WindSwept Narrows: #16 Anna Carson & Catherine Jenkins

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  Carter shoved his legs over the side, taking the empty glass and heading to one of the other bathrooms. Saturday morning, barely after seven. He was peering into the fridge when he caught sight of her striding along the hall, boots in her hands.

  “Breakfast?” He met the stoic expression. “Anger?”

  “You drugged me.”

  “I did. And you actually slept through the night,” he closed the fridge and leaned on the counter. “Have breakfast with me, Anna, and let’s continue talking. Please.”

  It was a gesture that had long been part of her, chewing on her lip while things ran through her mind. She nodded and set the boots on the floor.

  He had been a gentleman. And she had slept.

  The dark shadow on his face made her want to reach out and feel it against her palm. It surprised her that he didn’t move as she went to stand at his side, the barest hint of wariness in his eyes when her palm came from her side.

  “Violence?” He asked, hoping his reflexes were as sharp as he needed them to be around Anna Carson.

  “No…curious,” she answered, her eyes following her palm as she fit it to his cheek, drawing it along his jawline. Slim fingers traced along the strong bones. “That’s all, Carter, just curious. It has an interesting feel to it…”

  “Should I forget to shave today, Anna?” He finally let himself breathe, shifting to stand in front of her. He had one palm on the counter, the other hung loosely at his side, itching to touch her, hold her.

  “Who are you?” She whispered softly, stepping closer and letting her palm return to stroke over his face. She went to her toes, kissing the surprised full lips very lightly at first. Almost teasing in her touch. She pulled his lower lip between her teeth, her tongue out to stroke over the soft inside of his lip before she settled her mouth more firmly against his. It was a wonderfully full, delicious mouth, she decided with a ragged sigh. And he was very indulgent, their tongues fencing and stroking until he lifted his head, glasses fogged over and making her smile. “What have you done to me, Carter Shipley?”

  “I was going to ask the same question…” he lifted the glasses from his face, his palms framing her face, holding it in place for a repeat of their first kiss. It only intensified, the feeling of her hands on his sides sending his blood boiling. These were new, wild sensations that screamed out for more and still it wasn’t enough. His mouth moved over her jaw, to her ear and down her throat. His palms closed the distance when the shudder raced through her, his teeth nipping along her throat and back to her mouth with a thick, deep groan.

  He wasn’t sure where the resolve came from. His hands moved to her shoulders, gripped them firmly and set her back from him. Both of them were breathless and staring at one another.

  “I think I need breakfast,” Anna said when she was sure her voice was working.

  “I’m going to shower and get dressed, Anna,” he didn’t release her. “Don’t go, please. Breakfast…talk…what else would you have on your schedule today?”

  “The nursery…if they need help…checking with my manager…working on private landscaping projects…” Anna nodded slowly. “I won’t leave, I promise. I’ll make breakfast.”

  “We can go out, Anna.” But he took a step back and headed for his bedroom.

  She felt her knees shaking as she went to peer into the fridge, pulling things free and putting together an easy breakfast of toast, coffee and scrambled eggs. Simple, she thought, if she could get her mind off his mouth.

  By the time he returned dressed in jeans and a sweater, she had everything set up in the small alcove off the kitchen. The smell of toast and coffee filled the room and she didn’t see him come in behind her.

  “More anger to discuss this morning?” He met a pair of dark eyes as puzzled as his own. “Anna…you didn’t have to do this…”

  “You don’t cook, do you?” She asked, sinking into the comfortable chair and spooning eggs and hash browns onto her plate.

  “I don’t like cooking,” he admitted without hesitation. “It holds absolutely no interest for me whatsoever.”

  “That’s why you have a cook and a driver,” she said, nodding slowly to herself, trying to understand too many things where this man was concerned.

  “I have a cook and driver for convenience,” Carter said, choosing his words honestly as he filled his plate. “I can afford them. I work in the back of the car while Leo drives. They have the apartment over the garage.”

  “It’s a beautiful house, Carter,” Anna said easily.

  “You haven’t seen a lot of it. It reminded me of Arizona,” he told her.

  “I like cooking. It’s relaxing,” she wondered about this strange new feeling. “I’m not angry, Carter. But it can’t be ignored. You invited me to lunch because you were hired…”

  “I invited you to lunch because I wanted to have lunch with you, Anna,” he interrupted, wanting clear lines established between them. “Was I certain you were one of the twins the Austin’s were searching for? No, not completely. But they never found bodies after the explosion and fire where you had been living.”

  “She knew,” Anna said softly, lifting her eyes from the toast she was picking apart and chewing on. “She knew as soon as she saw me.”

  “She had photos she hadn’t shown me, Anna. Photos of her when she was younger,” Carter watched her take in his answers. “I still advised the DNA testing because there’s a great deal of…” he stopped when the moisture filled her eyes.

