for you.”
“What did you do, hire a private detective?”
“I already had security men working for my business. It was easy enough to assign them elsewhere.”
Ann stared at him until he looked away.
“I love him, Daddy,” she said desperately.
“You do not love him—the very idea is preposterous. You come from one of the finest families on this island and he...well, it doesn’t merit consideration. I grant you that he is a handsome boy and possesses a certain raffish charm, that’s apparent even to me. But I will not have you throw away your future on a person without education, breeding or the slightest chance of ever making a decent living.”
“That isn’t true!” Ann protested. “Heath is talented and has lots of plans—”
“I am not going to discuss this with you any further, Ann!” her father said abruptly, interrupting her. “You are not to see that Bodine boy again. If I find out that you have disobeyed me, I promise you that the consequences for this young man will be dire.”
“What would you do?” Ann whispered, her fingers gripping the seat of her chair, her eyes huge.
“You would be wise not to push me to the point of finding out,” her father said crisply. “I trust we understand each other. You may go now.”
Ann rose like an automaton and walked out of his den to face her mother waiting in the hall.
Margaret Talbot put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder, but Ann shrugged it off miserably. She knew her mother would never disagree with her father about anything, no matter what her private feelings were on the matter.
Ann went into her bedroom, slammed the door, and flung herself down on her bed, rigid and dry eyed. She was too numb to cry.
What was she going to do?
Chapter 5
“I don’t think you understand the situation, Amy,” Ann sobbed, wiping her reddened nose with a tissue. “I’m forbidden to see Heath ever again. When I don’t show up to meet him at the inn tonight, he’s going to wonder what happened to me, and if I know him he’ll go right over to my house. Can you imagine the scene that will take place then?” She fell back on Amy’s bed, closing her eyes, which were so swollen from crying they felt tight and sore.
“Take it easy, I have an idea,” Amy said, glancing into the hall to make sure Delores, the Horton’s maid, was nowhere in earshot. Her parents were out at a party.
“I’ll listen to anything,” Ann said dully.
“I’ll go to the inn’s parking lot tonight and tell Heath what happened.”
Ann sat up. “Wonderful idea. He’ll drive his bike directly to my father’s door and then beat the man senseless.”
“Not if Heath knows he’ll be able to see you here,” Amy replied slyly.
“Amy, what are you talking about?” Ann asked wearily. “I told you, my father is having me followed. I can’t go anywhere without his knowing about it.”
“He’s not having my house watched, is he?” Amy asked rhetorically.
“I don’t know, maybe,” Ann said wildly. “He’s acting like an operative for the CIA. Amy, I’m desperate. The summer will be over in two weeks and then we have to go back to school. I’ll never be able to see Heath.”
“Will you calm down and listen to me?”
“Your parents will tell my father if I meet Heath here,” Ann said in exasperation, ignoring her. “They all stick together for this kind of thing, you know that!”
“They won’t tell your father if they’re not here to see it,” Amy said triumphantly.
Ann looked at her.
“They’re going to Michigan to stay with my Aunt Rita next week. They’ll be gone for ten days.”
Ann leaned forward, feeling the first glimmer of hope since the dismal interview with her father. “But Delores will be here,” she said, her mind already racing.
Amy shrugged. “When my parents aren’t home, she’s off all the time with her boyfriend. Remember when they went to St. Kitts? She showed up for a couple of hours in the morning to clean the house and then was gone the rest of the day. We have sort of a mutual pact of silence—she doesn’t ask me what I’m up to and I do the same thing for her.”
Delores was only a few years older than Ann and Amy and was probably sympathetic to their plight.
“When are they leaving?” Ann asked.
“Monday.”
“That’s a week away!” Ann wailed. “I can’t go without seeing Heath for a week!”
“You’ll have to. This plan is the best I can do.”
Ann thought about it. “Are you sure you can get to Heath tonight?” she asked.
“No problem. I’m supposed to go over to Murchison’s, anyway. I’ll just stop at the inn on the way.”
“And you’ll tell him to meet me here when your parents go away?”
“Right.”
“How are you going to get him into your house without my father’s spies seeing him?”
“I’ll talk to him and we’ll work something out, don’t worry about it. Maybe he can arrive early, hide his bike a few blocks away, then come in through the Cantrell yard. That place looks like a plant nursery—it will give him great cover. As far as you know nobody is following him, right?”
