Tangle of Strings

by Ashley Farley

  Sam rolled her deep blue eyes. “You’re being melodramatic. Heidi and Annie had a disagreement. It happens everyday.”

  Faith’s face turned scarlet. “It was more than a disagreement. Heidi antagonized poor Annie. She’s been harassing her for weeks, calling her all the time and showing up out of the blue.”

  Sam stood to face her sister. “What on earth is wrong with you? You’re not usually one to butt your nose in other people’s business. Step aside, and let the two of them work out their relationship.”

  Faith clenched her fists. “I refuse to let that woman toy with Annie’s emotions. I’ve been more of a mother to Annie in the past six months than Heidi’s been in nearly seventeen years.” Faith turned to Heidi. “I want you to leave. Now. Annie doesn’t want you here. She’s made that perfectly clear. If you continue to harass her, I’ll file for a restraining order.”

  Heidi shot to her feet. “Go ahead and try. You won’t get very far. I’m Annie’s biological mother. The law is on my side. I made a mistake in leaving Annie when she was a baby. I intend on making it up to her now. And you can’t stop me.”

  “Why now, when she’s finally happy? She has a family who loves and appreciates her. Don’t take that away from her. Annie has led a difficult life, all because of you. She had to grow up way too fast. The past few years have been especially hard on her, having to take care of a sick father. And where were you during all this time? Out in Hollywood, kowtowing to the movie stars. There’s nothing for you here, Heidi. Go back where you came from.” Faith spun around and stormed out of the cafeteria.

  “I’m so sorry,” Sam said, watching her sister leave. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Clearly, she is under a lot of stress.”

  “Stress?” Heidi pointed at Faith’s retreating figure. “That was more than stress. She has an anger management problem. I’m not sure she’s stable enough to be raising my daughter.”

  THIRTEEN

  Annie

  Annie hated the way the medicine made her feel. She’d heard horrible stories about kids becoming addicted to narcotics. While she didn’t want to become one of them, the pain in her shoulder was unendurable without it.

  She cried all the time. And not just from the pain. Because of Heidi. Because of the accident. Because of Cooper. Because she was pregnant. Because her life was ruined.

  She stayed in bed until she heard Faith, Mike, and Bitsy leave for church on Sunday morning. Until the hunger pains drove her to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. She hated being hungry all the time. Painkillers suppressed the appetite for most people. But not her. She was as hungry as she’d ever been. Which was saying a lot. As a child, there’d been times when she’d gone twenty-four hours without a morsel of food. She’d already gained ten pounds since coming to Prospect. Soon, she would be fat. When the image of her pregnant body in a bikini came to mind, she lay her head on the table beside her cereal bowl and wept.

  The doorbell rang sometime later. Ten minutes perhaps or it could’ve been thirty. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been indulging herself in her pity party. She got up and plodded to the door, relieved to see Thea through the peephole.

  “Is it safe for me to be here?” Thea slipped her hands inside her coat pocket and shifted her weight between her feet. “I figured your family might be at church. I get the impression they don’t like me.”

  “Don’t take it personally. It’s your brothers they’re worried about.” Annie looked past Thea at the rusted Oldsmobile in the driveway. “Whose car is that?”

  “That’s my mama’s. It’s been in the shop for six months. My brothers finally sprang to get it fixed. It’s older than me, but who cares as long as it gets me where I need to be.”

  Annie opened the door wider for Thea to come in. “Sounds like your brothers aren’t all bad.”

  “They’re mean as hornets, don’t get me wrong. But my mama loves them anyway,” Thea said as she trailed Annie to the kitchen. “And I appreciate however much or little they do for us.”

  “I understand,” Annie said. “We don’t get to pick our family.”

  “You got to pick Faith and Mike, didn’t you?” Thea said, hand on hip.

  “That’s not the same thing and you know it. I certainly didn’t pick Heidi.” Annie held up a box of Cheerios. “Do you want some cereal?”

  “No. But I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee.” Annie returned to the table while Thea helped herself to a Donut House K-Cup from the carousel. She popped the pod into the machine and waited for it to brew. “So… how’re you feeling?”