  “I don’t want their money. We don’t need it. Aaron is brilliant with investing,” she tilted her head back for a quiet minute. “I don’t blame them,” she repeated again. “We didn’t have a bad life. I don’t know if it’s the twin thing or the IQ thing, but there was nothing…no feelings…when they were around us. The parental units. It was more like being in a boarding school. They provided us with food, clean clothes and stuff. We knew stuff, could learn stuff, but didn’t always understand the why right away. They were drug dealers…distributors…I think there was a connection to Mexico. We saw people before they’d hustle us into our room and close the doors. But they never hurt us. I found out later the house belonged to the father’s parents. They were the ones providing the learning tools and new clothing. Every now and then, they’d put us into a limo and we’d be taken to see them. Neither of us knew what to do with the other, so it was never a really memorable visit. It always ended with them giving us stuff and money and putting us back into the limo,” Anna ate the last bit of toast and shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad…I remember our first Christmas tree and dancing and laughing with them.”

  “You were four years old?” He asked, trying to keep the information tagged and filed where it belonged.

  “We’d turned four that next year, in March. We discovered libraries,” she recalled with a cheeky grin. “We’d pack food and spend the day there. They were always sending us home at closing. So many books! So much stuff to learn,” she breathed, acknowledging for the first time in a long time that all memories weren’t part of a nightmare. “It’s been a very long time since I talked about those times…so long ago…”

  “I can’t even remember being four, Anna,” he told her, shaking his head in amazement. “How did you know about the drugs?”

  “We listened. I drew pictures,” she stared out past his shoulders into the fog surrounding the house. “We’d wait until it was quiet and prowl through the house. We knew what money was…” One corner of her mouth tilted. “We have these really big…I guess they were big when I was four…I have her still…and Aaron had a huge bunny, with soft fluffy ears and these big rabbit feet…” A silly flush struck her cheeks when she heard him laughing with her. “I’m not used to you…I don’t know how to not make a mistake…none of the books I devoured had to do with guys.”

  “Making me laugh isn’t a mistake, Anna. Let’s just keep talking…” He reached for her hand and tipped her palm up until they were pressed against one another on the tabletop. “You�
�re beautiful…” he saw the instant surprise in her eyes and let his laughter free. “And you don’t even realize it…you were telling me about a doll?”

  “Milly…she’s painted…and about four feet tall with long, dangling legs and pretty yarn hair. Anyway…we’d prowl around the house when things were quiet. I always had these…these feelings…senses…I’m not sure…but I had an instinct telling me to collect money. So we’d slip some from the piles we found. Not a lot. Just a few. The stacks were hundreds and fifties, mostly. We’d fold it very narrow and slide it between the big seams in my doll and Aaron’s bunny. We did that until…we went to the library one day,” her voice dropped, her head tilted slightly. Dark eyes were blank as if she were watching the day replay itself in her mind.

  “What happened, Anna?” Carter could feel the heat leave her palm.

  “We were coming home…it was the middle of July…there were cars all around the house…FBI…DEA…on all the jackets. People were led away…my paternal grandparents pulled up in the limo along with a small truck. They had our stuff in the truck within a few minutes and we were put in the limo and driven off,” she blinked quickly. “I never saw them again. The parents. I found out they were taken to prison for the drug thing…lots of child endangerment charges attached…we listened to the adults talking,” she smiled crookedly at the attentive man watching her. “People never pay attention to kids, especially little ones. It’s like we’re invisible…and stupid. Only we weren’t…they took us to another house, it was nice…two story…new minders…Missy was the cook and housekeeper. She taught me to cook…”

  Anna put both hands around the glass of melted ice water.

  “They provided a tutor. She was nice…but didn’t know how to handle two kids who were far more than four years old in their minds. So we did the work she gave us and found the new library. We got an allowance…got the tutor to take us to the bank so we could open an account. Didn’t see the grandparents much…Aaron found online places and began working our money. He’s very good at it. And I discovered botany.”

  “And the world came to a startling standstill,” he teased, the awe in her voice low and vibrating along his spine. He had to smile as she began slowly cleaning up the things off the table but not rising.

  “We were off in our own worlds after that, chats together were usually a bit on the confused side until we established that twin or not, neither of us had the first clue about the others passion,” Anna laughed at the thoughts. “Even now…he’ll rattle of things about futures and stock structure and IPO’s and I think my eyes glaze over…”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with another laugh.

  “It was…normal…” she stopped moving, staring at him without blinking. “I suppose normal for us…for a long time…then about twelve…I knew it would be changing. Don’t know how…but we started putting things into a small storage unit and hoarding money. It was easy to get allowance increases…we were almost teenagers…I suppose they expect teenagers to need money. I used Missy to sign paperwork on a public school…told her we wanted to socialize and…and check it out…it became more intense…more…there was an edge…just after we turned fourteen,” she closed her eyes, barely feeling his fingers curling around hers.

  “Anna…here…drink some cold water…” Carter pushed his half empty glass toward her, cursing when her fingers shook before steadying them by wrapping both hands around the glass.

