"I'm being sensible." That was probably her best trait. Not that it did much for a happy life…
A dry laugh dribbled out of him. "And it was sensible to quit law school, I suppose?" Bitterness lined his tone. He certainly hadn't forgiven her for dumping him for her career.
Anne wished she could confess how much she regretted using her so-called promising career as an excuse. But she doubted her confession would heal the chasm of pain between them. Anne switched her gaze to the passing scenery. "My father had cancer. He needed help." It was the same reply she gave to everyone and usually ended the inquiries. Even in the best situations, this was not a topic she liked discussing.
But Rick failed to get the hint. "He's better, though, right? Your sister mentioned you'd be going back now?"
"Uh, well…" Did she dare tell him she was considering becoming a juvenile counselor? He might think it was because of him and she didn’t need him crooning over her. Her heart ached too much already. "The Musgroves need my help right now so it will depend on how quickly Louisa recovers."
"Ah, yes." He hunkered over the steering wheel as if the worry was crushing him.
Anne wanted to reach out and touch him, pat his shoulder or even give him a hug, but she had no idea if that would help or make matters worse. She kept her hands to herself instead, and stared out the window, wishing the drive was over already.
Neither spoke the rest of the way until Rick's headlights turned onto the Uppercross road and led them to the main house. Summoned by the light, the boys tumbled out, the elderly Musgroves following them, surprise on their faces to see Rick's car instead of their son's.
Rick parked the car, then turned to her. "I've been thinking and I think you should break the news. You've always been good at calming people so I think you'll do this better than me. Are you okay with that or do you want me to do it?"
Anne wanted to beam. He had thought of her! Even thought highly of her! Ever since Louisa's accident, it was like Rick had suddenly remembered all of Anne's good qualities. Too bad his heart was set on Louisa instead of her.
"I'll do it. Thanks." She stepped out of the car and the Musgrove's curiosity soon turned to horror as Anne relayed what had happened. She tried her best to comfort them, but they could only think of their daughter dying before they could get to her side. They turned to Rick when he joined them as if he'd somehow negate everything she said, but he confirmed the tragedy. He offered to drive them to Hartford, but they insisted they'd drive themselves and ran inside to pack. Anne hurried to the boys, standing close together, fear on their faces. They knew something was wrong but didn't understand enough to process everything.
"Hey, you two." She gave both of them hugs. The littlest one burrowed into her side, refusing to let the hug end.
"What's going on?" the oldest asked, eyes on where his grandparents had disappeared into the house. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?"
"Mommy and Daddy are fine, but Aunt Louisa had a little accident. She fell off a horse, kind of like how you fell out of the tree, remember?"
He nodded. "But you caught me."
"That's right. Well, no one caught Louisa and she hit her head really hard. So she's in the hospital. But don't worry, she'll be okay. She just needs lots of rest, okay?"
"Your aunt is right," Rick said and Anne nearly yelped in shock. She had expected him to have left already, not be hanging around with her and the boys.
"Will you be heading back?" Anne asked Rick as she picked up the youngest.
"Yes. I'll see you there."
"Oh, I won't be going."
He jerked as if she'd slapped him. "What? Why not?"
"The boys should stay here. They'll have more fun here, right?" She nuzzled Walter's face and he giggled at her antics. She then glanced at Rick, hoping he understood the situation. She didn't want the boys to overhear how they'd only be a bother and would only make matters worse if they hauled them to the hospital.
Rick glanced between her and Walter. "You'll be fine here all by yourself? With no cell service?"
"We'll be fine. Won't we?" She glanced at the boys, but they stared at Rick as if trying to decide he was a friend or foe.
Rick seemed about to say something else, but abruptly turned on his heel and went to his car. Anne wished she was brave enough to demand to know what he was going to say, but her bravery failed to rally in time and Rick's car disappeared out of sight.
