Annie relaxed a little and forced her lips into a thin smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kelley.”
“Please. Call me Hugh,” he said, offering a warm smile in return. “I’ve heard a lot of nice things about you. Well…” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I should leave the two of you to talk. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” He gave Heidi a parting kiss on the cheek.
Annie watched him disappear down the stairs. “Does he live here?”
“He owns the house. I rent this upstairs apartment from him. Why don’t we go inside where it’s warm?” Heidi held the door open for Annie, and the two went inside. Heidi then turned to her and said, “Can I take your coat?”
She gripped her fleece tighter around her body. “Thanks, but I’ll leave it on for now. It’s hard to get off with my shoulder.”
Heidi realized then that Annie had her bad arm through the sleeve of her coat and the sling tied around her neck on the outside of the fleece.
“Would you like something to drink? Maybe some hot chocolate or a cup of tea.”
Annie licked her dry lips. The painkillers gave her cotton mouth. “Some water would be nice. If you don’t mind.”
“Sure. I’ll just be a minute.” Heidi went to the adjoining kitchen, and while she filled a tall glass with water from her Brita pitcher, she watched her daughter out of the corner of her eye. Annie wandered around the room, stopping to peek out the window before moving on to scrutinize Heidi’s framed photographs on the console table behind the sofa. She held her breath when her daughter picked up a photograph of a much younger Heidi holding a minutes-old infant—the only picture she owned of the two of them together.
Rounding the counter that separated the two rooms, she handed Annie the glass of water. “Come, let’s sit down.” She led her to the sofa and waited until they were both seated. “Since this isn’t a social call, tell me why you’re here.”
Annie gulped down half the glass of water. “You said in your text, if I ever needed anything…” Her voice trailed off.
Heidi nodded. “And I meant it. How can I help?”
“I don’t know where else to turn.” Annie drained the rest of the water and set the glass down on the coffee table. “I can’t have this baby, Heidi. I need someone to sign the forms so I can get an abortion. Since you’re my biological mother, I was hoping you would consent.”
Heidi’s mind raced. This was not what she’d expected. “Why did you come to me? Why not ask Faith or Mike to help you? They’re your legal guardians.”
“They don’t approve of me having an abortion. They want me to have the baby so they can adopt it.”
“Oh. I see.” Heidi did not think legal guardians adopting their charge’s baby was ethical, but it was not her place to question the arrangement. At least not yet. Play your cards right, she reminded herself.
“No, you don’t see,” said Annie, her eyes dark with anger.
Heidi recognized the eyes that were so much like her father’s, and the temper that smoldered just beneath the surface. “Then tell me.”
“The whole Sweeney family is arguing over this baby. Jackie insists I have an abortion, but she doesn’t have the authority to sign the consent form. I wanna make the whole thing go away, so everyone will stop fighting.”
“What does Cooper want?”
“We talked about it for a long time last night. And we agreed that adoption was the best thing for our baby. But then today, at the meeting, he refused to speak up.”
A chill traveled Heidi’s spine. “Wait a minute. What meeting?”
“Jackie arranged a meeting this afternoon at her house to talk about the baby. They were all so busy yelling at each other, they didn’t realize that excusing myself to go to the bathroom was really a ploy to escape all the quarreling.”
Heidi puckered her hot-pink lips. “I see.” It hardly seemed fair to put a sixteen-year-old girl in Annie’s predicament on the spot like that. She wasn’t completely surprised at Jackie’s behavior. True, she hadn’t seen Jackie since Sam’s wedding reception, since the contents of her spilled purse had revealed her true identity. But before that, while Jackie had been pleasant to work with, on more than one occasion Heidi had sensed edginess behind the decorator’s public persona.
Annie cast a nervous glance at the door. “Are you gonna help me or not? My ride is waiting.”
Heidi hesitated. She couldn’t make such an important decision without further consideration. “Can you give me a chance to think about it? I don’t like to make such important decisions without at least sleeping on it first.”
