Love Makes the Difference (Sully Point Book 1) (22 page)

"Believe it or not, we're finished," he said and
laughed at the look of relief on her face.

* * * *

"You're Tom Anders! I mean, Sam Carter--the writer--right?
I told my husband I thought that was you when you walked in."

The woman had come over to their table and was now asking
for an autograph. Anna was appalled. Someone interrupting their dinner like
this was incredibly rude. She glared at the woman's back as she walked away.

"Now don't go scaring off my fans," Sam said with
a grin.

"I can't believe she did that."

He scooped up a mouthful of blackened sea bass. Before
putting it in his mouth he said, "You learn to live with it."

Anna ate her pumpkin ravioli in cream sauce and thought
about the idea of fans. She'd always been a fan of Sam's books, but she would
never have thought of approaching him as a stranger in a restaurant. "I
guess you must learn to live with it, but it still seems rude to me."

He shrugged. "So--feeling ready for Friday?"

"I'm basically not thinking about it. I'm sure I'll be
nervous that morning and for the whole day. Why rush it?"

"You'll do fine."

They finished up in silence and she was about to ask him if
he would share a dessert with her when Leo came up to their table.

"Sorry to bother you, but we've had news. Are you ready
to leave?"

Sam looked at her and she nodded. "Let's go."

Once they were in the SUV Leo began talking. "Someone,
we think it was a guy hired by her, tried to get into the rooms at the decoy
hotel. A maid came down the hall before he could open the door and he took off.
We had people in the room all ready to get any intruder. The outside team
caught the guy, but she wasn't with him. They caught a glimpse of her driving
away in a red compact car. We know she's not staying at her apartment, but we
have no idea where she's living at the moment."

"It means she's still after us then," Sam said
glumly.

"You know she's not going to give up," Anna told
him in a soft voice. "She's bound to come to the gallery. We need extra
guys there."

"Already planned out, ma'am. Nobody is going to get at
you there."

That night she clung to Sam as the fear swamped her. "I
can't lose you," she whispered when she thought he was asleep. "I can't,
I just can't." Finally she rested her head on his chest and, listening to
his heartbeats, fell asleep.

* * * *

Sam felt her relax against him into sleep. He'd heard the
desperate whisper and in some way was reassured by it. She loved him, even if
she wasn't ready to say it yet.

He wondered what form the attack by Patrice would take.
Would she start a fire? Set off a bomb?

Resting, his arm around Anna, he laid awake a long time. He
couldn't lose her either.

Chapter 12

Friday dawned into a gray drizzle. "Lousy weather,"
she told Sam, pouring coffee from the pot provided by the hotel. "Figures."

"The forecast is for it to change and be clear by
tonight."

"Like we can trust the weather forecast."

She sat down at the table and sipped coffee when she wasn't
picking at a croissant. "When did Holly say she'd be over?"

"Around four. And your Dad and Cody should be arriving
today by noon. Everyone is on schedule."

"You know, you sound just a little patronizing--"
She stopped talking and reviewed the past few minutes. "Okay, rewind. I'm
being a total grump aren't I?"

Sam put down the newspaper and grinned at her. "Yes,
love, you really are. Now are you going to rip apart all the croissants or can
we eat some too?"

She stared down at the mountain of crumbs in front of her
and sighed heavily. "What a basket case."

The previous day they'd gone to another museum and spent the
day immersed in art. Anna felt calmed when she was surrounded by paintings, but
once they came back to the suite at the hotel, the anxiety had begun. Sam had
evidently decided the best way to deal with her nerves was to overwhelm her
senses with his lips, hands and body. She'd finally fallen asleep, snuggled up
next to him feeling very satisfied and unafraid of anything.

This morning was a whole other story. With the show ready to
go at the gallery tonight she felt like she was standing on the edge of an
abyss. Before she could think about that analogy too carefully, Sam came over
and squeezed her shoulder.

"Don't make yourself crazy today. Stanley has the
gallery under control and he's done this hundreds of times. You have a great
outfit to wear and will look gorgeous. And you've got me all to yourself for
the day--what more could you need or want?"

