Her Name Was Annie by Beth Rinyu (the little red hen read aloud txt) 📕

ask her.” Jack handed off his phone to me and we walked up the driveway.

“Well, how does it feel when someone goes radio silent on you?” I asked as I unlocked the front door and Jack and I stepped inside.

“Mom, that’s not even funny. You always answer your phone.” She scolded as if I were the child.

“Oh, Kara, relax! I had turned my ringer off earlier in the day when I was at Pop’s house…oh shit, did you call Pop too?” I suddenly remembered the two missed calls from my father.

“Well, I’m sorry. I knew you were going over there today, and I thought you might still be there.”

“Let me go, Kara. I need to call him and let him know I haven’t been murdered.”

“Where were you anyway?” Her question seemed to pique Jack’s interest as well. His eyes fixated on me, waiting for an answer.

“I went to dinner.”

“With who?” She was relentless.

“A friend.”

“Which friend?” If I could’ve reached through the phone and smacked her, I would’ve. I didn’t know why I even cared about Jack thinking I had gone on a date. It had been eight years, and I was certain there’d been quite a few women for him since our divorce. We had clearly both moved on, so why did I feel like I was doing something wrong by admitting I was out with a man tonight?

“Goodbye, Kara.” I ended the call and glanced at Jack, who still had his eyes pinned on me. “Now I’ve got to call my father. Honestly, I can’t believe this turned into such a fiasco,” I carried on as I hit my dad’s number in my contacts.

“It wouldn’t have been if you had told Kara you were going on a date before you went.” Jack smirked, then stepped out into the backyard with Max to let him out.

After assuring my father I was okay, I hung up the phone and raked my hands through my hair. It occurred to me that I had been in contact with Jack more in the past few weeks than I had in the past eight years. It was strange but at the same time familiar. I ran upstairs and changed into my pajamas that had been calling for me all night. When I came back down, Jack and Max were back inside.

“Well, since the mystery of your whereabouts has been solved, I guess I’ll head out,” Jack said with his hands in his pockets.

“Sorry for the drama, but you can blame that all on your crazy kid.”

“Not a big deal.” His smile resembled that boyish grin I remembered from so long ago.

“I guess no news on the mystery man?” I was doubtful but still hopeful that maybe he’d say yes.

He shook his head, his endearing smile turning into a worrisome frown. “It’s weird, almost like he didn’t exist in that family. Everything that comes up on the Internet search is about the brother. I looked him up on our system and found out a little bit about him. He was arrested a few times back in the late sixties for protesting the Vietnam War, but then he was drafted and ended up going over. What surprises me is his family was loaded. His father was big into politics and had a slew of connections that could’ve kept him out of going over there. It seemed like he pulled some strings for the brother, but not for him.”

“Or maybe he wanted to go, and the brother didn’t.”

“Doubt it. I don’t think anyone wanted to fight in that war. Plus, he was arrested a few years prior to going for protesting it.”

“Did he always live in California?” I asked.

“As far as I can tell. His last known address was La Mesa, California.”

“That’s so weird. Why would he come all the way from California to New Jersey to kill himself? They have a whole big ocean out there too.”

Jack became quiet, then stared off into space like he would whenever he was pondering something. “Do you know anyone in California?”

He knew the answer to that just as well as I did. “Nope,” I replied.

“Guess we’ll just have to keep plugging away at it, but in the meantime, keep Kara informed on your whereabouts.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.” We both laughed. I walked him to the door, making sure to double lock it as I closed it behind him. Every time I thought about that day on the beach, I was overcome with a sense of dread, automatically feeling on guard.

“Okay, Max, it’s just you and me, buddy.” I patted him on the head and clicked on the television, surfing through the channels and finally settling on The Holiday—Jude Law and Christmas, two attributes in a movie that were bound to lift your spirits. Max hopped up on the couch next to me, something he seemed to be doing a lot more often. At first, I’d chase him off, but then he had learned how to win me over by resting his head on my lap while cuddling up next to me. So now, he was a permanent fixture next to me whenever I’d watch TV. My mind began to drift back to my conversation with Jack and how the connection to me and this man made absolutely no sense at all. I tried to focus back on the movie to take my mind off that day, but as I watched Kate Winslet on my television, helping Cameron Diaz’s confused older neighbor, something sparked in my mind. Something I hadn’t remembered, but something so significant.

The rain pelted against my umbrella and I gripped it a little tighter when the wind picked up. I loved staring out toward the ocean on stormy days, feeling so safe as I stood along the shoreline with such a powerful force of nature just a few feet away. This was just the first of two storms that were going to hit back to back.

The beach was so desolate. So peaceful even with Mother Nature’s