Page 67 of You Were Invited
“Pete’s right.” Molly handed Annie a mug. “You don’t have to handle this alone.”
Annie sipped the chamomile tea. She hadn’t considered that Chris might stalk her. She didn’t think he was that kind of person, though. That required… effort.
“I appreciate that, but… I don’t want to escalate things. I’d be worried that negative attention will make things worse.”
“Well, at the very least we can block him. That way, he’ll hit a wall there, too. He can’t get to you through us.”
“Not sure why we didn’t think to do it sooner,” Peter said, rubbing his face.
“If you don’t want us engaging with him at all, we won’t,” Molly said. She gave her husband a pointed look.
Peter’s expression softened. “We’ll follow your lead on this.”
Annie nodded, grateful. “Thank you both. Sorry for all this drama.” She thought about bringing up Julian, and how she missed him, too, but that seemed too irrelevant in that moment.
“It isn’t your fault,” Peter said gently.
“Not even a little bit, hun. That man is the only one who should be apologizing.”
“I feel so stupid sometimes,” Annie admitted. “For staying as long as I did. For not seeing what was happening.”
Peter shook his head firmly. “That’s what manipulators do, Annie. Even smart, capable people can fall for their acts.”
“I guess that’s true.” Annie dabbed her cheeks. The tears had stopped, but her eyes were puffy and her nose was stuffed. Bell settled at her feet, her small head resting on Annie’s toes. She felt drained, but her friends made her feel more loved than ever. “Thank you both so much. For everything– the room, the support, just… being here. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you guys.”
Molly held her hand, and Peter reached out and did the same. Molly smiled. “That’s what family does.”
At the word “family," Annie almost lost it again. She clutched her half-full mug. She’d always felt that way about Molly, and then Peter, but it had never been said out loud. “You guys really are my family,” she whispered, her voice thick. “I’mjust glad there’s no scorekeeping. Because how could I ever repay you?”
“You’d never have to,” Peter said.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few more moments before Annie set her mug down and wiped her eyes one final time. Her exhaustion was bone-deep now. “I think I need to sleep for a day straight.”
Molly helped Annie to her feet. “Everything feels more manageable after some rest. Oh, hun, it will get better.” Molly pulled Annie into a hug, and Peter followed suit. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Love you guys,” Annie whispered.
Annie headed to her room. She crawled into bed. Tomorrow was a new day, one that Christopher wasn’t going to ruin.
Before closing her eyes, she woke her phone to set an alarm. Without thinking, she then ended up in her contacts list. She hadn’t had the heart to delete Julian’s number. She paused, finger hovering over the little phone-shaped icon.
She’d never missed anyone so much.
But I still don’t have a home of my own,she thought, setting her phone aside.I’ve settled nothing. I’ve made no progress!
Sighing, she set her phone aside. He didn’t need her mess.
And she still needed to save herself.
twenty-five
Not so long ago Julian never would’ve guessed he’d be nursing a busted handanda broken heart.
The accident happened over a month ago now. It was obvious his hand wasn’t all the way healed, but he was bored as hell. Because his hand had difficulty curling around the handles of his tools, it forced him to take frequent breaks. He forced himself to keep plugging along.
Rest alone isn’t going to heal this heartache.
Early in the afternoon, his stomach growled for the fourth or fifth time. He finally gave up, loaded into his truck, and made the drive down the mountain to No Wait Diner. He sat at the counter. It was mid-afternoon, so the place was nearly empty. He ordered his usual, but once the food was in front of him, he seemingly lost interest.
