Page 58 of Give Me a Reason

Anne had actually been avoiding Auntie Sharon since Christmas.

They had texted and chatted over the phone, but she couldn’t bear seeing her in person.

Auntie Sharon had been so contrite over what had happened ten years ago and so worried about how Anne was doing lately, but Anne just didn’t have it in her to pretend that everything was okay.

She was in no state to put her aunt’s concerns to rest, because she was not okay.

Anne was still in love with Frederick, but he seemed to be falling for Bethany. How would Auntie Sharon feel about that? Her daughter stealing the love of Anne’s life after she’d ripped them apart? A mother and daughter super duo.

She felt sick at her ugly thoughts. In the end, her aunt’s advice wasn’t what had made Anne leave Frederick. She’d left him because she’d convinced herself that it was for the best. As for Bethany, she wasn’t stealing Frederick from her. Anne had lost him all on her own.

“I can imagine. You have so much to do before you leave for England,” Tessa said with such sympathy that Anne felt guilty for using her work as an excuse to avoid Auntie Sharon and Bethany.

They were her family, and she couldn’t let her resentment keep her away from them. She only had herself to blame for her current unhappiness. She would not add to it by turning her back on her family.

“You have to learn the script and work out.” Tessa counted off her fingers. “And didn’t you say you were working with a dialect coach to nail the British accent?”

“All of the above.” Anne laughed listlessly.

She really was busy, and she was trying not to lose her mind over the pressures of being in her first Hollywood film.

She needed to take a step back—from her work and from her preoccupation with Frederick—at least for the duration of this meal with her favorite sister.

“Hey, have you been in touch with Aiden since Bosque Verde?”

“Yeah, we’ve been texting here and there.

” Tessa shrugged as she chewed an enormous bite of her burger.

“We’re two STEM nerds in a pod. It turns out he had trouble choosing between premed and computer science as an undergrad because he loved both so much.

But in the end, he realized he wanted to work directly with people. ”

“So you guys are…” Anne raised her eyebrows.

“What? No.” Her sister snorted. “We’re just friends.”

Anne ducked her chin to hide her smile. She was right. She did know her sister best. She wished she could rub Frederick’s nose in it and make him eat his words. Her smile died, remembering he wasn’t hers to laugh with and tease. So much for trying not to think about him.

“What about Frederick?” Anne blurted.

“What about him?” Tessa munched on a fry. When Anne gave her a pointed look, she shrugged. “I’m not gonna lie. He’s hot. But I’m not interested in him. It was just fun to mess with Bethany.”

“You’re awful. Why would you torture her like that?” A genuine laugh burst out of Anne, more from relief than amusement.

“Bethany is tougher—and much more fun—than she looks.” Her sister grinned unrepentantly. “She probably enjoyed the bit of competition.”

Would Bethany have enjoyed some competition from her as well? If Anne thought she had a chance, she would fight for Frederick as though her life depended on it. It did in many ways, especially her happiness.

Anne had a persistent ache, just above her ribs, and she rubbed at it now with the side of her hand. She missed Frederick so much that she physically ached for him. She was a fool to hold on to her unrequited love for so long. But she might be a fool for the rest of her life.

At least her little sister wasn’t interested in Frederick. There was that. With a heavy sigh, Anne masticated her greens like a sad, lonely cow, taking generous gulps of her beer to push it past the tightness in her throat. She nearly choked when her phone rang and she saw who was calling.

“Sorry, Tessa. I need to take this.” She pushed back so quickly from the table that her chair screeched against the concrete.

“Is everything okay?” Tessa asked, worry furrowing her brows.

Anne gave her a fumbling thumbs-up, then hurried to the waterside to answer the phone. “Frederick.”

“H-hello? Am I interrupting something?” His voice sounded oddly strangled. “You seem out of breath.”

