Annie's Neighborhood (Harlequin Heartwarming) (24 page)

* * *

W
ELL
,
ONE
PERSON
hadn’t sided with Annie. When Sky arrived to get Zack, Corrine followed him to the car, and as he put the boy’s overnight bag in the trunk, she said, “Zack keeps asking about that Annie person. I told him she’s why he had to stay in the house instead of playing outside with the girls. I don’t want Zack around her, Skylar. She’s not still working on your house, is she? I know you may have a buyer, but―”

“Annie’s crew finished my house,” Sky snapped. “She was injured, too, Corrine. She hired a commercial painting firm out of Louisville to take over, I guess until she recovers. Although she’ll probably need them to stay on after the glove factory reopens.”

Corrine sniffed. “I read in the paper how she supposedly arranged that. The TV news made her look like a saint. We should tell the reporters that we know better.”

Sky knew the news had broken once the Stingers disbanded. “Stay out of Annie’s business, Corrine. She’s done a lot for this town. And Zack’s doing okay. There’s no reason to wish Annie ill.”

“Huh! You see to it my son doesn’t get within a mile of her.”

“You seem to be forgetting again that he’s
my
son, too.” Disliking the turn their conversation had taken—especially since relations with his ex had been better―Sky told her when he’d return Zack to the farm, then jumped in his car and roared off.

“Daddy, I want to see Annie.”

Sky frowned at his son in the rearview mirror. “Did you hear your mom and me discussing Annie?”

Zack nodded. “Mama says Annie hurt me, but she didn’t. Annie was gonna come help me get down the ladder. I climbed it after you said I shouldn’t. Annie said I shouldn’t, too. Annie’s ladder fell. It was an
accident,
Daddy.”

“Maybe so, but we’re not seeing her. Hey, my house is all painted. I didn’t hang your birdhouse yet. We can hang it together.” That would distract Zack, and he could take it down when he sold the house.

“I want Annie to help,” Zack insisted. “She bought it for me.”

“Zack, we’re going to have an uncomfortable visit if you keep asking to see Annie.”

Sky noticed Zack had fallen silent. Another glance showed his son’s jaw stubbornly set. It jarred Sky to be viewing a mini version of himself. But Zack didn’t bring up Annie’s name again.

* * *

T
HE
NEXT
MORNING
Annie’s paint crew set up across the street, and Zack climbed on a chair to watch. “I don’t see Annie. Where is she? If she’s painting over there, she can come help us hang my birdhouse.”

“Zack, don’t climb on that chair. I don’t want you to fall again.”

The boy jumped down. “I’m going over and ask Miz Gilroy where Annie is.” Before Sky could grab him, Zack dashed out the door. Sky chased him across the street and felt a headache brewing when he saw Zack deep in conversation with Peggy Gilroy. She was gesturing and pointing down the street. Peggy was holding Annie’s notebook, and Sky’s stomach tumbled. “I’m sorry Zack is bothering you,” he said, finding his voice.

“He’s not. It’s good to see him looking chipper.”

“Yes, well, he has another X-ray today to be sure the concussion is behind him.”

“Annie got her ankle wrap off yesterday, but she still can’t bear weight on it. She’s packing all the same.”

“Packing?” Zack and Sky spoke together.

“You didn’t know she’s moving back to L.A.? She’s still footing the bills to beautify Briar Run, and I’m doing her job organizing the paint crews. Because
someone
stomped on her heart,” Peggy said pointedly.

“Who?” Zack asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

Sky gripped his son’s shoulder, turned him and crossed the street. Inside again, Zack kept pestering him to visit Annie, until Sky felt his frustration build. His frustration and his guilt. Peggy had planted that guilt, and Sky had always resented the feeling, even when he knew he was wrong.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he said. “You watch TV. We’ll have lunch out before your appointment.”

“We haven’t hanged my birdhouse.”

“Hung, and we’ll have time after your appointment.”

“We gonna do it with Annie?”

Sky blew out a tense breath. “Just you and me.” He stalked into the bathroom, and when he emerged fifteen minutes later, he felt a little better. “Zack, how about if we go to the café? You like their grilled cheese sandwiches.” He got no response over the blaring TV. Assuming Zack was engrossed, Sky went into the living room. Zack wasn’t there. Nor was he in the kitchen, or his bedroom or anywhere upstairs.