“As far as I know. There must be a limit to what even my father can do.”
Amy sat next to Ann on the bed and sighed. “I can’t believe the man put a tail on you.”
“He’s crazy. I always knew it. My mother knows it, too, but she’s trapped. She’s been married to him almost twenty years and she thinks it’s too late for her to start over with a new life.”
“How did he find out about Heath in the first place?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even ask. Probably one of his cronies saw us someplace and ratted. I guess he was bound to find out sooner or later, I was living in a dreamworld to think otherwise.”
“You’ve been living in a dreamworld since you met Heath, Annie,” Amy replied. “You’re just realizing that now?”
Ann said nothing.
“What time were you supposed to meet Heath tonight?” Amy asked.
“Seven.”
“All right. I’ll be there.”
“And you’ll tell him he can meet me here next week?”
“I’ll tell him. Let’s hope one of my parents doesn’t break a leg in the meantime and cancel the trip.”
Ann looked stricken.
“Only kidding. My mother won’t miss the chance to get together with her sister and dissect the rest of the family. When the plane for Michigan departs, Mom and Pop Horton will be on it.”
“I’ll pray that they are.”
“Now, come with me and wash your face. Things are looking up, kiddo.”
Ann followed Amy out of the bedroom.
She hoped that her friend was right.
* * * *
The week of waiting passed with glacial speed; Ann hung around the house, staring into space with a book propped on her lap or staring at the television with sightless eyes. Margaret Talbot hated to see her daughter so miserable, but any suggestion she made to take Ann’s mind off Heath was met with a curt rebuff. Ann was not interested in shopping, tennis, a swim at the club or a picnic on Big Palm Island. She didn’t want to buy school clothes, take a drive to Key Largo, pick out tapes at Murchison’s or books at Frawley’s. In short, she wanted to be left alone, and finally both of her parents did just that. Her father was satisfied that he had nipped his daughter’s declassé relationship in the bud; her mother was not so sure about that but maintained an anxious, concerned silence.
When the day finally arrived for her meeting with Heath, Ann tried not to show her changed mood, moping around as usual and mentioning casually at dinner that she was driving over to Amy’s that evening.
“Are you girls going out?” Margaret said brightly, pleased that Ann was demonstrating an interest in leaving the house at last.
“I don’t think so. We’ll probably just stay in and watch TV, get a pizza. Amy has some new tapes, too.”
“That sounds like fun,” Margaret chirped, and Ann felt a sharp stab of pity for her mother, who obviously loved her child and wanted her to be happy but could not reverse two decades of deferring to Henry Talbot. Ann hated lying to her mother but saw no other way to handle her present dilemma.
Ann helped Luisa clear the dinner dishes and then went immediately to her room, where she stared out her window at the swimming pool until it was time to leave.
If she left too early, her father might get suspicious, and the last thing she needed was to have him on the trail again.
Ann breezed past her parents, car keys in hand, at a quarter to seven.
“Have a good time, dear,” her mother said, looking up from making a list for round-robin tennis on a yellow legal pad.
Her father lowered his newspaper, glanced at her, then raised it again.
Ann had to exercise extreme self restraint to drive within the speed limit on her way to Amy’s house. When she pulled into the Horton’s drive the house looked dark and her heart sank. Had something happened? It looked like nobody was home.
Ann went to the back door and saw Amy standing just inside the screen.
“Is he here?” Ann demanded.
“In my bedroom,” Amy replied, opening the door and standing aside.
Ann charged past her and ran down the hall to the bedroom wing, where Heath stood in Amy’s doorway. He grinned and Ann flew the last few feet, flinging herself on him.
“Hey,” he said, laughing, “slow down.” He hugged her tightly and caught Amy’s eye over Ann’s shoulder. He winked and nodded.
Ann clung to him as if he might vanish.
“Where’s your maid?” Heath asked Amy.
“Gone for the night.”
He nodded again. There was a long silence and then Amy cleared her throat ostentatiously, saying, “Well, I guess I’ll just leave you two kids alone.”
“Where are you going?” Ann asked, her voice muffled by Heath’s shirt.
“Over to Carol’s, she’s back from North Carolina.”
“Okay to give us till around midnight?” Heath asked.
“Fine. See you then.”
Amy slipped out through the patio doors and Heath held Ann off to look at her.
“You’ve lost weight,” he said sternly.
