Page 34 of Give Me a Reason
As she walked down the hallway, Anne thought she heard Frederick mutter, With you too, Frederick , under his breath. She pressed her hand against her pounding chest. Wishful thinking must be making her hear things—and see things.
When she spotted Pete and Katie standing by the picture window in the living room, she rushed toward them. She was genuinely happy to see them, but she could also use the distraction.
“Anne.” Katie enveloped her in a tight hug.
“Hey, you.” Anne hugged her back with a surprised chuckle.
“It’s so good to see you.” She didn’t slacken her embrace.
Anne felt a pang of guilt that she hadn’t made more of an effort to get together with her new friend.
They’d only exchanged a few pleasantries through texts after Christmas.
Honestly, she’d avoided Katie because she would’ve been tempted to ask her how Frederick was doing, and she’d been afraid of finding out.
“I don’t know what happened on Christmas night, but I’ve never seen Frederick more at peace,” Katie whispered. “Whatever it was, you did the right thing.”
“I… You think so?” Anne stammered, the thought of Frederick hurting less making her lightheaded with relief.
“Yes.” Katie squeezed her even tighter. “And if you need anyone to accidentally lock you guys in the bathroom or the pantry, I’m your girl.”
Anne huffed out a shocked but happy laugh, grateful for her friend.
“Now, now, honey. What did we say about tackle-hugging people?” Pete teased as he detached his wife from her. “Hey, Anne.”
“Hi, Pete. A word of advice. Women don’t like being told not to tackle-hug people.
” She gave him a cheeky grin, then reached for Katie’s hand.
If her friend hadn’t trusted her with Frederick’s contact info, Anne might have lost the courage to tell him the whole story.
“I’m happy to see you, too, Katie. I’m sorry I haven’t kept in touch better. ”
“Don’t even worry about it.” Katie waved aside her apology. “Last time we texted, you were hard at work with your agent, figuring out what’s next for you. I’m sure you’ve been busy.”
“We’ve only had a couple of meetings,” Anne said, embarrassed. She’d been busy but not enough to neglect her friend. Well, not neglect. More like actively avoid. “I wouldn’t call that being hard at work.”
“I’m rooting for you anyway.” Katie wrapped her arm around Anne’s shoulders and squeezed. Not to be outdone, Pete threw his arms over both of them from behind.
“Settle down, you two.” Joe joined their trio. “Stop hogging my celebrity cousin.”
“Joe.” Anne gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t know about being a celebrity, but these two can hog me anytime.”
“You hear that, Joe?” Pete stuck his nose in the air. “We have permission to hog Anne. So off you go. Go make nauseating heart eyes at your bride-to-be.”
“Talk about nauseating.” Joe laughed. “You can’t stop staring at Katie like a lovesick puppy, and you guys have been married for how long? I’m worried your face is going to get stuck like that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pete said, staring at his wife with aching tenderness. Katie patted his cheek, offering him a sweet smile.
“Come on. Now you’re just showing off.” Anne didn’t have to feign her saltiness. They were making her feel deeply single.
Her eyebrows furrowed into a perplexed frown.
Being single had never bothered her before.
Anne glanced over her shoulder, hoping for a glimpse of Frederick.
Hope. There was that word again. She was always going to hope when it came to that man.
He was nowhere in sight, but it was obvious why her singledom suddenly bothered her.
She sighed listlessly as her cousins walked into the living room and settled on the couch.
“I’m going over to Bethany to lament our single status,” Anne half joked and walked away after a quick squeeze of Katie’s arm.
“There you are.” Coraline reached up for a hug when Anne joined her and Bethany at the sofa. “I’m so happy everyone is here. Isn’t this exciting?”
“Yes,” Anne said warmly. She couldn’t begrudge her lovely cousin her happiness, no matter how salty she felt about the excess of love in the air. “It’s quite wonderful.” She paused to glance at her watch. “And it’s going to get even more wonderful in around twenty minutes.”
“Yay.” Bethany clasped her hands against her chest. “What happens in twenty minutes?”
“A limo is coming to pick us up for an extensive wine tour.” Anne smiled, excitement buzzing through her.
“About damn time.” Tessa plunked onto the sofa and slung her arm over Bethany’s shoulders. Rather than helping with bags , she’d changed into a cute sundress. “I am positively parched for some wine.”
The four of them dissolved into giddy giggles, but Anne grew quiet because Frederick walked into the living room.
She sat facing away from the entrance, but she didn’t need to see him to know.
She felt his presence even with her back turned to him.
Whenever he was near, the hair on the nape of her neck stood as though a cool breeze had skated across it, and her skin prickled with taut awareness. So much for closure.
If moving on was impossible, maybe she should just throw herself at his feet and beg him to take her back. She covered her humorless laugh with a cough. Even copious amounts of wine wouldn’t give her the courage to do something like that.
More importantly, she didn’t want to burden Frederick with her one-sided longing, especially if Bethany had feelings for him.
The mere possibility speared jealousy through Anne, and her nails dug into her palms. Was she torturing herself for no reason?
Should she smother the last of her hope once and for all? Was that even possible?
“Captain.” Joe called Frederick over to the picture window, where he, Pete, and Katie stood. “Where’s the brat?”
“I’m twenty-four . When are you going to stop calling me that?” Aiden sauntered into the living room and headed to his brother’s side.
“Maybe when you’re eighty-four,” Joe goaded. “Or when you stop acting like a brat. Whichever happens first.”
Anne held herself still for as long as she could, but every cell in her body was already listing toward Frederick. She glanced behind her, giving in to the temptation to look at him. But the moment she found him across the room, his eyes unerringly locked with hers.
Her heart stopped for a moment as she wondered… could he feel her, too?