Seduced The Unexpected Virgin - By Emily McKay Page 0,64
supposed to put in a brief appearance. Ana was glad of that. Before he left for Charleston, apparently Ward had done his best to convince Rafe to show up. Though Rafe’s secretary had confirmed he’d be there and even though Emma spoke to him the previous day, Ana knew she’d relax considerably once his appearance was done with.
Just knowing he’d be there ratcheted up her own tension. Which was already high enough that she could barely sit still and hadn’t eaten all day, despite the array of tempting treats the Bistro had provided.
Several local restaurants had set up booths on either side of the street where they were selling food. Naturally, all the proceeds would go to Hannah’s Hope. In addition to the food, there were half a dozen performers scattered up and down the street, all people Ana had known during her stint in Hollywood. A couple of jugglers and a clown. In front of the police station, a couple of stunt men were giving demonstrations on how to fake a barroom brawl.
Ana had also talked some of her friends who were makeup artists into doing face painting for the kids. Even Emma’s cousin, Becca Worth, had come down from Napa to offer up wine tastings. And all up and down the street, Christi, Omar and Lena were mingling, clipboards in hand, to recruit future volunteers and hand out pamphlets about the many resources Hannah’s Hope could provide.
Watching it all, Ana felt a deep sense of satisfaction that almost—almost—replaced her sorrow. She relaxed only margin ally when she saw Emma making her way through the crowd to her side. Chase was with her, a protective hand at her waist.
“This turnout is amazing!” Emma said loudly to be heard over the carnival atmosphere of the crowd. She leaned in to give Ana a hug of encouragement.
Ana returned it briefly and tried not to cling too long. “I know,” she agreed, pressing a hand to her belly to calm her nerves. “I don’t think I even knew there were this many people in town.”
Emma gave a little frown. “Well, I’m guessing not. Don’t you think a lot of people came in from San Diego? Even from L.A.”
Something about Emma’s tone sent Ana’s anxiety soaring. “Why would they?”
Emma blanched. “I thought you knew. Didn’t you see the paper today?”
“Which paper?” she asked, her dread tightening.
“All of them, I think.” Emma gave Chase a nudge in the belly. “Can you pull it up on your phone?”
A few seconds later, Chase handed over his cell phone. Ana turned the phone and the headline from the Gazette popped into view. Ward Miller’s Big Comeback, the headline read. She quickly scanned the article, which contained details about the new album he was recording. And about his appearance at the Hannah’s Hope street festival.
“It ran in the San Diego paper and the Los Angeles Times.”
After scanning the article, Ana carefully handed the phone back to Chase. She resisted the urge to hurl it across the street. She thought that was quite mature of her.
“He shouldn’t have misled that reporter.” She pressed her lips together, trying not to say nasty things about Ward in front of Chase, who was, after all, his friend. And then she considered how this would make Hannah’s Hope look and she cursed him out loud, despite her good intentions.
Emma frowned in concern and Chase raised his eyebrows.
“He didn’t even consider how bad this is going to make the rest of us look when he doesn’t show up.”
“What makes you think he isn’t going to show?” Chase asked.
Ana rolled her eyes. “He left town on Monday. I haven’t heard a word from him since. If he was going to show, he would have said something.”
“Are you sure he didn’t?” Chase prodded.
“Yes! I’m—” Then she broke off, suddenly unsure. Because the last they had talked about the street fair had been before their big blow up. She had asked him to leave, but had never said anything about not coming here. “I don’t know.”
Suddenly all her nerves about the street fair crystallized into a big knot of anxiety. She wasn’t entirely sure if she could face him again so soon.
But before she could rally her defenses…or even better, leave…she noticed a hush falling over the crowd. Heads started turning and a murmur of excitement flowed up the street toward a spot across from the makeshift stage at the edge of the park. A few feet away from her, she heard a man mention Ward’s name