“Just a couple of pounds. What did you expect, Heath? It was hell not being able to see you or even talk to you.” She flung her arms around his neck again and he kissed her forehead.
“How did you get in here?” Ann asked him. “Are you sure nobody saw you?”
“Princess, knock off the KGB stuff, will you, please? Your dad is not Big Brother, he can’t be watching everybody.”
“He was watching me. How do you think he found out about us?” Ann countered.
“I know, Amy told me, but I refuse to sneak around like a burglar just because your father has gone nuts.”
“Don’t underestimate him, Heath, he can hurt us if he wants to—he already has. We haven’t seen each other for a week!”
“Yeah, well I’m planning to do something about that,” Heath said grimly.
“What do you mean, Heath?” Ann asked, alarm in her tone. “You’re not going to do something stupid, are you?”
“Never mind. We’re together now, let’s enjoy it. Come on over here and sit down with me.” He took her by the hand and led her out to the ornate living room, where he sat on the sofa and Ann curled up in his lap.
“Spiffy place,” he said, looking around curiously. “Must be nice to have the bucks. Does your house look like this?”
“I guess so. Not quite. My mother’s taste is not as... well, gaudy.”
“What, no gold-fringed lampshades?”
“No.” Ann buried her nose under his collarbone and inhaled deeply of his scent. “I missed you so much,” she said as his arms came around her again. “Heath, what are we going to do? When will we see each other again?”
“Come on, Princess. We just got here and you’re worrying about that already?”
“Yes, I’m worrying about that already. I can’t think about anything else. I’m going back to school in ten days or so. What will happen then?”
“I’ll come and visit you at school.”
“Heath, don’t be ridiculous, that place is like Fort Knox. You practically have to take a blood test to show you’re a relative to get on the visitors list. I won’t be able to see you there.”
“Can’t you sneak off campus or something?”
“I can try. But if my father warns them, as he surely will, they’ll be watching me, supervising my every move. Oh, it’s all so complicated I can’t stand it.”
“We’ll work it out.”
“How? I don’t know what to do, and I’m afraid—” She stopped suddenly.
“What?” Heath said, stroking her hair.
“I’m afraid that you’ll get tired of this cloak-and-dagger routine, decide that I’m not worth it. After all, there are plenty of willing girls around and none of them have Henry Talbot for a father.”
“Oh, baby, no. Don’t think that. You’ll always be worth it, and your father isn’t going to keep us apart. I promise you that.” He turned her face up for his kiss, and it wasn’t long before they were prone on the sofa, the deprivation of the past week escalating into a hunger that neither one of than seemed able to control. Finally Heath tore himself away and sat up, pulling Ann’s clinging arms from his neck.
“Baby, we can’t do this,” he said breathlessly. “It’s not right, you’re just a kid...”
“Oh, and you’re Methuselah?”
“I know a lot more about life than you do, and I know you’re not ready for this.”
“Why?” Ann said, crawling into his lap again. “Am I such a baby? Do I feel like a baby?” She took his hand and placed it on her breast, leaning forward to kiss his neck inside the collar of his shirt.
He groaned and closed his eyes.
“Love me,” Ann whispered. “I need you so much. Love me now, please.”
He didn’t move.
Ann slipped her hand inside the waistband of his jeans and caressed him.
Heath moaned in response and let his head fall back in abandon. Ann worked on him, teasing him into a reaction he knew was reckless but could no longer avoid. In seconds Ann was pinned under him as he became the aggressor, taking the lead in a strong-arm instant that frightened but also thrilled her. He pulled her summer T-shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor, disposing of her scrap of a bra moments later. He kissed the tanned skin of her bare throat, then moved lower, settling on the pink bud of her nipple. Ann sighed with pleasure and arched her back as he sucked gently, then she gasped as he increased the pressure. She tossed her head from side to side as his lips left her breast and traveled down to her navel, bared by the low waistband of her shorts. His tongue was hot, wet, and her whole being seemed concentrated in the nerve endings he was stimulating. She was flooded with warmth and desire. When he sat up abruptly she tried to hold him, but he slipped out of her grasp and tore off his shirt, then stepped out of his jeans. She averted her gaze as he undressed, then looked up as he moved to join her.
He was beautiful, his skin a smooth, even shade of light copper, a combination of his heritage and long hours spent in the sun. He was lean but not thin, his arms defined by long, ropy muscles, his abdomen flat, his legs long and trim.
