Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,26
I got back from my walk, needing to connect with the one person I could talk to about anything. Well, almost anything.
“And he didn’t recognize you?”
“Not even a twitch.”
“Are you gonna tell him?”
If that isn’t the million-dollar question I’ve been struggling with. To tell or not to tell.
“I don’t know. I probably should. He’s not stupid, he’s figured out I’m hiding, but I haven’t exactly shared and he hasn’t asked.”
“Interesting,” she mumbles.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m just surprised he hasn’t tried to pull it out of you, especially since something is clearly happening between you. Most guys I know would go into high protective mode.”
I reach to set my coffee cup on my small side table, only to find it on the other side of my chair.
“He’s had a lot going on this week,” I jump to his defense, even though I don’t think she meant it as criticism. “He just discovered he has a son he never knew about.”
“Are you freaking kidding me? How can you not know?”
“If the mother lives in a different state and doesn’t tell you for fourteen years. That’s how.” That seems to silence her, but now I’m on a rant. “Who would do that? And get this; she put the kid on a plane to stay with him while she goes into rehab. Can you believe it? She’s pawning off her son on a guy she knew fifteen years ago for a vacation fling! For all she knows, he could’ve ended up a horrible person, a molester, even a serial killer. What kind of mother does that?”
While I catch my breath I hear Erin’s soft chuckle in my ear.
“Feel better?” she asks sardonically.
“I held back,” I admit, and that makes her laugh even harder.
“I think I got the picture, though, and I have to admit it sounds like he has a lot on his plate.”
“Yeah.” I’m losing a bit of my steam. “Which is why I needed to talk to you. What am I doing? One minute I’m living a nice, quiet, predictable existence—just what I was looking for—and the next I find myself hit by all these curveballs.”
“Sounds like life to me,” Erin points out calmly. “Messy and real. You have to know that predictable existence you mentioned wasn’t really living, right? Life is by definition not predictable, or perfect, for that matter. You know as well as I do recovering from an eating disorder, control is an illusion.”
She’s right. I know she is, but it’s hard to let that compulsion to control go.
“Annie, I realize it’s not easy. I’m aware that whole situation back home messed with your head, but you got away from that. You’ve gotta live a little, girlfriend. You can’t hide out forever.”
I try to ignore the little pang of unease when she reminds me, but it keeps popping up. Long after the call ended and I made my way to the shelter.
The truth is; there have been a few times I’ve wondered if perhaps I wasn’t as well-hidden as I thought.
My heart warms when the kid stops in front of Hunter’s kennel, giving him a little rub before he moves on to Daisy’s.
“Do they get along?” he asks.
“Hunter and Daisy? Yeah, they do, that’s why they’re side by side.”
“Don’t get any ideas, kid,” Sumo grumbles behind me, and I turn around grinning.
“Not to worry,” I reassure him. “Hunter belongs to a very nice older lady, who unfortunately fell and broke her hip. She didn’t have anywhere else for him to go, so we’re just looking after him until she comes home from the hospital.”
Bryce may have looked a little disappointed until I open the gate to Daisy’s kennel.
“Hey, Dee,” he says gently, and immediately the dog’s tail starts wagging. “You wanna come home with us? We got you a nice big bed.”
I catch Sumo watching his son with a faint smile on his lips.
“You’ve got supplies then?” I ask him, and he turns that smile on me.
“Went shopping this morning. Not something I plan to repeat anytime soon, so we got everything we could think of. Bed, bowls, toys, leash, bones; the works.”
“Food?”
His hand reaches out and tugs at the short hair by my ear.
“Yes, and food. Smart-ass. Same brand you told us to get.”
In the meantime, Bryce has successfully coaxed Daisy out of the kennel and she seems happy enough when he ruffles her ears before clipping a leash on her.
“I’m gonna miss her,” I admit, bending down to give her some loving.
“You can come visit,” Bryce blurts