“Oh, no. I’m… No, you’re not interrupting anything. I, um, just finished jogging.” Like thirty minutes ago. But she couldn’t tell him that she was breathless from hearing the sound of his voice. “How are you?”

“Fine. I’m fine. And you?” He seemed nervous. Was that a good sign? A good sign for what, though?

“I’m fine.” She tittered, just as nervous. “Thank you again for the lovely lunch. I wish we’d had more time to talk.”

“Me, too. I…” He paused, and Anne heard her heart beating in her ears. “I heard that you were leaving for England soon.”

“Yes.” The sudden wave of melancholy was beyond silly. It didn’t matter that she was going across the ocean. She rarely saw him even when he lived half an hour away from her. But being beyond silly seemed on brand for her when it came to Frederick. “I’m leaving in a little over a week.”

“I see.” There was a lengthy pause. “How long—”

He was cut off when her phone tooted to alert her of another incoming call. A quick glance at her screen told her it was Andrew. She ignored it. “You were saying?”

“Are you getting another call? You can put me on hold—”

“No,” she practically yelled in her panic. Don’t go. “I mean, that’s okay—”

Andrew was calling again. Damn it. It must be urgent for him to call back-to-back. She stomped her foot like a child.

“Actually, it’s Andrew on the other line.” She sighed in resignation. “It must be important.”

“You should get it.”

“I’m sorry.” She gripped the railing with her free hand, loath to cut their conversation short. “Can I call you back?”

“That’s all right,” Frederick said curtly. “It wasn’t important.”

“I—” Her stomach sank when the line went dead even before she could say goodbye. She picked up Andrew’s call with an agitated swipe of her thumb. “Yes?”

“Wonderful,” he drawled. “And I haven’t even asked you my question yet.”

She inhaled sharply through her nose, not in the mood for his flirting. “Andrew—”

“Before you get exasperated with me,” he hurriedly spoke over her, “I actually have an important question for you.”

“I’m sorry.” Anne huffed out a calming breath. “I’m out with my sister—”

“I promise it’ll be quick.” And yet, he didn’t spit out the question right away. Anne tapped her toes with growing impatience. “Window or aisle?”

“Excuse me?” She blinked, her toes pausing mid-tap.

“My assistant is making flight arrangements, and she wanted to know whether you preferred a window seat or an aisle seat,” he explained.

“An aisle seat.” She didn’t like disturbing other passengers to get in and out of her seat to use the restroom. She tried to drink less water on the plane, but… She shook her head, corralling her errant thoughts. “But I’m perfectly capable of arranging my own—”

“It’ll only be the four of us,” he interrupted.

He seemed to do that a lot. “You, Mason Peet, your Mr. Darcy, along with our esteemed consultant and myself. I thought it would be a shame to waste eleven hours on the plane with such a tight filming schedule. Flying together will give us four a much-needed chance to build rapport. I believe that a genuine connection between the film’s core members is the key to its success. ”

“Of course.” She had heard about Andrew’s directing style. He insisted on the film’s leads spending as much time with one another as possible.

“Fantastic. I won’t keep you, then,” he said with a smile in his voice. “Please apologize to your sister for me. I feel terrible for having deprived her of your delightful company, even for a minute. Have a good evening, Anne.”

“You, too, Andrew.” She smiled at his shameless flirting. He was such a ham. As annoyed as she was, it felt nice to be openly and unabashedly wanted.

Anne wanted to call Frederick back as soon as Andrew hung up, but he’d insisted it wasn’t necessary.

Was he upset that Andrew had called her?

Was he jealous? Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.

He’d probably called her at a free moment and didn’t want to be disturbed later.

She rubbed her forehead, soothing away the beginnings of a headache.

I’ll figure it out later. She’d left Tessa alone for too long.

Maybe the super greens would lend Anne the guts to call Frederick despite his discouragement. They were supposed to be friends, after all, and friends could call each other without being weird about it. Too bad she was in love with him and would totally be weird about it.