CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The next morning, Annie woke groggy as hell. She was disoriented for a minute before realizing she was in a hotel and not her bedroom. The events of the previous three days came rushing back. Rather than face that, she undressed, crawled under the covers, and closed her eyes again. When she woke the second time, she glanced at the bedside clock and noted she’d slept for almost twelve hours.
Thank God it was Sunday. She could stay in bed all day if she wanted to.
Annie didn’t consider herself a vengeful person, but it was hard not to see Wayne being shot as him earning his comeuppance. He’d made some horrible decisions in life and, in the end, was forced to pay for them.
From all her self-help research, she knew it would be better for her, if someday she could forgive him. But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Maybe she’d spare him a thought later, but right now, she felt like she was grieving Avery’s death all over again. She cried for all she had lost and all that could have been. When there were no more tears to shed, she pulled herself out of bed.
She had no overnight bag and no clean clothes but desperately wanted a shower, so she made do with the hotel’s amenities.
Hair smelling like sandalwood, she sat at the desk and used the tiny notepad and hotel pen to make a to-do list. Get a new phone was at the top, followed closely by contact her real estate agent. She wondered if this would be a record for the shortest time anyone had ever owned a home.
She loved her place but couldn’t see ever living there again. To get through the next few days, she would walk over to the mall and buy a few things, but unless she wanted to buy a whole new wardrobe, she’d have to go back eventually to get some clothes. She would pay someone to pack up the rest of the stuff.
Just as she was about to boot up her laptop, there was a knock at the door. Probably housekeeping, as she hadn’t taken the time to put out the Privacy sign.
She opened the door until the deadbolt chain caught and politely told the woman she didn’t need anything.
“Oh, ma’am. I’m not housekeeping. I have a delivery for you,” she said with a smile, holding up one of two mammoth, black duffel bags.
“I didn’t order anything. You must have the wrong room.”
“Are you Annie O’Neill?” the woman asked.
“Well, yes,” replied Annie. “Just a second.” She closed the door to undo the deadbolt and then opened it properly.
“A man brought these to the lobby and asked that we deliver them to you. Actually, he paid us rather nicely to make sure you got them.” The grin on the woman’s face said she didn’t get tips like his often.
This had Sam written all over it. She took one bag from the woman and opened it. Her clothes!
“Oh, this is fantastic,” Annie exclaimed. She took the other bag from the woman and lugged them both over to the bed. Sweet Sam. He must have driven to every nearby hotel to find her. He’d also just saved her a trip to the mall and from having to go back to the house.
“Thank you so much,” she said to the woman before shutting the door. Wayne had taken all her cash, so she had nothing to tip the woman, but she had a feeling Sam had taken care of that.
She went back to the bed and opened the bags. In the second bag, she found a handwritten note taped to a box.
Thought you might need this. Please call if you need anything else. S
Inside the box was a new cell phone. She plopped onto the bed and traced her fingers around the edges. Never had anyone taken care of her so well. Been there for her to count on. She flashed back to the night before, when he’d said he loved her.
She thought he’d just been trying to soothe her and make her feel better with the comment, but what if he’d meant it? They’d only known each other for a short time, but she already knew she was in love with him. Could he feel the same way?
If he loved her, though, he would trust her. They couldn’t have any sort of intimate relationship if every two seconds he was thinking she was out to get him. She couldn’t live in a cycle of accusations and apologies.
She turned on the phone, and a picture of Sam greeted her. He’d already charged it and made his face the screen saver. God, he was handsome. She stared at him for a long minute and then shook her head. Focus, Annie.
After a surprisingly short call to the cell phone company, all of her information was transferred to the new phone, and she felt whole again. It was scary to think about how much she relied on the small device. She thought about calling Pops early, but then had an even better idea.
She texted Phil and asked for permission to take the week off. She assured him she was all caught up and was actually waiting on tech to get her the new specs before she could go any further. After a little back and forth, he agreed. She could just as easily have asked Sam, but wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.
She rummaged through the bags to find some clean clothes and put them on. Then she called the hotel front desk to let them know she was checking out early. Lugging the bags out to her car, one by one, had her huffing and puffing. This had to be every article of clothing she owned.
Running through the Starbucks drive-thru for a venti mocha and a scone only took a few minutes, and within the hour, she was on I-405 heading south. It was only a thirteen-hour