Chapter 19
The next day, Anne learned how Charles felt while waiting for news, always wanting to head up the hill to get cell service. However, any delay of news wouldn't change said news. So Anne spent the morning cleaning the cottage and the great house, trying to make the place as cheery as possible in case the worst happened and the family returned with one less in it.
When she couldn't stand it any longer, she gathered the boys and made the trek up the hill. Before she reached the top, her phone began to ping with multiple messages, all from Charles. He had updated her nearly every hour. The poor man must be nuts with anxious energy. So far, the news wasn't terrible. Louisa had survived the night, but her status was still critical. Surgeries had been done and the internal bleeding seemed to have stopped, but damage had been done. As to how much, no one would know until Louisa woke up. Assuming she woke up.
Amongst Charles' many messages, Anne spotted a missed call from Russelle. Making sure the boys had a game to occupy themselves—no need to repeat the tree disaster—she called up her dear friend.
"Anne! I haven't heard from you in two weeks! I was wondering if you had disappeared or something."
Anne grimaced. She hadn't dared to call Russelle for fear she might confess of the re-meeting with Rick. She hadn't wanted to endure hearing Russelle croon that her convictions had been right and that Rick had never really cared about her after all, something Anne's heart still had a hard time believing.
Deciding to omit any mention of Rick, Anne detailed the accident.
"No, that's terrible! And all the way to Hartford! Why, she could be in a coma for weeks! Anne, you'll be stuck at their place as an unpaid nanny for forever! You shouldn't have offered to stay."
Anne rolled her eyes. She loved Russelle like a mother, but sometimes, her focus on money was a bit much. "It was the decent thing to do and I..." She decided to be bold. "I like taking care of kids."
"Well, of course, you do. You've always been a natural caretaker."
Anne smiled, pleased by the compliment. But Russelle ruined it a second later. "But you can't waste your life constantly thinking of others, Anne, and not making sure you get to live your own life. Look, I'll hire a nanny—"
"No, it's fine—"
"Sweetie, it is not. I have an interview lined up for you to get back into law school. I already talked with the dean and he's eager to get you in. But if you're forced to play nanny, then you'll miss the deadline and might have to wait months, maybe even a year, to get in again. This is your chance to re-start your life, Anne. Don't squander it!"
Anne paced the hill for a few seconds. She would like to go back to school, but it would be for a masters in sociology, not law school. However, she didn't want to start that argument over the phone.
"Give the Musgroves a few more days to figure things out. I mean, Louisa could die in the next hour for all we know."
"Anne, don't say that! We don't want to jinx anything. Losing anyone precious is a terrible experience." Russelle sighed. "Call me in a few days, then, but do think about law school, please? I just want you to be happy, Anne. Really."
"I know. Thank you."
The call ended and Anne stared at the phone. She knew Russelle cared for her—cared for her like a daughter—but Russelle's idea of happiness wasn't Anne's, a fact that had taken her a long time to realize. Truth be told, Anne enjoyed being all by herself with the two boys. If it weren't for the worry over Louisa's fate, Anne would have called the situation a perfect paradise.
Alas, even a paradise could grow boring and by the following day, Anne found herself l
onging for a fellow adult to talk with. Her nephews were adorable and she enjoyed playing with them, but the conversation skills of a five and three-year-old weren't quite up to Anne's need for depth. Her family might be appalled to discover Anne wasn't a true loner but needed some human interaction, preferably from someone older than five.
So, once again, she gathered the boys and made the trek up the hill. Russelle would happily take a random call from her and not berate her for needing adult conversation. But as Anne's phone found service, it pinged with a barrage of texts from Charles. Louisa's condition had not improved. There was a specialist in Boston that agreed to take her case. She would be moved to Boston. In fact, she was already there. And since Mary was missing her kids, would Anne bring them to Boston with her? They had already rented an apartment near the hospital and sent the address.
Anne stared at her phone. Boston. She was going to end up in Boston, after all. Russelle would be pleased, but that meant Anne couldn't avoid the argument of law school anymore. Anne sighed. It was time to face her new future.