She laughed. "Don't think you can tempt me back into
bed--I'm still amazed by last night. But what will we do today?"

"I have one idea. Hang on." He picked up the phone
and called down to the desk. "Yes, we'd like a game of Scrabble...Yes,
that would be fine...And could you send up some more coffee...Thanks."

Anna stared at him. "You aren't going to tell me that
they'll go out and buy us a Scrabble game, are you?"

"Yes. I told you, they cater to their guests."

"Nice. This place really is spectacular." Once
they'd moved into the suite yesterday, she'd realized why Sam had felt cramped
in the other room. They now had a good-sized living room with a larger table
for eating, a couch with loveseat and two chairs with an ottoman. The bedroom
seemed huge with a king-size bed. She liked the tiny blue flowers on the cream
background of the silk wall coverings. Fresh flowers adorned a table and the
fireplace mantel--a profusion of roses, tulips, and dahlias.

She looked at Sam and felt a sense of peace flowing
throughout her body. Being with him today was all she needed. But a game of
Scrabble could be fun too. "Get ready to be beaten, Sam Carter."

"Ha. I'm the wordsmith here. You'll soon be begging for
mercy."

They cleared the dishes and put them on the room service
cart. Anna went in the bedroom and changed into some black wide-leg palazzo
pants and pulled on a stretchy turquoise top. Sam had already showered and
dressed before she woke up.

"Why did you wake up so early today?" She walked
back into the living room, barefoot on plush cream carpeting.

"A dream woke me up so I decided I'd slept enough and
got up."

She peered at him, noticing the tightening around his lips. "Bad
dream, huh? Patrice?"

He nodded. "I'll be damn glad when this is finally
over."

"Me too. I know our lives keep going on around this,
but it also feels like we're stuck waiting to get past this hurdle."

"So true. Let's--"

A knock on the door revealed a hotel employee handing them a
Scrabble game with another wheeling in fresh coffee and mini pastries on a
silver tray.

"Okay, that's what I call service," Anna said to
Sam. "Wow."

"Let's get this tournament started. I'm already
thinking of words beginning with a 'Q' so be prepared."

"Ooh, I'm scared."

* * * *

The Scrabble tourney had been a stroke of genius. They'd
focused their attention on it exclusively and as a result were surprised when
lunch time arrived along with Frank and Cody.

"Fancy digs, Sis. Are we staying here too?"

"No, sorry. You guys are going to be at a very high-class
place however, so don't feel slighted."

Cody grinned at her. "Ready to become famous?"

"No--don't say that. I'm just hoping to get through the
night with as little embarrassment as possible."

"Don't worry, Anna, I've got your back."

Frank hugged his daughter after a quiet few words with Sam. "All
set for tonight?"

"No, not really."

"You'll do fine, kiddo. Now let's go get some lunch. I
saw a diner just around the corner from here that's convenient. Go find your
shoes and let's go."

The security team loaded them up in the SUVs even though the
diner really was just around the corner. Lunch was a time of forgetting about
possible dangers and nerves about the showing. Instead Frank and Cody regaled them
with all the latest gossip from Sully Point. And the news that Kayla had tried
to make coconut donuts with disastrous results.

"Oh dear," Anna said. "I was hoping she'd be
ready to take over there."

"She will in time," Frank said. "Everyone has
to learn."

The news that Maelynne was having a hard time explaining why
the movie people had all left gave Anna a twinge of guilt. "Yikes, I never
even thought about that. She must be upset."

"Don't you go worrying about her," Cody said
fiercely. "Not after all the gossip she's spread around about you and Sam."

"She's still doing that?" Sam asked. "I would
have thought it had died down."

"Maelynne watches the entertainment news every night
and then embellishes on it. To hear her tell it, you and Anna have run away to
get married. That's why nobody's seen you in town all week."

"Good grief! That woman." Anna shook her head and
then after a moment started laughing. "I guess we should be grateful she
didn't see us coming out of Tiffany's the other day."

