A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(73)

“Now.”

“Well…I miss him. Before he decided to go to Europe, we talked practically every day. We were almost always together, which is one reason I was so upset when I found out he was going to Europe with Matt and Jessie.”

“He kept it a secret.”

“He wanted to tell me, or so he said, but Matt told him not to.”

“And he listened to his friend instead of doing what he knew was right.”

“Yeah.”

“Did he say why he wants you to meet him in France?”

Annie folded her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling some more. “He said he’s tired of being a third wheel. Matt and Jessie are having all these arguments and he’s afraid he doesn’t have enough money to last a year and—”

“In other words, nothing is turning out the way he thought it would,” her mother finished for her. “And that’s why he invited you to fly over and join him?”

Just the way her mother asked told Annie she thought it was a pretty selfish reason. “That’s what he said, but you have to remember Vance isn’t exactly a great communicator.”

Annie wanted to believe he was lost and lonely without her and that he regretted everything. He hadn’t said so, but she knew that was what he really meant. Or what she hoped he meant…

“Well, you’ll have to decide if he’s sincere,” her mother whispered. “If he’s asking because he wants to be with you or he just doesn’t want to be alone.”

Annie lowered her voice, too, not wanting to wake her grandmother. “He does want to be with me!”

“That’s not what he said, though, is it?”

“Well, no, but it’s what he meant.”

Her mother was silent for several minutes. “It sounds to me like you want to be with Vance, too.”

That was true, although Annie hated admitting it. “He really hurt me, Mom.”

“I know, honey.”

“I think he needs to work harder for me to put this behind us, don’t you?”

“Are you saying you don’t think he’s suffered enough?”

Annie snickered in the dark. “You’re funny, Mom.”

“You do want him to suffer, though, right?”

“Well, he should. He went behind my back and planned this whole trip without telling me anything. I’m supposed to be his girlfriend—wouldn’t you assume he’d want me to know? I shared everything with him. I thought I wanted to marry him and I believed he felt the same about me.”

“I know.”

“Not only does he hit me with the news that he’s going to Europe with his two friends, but then he insults my intelligence by asking me to drive him to the airport.”

“That does take gall,” her mother agreed.

“Wouldn’t you want him to suffer?”

“I’m afraid I would.”

Annie knew she could count on her mother to be on her side.

“But when is it enough? It’s hard to know when I should forgive and forget.”

“True,” her mother murmured.

“I can forgive him…in time.”

“In time,” her mother echoed. “Eventually, you’ll be able to look past his behavior—if you choose to. Men can be completely oblivious to what matters most. When you think about it, Vance must’ve known how upset you’d be, and yet he wanted you to send him off with hugs and kisses.”

Annie felt better talking this over with her mother. Everything was starting to seem a little clearer. “I heard from Jason, too. He called me the day I spent alone in Branson. We’ve kept in touch since Vegas.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Well, to be honest, it felt good to have someone interested in me after Vance was such a jerk.”

“Do you like Jason?”

Annie shrugged. “He’s okay.”

“That’s not a glowing endorsement.”

“I know. I tried to figure out why I feel this way. He’s really nice and fun and we had a great time together. Another girl would be over the moon about meeting someone like him. Then I realized what’s wrong. Jason didn’t act like Vance. I’m so used to being with Vance that it felt sort of…wrong to be with someone else.”

Her mother shifted onto her side. “I remember when Paul— Tiffany’s ex—and I went to dinner after your father moved out.”

“Yeah?” Annie didn’t like to remember that. Her father and the lovely Tiffany had hurt and betrayed two people. Well, four, including her and Andrew.

“I hadn’t been out with another man for so many years that I started to shake. I didn’t know how to act or what to say, and when I did find my tongue, I was convinced I sounded like a nutcase.”

This wasn’t a fair comparison to her situation with Jason. Her mother had been close to a nervous collapse the first few weeks after Annie’s father moved out. Those days had been dreadful for all of them.

Annie had been furious with both her parents, but especially Bethanne. If her father fell in love with another woman, it had to be her mother’s fault. Bethanne was boring, Annie decided. Her mother’s whole world revolved around the house and the family and those dinner parties she put on for her father’s business associates. She’d let herself go, too. Her hair was too long and she didn’t shop for herself often enough.