  “All these meds make me feel funky,” Annie said, “but I can’t bear the pain without them.”

  “You should be able to get off of them soon,” Thea said, spooning sugar into her coffee. “Have you made a decision about your problem?”

  “Not really. All I know is that I don’t want to have a baby. Which leaves only one option.” Annie couldn’t bring herself to say the word. Even the thought of terminating the pregnancy brought tears to her eyes.

  Thea brought her coffee over to the table and sat in the chair opposite Annie. “Are you sure? Maybe you should take a few more days to think about it. Painkillers can mess with your head sometimes.”

  Annie used her napkin to mop her eyes. “Painkillers or not, I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” she said with more conviction than she felt.

  “Have you told Faith and Mike? You’ll need their permission to have the procedure.”

  “Mike said he’d support whatever decision I make. I haven’t even told Faith I’m pregnant yet. She’s going to freak out.”

  “She’s not gonna be happy about the situation, for sure. But from everything you’ve told me about Faith, I’d think she’d be understanding.”

  Annie sat back in her chair. “Not about this. Faith can’t have any more children. And she’s desperate for another baby.

  “Oh. I see.” Thea blew on her coffee before taking a sip.

  “She’s too nice to say it, but I know she’ll be thinking how unfair it is that I got pregnant without even trying. My guess is she’ll try to force me to have the baby, even if I put it up for adoption.”

  “You could talk to Heidi,” Thea suggested. “I bet she’d help you. She’d do anything to get you to forgive her.”

  Annie snorted. “I’d rather have quadruplets and raise them on my own than ask Heidi for a favor.”

  Thea took another sip of her coffee. “What does Cooper think?”

  Annie wrapped her good arm across her belly. “I haven’t told him. And I’m not going to. It’s over between us. There’s no point dragging him into it.”

  Thea blinked hard, her long lashes fluttering over her golden eyes. “He’s the baby daddy, girlfriend. You can’t just not tell him.”

  “Yes, I can. Cooper made it clear that he doesn’t want any strings attaching him to Prospect. Not me, and certainly not a baby.”

  “But the baby is half his. He has a right to know about it.”

  “That’s not the way I see it.” Annie looked away, staring out of the window at the dark clouds rolling in across the inlet. “It’s not his body. He’s not the one getting fat or giving up his dreams. People aren’t gonna stare at him in the hallway at school and treat him like some freak.” The thought of it made her want to throw up. She turned to her friend. “I don’t mean to be rude, Thea. I appreciate you coming over. But I’m not feeling so well. Do you mind showing yourself out?”

  “Of course. I understand.” Thea pushed back from the table and walked her coffee cup to the sink. “You can call me anytime. If you need anything. When you’re feeling better, now that I have wheels, we can hang out, maybe get a pizza or go to the movies.”

  Annie smiled. “That sounds nice, Thea. Thanks.”

  Mike found Annie still sitting at the kitchen table, stirring her milk around her cereal bowl, when he arrived home from church thirty minutes later. “Hey, kiddo. You look like you could use a friend.” He loosened h
is tie, and pulled up a chair beside her. “Are you still in a lot of pain?”

  “I can handle it.” Annie searched the empty hallway behind him. “Where’s Faith?”

  “She and Bitsy are changing out of their church clothes. Is there something you want to talk to me about?”

  Annie tore off tiny pieces of her napkin, balled them up, and rolled them into a pile in front of her. “I don’t want to have this baby, Mike. Will you help me… you know, terminate the pregnancy?”

  Mike set his pale eyes on her. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

  She nodded, biting down on her quivering lip.

  “Then I will help you. But only if Faith agrees.”

  “Come on, Mike,” Annie said, smacking the palm of her good hand against the table. “We don’t need to drag Faith into this. She’ll go ballistic.”

  He sighed. “Faith hasn’t been herself lately. I won’t argue with that. But I can’t, in good conscience, keep something like this from her.” He paused for a minute, thinking. “Listen, Eli is working today and Sam is bringing Angelo’s pizza over for lunch. Why don’t I occupy Bitsy while you talk to Sam and Faith? Sam’s presence will help soften the blow. And I think you might benefit from her perspective, since she was once in a situation similar to yours.”

