Raising the Soldier's Son(2)

“What are you having?” Even to her own ears, her voice was hostile. Aggressive. Beside him, Emma gave Annabeth a none-too-subtle thumbs up.

“Annabeth,” he breathed out a slow sigh. “I didn’t realize you’d be here.”

Of course you didn’t. You don’t know anything about me anymore. “Well, I am.” Her smile was dripping with falseness. “What would you like?”

His blue eyes narrowed as, with concentration, he raked them over her face. Her blonde hair still had its corkscrew curls, but she wore it long now. It bounced down her back and spilled over her shoulders, forming curtains across her chest. He lowered his eyes, seeing every swell and curve that the green t-shirt and fitted jeans showed.

“Woah, buddy,” Emma interjected, practically snarling at the man who’d broken her best friend’s heart. “Quit the drooling. She ain’t yours anymore.”

“Emma,” Annabeth took in a deep breath. “I can handle him.”

Kirk held his hands up in apology. “I just…” his voice was thick, his smile expressing true discomfort. “I wasn’t… prepared to see you yet, Annabeth. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“It’s still her dad’s bar, Kirk,” Emma retorted hotly.

Kirk’s glance was laced with frustration. He knew whose damned bar it was. Horace Sparks was the reason he’d come straight to The Whistlestop just about as soon as soon as he’d blown into Clearview. “As far as I knew, you were still in Boston.”

Annabeth could tell Emma was about to unleash an acerbic rant at Kirk, detailing exactly why Annabeth hadn’t been able to continue with her studies at the prestigious campus; why she’d had to leave her life and come home to Clearview. She cut Emma off preemptively. “No. I’m not. I’m here.” Where I’ve always been. Where I’ll always be. For a second, she glimpsed the future she could have had, and pain, so real it could have crippled her if she allowed it, pierced her heart.

“But… you were so set on Boston. I don’t understand.”

“No.” She nodded noncommittally. She’d been set on Boston because it was close to Annapolis. Every decision in her life had been made with this man in mind, and he’d forgotten she existed. “You don’t. I’m busy, Kirk. Are you going to order a drink, or just keep sitting there with your mouth open?”

He shook his head, as if to clear a fog. “A couple of Buds. Please.”

She smiled tartly then began to pull the beers. Her pulse was skittering in her body. Her teeth were gritting together with the effort of not losing it. Her palms were sweaty. She placed the beers on the bar, and pulled her hands away immediately. She couldn’t bear for him to touch her. Those hands that had once brought her such pleasure. No. She couldn’t.

Possibly following the same logic, Kirk placed a black American Express card on the top of the bar. “I’ll start a tab.”

“No worries,” she took the card and looked down at it instinctively. She frowned, as she read the name on it. “CEO of Robinson Inc.?”

He nodded, his eyes not meeting hers.

“So your plans didn’t work out either, huh?” His one-eyed commitment to the Navy had been legendary. His desire to serve had forced them apart, in the end.

“You could say that,” he remarked, his words cold.

“How long?” And when she looked at him, the mask of bravado had slipped away, and he saw the pain and anguish in her eyes. Annabeth didn’t bother trying to hide it. “How long have you been back?”

Hell, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. “Four years.”

“Four years?” Annabeth had to grip the bar for support. He’d been back four years and never once thought to look her up? To call her? To say ‘hi’? The man she’d been engaged to, who’d ended their engagement with a stupid email, had completely removed her from his life, and he’d been back four years without so much as a ‘sorry to hurt you’?

She was nodding, her eyes stinging with the threat of tears. But she wouldn’t give him that much. She swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat. “Okay. Great. Enjoy your, um, drink.”

Annabeth didn’t care that they were slammed with customers. She was desperate to escape, even though it meant leaving the bar to the other girls for a few minutes. On autopilot, she slipped Kirk’s credit card into an envelope and pegged it to the back wall. Dazed, she walked through the restaurant, and pushed out onto the large balcony that surrounded the whole building. A flock of gulls was flapping about on the foreshore, chirruping so loudly they were almost deafening.

