Lucky Charm (41 page)

“It’s good,” she murmured, forcing herself to swallow despite the knot in her throat.

“Aren’t you going to share some of your lobster toast?”

“Sure.” She split off the larger portion of her appetizer and placed it on Jeremy’s plate.

Clearly disappointed by her not feeding him off her fingertips, he took a bite.

“It’s good, but I’ve had better.”

After dinner, Jeremy insisted on seeing Annabel off. In truth, he was the one who needed to be escorted home. He had drunk so much at dinner, that Annabel wondered how he still managed to stand upright.

“Well, I guess this is good night.” Annabel inched toward the front door.

“Aren’t you going to invite me upstairs for a nightcap?”

She winced at his suggestive tone
. T
he evening had been a disaster
,
and she could not wait to get upstairs and put the whole ordeal behind her.

“Ann, please, no more games. I want you back, I want us back.”

Suddenly
,
he was only a few inches away from her, and before she could say another word, his alcohol breath wafted over her as his lips slid sloppily over her mouth. She pulled away, trembling.

“Ann, please. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’m going to fix it all, I promise, but I need your help.”

There it was, Jeremy always needing her help.

“But there is nothing to fix, Jeremy
. D
on’t you see that it’s over between us? I don’t think either of us found what we were looking for tonight.”

“Fair enough.” Jeremy sighed. “Boy, did I mess up, Ann.”

“Don’t beat yourself up Jeremy
. I
f it makes you feel any better, there are no hard feelings on my part
. N
ot anymore.”

“You are a prize, Ann
.
I never did deserve you.”

Back in her apartment, Annabel turned on the shower and shut her eyes as she turned her face to the water stream. Jeremy’s words still rang in her ears - his offer to fix it all, as though it were possible to simply patch up the yawning gulf between them.

She had struggled through the evening, attributing the awkwardness between them to nerves, but Jeremy’s kiss had finally proven what she had been fighting off all night. She knew full well the reason why Jeremy’s lips had felt so alien
. T
he only man she could ever imagine kissing again was Etienne.

When she got into the office the next morning, Annabel saw an email from Lilly in her inbox with a subject line:
Please read this
.

Tiredly, Annabel minimized the email screen. She was no longer mad at her best friend
.
L
ater, she would make amends, but
right
now
she yearned for some peace and quiet.

She thought of Lilly’s remark from the other day:
Don’t run back to Jeremy just because you’re afraid of taking a chance on Etienne.
As hurtful as Lilly’s words were, Annabel had to admit that Lilly had been right
. L
ast night proved that being with the wrong person was far worse than being alone.

But what was most unbearable of all, was that her evening with Jeremy was a painful reminder of just how much she wanted to be with the man she loved. Jeremy’s unexpected resurgence in her life had elicited a gamut of emotions in her: anger, confusion, regret, surprise, doubt, curiosity,
and even pity, yet
never once did she experience the intense, almost painful longing to hear Jeremy’s voice or to see his face or to feel his hand in hers – the longing she felt for Etienne since the day they met and could not deny even now.

Around noon her cell phone rang, and Annabel picked up cautiously
. T
he number on the caller id did not look familiar.

“Hi
,
Ann, it’s Meredith.”

“Meredith! I tried calling you the other day, but I got your voicemail.” Annabel paused. “I wanted to apologize
.
I’
m so sorry about everything I
said before. I didn’t really mean any of it…”

“Never mind that, Ann
. I
t’s old water under the bridge. I shouldn’t have stuck my nose
in
where it didn’t belong. Are you free for lunch
,
by any chance? I had some errands in the City, and I’m a few blocks away from your office.”

“Yes, sure
. T
hat sounds great. I’ll be right down.”

“Wow, you look great, Meredith!” Annabel exclaimed once they were seated in a booth at the brasserie around the corner from Annabel’s office.

“Thank you, darling. I lost two hundred and fifty pounds.” Meredith grinned.

Annabel stared at her cousin
.
Meredith did look amazingly svelte, but two hundred and fifty pounds could not possibly be the right number.

Clearly enjoying the puzzled look on Annabel’s face, Meredith added, “I left Doug.”

“You did?”

“Yes. Something I should have done years ago, but didn’t have the guts to do. I finally got fed up with all his running around
. I
t’s someone else’s turn to be cheated on by him now.”

“Wow, Meredith, congratulations!” Annabel halted, wondering whether she had selected the right expression. “I mean, I hope you’re happy
. Y
ou certainly look happy.” In addition to her newly slim figure, Meredith’s hair was cut in a stylish bob, d
y
ed a classy golden brown, and her face was carefully put together with just the right amount of makeup.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s been a little over a month
,
and I feel great. My bakery business has really taken off; I’m exercising, and I’m even dating.” Meredith’s eyes sparkled. “Not that I’m in any rush to get into anything serious, but it’s fun to be flirting again, to be thought of as an attractive woman again. You know, I used to thin
k that forty was ancient, but
now I really think that life does begin at forty.”