She shuddered with skittish anticipation as he lowered himself to her again. Ann had never known a naked man’s full arousal, and she stiffened in shock as he embraced her and ran his hands down the length of her body.
He felt her reaction and said, “Easy, easy,” into her ear. Then he kissed her gently. The surprising softness of his mouth, his muscular arms binding her to him, lulled her back into his spell again. She relaxed as he twined his limbs with hers, turning her toward him and caressing her until she was eager and receptive once more. When she shifted instinctively and felt him ready against her, she pressed into him with an eager innocence that inflamed him. As he unzipped her shorts, she lifted her hips to help him remove her clothes, and then moaned with satisfaction when he slipped his hand between her legs.
“So sweet,” he murmured, and she sighed, her face flushed, her brow dewed with perspiration. He stroked her until she wound her legs around his hips, begging for the bliss of total union.
“Are you sure?” he muttered, and Ann looked up at him in a daze of passion, at the ruddy undertone of his amber-hued skin, the sweeping dark lashes shading his eyes. His mouth was moist and swollen from her kisses, parted to show a glimpse of white teeth. She leached up and sank her fingers into his lush hair.
“I love you, Heath. I’m sure.”
He pulled her to him tightly, then gasped as she touched him tentatively, encircling him with her fingers. He bit his lip as she trailed the fingers of her free hand over his abdomen, then stroked his thighs, sculpted with muscle. Her touch, light but probing, finally brought him to the limit of his endurance. With one swift movement he positioned her under him, looming above her, his skin hot to the touch and his body taut with tension.
“I want you,” he said hoarsely.
“I want you, too,” she whimpered, and he took her at her word, entering her in that moment.
Ann froze at the sudden pain, and Heath paused, then pulled back, enfolding her tenderly.
“Are you all right?” he gasped, fighting the overpowering urge to sink into her again.
“I don’t know,” she said in a small voice.
He rocked her until he felt the tension seep from her body and then began to caress her again, bringing her slowly back to the peak they had approached before. When he entered her the second time she went rigid, then sighed deeply, making a sound of fulfillment that echoed his own.
“Yes?” he said hoarsely, his face buried in the damp curve of her shoulder.
“Oh, yes,” she breathed in reply.
He took her at her word.
* * * *
“Are you awake?” Heath said softly.
“Mmm,” Ann replied luxuriously, stirring and stretching.
“Do you want to take a shower or something? I’m sure Amy wouldn’t mind.”
“Shower?”
“Aren’t you bleeding?”
“Just a little.” Ann sat up and looked around the room. Everything seemed different but she know that it was she herself who had changed.
“Are you feeling okay?” Heath asked anxiously.
“Stop fussing, Heath. I’m all right,” Ann said, smiling as she got up and looked around on the carpeted floor for her clothes. She handed Heath his crumpled jeans and then slipped quickly into her own shorts and T-shirt.
Silence reigned as they dressed.
“Annie, are you sorry?” Heath finally said desperately, afraid that she regretted what they had done.
She turned and embraced him, kissing his bare shoulder.
“Not for a second,” she replied. “I’m just thinking about what we’ll do tomorrow. And the day after that.”
“I’ve been thinking, too,” Heath said quietly, holding her. “I wasn’t going to tell you this just yet but I didn’t realize things would go this far so fast.”
Ann drew back to look at him curiously. “What are you talking about?”
“Come here and sit down,” Heath said, leading her by the hand back to the sofa they had shared.
Ann sat next to him and waited attentively.
He took a deep breath. “I have a cousin in Georgia who manages a marina there. I’ve been in touch with him and he says he can give me a job.”
All the color drained from Ann’s face. “You’re moving to Georgia?” she whispered, horrified.
“I’ll move if you’ll come with me,” he replied quietly.
Ann sat perfectly still for a stunned moment, then flung her arms around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes!” she yelled, going weak with relief and joy.
“I’ve already checked, and seventeen is old enough to get married there. We’ll get a place and I’ll work full-time. I know it won’t be much at first but we’ll be together. That’s what’s important, right?”
Ann was crying silently, unable to talk, but she nodded vigorously, clutching him.
“The only thing I’d feel bad about is you leaving school....” he said in a worried tone.
“I can take the high school equivalency exam, that’s not a problem. I’m sure I could pass it right now,” Ann replied, recovering her voice and wiping her eyes with the hem of her T-shirt. “And I can get a job, too, waitressing or something. We’ll be just fine, Heath. I know we will.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“I’m so happy.” She sniffed loudly.