“Oh really?” Annie brought her body to its full height. “How many nights did you sleep on your decision to abandon me?”
Heidi jerked her head back as though she’d been slapped. “I guess I deserved that.” She hesitated. She wanted Annie’s forgiveness more than anything she’d ever wanted in her life. But she wouldn’t go along with something she disapproved of to get it. “I’m sorry, Annie. If I have to decide now, the answer is no.”
Annie’s mouth dropped open. “But you said…”
“I understand you’re upset.” Heidi tucked a strand of Annie’s hair behind her ear. “But give me a chance to explain. I was once a girl, not much older than you, in your same plight. Looking at you now, at the lovely young woman you’ve become—without any help from me, I might add—I can’t, in good conscience, help you terminate your pregnancy. We are talking about a baby here, Annie, a living human being that will have your beautiful brown eyes and honey-colored hair. A child that will make her mark on the world, much like you’re making yours with your delightful manner, creative flair, and willingness to help others.”
Annie’s lip quivered.
Heidi massaged Annie’s good shoulder. “You’ve had a traumatic day, honey. You’re in a fragile state of mind. Five minutes ago, you told me that you and Cooper had decided to put the baby up for adoption. You’re letting Jackie pressure you into something you aren’t prepared to do.” Heidi inched closer. “Tell you what. Why don’t you stay here with me tonight? We can have dinner together. We’ll go out somewhere. Or better yet, we’ll cook here. We can make pasta or concoct some sort of chowder. I have a couple of recipes I’ve been dying to try out. We’ll both get a good night’s sleep and talk more about this in the morning.”
Annie rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”
“I decorated my guest room with you in mind, hoping one day you’d consider coming to live with me. It’s yours for as long as you need it. If you decide to have the baby, you can count on me both before and after the baby is born. I’ll help you find the right adoption agency, or, if you want to keep the baby, I’ll help you raise it. I would do just about anything to make it up to you, for walking out on you and your father. But I can’t do this. You would end up hating me, honey. And you’d end up hating yourself.”
THIRTY
Annie
Annie took the porch steps two at a time on the way down and dashed across the street to Thea’s car. She jumped in the car and slammed the door.
“Girl! Am I ever glad to see you. I didn’t realize it but my phone is dead.” Thea held up her phone to show Annie the black screen. “I was getting ready to come in there after you.”
“Let’s just get out of here!” Annie said, struggling to strap the seat belt over her injured arm.
“Yes, ma’am.” Thea started the engine. “Where to?”
“Anywhere but here. Just get me away from her.” Annie collapsed against the seat, squeezing her eyes tight.
They rode in silence until after they’d crossed the Ashley River bridge. “What happened?” Thea asked at last. “Did she refuse to help you?”
“Sorta. She offered to help me, just not the kinda help I need. ‘Come live with me,’” she said, mocking Heidi in a squeaky voice. “‘I’ll help you raise the baby. I have a spare bedroom for you.’” Annie lowered her voice to normal. “She’s just like everyon
e else. She’s trying to use this baby to get what she wants.”
Thea kept her eyes on the road. “Don’t get mad at me for saying this, but I’m glad she didn’t agree to the abortion. I don’t think that’s what you really want.”
Annie removed a tissue from the package Thea had given her earlier and blew her nose. “What I really want is for my life to go back to the way it was. And the only way I know to do that is to get an abortion.”
“That’s not gonna happen, Annie. The sooner you accept that your life has changed forever, the better off you’ll be. Would it really be so bad to live with Heidi?”
“Honestly, I’d rather move back to Florida to the worst apartment my father and I ever stayed in.” She let out a deep breath, allowing the tension to drain from her body. “But living with Heidi might be my only choice. At least she has a nice apartment.”
“You’re scared and confused and you need a place to hole up for a while. Things will look clearer after a few days. Why don’t you come home with me?”
