Chapter 6: Chapter Six

Annie swallowed hard and mentally shoved aside the rage spiking her temper. She couldn’t handle the tension, so she inhaled slowly and blew out a cleansing breath.

Reon moved in his sleep but didn’t wake up. Thank God. She waited a while to make sure he stayed asleep before continuing. “You were the one who hurt me, Andy.”

Andy’s body hummed with the tension he sensed from Annie. Despite how angry he was, he shrugged off her words, as though what she said wasn’t the truth. He knew he’d never hurt her. Never would. He loved her—loved her hard. With every fiber of his being. Andy had lived for the relationship they had. In his heart, Annie had been the one thing that kept him whole. It almost destroyed him when she left.

Seeing her—being so close to her after such a long time; that was her excuse for leaving him. No, it couldn’t be. This was way more than he thought it was. It had to be a misunderstanding and he will figure out what it was. At one time, he wanted to hate her. Oh, he wanted to rant and rave at the sheer mention of her name. Anger was his soul mate, it molested his mind and raged through his thoughts until he’d turned to the offensive liquid: alcohol.

Andy hated thinking about his past and how he suffered. Heck, he was still suffering. He shook his head, trying to throw off those memories and focus on the present. He’d learned one thing though: he could never hate the woman he loved.

Annie waited, but he didn’t answer. Could it be that he blamed her for everything? For leaving? Andy had sounded so devastated—How could that be? He was the one who...

“Look, Annie, it seems you’re getting this all wrong. I don’t want to say you’re lying, but what was so bad that you had to leave? I can’t come to terms with that. I've never hurt you. Why would you say that?”

“I’m not lying,” her voice trembled, “You broke my heart. I had to leave.”

Andy sighed. “We’ll continue this conversation later okay?”

“Fine,” she answered, her thoughts a mile away. Annie felt a sudden weakness took root in her. She felt like she’d lost a battle—a non-existent battle. Her throat itched and her nose became snuffy. Her skin appeared feverish and her eyes drooped. Perspiration dotted her forehead, and she felt chilled to her bone.

Maybe she was coming down with something or she was just as tired as her son. Why else would she just let the whole thing go? Why would she let him blame her and make it look like if she was the bad person? And given how angry she’d been with him, she should have lashed out, should have reminded him of his betrayal. His fake promises. His empty words of love and faithfulness. She shook her head to force those thoughts away.

Andy had pulled the SUV to a stop in front of a one-story white house.

“Why did we stop here?” she asked.

“This is my house,” he said, cutting off the motor.

“Your house?” She asked, puzzled. She didn’t know Andy had had a house in the area, all this time he was so close to her and yet far.

“That’s right, I bought it about six months ago.”

“B-but wouldn’t those bad men find us here?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm but failed. Tonight had been a near-death experience for both of them. And Fear still pumped hard and fast through her veins. She had her baby to protect, and she didn’t want to take any chances with his life.

“No. No one else knows of this place.” Just my best friend, Kyle, he thought. But Annie doesn’t have to know that. “Let’s go inside,” he said.

“Okay,” she said.

“Let me take the baby,” he offered, as he opened the driver’s door.

She froze for a moment. “N-no, I’ll—”

“I insist,” he said, taking the sleeping child from her arms.

Annie’s pulse leaped in reaction to his closeness. Her heart gave a wild dip in her chest at the sight of Andy holding their son with such care and gentleness. Even though he was tall and broad-shouldered, he moved with an easy grace when he held Reon. Tell him! Her mind screamed at her. Andy’s brown eyes gazed at her intently. The impact of their eyes meeting once more rocketed through her.

“Annie, let’s go in,” he said.

This time his voice cut sharply through her thoughts. His presence, his voice, his—it was too much for her. Her eyes filled with tears but she blinked them away quickly before Andy could see them. Get a grip, Annie! She retrieved the diaper bag from the seat next to her and climbed out of the vehicle. Andy placed a firm hand on her waist and escorted her. There was nothing she could do but allow him to take her to safety. But despite that, for without him, she was afraid of losing her son. And maybe her heart, once again.

As they headed up the brick walkway to the front door, her thoughts threatened to overcome her. What if those men show up? What if—

“Remember that time we walked along a path similar to this and you tripped over a rock?” Andy asked, his deep voice a cool rasp in the night. She shivered as a tingle of attractiveness raced down her spine. They’d been holding hands that day.

“I teased you about almost kissing the ground with your forehead if I wasn’t there to catch you,” he reminisced. “And you said, that’s why you have me; to catch you every time you fall.”

Her face heated as she remembered how much of an accident-prone she had been. That day had been so much fun. His gorgeous eyes had twinkled with excitement and love—so much love. But now it was different, his eyes held pure determination with little flecks of hurt in them when she looked closely. He had saved her tonight. Had saved her and her son.

Andy chuckled but his voice was as cold as the night air. “But that was a long time ago.” He sighed and removed his hand from her waist. He shifted Reon in his arms and reached into his pocket to remove his keys. He slid the keys into the lock and the door opened.

When they entered his house, she took a quick survey; it was beautiful, well furnished, high ceiling, the décor was just amazing.

She stretched out her arms to take her son. “Is there somewhere I can change him?”

“Yes, third door on your right, there is also a bathroom, if you want to get cleaned up,” he told her. She took Reon from his arms and smiled when she saw his eyes so like his fathers were wide open.

“I have to make a quick call. Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.

Annie skimmed her lips over her baby’s soft hair, “We’re fine.”

“Okay.” With one last look at her, he walked off, withdrawing his phone from his pocket.

******

Her hands ached from the weight of the diaper bag and the child she carried. Her feet struck the ground with heavy thuds as she hurried down the hallway. Her legs began to tremble in exhaustion. Finally, she reached the room, and she pushed the door open. With a sigh of relief, she placed Reon on the bed and plopped herself down next to him.

It took her about twenty minutes to do her business, get Reon cleaned up and find the kitchen to make a bottle for him. When she walked into the living, Andy was sitting on the couch staring at nothing in particular.

Andy was so deep in his thoughts that he barely realized Annie came back into the room. He thought about how she owed him explanations. But it was the thought about how she carried on with her life, married and had a baby, was oddly unsettling. He shoved his hands through his hair, tousling the dark strands.

“Where’s your husband?” he asked, the question echoing hollowly off the ceiling.

_____________________________________________

Vote. Share. Comment👇