* * *
Anne walked into the small apartment with her nephews in tow, their luggage in her hands. The front door deposited them in the front room with the kitchen to the left. A hallway led down to three closed doors, which Anne assumed hid two bedrooms and a bathroom.
Charles, sitting on the couch, rose at once when they entered and the boys jumped with glee into his arms. He swept them up and gave them big hugs, assuring them he missed them so much. Anne smiled at the happy reunion, wishing her upcoming reunion with her own father would elicit a tenth of that emotion.
"How's Louisa?" Anne asked once the boys had settled down long enough for a conversation to happen.
He sighed, his big grin dying. "No change, which I guess is good in a way."
"You mentioned in your texts she's gone through several surgeries?"
"Yeah, to help relieve the pressure on the brain, but we won't know for sure how well they went until they bring her out of the medical coma."
"They had put her in a coma? I thought she was already in one."
"Well, she was. Or is? I'm not really sure about the technical stuff. They're just making sure she stays in one while her body heals. In a week or so, they'll try to ease her out of it. If she wakes, that would be a really good sign. If she doesn't..."
Anne touched his arm. "She'll wake up. Don't worry, she's strong; she'll pull through."
Charles gave her a weak smile. "Wish you were at the hospital. Mary was constantly fretting Louisa will die any minute. She's been a wreck ever since that accident, super angry one minute, then a sobbing mess the next. But, with the boys here, hopefully she'll have something to do other than fret over Louisa. Right now, she's napping. We haven't slept well in a while."
" What about you, though? How are you holding up?"
"I think I'm doing better. I was a wreck that first day, but when my parents and Rietta came, I don't know, I was able to handle it better. Knowing that they'd be around if Louisa...well, you know, moved on, helped. I didn't want to be the one telling my parents she was gone, I guess."
Anne nodded. "It was hard enough telling them she was in the hospital."
"Yeah, sorry you had to do that. But thanks." He patted her shoulder. "You were really great during that whole time. Even Rick said so."
Anne stiffened. "He did?"
"Yeah. Kept mentioning how amazing you were, keeping calm so well." Charles sat down and his boys buried into his sides. "Rick did well at first, but he started to become a wreck at the end."
Anne sat down on the chair opposite the couch. "At the end?"
"Yeah, he had to go. Work obligations and such."
"He couldn't get time off?" Poor Rick!
"Honestly, I think he wanted to go. He was pacing the hallway so much, I feared he'd wear a hole in the flooring or something. He is not a man that sits still well."
Anne smiled at that. He had that same quality when he was a teenager, too. Always needing to be doing something.
"And really," Charles continued, "I told him to go. He asked if it would be okay and I said it would. There was nothing he could do by remaining. But..." a slow smile spread across Charles' face, "I sure hope Louisa wakes up. She'd be ecstatic to know he was so worried about her."
Anne had to struggle to return the smile, not anywhere near as happy as Louisa would be.
"What about your parents? And Rietta?"
"They're doing all right. Rietta has school soon so she'll need to head back—"
"By herself?"
"Nah, she'll stay with Chase's family. And James has been really good about—"
"Wait, James? From the horse farm?"
"Yeah, he came up to Boston the day she was transferred and he's been a life-saver. He put us on a schedule and makes sure all of us get enough sleep and food to eat. He even tries to entertain us with his poems, though I'll admit, I'm always happy to get away when he does that."
Anne smiled. "He's been sharing those, has he?"
"Sometimes. But mostly, he tells them to Louisa. He says he heard coma patients do better when they hear someone talking so he sits by her side and just goes on and on, reciting those poems of his. I thought he’d run out after a full day of that, but nope, he keeps on going."
Anne smiled, proud of James. This was the perfect opportunity for him to process his grief by helping others with theirs, even it meant subjecting them to his poetry attempts.
"Hey, Anne, we're going on a tour around Boston this evening. Mary's been harping about doing that for years so I figured might as well do it now. Want to come with us?"
She shook her head. "I'd love to, but my father is expecting me tonight."