Thea was right. Annie needed time on neutral ground where she could think without everyone telling her what to do. What she really needed was Flora’s calm voice of reason assuring her that everything would be okay. Faith would freak when she found out Annie was staying with Thea. She glanced down at the phone she held gripped in her hand. She thumbed through the missed calls and text messages from Cooper, Faith, and Sam, begging her to come home. There was even an apology from Jackie, although Annie questioned her sincerity. She rolled down the window and hurled the phone on the pavement into the lane of oncoming traffic.
Thea’s golden eyes stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What’d you do that for? Are you crazy?”
“That’s actually the sanest thing I’ve done in a while. Jackie bought me that phone when I first came to Prospect. I’d never owned a phone before, and I’d always gotten along just fine.”
“You go, girl,” Thea said, holding her hand up for a high five.
She slapped her friend’s hand. “You know what I need right now? Comfort food,” Annie said without waiting for Thea to respond. “And I’m buying.”
“I’m down with that,” Thea said, and pulled into the next McDonald’s.
They each ordered a chocolate milkshake and split a large order of fries. “I’ve gotta stop eating like this,” Annie said, her mouth stuffed with french fries. “I’m gonna be fat as a hog come summertime.”
“You’re eating for two. At least you have an excuse,” Thea said, sucking on the straw of her shake.
“As if I could forget,” she mumbled.
Annie slept the rest of the way home to Prospect. When they arrived at Thea’s house, she was relieved to see the driveway empty. With any luck, she’d avoid another encounter with Thea’s brothers. She had no intention of staying long. Just long enough to figure out a plan for her future. She had a meager savings in her bank account from working at Sweeney’s, which was enough to buy her a bus ticket to New York but not much else.
“I hope your mom doesn’t mind me staying here,” Annie said as they climbed the front steps.
“Mama? Are you kidding me? She’ll be thrilled.”
Thea inserted her key in the lock and swung the front door open. Annie knew right away that something wasn’t right. The lights were turned down low and the floor pulsed from the rap music blasting from MTV. Through the haze of cigarette smoke, Annie made out the shapes of two bodies, one kicked back in Flora’s recliner and one slumped over in a chair against the wall near the TV.
“Close that door, damnit. It’s cold out there.” Tyrone leapt over the back of the sofa, and slammed the door shut, twisting the deadbolt into the lock position. He leaned back against the door. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Thea’s brow scrunched up. “Why? What’re y’all even doing here? And where’s your car?”
“Ours is in the shop,” Willie said from across the room. “We need to borrow yours.”
She propped a fist on her hip. “Then how am I supposed to get around?”
“You’ll figure out a way,” Willie said.
Thea shifted her gaze back and forth between her brothers. “Where’s Mama?”
“We sent Mama to her room.” Tyrone let out a cackle of laughter that sent a chill down Annie’s spine. “You might say she was misbehaving.”
“Humph. Looks to me like the two of you are the ones misbehaving.”
Annie followed Thea’s gaze to the coffee table, which was littered with crumpled beer cans, a half-empty bottle of liquor, and an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. Annie had never done drugs before, but she knew enough to suspect the lines of white powder laid out on a framed photograph of MLK was cocaine.
“I better go check on Mama. She might need her insulin.” Thea took a step forward, but Tyrone grabbed her arm and held her back. “Not so fast, little sister. You might not like what you see.”
Thea’s eyes bulged. “What’d you mean? What’d you do to her?”
“We didn’t do nuttin to her,” Willie said. “She was like that when we got here. All passed out in her bed like she were dead. Except I know she ain’t dead cause of the sweat on her forehead.”
Thea tugged at her arm but Tyrone tightened his grip, refusing to let her go. “What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”
Willie shrugged. “We haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
Thea lifted her leg and brought the heel of her work shoe down on Tyrone’s foot, startling him. She yanked her arm free and darted across the room toward a hallway that Annie suspected led to the bedrooms. Annie heard a popping sound and saw her friend drop to her knees, covering her head and ears with her hands and screaming, “Don’t shoot me! Please dear god, don’t shoot me.” Chunks of plaster rained down on her from where the bullet had lodged in the ceiling above her head.