Frank frowned. "Actually we had a question about that
ourselves. He pulled a folded up piece of newspaper out of his pocket. Spread
out on the table was a picture of Anna smiling up at Sam--in front of Tiffany's.
The caption read, 'Wedding Bells? Spotted at the engagement ring counter, Sam
and Anna may have an announcement soon.' "You hadn't seen this?"

Sam groaned. "No. This is not good. If Patrice saw that--"

"What should we do?" Anna asked.

"There's nothing we can do. We don't know if she saw
this but we're certainly not going to fight with the paper at this point. They
said nothing untruthful--remember how we went past that counter and stopped for
a second? It's carefully worded so we can't go after them."

Cody said, "So why did you go to Tiffany's then?"

"For some jewelry to go with my dress for tonight. Come
on, are you guys done eating? I don't feel like staying here anymore."
Anna got up from the table. They made it back to the hotel without any
encounters with photographers, and she relaxed as they entered the suite.

Frank and Cody took off, escorted by security to their
hotel. By the time Holly arrived, Anna was feeling more like herself again. It
had been too weird to see her picture in a newspaper, but she'd moved beyond
it.

Sam stayed in the living room while Holly worked on Anna's
hair and makeup. When Anna appeared, standing in front of the fireplace, he
looked up and whistled. "You look terrific."

Anna gave him a shaky smile and sat down to wait on him to
get ready. Before she knew it they were leaving for the gallery and her big
night was starting.

* * * *

Sam held Anna's hand lightly, and worked hard to disguise
the nerves he was feeling about the night ahead. If he was right, Patrice would
show up. And on top of that, he was worried for Anna. He believed in her
talent, but you never knew how the public would respond. All he wanted was for
her to get rave reviews. Was that too much to ask?

Upon their arrival at the gallery, Stanley met them and drew
them into the space. Anna let go of his hand and walked slowly forward, turning
from one side to the other. The silence grew as she took in her paintings
hanging all around her.

"Anna?"

"Marvelous! Stanley, you're a genius. The way you've
displayed them, the ones you have grouped together, the lighting--I love it."

Stanley gave her a knowing smile. "You didn't quite
trust me, did you little one? Now you can see that I know what I'm doing."

She blushed and ducked her head. "Sorry, Stanley, but I
have a hard time trusting anyone. What do you think, Sam?"

He walked around the gallery and was impressed. "Great
job. I think your selection of which paintings to show is good, and of course
you've displayed everything in a way that shows them off."

Stanley said, "But you haven't introduced me to your
other companion." He motioned to Holly who was standing open-mouthed
behind them.

"That's my sister, Holly Grainger. Holly, this is
Stanley Walters."

Holly seemed to gulp in some air and then shook Stanley's
hand. "So nice to meet you. But Anna--you never told me--never showed me--there
are so many and they're all so--so--"

"This isn't all of them, just the beginning,"
Stanley told her.

Sam watched Anna as she continued to walk around the room.
Her eyes were mostly green tonight, and were sparkling with excitement. She'd
trusted Stanley to hang the paintings without any input from her. As she'd told
him, her only experience was the actual painting and beyond that she didn't
know much about how to show them to best effect. She was clearly thrilled with
the result.

"Sam--come over here. Look." She pointed to a
painting, and he realized it was the one he'd bought that had been damaged in
the fire. He was pleased to see the restorer had managed to bring it back to
its original state.

Stanley had followed them. "I'm sorry to say the
slashed painting was not quite as successful a restoration. Just too much
damage."

"Oh well, I wasn't all that hopeful about that one,"
Anna said. "But this one is special because it belongs to Sam. Will people
know it's not for sale?"

"Yes, there's a tag to the side."

"Ah, right. Why are there all different numbers next to
each one? 'Fifty, Eighteen, Eleven' what does that mean?"

"That's the money part of things. We're never so crass
as to put an actual dollar sign up next to a painting. Everyone knows the
pricing."

"So it's like, five hundred, eight hundred, etcetera?"
Anna asked.

Stanley laughed. "No, my dear. That would be fifty
thousand
,
eighteen thousand, etcetera."

"Stanley! Surely that's too much."