"Ah, right, you haven't seen your family in a while. No worries. It would be good to just be us, then." He gave his kids a squeeze, then rose from the couch. "Is this all the luggage you brought for the boys?"
"Yes. I packed enough for a week. I hope that's enough."
"Well, if it's not," He grabbed the two suitcases, "we have a laundry unit so we can wash them." He headed down the hallway, his boys tramping with them, begging to help carry one of the suitcases.
Anne debated asking if Rick had bothered to visit Louisa in Boston, or asking where Rick actually worked. She knew he traveled, but surely he had some sort of a base somewhere? That had always been a dream of Rick's, to have a place of his own. Was it nearby? Or on the other side of the country? And was there a possibility that she could run into him? And why was she hoping there was? She was over him, remember?
Deciding against asking, she bid goodbye and left Charles wrangling with his sons and headed down to her car, packed with her own belongings. Time to see her own father and deal with that mess.
She pulled up to Russelle's condo, the one her family now inhabited. It was set in the richer area of the city, up on a slight rise of the ground, standing like a proud soldier amongst other tall buildings. Pulling out her bags, she headed inside where, to her surprise, the doorman kindly took her bags and directed her to the elevator where someone else took her up. She felt like she was in a hotel instead of a posh apartment building.
When the worker deposited her at the door of her father's condo, she took a deep breath to settle her nerves. She had no idea how her family would receive her. They could be angry, still blaming her for their father's loss of a job or they could be happy like Eliza was during the phone call a few days back.
Hoping for the latter, she knocked on the door and awaited her fate.
The door opened to reveal Eliza, a dazzling smile on her face, which quickly faded when her eyes rested on Anne.
"Oh, it's you. Come in."
Apparently, she was expecting someone else. Probably Penny.
"Dad," Eliza called as they stepped out of the hallway and into the front room. "Anne has finally decided to grace us with her presence."
Her father looked up from his phone. "Anne!" He actually looked pleased. "It's good to have you wi
th us again."
Anne smiled, glad for the warmer welcome than she had expected. "Thank you, Dad."
"You've missed out on so much, all the parties and dinners we've been going to, and you haven't met our dear cousin, Senator Dalrymple!"
Anne tried to keep her smile bright. A constant stream of parties weren't activities she enjoyed.
"There's also a mountain of paperwork in your room," Eliza said as she headed over to a mirror stationed in the corner.
"My room?"
"We don't have room for an office," Eliza continued, fixing her hair as if she expected someone very important to show up. Obviously not Penny, then. "And since you weren't using your room, we dumped it all in there. But, since you'll be wanting to hole yourself up in your room like usual, you'll have time to figure out the mess of all the letters and paperwork and get Dad started on his political career." Satisfied with her perfect hair, Eliza sank into the couch and started browsing something on her phone.
"Oh, yes, Anne," her father began, "We need your expertise with the paperwork. You were always so good at that."
Anne smiled at the compliment, though wasn't exactly thrilled about being reduced to a secretary position again. But, Anne wouldn't be staying here long. Once she was accepted into a school to pursue a masters in sociology, she'd move out to her own place since she wasn't as cash-strapped as her father and sister. Still, in the meantime, she guessed she could help her father with his paperwork. It was the nice thing to do. "Thanks, Dad. I'll look into—"
The doorbell rang and Eliza sprang to her feet. She checked herself once more in the mirror before sailing toward the front door. Anne stared after her. Was Eliza dating someone? Not that that was new. Eliza dated plenty, but they were usually only eye-candy props. She never cared about the revolving men and certainly never worried about her looks every few seconds.
Anne ventured into the hallway, eager to see who had caught her sister's fancy. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the doorman delivering Anne's luggage. Eliza accepted it graciously, even giving the man a tip, but the instant the door shut, she groaned. "Anne, your luggage!" She moped past Anne and flopped on the couch like a rejected suitor.
Persuading Him: A Modern Persuasion Retelling (Pemberley Estates Book 1) Page 17