Annie stood paralyzed in place. She felt Tyrone’s hand pressing against the small of her back, his breath tickling her neck, and his lips close to her ear. “We gonna have ourselves some fun to-night, Annie girl.”
THIRTY-ONE
Cooper
Cooper had been driving around for two hours searching for Annie. He’d gone to all the places he thought she might be. Except to the one place he was certain he’d find her. He didn’t know where Thea lived. He didn’t even know who to ask for her address. Thea didn’t have any friends other than Annie. At least as far as he knew. And Annie had only a few friends, all of them family aside from Thea. Some friend he’d turned out to be. He’d allowed his mother to come down hard on her, and he’d done nothing to stop her.
The driving had taken the edge off his anger. He’d been furious with his mother earlier. She’d followed him to his car when he walked out of the meeting, barking orders at him and forbidding him to leave the property.
He’d stopped dead in his tracks. “What did you say?” He slowly turned to face her.
Jackie stood tall, her spine ramrod straight, her jaw clinched. “I said, I forbid you to leave this property.”
He stepped up close to her and looked directly into her eyes. “Sean and I paid for that Cruiser ourselves. I’ll drive it any damn where I want to.”
“Not while I’m paying for the insurance,” she said, her head bobbing back and forth.
“Nice try, but Dad pays for the insurance.” He leered down at her. “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t pressured her like that.”
“You’re as much to blame as I am. We agreed to present a united front.”
“I never agreed to anything. I made that perfectly clear last night. You got that all mixed up in your delusional mind.” He rounded the Cruiser to the driver’s side and opened the door. “I’m going to find Annie and you can’t stop me.” He got in the Cruiser and slammed the door without giving her a chance to respond.
His dad called him about an hour later, while he was searching for Annie. “I’m sorry, son. I let things get out of control. Your mom’s… well, she’
s not thinking clearly right now.”
“No shit, Dad. Can’t you do something to calm her down?”
“I already did. I gave her a tranquilizer and sent her to her room for a nap. I’ll talk to her when she gets up.” His father paused and Cooper was tempted to end the call. “I was wrong to go along with her. All I could think about was how a baby would ruin your future. But you’re right. We have to put the baby’s health and well-being first. You reminded me how important it is to do the right thing.”
He sounded sincere but Cooper wasn’t ready to forgive him just yet. His father had betrayed him by going along with his mother. “You shouldn’t need reminding. You’re the one who taught me that.”
“Grown-ups sometimes lose their way too. Thanks for straightening me out. I’m proud of you, Coop. You’re turning into a fine young man. I have no doubt you are trying to do what’s right. I have no doubt you are trying to make the best decision you can. I’m with you on this, regardless of your mother’s position.”
“You just take care of Mom, and let me worry about Annie.”
The last thing Cooper wanted was to come between his parents. Nearly two years had passed since their close encounter with divorce. His parents had tried to hide Bill’s affair, but Cooper and Sean knew all about Daisy Calhoun. They’d been counselors at a camp in the North Carolina mountains that summer, but when they’d gotten home, their friends had told them all about the woman with the fake yellow hair and big breasts they’d seen driving around town in their father’s convertible. Jackie’s midlife crisis was partially to blame for the breakup of their marriage. For years she’d exhibited behavior much like what Cooper had seen from her in the past two days. It wasn’t until she’d gone off to Charleston and started her own design firm that she became a new and improved woman. She’d forgiven his father and they had been acting like newlyweds ever since.
Cooper tossed his cell phone onto the passenger seat. “Don’t worry, Dad,” he said out loud in the empty car. “I’ll figure this thing out on my own.”
Tangle of Strings Page 15