  Even so, Annie dreaded having to confess to the two sisters the circumstances in which she found herself. She narrowed her eyes at Mike. “Is there anything I can say to get you to change your mind?”

  “No, honey. I’m sorry. I’m doing what’s best for you, even though you may not see it that way.”

  “Fine, then. Thanks for nothing.” She got up from the table and stormed off to her room.

  Annie listened to the voices drifting down the hallway from the kitchen to her bedroom. Mike and Bitsy, Sam and Faith. Laughing and chatting and carrying on, enjoying a Sunday meal together. What a shame she would soon ruin their day. When it sounded as though they’d finished eating, when the talk turned to afternoon chores and the impending winter storm, she ventured to the kitchen. She nodded a greeting to them, slapped a slice of pizza on a plate, and retreated to the adjoining family room.

  Mike stood up from the table and stretched. “Say, Bits. Why don’t you and I take Snowflake back to my bedroom and turn on a movie?”

  Bitsy, cradling the puppy in her arms, bounced up and down in her chair. “Can we watch Frozen?”

  “I think Frozen is a fine choice for a stormy winter’s afternoon.” He scooped up the little girl and her puppy, and carried them from the room.

  Sam and Faith cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher before joining Annie on the sofa. “Looks to me like someone’s feeling better.” Sam tucked a strand of Annie’s greasy hair behind her ear. “The color has returned to your cheeks.”

  “I have great news,” Faith said. “Relatively speaking, of course. I’ve been communicating with the insurance company. They have declared your car totaled.”

  “How is that good news?” Annie asked.

  “Well…” Placing her arm on the back of the sofa, Faith shifted her position to face Annie. “For a car that suffered as much damage as yours, oftentimes when you have it repaired, the car never functions quite right again. This way the insurance company will write us a check for the full retail value of the car, so we can buy a new one. We’ll go car shopping as soon as you’re feeling better.”

  Buy me a new car after I totaled the other one? Annie knew enough about insurance to understand Faith and Mike’s premium would go way up. She didn’t deserve their kindness. She burst into tears.

  “Oh, honey, what’s wrong?” Faith rested a hand on Annie’s trembling back.

  “I’m pregnant!” she bawled.

  Faith retracted her hand as though she’d been scalded. “What did you just say?”

  Annie sobbed harder. “I said I’m pregnant. And I’m too young to have a baby. My life is ruined.”

  Annie felt Sam’s body go rigid beside her. She risked a glance in Faith’s direction. But Faith’s pained expression was more than she could bear. She turned away, and that’s when she noticed Bitsy in the doorway.

  How long has she been standing there?

  Annie swiped at her tears. “Do you need something, squirt?” she asked, sniffling.

  Bitsy popped her thumb in her mouth, a gesture Annie had not seen the little girl do in months. “Snowflake needs to go outside,” Bitsy said around her thumb. “I tried to wake Mike up but he’s snoring.”

  “Then take her outside,” Faith said.

  Bitsy cringed at her mother’s angry voice. “Yes, ma’am,” she said, removing the thumb from her mouth and wiping it on her corduroys.

  “But put your coat on. And be quick about it. It’s cold outside.”

  The child scurried away with Snowflake nipping at her heels. Annie sat with Faith and Sam in an awkward silence until Bitsy returned five minutes later.

  “Can I stay in here with you?” Bitsy asked.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but we are having grown-up time,” Faith said in a softer voice. “Put the puppy up”—she pointed at Snowflake’s crate—“and go back to my room with Mike.”

  “Fine.” Bitsy did as she was told and stomped off down the hallway.

  “What does Cooper think of all this?” Sam asked.

  “He doesn’t know I’m pregnant,” Annie said. “He broke up with me. I’ve made up my mind to terminate the pregnancy. Mike says he’ll help me as long as the two of you agree.”

  Sam and Faith exchanged a look Annie couldn’t interpret.