Frantic, Sky raced outside. That was when he noticed that the birdhouse no longer sat on the porch. His heart pounded like a jackhammer as he ran to the tree, terrified he’d find Zack trying to climb it. His fear only grew more intense because Zack wasn’t there or anywhere in the yard.

Sky charged across the street. “Peggy, have you seen Zack?” Sky tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

“Not since he left here with you. Is he missing?” She set down her paintbrush.

“Yes.” Overwrought, Sky spun one way, then the other. He raked a hand through his hair. “I left him watching TV while I showered. He’s gone and so is his birdhouse.”

“Kids get away fast, even when you think you know what they’re doing. Oh, before you caught up to him earlier, he asked me where Annie lives. I didn’t give him directions, but I said a couple of blocks over on Rose Arbor. Would he try to find her, even though you and Annie are on the outs?”

“Possibly.” Sky tugged at his ear. “Thanks,” he called back, dodging a car and digging out his keys as he ran to his cruiser. Peggy’s words about how quickly a child could get away from an adult rang in Sky’s head as he tried to keep to the residential speed limit, his whole body bathed in sweat. Joy rose up to clog his throat when he spotted Zack trudging across the intersection at Wild Rose and Rose Arbor. Sky would never have believed his five-year-old son could walk so far lugging a birdhouse.

He honked three times to get Zack’s attention, and stabbed a finger toward the curb. He knew by the slump of Zack’s shoulders that he felt trapped, which made Sky queasy. He loved his son with all his being. Didn’t Zachary know that? Out of nowhere, it dawned on Sky,
He felt the same about Annie.
He couldn’t let her leave town. He wanted her in his life—in their lives, he thought as he pulled up next to Zack.

Squealing to a stop, Sky jumped out. His son stared at him, eyes narrowed as he squinted into the sun. His body language was something Sky understood. “I guess you’re on your way to see Annie,” he said.

The boy bobbed his head.

“Climb in. I’ll take you.”

“For real?”

“One thing you can always count on, Zack, I will never lie to you.”

“But I love Annie, and you don’t like her anymore.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t think I did, but I do...lo-love her.” Sky set the birdhouse next to Zack’s booster. The way Sky’s heart ached each time Annie’s name surfaced told him all too clearly how wrongheaded he’d been. “I asked her to watch you and I felt she let me down, Zack. You have no idea how afraid I was, seeing you lying so still at the foot of that ladder.”

“I ’splained what happened.”

“I know, and I believe you. We have a couple of hours until your appointment. Maybe it’s enough time for me to set things straight with Annie.”

“You gotta ’pologize,” Zack said earnestly, meeting his dad’s eyes in the mirror.

“I will,” Sky promised, and within minutes he’d stopped in her driveway.

* * *

A
NNIE
TOOK
SOME
time to answer the repeated knocking at her door. She balanced on crutches, aware that her face registered shock as she scrutinized her visitors through the wrought iron of her security door.

“I’ve come to apologize,” Sky said without hesitation. “I was wrong to blame you for an accident.”

Annie averted her eyes. “You were right to blame me. I’m going back to L.A.”

“You can’t go,” Zack cried. “Me’n Daddy love you. He knows my hurt head wasn’t your fault. I want us to be ’nother family, like Mama has Papa Archibald and his girls. Please.”

Annie blinked away tears as she studied Zack. They dribbled down her face when her eyes met Sky’s, so blue and steady. “I want to believe you,” she whispered.

He made a fist with his right hand and tapped his heart. “It’s true. You can’t go. Please...forgive me. A while ago, I―I lost Zack. He...just vanished and I couldn’t find him. I saw how easy it was to lose track of him. He...decided to walk here to ask for your help hanging his birdhouse. He could have been kidnapped or hit by a car on my watch, Annie.”

“You have to know I would never have let him climb that ladder, Sky.”

“I do. I hurt you and I’m sorry. You saved this town, and I’m so proud of you.”

“But...I heard that you accepted an offer to sell your house.”

“I’ll rent until we settle...us. Annie, you can’t let strangers finish what you started—finish our neighborhood. No one can do your plan justice but you. Stay, please, for me. Will you stay if I help you restore the park...so that next spring when the roses bloom, it’ll be the perfect spot for a wedding? Our wedding...”

Annie saw remorse conflict with the love in his eyes. Love won. Fumbling amid her tears, she unlatched security door. Sky swept her into his arms and she dropped her crutches. The locks she’d clamped around her heart sprang open.