  “I can still hear it…I can see the black smoke and…and the smell…” She didn’t take a drink, her lashes opening to peer into his eyes. “Men came to the house that morning. Not familiar…funny feeling…cold…very cold…we were at home in the library on the first floor. We’d taken most everything from our rooms to the storage unit but I knew we had to leave. It was…almost breathless…desperate…I had to get us out of that house. Aaron never questioned. We quietly went to our rooms, packed the few remaining things we wanted and climbed out the window. We made it a block...maybe a little more…when…the ground shook…twice…Missy…I hadn’t thought of her…I should have…but it was too late.”

  “The house blew up?”

  “That’s what the news said. A gas main rupture…only it wasn’t…I saw the black car leaving just before. They didn’t see us…we kept to the side streets, watching…the new people…suits…drove off…just as they passed us…we had a plan but I couldn’t stop shaking,” she whispered. “Aaron wanted to come with me, but we had a plan and we had to follow it through. I just knew it had to be. So I caught the bus and shut it all outside for a while. We met back at the house we’d rented and began moving our things inside. We’d gone to different hair places…had our hair cut into short, very different looks. I bought color and went blond for a time…and made Aaron blond. Next day, we went to the public school and told them we’d lost our ID and needed new ones. We were top of our class…no one questions things as long as they remain smooth. So we had new ID and were in school. I had…have…all the paperwork…the birth certificates…identification…anything we found, I had safely put away in the bank.”

  “So at fourteen, you started another new life,” he said in amazement, the look on her face still fascinated him. It was a look that said there hadn’t been a choice.

  “It wasn’t difficult. We chose a house near school…near groceries. It was very different, though. Aaron is so much better at being social than I am…sometimes the emotions of people just swamp me and I can’t breathe…I hadn’t learned to shield myself from it and school…god, so many emotions. We don’t look alike…and didn’t take but a few classes together, so some people immediately jumped to the conclusion that we were a couple despite the names. Evidently brothers and sisters aren’t supposed to get along,” she said with a little smile, her fingers sliding from his and fitting against his palm, seeing the size differences.

  “You’ve let me talk away the morning,” she said, cleaning up the breakfast things, she glanced at him uncertainly. “Would you like a tour of the nursery? Or was that a clever ploy to…”

  “Anna, I did not…”

  Anna’s attention shifted with the unusual sounds coming from the other room. She looked quickly at Carter and saw a slight wince.

  “What’s that?”

  “Monthly chat with my parents,” he answered, making a swift movement to grasp her fingers and coming up empty. He hadn’t gotten around to explaining his parents to her, but there was an oddly good feeling inside him at her reaction.

  Chapter Seven

  “Good morning…my god, what was that blur?”

  “Oh…Carter…no…no, I can’t…I don’t know how…oh, god, I think I’m going to be sick…” she was up and headed down the hall, half listening to him swearing.

  He went to the large monitor and leaned in front of the camera. His gaze took in the two waiting faces at the same time his eyes skittered toward the hall. One finger rose apologetically.

  “Hold that thought, please…I’ll be right back…oh, good morning,” he tossed quickly over his shoulder. “Anna! Anna, damn it…are you alright?”

  Two bemused faces exchanged looks, both of them smiling. This was most certainly very unusual behavior from their son.

  “Fine…I’m okay…Carter, I can’t…honestly…I don’t know how…”

  “Just come over and sit down…say hello. They don’t bite and…” He finally managed to get hold of her wrist, tugging her back toward the computer. “Will you…lift up your feet, damn it.”

  “No…no…”

  “Want me to carry you over there?” He threatened with a low growl.

  “You wouldn’t…Carter! Don’t you…I swear…” A loud, startled yelp filled the Saturday morning air. “Oh, god…I’m going to throw up on your floor…it’ll serve you right! Put me down, you…you…”

  Carter plopped her into the chair, his hands on her shoulders firmly. “Stay.”

  “Grrrrr…”

  “I swear, you have the disposition of a feral cat
at times,” he ground out, ignoring the laughter from the pair watching and listening to the proceedings.

  Anna felt like she was caught in the lights of an oncoming vehicle. She froze, her breathing low and shallow.

  Dark eyes widened as she took in the two women watching her.

  “Good morning,” she whispered uncomfortably.

  “Hello dear…”

  “Good morning…I hope you’re alright?” Came the concerned, soft voice.

  Anna looked from one woman to the other. One had silver blond hair pulled into a little bundle at her throat, an angular face and smiling pale brown eyes. The other wore her light brown hair in a short, straight bob that touched her shoulders, had high cheeks and bright blue eyes that sparkled as they appraised one another.

  “Oh…fine, thank you…and you?” She heard her own high pitched voice and groaned softly.

  Carter dragged another chair to her side, his arm along the back and resting on her shoulder.

  “Alright…sorry about that…Anna Carson…my mother’s…left is Gail and right is Charlene, or Charlie,” he exhaled deeply and dragged his free hand through his hair. “That was exhilarating.”

  “We’re doing very well, Anna,” Gail Shipley said with a smile.