This was one of the best spots on the south coast. How Wade loved it here. Annabeth’s heart clutched as she thought of her little boy. The little boy she’d been raising all on her own, because Kirk had disappeared from her life.

“Hey, are you okay, honey?” Emma burst out onto the deck, her face a study in pity. “What an asshole, coming in here like that, huh?”

Annabeth thought about defending him, but she couldn’t. She sobbed. “What’s he doing here?”

“He says he’s here for a wedding.”

Annabeth had thought her heart couldn’t hurt any more than it already did. “His?” She whispered, keeping her steady blue gaze focused on the glistening horizon.

“No. Remember Cam?”

“His cousin?”

“Yeah. He’s getting hitched, to some poor girl. Apparently they decided the Robinson plantation was the place.”

“Of course.” She thought of La Cachette, the beautiful and historic home that five generations of Robinsons had called home. Set amongst hectares of fields, with a stream running through the back, it was a picture perfect spot for a private ceremony. “And you used to like Cam, didn’t you?”

“I don’t like anyone that has anything to do with Kirk Robinson,” she promised fiercely, wrapping a slender arm around Annabeth’s waist.

Her solidarity meant more to Annabeth than Emma would ever know. “Thank you,” Annabeth whispered, not bothering to check the tears that were sliding down her cheeks.

“Are you going to tell him about Wade?”

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, the pain in her heart almost nauseating in its intensity. “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “He’s been back four years. That’s four years of Wade’s life that he missed because he didn’t care enough about me to so much as call. How can I invite him back into my life now? Into our lives? What if he does the same all over again, but this time, it’s Wade’s heart on the line, instead of mine?” She shook her head. “Did he say when the wedding is?”

Emma nodded. “A couple of weeks.”

“Well, that’s what, fourteen, days or so? I can just steer clear of him, right?”

Emma’s silence was disapproving. Finally, taking care how she couched her thoughts, she said, “Beth, I love you. I love Wade. He’s the goddamned best Godson anyone could have. But he’s got a daddy. And he deserves to know him. Don’t you think?”

“I’m his daddy,” Annabeth denied firmly. “I’m his mom and his dad and he’s always been just fine with that.” She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “I’m not going to risk it, Em. You can understand that, can’t you?”

“Oh, hon, I saw the letters. I know how hard you tried to tell him about Wade. I know he cut you off. I get it. You’re pissed. But if he’s back in the States now, he could be in Wade’s life…”

“He’s been back for four years,” Annabeth hissed furiously. “He missed his chance.”

“Okay.” Emma nodded, squeezing her friend tight around the middle. “If that’s what you want, you have my total support.”

Annabeth had needed to hear that. Her eyes were pleading. “I just can’t open the door to him again. Not even a crack. I know it all happened five years ago, but it’s still red raw for me.”

Five minutes later, when Annabeth pushed back into the restaurant, her eyes were immediately drawn to Kirk. Cam had joined him now, and together, they sat at one of the booth seats at the back of the restaurant. At least if he stayed away from the bar she’d have some breathing space for the night. At least, she would so long as she controlled her eyes, which wanted to greedily devour him, she could almost pretend he wasn’t there.

They were run off their feet, anyway, so she had very little chance to stare at the man she’d once loved. With Horace Sparks fishing up the coast, they were without their usual host, and all the convivial chatting fell to Annabeth.

“You’re going to need to come in and get a foot rub,” Doctor Dan joked as she paced back and forth, serving drinks and small talk without breaking a sweat.

“Is that a medical suggestion?” She asked, her brows arched jokingly.

“Could be.” His grin was teasing.

Usually, Annabeth found their harmless flirtation to be a fun distraction. But awareness of Kirk made her whole body tense and alert. She felt as if the very air she breathed was filled with intoxicating fumes.