All her doubts disappeared by the time Sky boosted Zack into his arms and they all made a pact never to let any barriers come between them again.

Epilogue

S
PRING
ARRIVED
IN
Briar Run after a fall and winter punctuated by hard work. Young
couples had begun to settle once again in a town filled with colorful homes. The
newly restored park, with rosebushes ready to bloom, was another attraction, as
were the teen center and, of course, the revitalized economy.

“Zack loves first grade,” Sky said, slipping his arm around
Annie’s waist as they toured the park. “I miss having him during the week when
school’s in session, but I’m relieved that Corrine and I finally reached an
equitable custody agreement.”

“I’m glad, too. Glad Archibald figured out their lawyer was
keeping Corrine stirred up so he could earn more money. Archibald is actually a
pretty decent guy. Life’s better for all of us.” Annie leaned her head against
Sky’s shoulder as she paused to study the lifelike resin statue of her
grandmother kneeling in a flower bed, one gloved hand holding a trowel. “How can
I ever thank you enough for commissioning this likeness of Gran Ida? It brings
me so much joy,” Annie said.

As they admired the statue, a bird came and perched on Gran’s
shoulder and warbled a happy tune. Annie blinked back unbidden tears.

Gathering her close, Sky kissed them away. “I’m sorry she isn’t
here to see the park in all its glory,” he murmured against Annie’s sun-warmed
hair.

“Don’t mind me, Sky. These are happy tears. I feel Gran’s
presence every time I come here. You know, meeting your folks, and then you
giving me your grandmother’s engagement ring, was so special. But no gift will
ever top the way you surprised me with this statue. It means my grandmother will
attend our wedding this weekend.”

“Are you nervous about the wedding? I remember Sadie saying you
told her that you doubted you’d ever get married.”

“Well, that was before you asked me. Before you and Zack filled
my heart with love and I finally realized I have the capacity to love you
back.”

He kissed her lips and they both smiled through the kiss as a
sparrow landed on one of Zack’s hand-painted birdhouses. It was with reluctance
that Sky finally lifted his head and leaned away. “Is everything ready for our
important day? Aren’t weddings usually frantic this close to countdown? At least
it was when Corrine and I...” His voice faded away.

“If we were responsible for all the arrangements, I suppose it
would be. With our friends in charge, all we had to do was supply a list of
people to invite. Oh...and show up.”

“Thank you again for agreeing to invite Archibald and Corrine
and his girls.”

“How could we not when Zack loves them?”

“I told Corrine not to buy him a suit—that it’s casual.”

“The invitations make that plain. I’ve lost count of how many
times I told Davena and Sadie that I do
not
want
them making me a frilly white dress.”

Sky chuckled and they left the park hand in hand.

* * *

S
ATURDAY
THE
PARK
teemed
with people and laughter, and tables groaned with food. Residents who hadn’t
seen the restored park exclaimed over the statue and the roses, now a riot of
color. Practically everybody who lived in Briar Run was there, including the
Spurlocks with their new baby daughter, and Sky’s parents, and two of Annie’s
former coworkers from L.A. Aaron Loomis came, too, even though his tenure at
City Manager was at an end. Briar Run was on solid financial ground now, and the
residents had been able to elect a mayor and town council to govern them
again.

All at once the
Wedding March
rang
out from speakers hidden among the roses. Talk stopped. People turned toward the
park entrance.

The minister who had given the eulogy at Gran Ida’s funeral
went to stand in front of a gurgling fountain. He was joined by Sky, who
beckoned to Zack. In black jeans and a light blue shirt, the boy was a carbon
copy of his dad. “Where’s Annie?” Zack whispered loudly.

A murmur rose from the crowd, and she appeared on the flagstone
walkway on the arm of Koot Talmage, who was clearly bursting with pride.

“Oh, Annie’s beautiful,” Zachary exclaimed for all to hear.

His dad echoed a hushed, “She is, isn’t she, son?” Words
drowned out by a chorus of oohs and ahhs soared above the music as Annie slowly
passed by.

Sky was suddenly deaf and blind to everything in the park
except his soon-to-be bride. She floated toward him in her knee-length sundress
made of simple white eyelet that fell over a pink lining made to match the baby
roses twined in her hair. The roses were duplicated in a nosegay she carried in
one trembling hand.

It was her smile that drew Sky. A smile that reached shining
eyes, gazing at him with love. Love that humbled him, and he said so as he took
her hand, and spoke the vows that bound them together as a family.

* * * * *