“Did you two get sexual?” His question clouded the space between his body and Anna’s.
“Is that information relevant to what’s going on with you and me?” Her silent prayers were spooling out, fast and furious.
“No.” Perched on the kitchen stool, he inhaled as he jerked sharply to the right, setting off a chain reaction of popping sounds up the length of his spine.
Relief. Prayers answered.
“And yes,” he added. “Yes. Because suddenly it matters a whole lot to me if you’ve been sexual with someone since I last saw you, and picturing that someone might be my uncle feels…”
She watched his face as he searched for words.
“It feels really weird, Anna, and really uncomfortable,” he finished.
Her arms, hands, and jaw trembled. “Liam, I swear to you, I had no idea you and Daniel were related. Anytime you made a reference to him, you never gave him a name. Never!”
“I know.” His voice was soft, subdued, and full of something she hadn’t heard before. Hurt, maybe, and his face was awash with profound confusion. “And right now, I’m kicking myself. I’m thinking I should have known who you were. Who you are, to him.”
He left his half-empty glass on the counter and stood, pacing away from her.
Come back, Liam. Please. We can figure this out.
“I keep replaying the conversations he and I had when we were in Italy in the spring, but the physical description he gave of you was from decades ago. And he called you Annalissa, and the way he says your name, I thought you were from somewhere in Europe.” He stared at Anna with such intensity she shrank further into herself. “When you and I met, in Vancouver, I had no idea my new friend, Saffron, was my uncle’s former lover.”
“And I had no idea my new friend, Leo, was my old boyfriend’s nephew.” She couldn’t keep the edge of hurt from sharpening her voice.
“So, did you?”
Anna covered her eyes with one shaking hand, unable to keep her tears from spilling. This couldn’t be happening. Not after seeing the joy on Liam’s face when he picked her up at the airport. Not after what happened between them with such heat and ease a couple hours ago on his bed. “I can’t have this conversation right now. I’m going to take the guestroom, and I’ll be out in the morning.”
“But, Anna…”
She raised her head. He was so far away. “No, Liam. Just… No. I’ve been blindsided, and I don’t want to say anything I don’t mean, especially not to you. Can you please try to understand? This feels so unfair.”
Liam hesitated and walked to Anna, wrapping her in his arms. “I’ll move your bags. Let’s see how we feel in the morning.”
Anna showered in the guest bathroom, dressed, and waited. Her hands shook, her heart was frantic, and her movements were on an autopilot set to survival mode. She found a way to switch her return flight to Vancouver without too much of a financial penalty and a local airport limousine service that could provide her a ride to Albany.
She called, asked the driver to wait for her at the road, and specified they shouldn’t honk.
Well before the sun rose, she was at the terminal entrance, through security, and on the first of the three flights it would take to get her to Vancouver. If she was lucky, she’d make the last ferry out and be in her own bed before midnight.
If she was lucky.
All the luck she’d been cashing in since her birthday appeared on the verge of abandoning her for younger, greener pastures. The scene in the foyer the night before with the three of them riled her, but the way Liam handled the intrusion and the news lulled her into thinking they would laugh this off, chalking the odds up to kismet or karma. Anna started to shut down as Liam’s mood shifted from relaxed to probing.
Buckled into her window seat, she crossed her arms and raised the plastic blind. The sunrise was muddied by layers of striated clouds; her fingernails were the brightest spots in the area. She’d kept up with regular manicures after the trip to Mexico. On this gray and somber day, the perky shade of pink reminded her of all the foolishness she had indulged in, all because she had a man interested in her.
Two men. And who wore candy pink nail polish this close to winter? Novices.
She could go back to her island life, back to being Invisible Anna. She had nail polish remover in her bathroom cupboard. The sexy boots Elaine urged her to purchase could claim a spot in the back of her closet. The dresses Gigi and Neena custom designed would go into a protective dress bag.
The rickety tower of hope she’d built in her heart could be dismantled, its pieces dropped on the nearby beach for the ever-present waves to claim, soften, and dissolve.
She could go back to being Anna Granger, soon-to-be-grandmother. Maybe all this was telling her it was time to give serious consideration to tying up her life on the island she and Gary and the kids had—for so long—called home. Maybe a young couple would want to rent her cottage and she’d find a condo in Toronto, closer to her son and daughter-in-law.
Elaine was waiting in the parking lot of the ferry terminal, her car a warm refuge in the freezing rain. She stayed quiet while Anna dropped her luggage in the back and settled herself in the passenger seat.
“Was it that bad in New York?” Elaine asked.
Anna took a deep breath and blew it out through her lips. “After Daniel left, Liam seemed to be handling everything. And then he wasn’t. I mean, I know he was surprised—we were all