  Faith left the sofa and began pacing back and forth in front of the coffee table. “Abortion isn’t your only option. You can put the baby up for adoption or you can keep it. Mike and I will help you raise it.”

  “I’m only sixteen years old. I’m not ready to be a mother.”

  Faith held her chin high. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you had unprotected sex.” She turned her back on them and left the room.

  “It was an accident!” Annie called after her. She winced at the pain in her ribs when she shifted toward Sam. “It only happened once, I promise. It was New Year’s Eve and we got caught up in the moment. We had no idea what we were doing, and it freaked us out so bad, we haven’t done it again.” More tears spilled from Annie’s eyes.

  Sam went to the kitchen and returned with a handful of napkins. “There, now,” she said, wiping the tears from Annie’s face. “It may seem like it, but this is not the end of the world. A baby doesn’t have to ruin your life. Jamie and I are living proof of that.”

  “That’s hardly a fair comparison, Sam. You were a lot older than me when you had Jamie. Look at Heidi. She was only twenty. And she ditched me because she couldn’t handle the stress.” She blew her nose into the napkin. “Why would I want to have a baby when I can’t even take care of myself? Am I supposed to support it by working part-time at Sweeney’s?”

  “I’m not trying to convince you to keep the baby. I just want you to realize you have other options. Terminating the pregnancy is so final. I’d hate for you to make a hasty decision you might later regret.” Sam patted Annie’s thigh. “Take some time to think about it. I’m here for you, whenever you need to talk. I’ll help you explore your options and support you whichever way you decide.”

  “Thank you.” Annie rested her head against Sam. “Faith is so mad at me.”

  “She’s not mad at you, Annie. She loves you. All of us do. And none of us want to see you suffer. You have to understand how hard this is for Faith, how unfair the situation must seem to her.”

  “Trust me, I get it,” Annie murmured. “Nothing in my life has ever been fair.”

  FOURTEEN

  Faith

  Faith removed her coat from the hall closet and slammed the front door behind her on the way out. She pulled her hood up, and ducked her head against the frozen drizzle that had begun to fall over the area. She inhaled deep breaths of icy air and started off down the drive
way. When she reached the road, she increased her pace and headed north toward town. Forcing all thoughts of Annie’s unwanted pregnancy from her mind, she focused on the burn in her thighs and the ache in her chest. She contemplated the chores waiting for her at home—the basket of laundry that needed folding, the stack of bills on her desk that needed to be paid, and the vegetable soup she’d planned to cook for dinner. A half mile down the road, when her muscles were relieved of tension, she allowed herself to open her mind to the idea of Annie having a baby.

  Faith wasn’t angry at Annie. The pregnancy had to be an accident. Annie was too cautious to let something like this happen out of carelessness. What upset and confused Faith was the bigger picture. Teenage girls got pregnant by accident every single day when so many women in good marriages with loving homes were barren. More than anything, she wanted to give Mike a baby. On New Year’s Eve, they’d had a heart-to-heart talk about their options for having more children. She’d stated her case for surrogacy, but he’d been adamantly opposed.

  “I’m too old,” Faith had argued when Mike mentioned adoption. “No adoption agency is going to give a baby to a forty-three-year-old mother.” Mike was younger than Faith, but only by one year.

  She still remembered his eager face. “It never hurts to try. All they can say is no.”

  They’d agreed to explore their options through private adoption agencies and Mike’s connections at the hospital. So far, they hadn’t gotten far on either count.

  While the longing for a child was nearly unbearable—a visceral ache that took her breath away whenever she saw a pregnant woman or a woman carrying an infant—she wasn’t sure she would survive rejection. Faith sensed Annie slipping away from her. And that alone felt like a knife slicing into her heart.

  For seven blissful months, Annie had been her daughter in every way that mattered. Annie completed their family. She brought happiness to their lives with her buoyant personality, her seemingly endless talents, creativity, and resourcefulness. Faith hadn’t lost her yet. But it was only a matter of time before Annie came to terms with her anger toward Heidi. They’d been close once, before Annie learned of Heidi’s betrayal. Annie would eventually forgive Heidi and go live with her in Charleston.