“I’m so happy for you, Meredith.” Annabel marveled at her cousin’s change in attitude, which was even more startling than the physical transformation
. T
here was a new vivacity to her, as though every fiber of her being was bouncing with joy.

“Of course, it has not been an easy decision to make...” Meredith’s expression grew serious. “But everything seems to have worked out much better than I expected. The kids have adjusted surprisingly well
. W
e are moving back to
Hoboken
next week, and they are ecstatic about that. And I love running my own business
. F
or the first time in years, I don’t have Doug bossing me around, constantly reminding me that he is the bread winner
. T
hat’s something he never failed to rub in my face, but somehow he always forgot to mention the fact that it was my father’s money and connections that got him started in the first place. Oh well, I don’t want to talk about that now
. I
t’s all in the past.”

Annabel looked at her cousin with new admiration
. T
o think that Meredith had found the courage to start anew after being married to Doug for close to twenty years was amazing.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, you know.”

“How do you mean?”

“That time when we had our big fight, when you told me that it was better to be alone than be married to a cheating husband – your words really hurt at first, but they finally made me see the truth. Slowly, I started making a plan to leave him, and finally, I did it.”

“I’m really happy for you, Meredith. And I’m sorry for being so rough on you.”

“You weren’t rough, you were honest.” Meredith paused, taking a sip
of water. “But enough about me
. H
ow are things with you?”

“It’s been crazy busy
.
Paige is selling the business.” Annabel recounted the arrangement that Paige had offered her. “I still can’t believe that it actually happened
. I
t’s incredibly generous of Paige.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you, Ann.” Meredith shot her a bright smile, shifting in her chair as she lowered her eyes.

“But?”

“There’s no sense of beating around the bush, Ann. Lilly called me…”

“Did she tell you that we had a fight?”

“Yes and she asked me to give you this
. S
he said you were about to make a terrible mistake.” Meredith handed Annabel a print
-
out of a magazine article.

“She didn’t tell you anything else?”

“No.”

“I see.” Annabel shook her head
. I
t was just like Lilly to present only the side of the facts she wanted everyone to see.

“Well, the least you could do is read it,” Meredith prompted her.

Trying to keep her annoyance at bay, Annabel glanced at the article that Meredith had given her. The headline read,
An Author Being Sued for Plagiarism –
Major Embarrassment for a Big-N
ame Publishing House
.

What does that have to do with anything?
Annabel wondered, as she impatiently skimmed the rest of the article.
Jeremy Blake is being sued for plagiarizing his debut paranormal thriller,
When the Dusk Rises
, by the estate of a deceased author. Mr. Blake’s agent, Athena Christy, declined to comment other than sayi
ng that she no longer represented
Mr. Blake.

“So that’s why Jeremy called me,” Annabel murmured
. S
he remembered Jeremy’s penchant for quoting other authors, but she never expected he would go as far as plagiarizing one, and now that he
had been
caught, Athena did not want anything to do with him.

“Ann, are you
okay
? You’re all pale.”

“I’m fine. Did you read this?”

“No. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Where do I start?” Annabel sighed.

“Try from the beginning.” Meredith squeezed her hand. “I’m not in any rush.”

About forty minutes later, Annabel finished telling Meredith the entire story.

“And you are convinced that Etienne was in on it?”
asked Meredith.

“What other explanation could there be? And his message the other night – I’m sure Lilly asked him to call.”

“But how could that be possible with the time difference? You met her around seven, which would make it one a.m. in
Paris
.
I really don’t think anyone would agree to get up to make a phone call in the middle of the night to keep up some silly charade. Did you check the time on the message
? I
t was probably left earlier in the day…”

“I didn’t think of that.” A sliver of hope stirred in
side her, but Annabel was too w
ary to make anything of it yet. “Do you think I’ve overreacted?”

“I’d say so. You know, you could call him and clear the whole thing up. I
,
for one
,
would be curious to find out.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that
.
I’ve already texted him that I don’t want anything to do with him.” But inside she was already resolving to take Meredith’s advice, mentally calculating the
Paris
time
. I
f she rushed to the office now, it would be only eig
ht-
thirty p.m.,
Paris
time, and maybe, just maybe
,
Etienne would pick up his phone.

“Let’s get the check.” Annabel signaled for the waiter.

“That
’s
a girl.” Meredith patted Annabel’s hand. “Go on. I got this covered.”

“Annabel, where have you been? I called you several times, but you weren’t picking up!” Paige ambushed her as soon as Annabel walked into the office.

“I’m sorry
.
I stepped out for lunch,” she mumbled, instantly regretting turning off her Blackberry.

“There is a really important client
. I
t’s a new referral
,
and he requested you specifically. He’s waiting for you in the conference room. The business is not sold yet, and we’re still responsible for the bottom line. Chop
-
chop!”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Annabel practically ran into her office to grab a notepad. Before heading for the conference room, she quickly checked her reflection in her mirror
. D
ark circles under her eyes, flyaway hair – she was a mess outside just like she was a mess inside.
Oh, well,
Annabel thought,
I’m here to write
a
copy, not to parade my looks
.