don't like the idea of you driving across the country by yourself. So, your mother is flying out and will drive back with you."
"She doesn't need to do that." Anne looked up into his concerned blue eyes.
"Maybe not, but, it will make us both feel better knowing that you are not traveling alone. Umm, do you expect to keep seeing Ben when you move here?" His change of subject threw her.
"I don't know, Dad. It's kind of complicated." It was complicated, and she really did not know where their relationship stood. Except for the offhand invitation to a Mariners' game the night before, she had no reason to believe Ben wanted to see more of her after that week.
"Yes, I suppose it is." He gave her a concerned look and watched her face closely. "I read the contract over. I hope you don't mind? It was sitting on your dresser. It looks like you are getting a fair deal from it."
"It was on my dresser? Huh. I must have been more distracted than I thought because I thought I put it in my briefcase. No matter, it's fine that you read it. Yes, the contract is fair, and I have wanted to work for the company for a while."
"Does Ben know that?"
"No, I haven't told him. Is it important?"
"Is what important?" Her mother walked into the kitchen and poured her morning cup of coffee. She looked fabulous, as always, Anne thought. "So my dear, what do you and Ben have planned for today?"
"We were planning on biking over to Mount Constitution after breakfast and having a picnic before coming back to get cleaned up for the rehearsal. I sneaked a peek at the reception hall, and it's going to look great."
"Wait until the flowers and tables are set up. Penelope is making the wedding cake to compliment the design. You will be so impressed when it all comes together." She was referring to Carla's mother who owned the bakery along with her husband. The reference to Carla's mother reminded Anne that she forgot to tell her parents about the baby, and she told them the news happily.
The topic of her new job was dropped as they began to discuss the wedding, some of the guests who were already at the inn, and Carla's good news. Finally, her dad stood up so that he could get cleaned up for the day, dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and moved down the hall. Anne talked to her mother for a few minutes more then went to her room to change her clothing, putting on her red bikini under her blue shorts and pink tee shirt.
While she was in her room, she looked up the number for a realtor listed in the Redmond-Bellevue area on her cell phone and placed the called expecting to be told to leave a message because it was still too early. The realtor answered the call on her cell phone and promised to have a number of apartments and rental houses lined up to show Anne on Tuesday and Wednesday, a schedule that worked well for Anne because she was set to fly back to Boston on Thursday morning. Grabbing her dress and essentials for the evening, she headed back across the path to Ben's balcony. When she got to the door, she stopped in shock at what she found.
Taped to the door was a single piece of paper with the word "slut" written on it in big letters with a felt tip pen.
Feeling shaken, she pulled it off of the door. It was probably Chelsea's attempt to scare her off. She planned on telling Ben about it, but when she entered the room, he was working on his laptop and talking on his cell phone in a foreign language. It sounded like he was either speaking Chinese or Japanese and she remembered that he said he was leaving for Asia on Monday. He glanced over at her, gave her a quick smile, and went back to his conversation. She crumbled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash. She would tell him later.
Not wanting to disturb him, she took her things into his bedroom, hung up her dress, and put her makeup, jewelry, and hair products on the bathroom vanity. Checking her reflection, she thought that her casual attire with the red straps sticking out from under her tee shirt would not be a problem in the dining room for a