A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(89)

He was losing Bethanne. He felt it and was powerless to do anything more than hope.

Twenty-Nine

Annie’s suitcase was packed, and while her mother and grandmother ran a few last-minute errands, she stayed at the hotel. Her father would be picking the three of them up early that afternoon for the evening flight to Seattle.

While she waited, she sat in the restaurant that overlooked the Atlantic and read through her emails. Vance sent her as many as five a day. He said basically the same thing in each one.

He was miserable.

As he should be!

He wanted to come back to Seattle.

He should’ve thought of that before he took off without me.

He wanted her to join him.

Fat chance of that.

Annie wasn’t willing to forgive and forget. Okay, deep down maybe she could be talked into letting bygones be bygones. Eventually. But as her mother had pointed out, she wanted Vance to admit he was wrong, which was something he seemed incapable of doing. That being the case, she ignored his pleas. If she sent him one email a day, he should consider himself lucky. Maybe it was petty and immature, but she made sure he knew she wasn’t sitting around pining for him. In fact, she mentioned Craig’s and Jason’s names at every opportunity.

To be honest, the thought of joining him in Europe did appeal to her, but she’d never let him know that. Besides, she had a year of school left before she got her MBA and she wasn’t going to drop out now just to spend a month or two on vacation. As Vance had so incisively said, she had responsibilities. He would no doubt realize soon enough that everyone had responsibilities.

Annie opened today’s first email from Vance, read it and then settled back to mull over this latest bit of news. Vance was returning home at the end of August. His parents had deposited money in his account so he could get his ticket changed. He was heading home.

Annie’s first reaction was sarcastic. Isn’t that wonderful? At the same time, she couldn’t help feeling kind of good, knowing that Vance would be in Seattle again. However, she was determined that their relationship wasn’t going to slip back to what it had been. For that matter, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be with him at all.

Vance had been secretive, insensitive and a jerk, and that was just the beginning of the list of character defects she’d compiled. If he assumed everything would remain status quo between them, he was in for a shock.

Annie generally waited a day or two before she replied to any of Vance’s emails. She carefully composed a response and then reviewed every word before she pressed the send button.

She decided not to reply yet. Instead, she emailed Jason. She planned to stay in touch with Royce’s grandson, Craig, too; he’d been a lot of fun this past week. They had a great time putting together the prom for their grandparents. She thought it was really cool that Craig’s grandfather and her grandmother had gotten together again after fifty years. Those two were crazy about each other. It reminded her of the way Max looked at her mother—and her mother at him.

She almost felt sorry for Max because after the past week it was pretty obvious that her parents would reunite. The truth was, she actually liked Max. Her problem with him was simple—he stood, or used to stand, between her mother and father.

“I figured I’d find you here.”

Annie looked up to see her father. She checked her watch. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hi,” he said, and slid into the booth across from her.

Annie closed her computer. “I didn’t think we were leaving for another couple of hours.”

“We aren’t. I was hoping you’d be alone so we could chat.”

The waiter approached, and her father waved him off with a grin.

“What’s up?” she asked. Reaching for her glass of iced tea, she sipped through the straw.

Her father crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Did you notice how well things are going between your mother and me?”

Annie nodded.

“I think we might make a go of it.”

“I hope so.” However, Annie didn’t discount her mother’s feelings for Max. “Don’t get overconfident, Dad,” she warned.

“I won’t. All I want is a second chance.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I know I shouldn’t be asking you this.”

“What?”

He shook his head. “Never mind.”

“Dad. Just ask me, okay?”

He didn’t speak right away. “I know your mother got a phone call from Max the other night while we were at dinner,” he finally said.

“Everyone knew about that.”

“You went outside and talked to her.”

It wasn’t one of Annie’s smarter moves. “Yeah, I told her she was being rude, which she didn’t appreciate.”

“Has…” He hesitated. “Has Max called again?” He frowned. “Forget I asked that. I shouldn’t put you in the middle. I apologize.”

“Dad!” She could so understand his wanting to know.

“I shouldn’t have asked.”

“You’re right.”

He exhaled slowly. “The problem is, I feel your mother and I are very close to patching things up, and yet I don’t know exactly where I stand.”

“Because of Max.”