“Look, Princess, I think you should take some time to consider this idea. If you come with me you’d be giving up a lot—your home and security, your whole past life—to go off with a guy with an uncertain future.”
She put her hand over his mouth. “My decision is made. Just name the time and the place.”
He searched her face and saw that she was serious. He nodded, exhaling forcefully. “Okay. I’ll need a couple of days to work out the details. Once we get to Georgia, we can stay with my cousin until we find an apartment. It will probably be crowded at first—he has a couple of kids, but he said that there’s a spare bedroom fixed up in the basement.”
“Oh, Heath, I don’t care, I don’t care,” Ann said, kissing him wildly. “I’ve been going crazy, wondering how we would work this out, wondering how I would ever be able to see you, and here’s our solution!” She laughed delightedly.
“I have enough money saved for bus fare for both of us, and if I sell my bike I’ll have more...”
“Don’t sell your bike!” Ann said, aware of how much he loved it. “Can’t we ride it there?”
“It won’t exactly be the most comfortable trip,” Heath said dryly.
“That’s all right.”
“You can only bring one duffel bag to put on the back of the bite,” he said warningly.
“That’s fine. Anything you say.”
“I can let you know through Amy when and where to meet me,” he said, his arms tightening around her.
“Good.”
“We’ll do it,” he said, his tone confident.
“We will,” she echoed, her lips curving unconsciously into a smile again.
All her problems were solved.
* * * *
Three days later Ann was packing her single bag by the glow of a flashlight when her bedroom door opened and her father snapped on the overhead light.
Her throat closed at the sight of him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Henry Talbot said to his daughter.
Ann decided to confront him. He would have to know sooner or later, it might as well be now.
“Packing,” she said calmly.
“To go where?”
“To Georgia with Heath. I’m of age to get married there and he has a job at his cousin’s marina. I suppose you know something about this or you would be asleep, not standing here in the middle of the night demanding an explanation.”
“Luisa overheard one of your phone conversations with Amy, and she alerted me.”
“Is she on your spy payroll now, too?”
“She’s very fond of you, Ann, and doesn’t want to see you get into trouble. She did the right thing.”
“I’m not getting into trouble, I’m getting married.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. Seventeen is old enough to get a license in Georgia. You can’t stop me.”
“I certainly can. Seventeen is still minority in Florida, and I believe your paramour is of majority age. That means any intercourse between the two of you constitutes statutory rape. If he takes you across state lines, as you say he plans to, he is also in violation of the Mann Act. If you leave this house tonight to meet him, I will have him arrested within an hour.”
Ann felt her flesh go cold at his dispassionate tone. She had heard it before in reference to his business dealings, and she knew he meant every word.
“You can’t prove anything,” she finally answered, keeping her voice steady, trying not to show how frightened she was. “I’ll never give evidence against Heath.”
“If necessary, I will bring in a doctor to confirm that what I suspect is true,” her father said flatly. “But I doubt that you will let things go that far. If you care about this boy at all, you won’t want to see him in jail. And I assure you that if you pursue this foolishness, that is exactly where he will land. The usual sentence for statutory rape is several years, I understand.”
Ann sat heavily on the edge of her bed, her packing forgotten. “What do you want?” she said dully.
“I have already arranged for you to stay with Mildred Plunkett. You remember my friend in Massachusetts. I called her earlier this evening. I want you to leave for New England in the morning—I’ll take you to the airport myself. I will arrange a transfer to the Hampton School for Girls in Longmeadow for the September term. You will leave without ever seeing this boy again, and you will not communicate with him in the future. Please remember that I can raise the rape charge at any point. Don’t consider contravening me, or Heath Bodine will pay dearly for your defiance.”
Ann stared past him hopelessly, feeling all her plans and hopes shattering like delicate crystal, the shards collecting at her feet. She pictured Heath waiting for her at the appointed spot, waiting for hours in vain, finally realizing that she wasn’t coming, thinking that she had abandoned him. It was too awful; she couldn’t let it happen. But then she pictured him in handcuffs, languishing in jail, later on trial for a serious crime. That was worse.
There was no way out but to obey.
She looked at her father as a sentenced convict might look at his executioner.
“I’ll do whatever you say,” she said.
* * * *
Ann came home from school at Christmas break to find that Heath was gone. She heard from the Jensens that he had joined the navy. He had left them no forwarding address.
Ann had never known the name of Heath’s cousin in Georgia. Heath’s father would not talk to her. Henry Talbot discussed everything but his daughter’s slight lapse in romantic judgment. Margaret Talbot looked on with worried eyes and said very little. Luisa pretended that she knew nothing about the whole episode.
And she never saw Heath again.
Chapter 6
Ann sat up suddenly as a loud knock at her door pierced her reverie and brought her back to the present. She glanced at the clock on the inn’s bedside table.
She had been sitting in the armchair, lost in the past, for more than two hours.
She shook out her left leg as she walked to the door; it was stinging with pins and needles, numb from remaining in the same position for so long. She pulled the door open and saw a room service attendant standing in the corridor next to a rolling cart set lavishly with an elaborate dinner.
“For Miss Talbot,” the waiter said, glancing at the number on the door when her expression revealed her surprise.
“I didn’t order this,” Ann said.
He picked up the slip stuck under an ivory china bud vase containing a single rose. “It’s complimentary, from a Miss Amy Horton. The order was placed at one-thirty this afternoon.”
Ann smiled. Amy was determined to get her to eat, one way or another.
“All right, you can bring it in,” Ann said, tightening the belt on her robe and pushing back her hair. She stepped aside as he wheeled the cart into her room and then she fished in her purse for a tip. When he had left her alone, she lifted the shiny silver covers from the dishes and discovered that Amy had ordered enough food for an army—soup and salad, main dish and vegetables, dessert and coffee, not to mention rolls and butter and various garnishes. It was a feast.
Ann sighed. Dear Amy. She just couldn’t seem to understand that availability of food was not the problem; it was complete lack of appetite.
But after this gesture, Ann felt she had to try.
She dutifully sat down in front of the cart and picked up a roll, beginning to eat.
* * * *
Heath Bodine put down the computer printout he was trying to read and sat back in his chair. He looked around the office of Bimini’s Big Palm marina, aware that he would not get any work done today. This pit stop had been a waste of time.
The phone at his elbow rang and the secretary in the outer office picked it up. He watched the red light blink and then switch off without interest.
Since he’d left Harold Caldwell’s office he’d been unable to think of anything but his meeting with Ann and the proposal he had made to her. And then when he’d checked in with his Miami branch and heard that she’d left him a message there, he’d known that he had won.
She was going to do what he wanted.
It was curious how little satisfaction that piece of knowledge gave him.
After waiting eleven years to take revenge for Ann’s betrayal, he’d thought that the success of his well-planned scheme would taste a little sweeter.
Perhaps the lack of savor resulted from Ann’s defeated air, the obvious fragility of the woman who’d confronted him in the lawyer’s office. She had always seemed delicate—it was part of what had first attracted him to her—but now she looked haunted, ethereal, unhappy. He supposed that it was only to be expected, with her family’s company on the ropes and her brother in jail. But he had still anticipated some vestige of the old, feisty Ann, always ready to take on her father, the town, the entire universe, anyone who might separate her from her down-scale lover across the tracks.
But of course, that image wasn’t the real Ann, or she would never have left him pacing the Big Palm bus station for twelve hours, watching the sunrise and the day begin, looking for her every time the door opened. He remembered the commuters with their paper cups of steaming coffee, the mothers dragging unwilling toddlers toward family visits, the single travelers passing him with closed faces. He’d been unable to acknowledge that she wasn’t coming until he’d finally fallen asleep and woken to the gathering dusk to find himself still alone.
Then he’d sped back to Lime Island on his bike, the tears streaming down his face, to find Ann’s house closed and dark, a padlock on the garage. He’d torn out of the driveway and gone straight to Luisa Sanchez’ house in Hispaniola. Her face expressionless, she’d told him that Ann had transferred to a new boarding school in Massachusetts and her parents had gone to their vacation home in Maine for several weeks. She didn’t know anything more.
Amy Horton was no help; whatever had caused Ann to change her plans, she hadn’t told Amy about it before she’d left.
End of story.
He had joined the navy the next day.
Heath rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking about that break with Ann, the way it had formed the rest of his life. With his background, it had been difficult for him to trust anyone, but she had somehow slipped inside the barriers his nineteen-year-old self had erected against the world and won his heart.
Then, when Daddy Talbot crooked his imperious finger, she had tossed that heart away as if it were garbage.
